FiwNode is a Linux soundboard that mixes your microphone with local audio files and exposes the mix as a PipeWire input called FiwNode Chat. Pick that input in Discord, OBS, a game, or any app with a microphone selector. You can hear sound effects locally without monitoring your own voice.
The Rust audio daemon runs independently of the Qt 6 desktop app and CLI. The first release is Linux-only and still needs broader device and distribution testing.
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- Download the Linux x86-64 release and extract it, or clone the repository.
- In the extracted or cloned directory, run
./scripts/install-linux.shon Gentoo, Arch, or Ubuntu-based systems. It installs distribution dependencies and FiwNode for your user. Run it with--dry-runfirst to see its package command. - Open FiwNode, import a folder, and select FiwNode Chat as the mic in your voice app. Play a sound and adjust the Chat and Monitor levels.
The release archive includes binaries and skips compilation. Source installs build the Rust workspace first. More install options are below.
- Native PipeWire capture, playback, and virtual microphone nodes.
- Independent Mic, Chat-effects, and local Monitor gain and mute controls.
- On-demand FFmpeg decoding for WAV, MP3, FLAC, Vorbis, Opus, AAC/M4A, MP4, and other local files supported by the installed FFmpeg build.
- Qt 6 desktop application with search, folders, collections, favorites, colors, queues, device selection, tray controls, and configurable shortcuts.
- First-class CLI for playback, queue, library, routing, and daemon control.
- SQLite/FTS5 library that indexes existing directories without copying or modifying source audio.
- XDG-compliant configuration, state, cache, data, and runtime locations.
- Local-only IPC over a mode-0600 Unix socket; no network service or telemetry.
physical mic ──> Mic gain/mute ────────────┐
├──> FiwNode Chat ──> voice app
local file ──> FFmpeg ──> Chat gain/mute ───┘
└──> Monitor gain/mute ──> your speakers/headphones
The Chat bus controls what other people hear. Monitor controls what you hear; it does not loop your microphone into your headphones. The daemon owns the PipeWire graph, playback, library, and configuration. The GUI and CLI talk to it over a local Unix socket.
Soundux focuses on sending sounds to a selected application. Linux Soundboard also provides a PipeWire virtual microphone with mic passthrough and hotkeys. FiwNode's approach is a native Qt desktop client backed by a separate Rust daemon, an indexed local library, and independent Mic, Chat, and Monitor controls. Choose the routing and interface that fit your setup.
Runtime:
- Linux with PipeWire and a session manager such as WirePlumber
- FFmpeg and ffprobe
- SQLite with FTS5
- Qt 6 Core, Gui, Qml, Quick, QuickControls2, Widgets, and DBus libraries
Building additionally requires:
- Rust 1.85 or newer
- a C and C++17 toolchain
pkg-config, PipeWire development headers, libclang, and SQLite headers- Qt 6 development files and tools including
qmake6,qmltyperegistrar,rcc, andqmlcachegen
Package names differ between distributions. On Gentoo these capabilities are provided by the normal Rust/C++ toolchain plus PipeWire, FFmpeg, SQLite, libclang, and Qt 6 Base/Declarative development installations. Binary release archives still use the host's PipeWire, Qt, SQLite, and FFmpeg libraries.
Download and unpack a release archive, or clone this repository, then run this from the unpacked/project directory:
./scripts/install-linux.shThe installer detects Gentoo, Arch Linux (including EndeavourOS and Manjaro),
or Ubuntu (including Pop!_OS and Linux Mint), installs the system packages,
builds the source if needed, and installs FiwNode for your user. It asks for
administrator access only for distribution packages; the FiwNode files go to
~/.local. Use ./scripts/install-linux.sh --dry-run to see the exact package
command first. A release archive skips the Rust build.
For other distributions, install the requirements, build from
source, and use scripts/install-user.sh.
If you prefer to install dependencies yourself:
# Gentoo
sudo emerge --ask --noreplace dev-lang/rust-bin llvm-core/clang dev-util/pkgconf \
media-video/pipewire media-video/wireplumber media-video/ffmpeg dev-db/sqlite \
dev-qt/qtbase dev-qt/qtdeclarative dev-qt/qttools dev-qt/qtsvg
# Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S --needed base-devel rust clang pkgconf pipewire wireplumber \
ffmpeg sqlite qt6-base qt6-declarative qt6-tools qt6-svgOn Ubuntu 24.04 and derivatives, the packaged rustc is too old for this
workspace. Install rustup and run rustup default stable; the helper above
does both. See the Ubuntu dependency list if you
want to install each package manually.
