# Welcome to Cagire

Cagire is a terminal-based step sequencer for live music. Each step in a pattern contains a Forth script that controls sound synthesis and effects.

## Pages

Navigate between pages with **Ctrl+Left/Right**:

- **Sequencer**: Edit patterns, write Forth scripts, manage playback slots
- **Patterns**: Browse and select across 16 banks x 16 patterns
- **Engine**: Audio device selection, sample loading, CPU and voice monitoring
- **Options**: Application settings
- **Dict**: Forth word reference, organized by category
- **Help**: Documentation (you are here)

## Quick Start

1. Press **Space** to start the transport
2. Use **arrow keys** to navigate steps
3. Press **Tab** to focus the editor
4. Write a Forth script (e.g. `/sound/sine`)
5. Press **Ctrl+E** to compile
6. Press **Tab** to return to the sequencer
7. Press **Enter** to activate the step
8. Press **g** to queue the pattern to a slot

## Example Script

A step that plays a filtered saw with reverb:

```
"saw" s c4 note 0.5 dur 0.3 decay
  0.6 gain 2000 lpf 0.4 lpq
  0.3 verb 2.0 verbdecay .
```

A rhythmic pattern using subdivisions and probability:

```
"kick" s 0.8 gain .
div
  "hat" s < 0.3 0.5 0.7 > gain . .
~
{ "snare" s 0.6 gain . } often
```

## Concepts

**Banks and Patterns**: 16 banks of 16 patterns each. Each pattern has up to 32 steps with configurable length and speed.

**Slots**: 8 concurrent playback slots. Queue patterns into slots with **g**. Slot changes are quantized to bar boundaries.

**Ableton Link**: Cagire syncs tempo and phase with other Link-enabled applications on your network.

**Forth**: The scripting language used in each step. Open the **Dict** page to browse all available words.