New grid theme for mod-ui

redcloud · October 2, 2026, 1:35pm

Hi all! Wanted to add some fresh features to mod-ui, all vibe coded. Feel free to contribute to improve any aspect.

mod-ui grid-theme - a new editor, TONE3000, and a real file manager

This branch is a superset of master. Everything the default mod-ui does still works; on top of it:

A second front-end: the Grid theme (/grid.html)

A Fractal-Audio-FM3-Edit-style editor that lives alongside the classic one. Plugins are uniform blocks laid out in a configurable row/column grid with a single auto-wired signal chain - no hand-dragged cables. Parameters are edited in a bottom panel that shows the plugin’s real skin on one side and a clean generic control list on the other. It has its own plugin store (Patchstorage), snapshot/bank navigation, and layout/zoom controls. One click switches between the two themes.

TONE3000, built in

Browse the TONE3000 catalogue and pull NAM captures straight into your Neural Amp Modeler, without leaving mod-ui. Files land under NAM Models and show up immediately in the plugin’s model list. In the classic theme it opens the TONE3000 catalogue in a window; in the Grid theme it’s a native browser right in the panel - search, filter by architecture and model size (nano / feather / lite / standard, so you can pick something a Pi can actually run), pick a whole tone or individual captures, with a live download progress bar. One account sign-in, then nothing else to configure.

An Explorer-style file manager

Tree on the left, icon or detailed list view on the right, drag-and-drop to move files between folders, upload, rename, delete - all served same-origin so it just works in the browser.

Under the hood

Headless Power Off / Reboot that actually powers off, guards against snapshots and banks silently losing data, and a full automated test suite (HTTP-level characterization tests + a frontend test harness) with CI.

Installing it

Run it from a checkout of the branch and you have everything. For a device that runs mod-ui as a package, scripts/deploy-tone3000/deploy.sh patches an existing install in place - grid theme, TONE3000, file-manager backend - with automatic backups and rollback. See the README.

StefanD · October 2, 2026, 1:58pm

Cool idea! I was already thinking about how to support different visual modes/themes since it’s a very personal taste of each user and we could develop many alternative themes!

Abotte · October 2, 2026, 5:09pm

When I read this post I was very skeptical, since I love MOD’s user interface… but after taking a look at the screenshots in the repository, I have to admit that your theme looks really great!!!

AndreaDelSignore · October 2, 2026, 7:05pm

Wow! I really like the file manager!

About the grid, I’m not really sure. I have to try it, because what I really like about MOD is the freedom to wire things however you want.

Nonetheless, I had the same idea of clicking on a plugin and editing its parameters at the bottom (even though there isn’t a screenshot showing how you’ve implemented it).

Great source of inspiration! Thanks!

redcloud · October 2, 2026, 7:18pm

Thanks, to me the stock theme is not that user friendly, I prefer to avoid messing around with moving things back and forth and “wasting time” trying to mimic real life cables management. Is it fancy for sure but not so “productive”

StefanD · October 2, 2026, 7:19pm

If you see what monstrosities some users create on this forum you will understand why it won’t fit on a nice grid But I’m totally for it!

AndreaDelSignore · October 2, 2026, 7:23pm

I totally agree, what I need to understand better is this phrase: “a single auto-wired signal chain”.

auto-wired is my fear ok for a default, but I still want the freedom to change it.

redcloud · October 2, 2026, 7:25pm

Of course you can change it, just auto-wires adjacent blocks when you drop one of them. You can always drag cables around or change assignments in the block settings. I’m going to publish a screenshot to show the block settings view.

redcloud · October 2, 2026, 7:33pm

Click a plugin block to open its editor at the bottom: the plugin’s own graphical interface on the left and generic controls on the right. Both views edit the same plugin. The panel includes presets, audio-port connections, an Active switch, parameter reset buttons, and file selectors for plugins that use audio files, impulse responses or models. Drag the panel edges to resize it; the plugin skin has independent zoom controls.