Download and extract the linux-x86_64 archive from
Releases. The matching .sha256
file can be checked with sha256sum -c in the download directory. Then run:
./scripts/install-user.shThis installs the three binaries to ~/.local/bin and the launcher/icons under
$XDG_DATA_HOME (normally ~/.local/share). It does not use root access.
git clone https://github.com/Fi3w0/FiwNode.git
cd FiwNode
cargo build --workspace --release --locked
./scripts/install-user.shMake sure ~/.local/bin is on PATH, then launch fiwnode-gui from a terminal
or the desktop application menu.
The GUI starts and manages fiwnode-daemon by default. Select FiwNode Chat
as the microphone in Discord, OBS, a game, or another voice application.
The title bar's tray button hides the window when a system tray is available.
The close button hides it only when Settings → Tray → Close to tray is on;
Quit FiwNode in the tray menu or Ctrl+Q exits the app.
Useful CLI commands:
fiwnode start # start the daemon in the background
fiwnode devices # list stable PipeWire device names
fiwnode add ~/Sounds # index a directory without copying it
fiwnode search "metal pipe"
fiwnode play "metal pipe" # library match
fiwnode play ./sound.mp3 # direct local file
fiwnode pause # resume and toggle are also available
fiwnode stop
fiwnode volume mic -3
fiwnode volume chat -3
fiwnode volume monitor -18
fiwnode mute chat # microphone remains audible
fiwnode queue add ./next-sound.ogg
fiwnode status
fiwnode shutdownRun fiwnode --help or fiwnode <command> --help for the complete interface.
- FiwNode Chat is missing: run
fiwnode statusand make sure the daemon and PipeWire session are running. Start the daemon withfiwnode start, then reopen the microphone selector in your voice app. - Others hear nothing: select FiwNode Chat as the input in the voice app. In FiwNode, check the microphone device and the Mic and Chat mute/level controls. Monitor level changes only what you hear locally.
- No sound in your headphones: check the Monitor mute/level control and output device. It is separate from the Chat mix.
- The close button exits: turn on Settings → Tray → Close to tray. The tray icon may be in your desktop's hidden-icons menu. The title bar's tray button hides the window directly when a tray is available.
- A hotkey does not trigger: use the desktop's GlobalShortcuts portal where available. Evdev capture requires read access to the chosen input device; the installer does not grant broad input permissions.
If the issue persists, open a bug report with the FiwNode, PipeWire, Qt, FFmpeg, and distribution versions. Remove private filenames and paths from logs and screenshots before attaching them.
FiwNode does not upload audio, library metadata, or usage information.
| Purpose | Default location | Override |
|---|---|---|
| IPC socket | $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR/fiwnode/fiwnode.sock |
FIWNODE_SOCKET |
| Configuration | $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/fiwnode/config.toml |
FIWNODE_CONFIG |
| Library | $XDG_DATA_HOME/fiwnode/library.db |
FIWNODE_LIBRARY |
| Daemon log | $XDG_STATE_HOME/fiwnode/daemon.log |
XDG state directory |
Removing a library root or collection removes only FiwNode metadata. Source audio files are never deleted by those operations.
On supported desktops, the GUI uses the XDG GlobalShortcuts portal. The daemon can also use readable evdev devices for Soundpad-style physical-key shortcuts, but the project does not install broad input-device permission rules. Configure device access through your distribution's normal security policy if you choose to enable that path.
- Device selections use stable PipeWire names, not numeric session IDs.
- Missing preferred devices temporarily fall back to session defaults and move back when the preferred device returns.
- One sound plays at a time; a new play replaces the current sound. The bounded queue can continue with additional sounds.
- Effects monitoring is separate from the microphone path, preventing sidetone by default.
- Gains range from -60 dB to +30 dB. Strong positive gain can clip a mix.
- FFmpeg receives structured process arguments and local file descriptors; filenames are never interpolated through a shell.
- Linux, PipeWire, and Qt 6 are required; Windows and macOS are unsupported.
- PipeWire server restart recovery needs broader hardware testing.
- Filesystem watching, per-sound bus gain, waveform previews, meters, OBS automation, and Stream Deck integration are not yet complete.
- Directory import currently discovers known media extensions. Direct playback probes content regardless of extension.
- Binary archives are dynamically linked and may not suit older distributions; building from source is the supported fallback.
Run ./scripts/uninstall-user.sh from a source checkout or an unpacked release
archive. It removes the installed binaries, desktop launcher, and icons. Your
configuration and sound library stay in the XDG directories listed above.
See CONTRIBUTING.md for the full development workflow and SECURITY.md for private vulnerability reporting.
cargo fmt --all -- --check
cargo clippy --workspace --all-targets --all-features --locked -- -D warnings
cargo test --workspace --locked
bash apps/gui/tests/run-qml-tests.shHardware-dependent audio behavior should also be checked against a real PipeWire session. Tests must use temporary XDG directories and must never alter a developer's real library, configuration, or audio files.
FiwNode is maintained by Fi3w0 and released under the MIT License.