pulse.city

A living soundtrack for cities. AI-powered music that evolves in real-time, visible as code.

Built with Strudel (live-coded algorithmic music) + AI composition. Watch code write itself, or take control and compose your own.

Modes

• Autopilot — AI generates and evolves music continuously. Code changes visibly in the editor. You steer via chat.
• Manual — You write Strudel code directly. AI assists through chat when you ask.

Features

• Real-time code editor with StrudelMirror (CodeMirror 6 + inline visuals)
• AI composition and evolution via Vercel AI SDK (Anthropic, Groq)
• Spectrum analyzer with frequency bars, waveform overlay, spectrogram, and beat detection
• Tool palette for quick AI-assisted edits (drums, bass, chords, lead, FX)
• Save, load, and share patterns via public URLs
• Google OAuth + magic link authentication

Stack

Layer	Choice
Framework	Next.js 16 + React 19
Audio	Strudel (core, codemirror, webaudio, mini, tonal, transpiler)
AI	Vercel AI SDK v6 (Anthropic Claude, Groq Llama)
Auth + DB	Supabase (Auth, Postgres, RLS)
State	Zustand with localStorage persistence
Styling	Tailwind CSS 4
Deploy	Vercel

Getting started

pnpm install
cp .env.example .env.local
# Fill in your keys in .env.local
pnpm dev

Open http://localhost:3000.

Environment variables

Variable	Description
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL	Supabase project URL
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_PUBLISHABLE_KEY	Supabase anon/public key
ANTHROPIC_API_KEY	Anthropic API key (pro/creator tier)
GROQ_API_KEY	Groq API key (free tier)

Database setup

Run the SQL in src/lib/supabase/schema.sql in your Supabase SQL Editor to create the profiles and patterns tables with RLS policies.

Project structure

src/
  app/
    page.tsx                    # Boot page (audio init)
    studio/page.tsx             # Main studio
    api/chat/                   # AI chat endpoint
    api/compose/                # AI composition endpoint
    api/evolve/                 # AI evolution endpoint
    api/patterns/               # Pattern CRUD + sharing
    auth/callback/              # OAuth callback
    p/[id]/                     # Public shared pattern page
  components/
    editor/                     # StrudelMirror wrapper
    chat/                       # AI chat panel
    spectrum/                   # Spectrum analyzer
    auth/                       # Login modal, user menu
    patterns/                   # Patterns modal
    header.tsx                  # App header + mode toggle
    transport-bar.tsx           # Play/pause/stop/evolve
    tools-panel.tsx             # Quick AI tools
    settings-overlay.tsx        # Settings
  lib/
    ai/                         # Model router, prompts
    strudel/                    # Audio init, constants
    supabase/                   # Client, server, types, schema
    store.ts                    # Zustand store
docs/                           # Architecture, specs, ADRs, roadmap

Important notes

• Audio requires user gesture — the boot page handles initAudio() on click before entering studio
• webpack required — Turbopack is incompatible with @strudel/core, so --webpack flag is mandatory
• resolve.dedupe — Strudel requires a single @strudel/core instance; handled via Next.js config

Roadmap

See docs/roadmap.md for the full plan.

• Phase 1 (POC) — Core editor + AI compose + spectrum analyzer
• Phase 2 (Alpha) — Next.js migration, auth, patterns, sharing (current)
• Phase 3 (Beta) — Marketplace, collab, creator profiles
• Phase 4 (Launch) — Ipe Village 2026 pop-up city deployment

License

AGPL-3.0-or-later