Frequently askedquestions
Everything about building and selling your own plugins with Pook — what you need, how it works, and what it costs.
No. You never write code, and you don’t need to read it — no C++, no DSP, no build setup. What you do bring is your own AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, and the like). You describe the sound, the behavior, and the look the way you’d describe it to another musician; your agent writes the plugin, pook runs it live in your DAW, and you keep listening and asking for changes until it’s right. If you can tell someone what you want to hear, you can make it.
No. Most people start by building something for themselves — the compressor, the reverb, the weird thing nobody makes — and just use it in their own music. That’s a complete, perfectly good way to use pook, and it’s where nearly everyone begins. Selling is there when and if you ever want it: the door is already open, and you can walk through it years later with something you built for yourself on day one.
Three things: pook installed, one builder — Pook Fx, Pook Instrument, or Pook Studio — and your own AI coding agent (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, or similar). You describe what you want, your agent writes it, and pook runs it live in your DAW — hot-reloading on every edit, with no need to restart the DAW or rescan plugins.
It handles everything between your idea and a real, professional plugin. On the framework side — window resize, scaling, HiDPI/Retina, plugin-delay compensation, preset save/recall, host automation, MIDI learn, and CPU optimization, all correct on every DAW and system with zero setup. On the shipping side — cross-platform builds for macOS and Windows, code signing and notarization, branded installers, and keyless licensing. You focus on the sound, the behavior, and the look.
A builder (Pook Fx, Pook Instrument, or Pook Studio) to make the plugin, plus Publisher to sell it — Publisher builds, signs, and licenses branded products you sell to your own customers, and you keep every sale. If you’d rather put out a single free plugin, a Giveaway works the same way on top of a builder you own.
Yes. What you build is yours — source and all — and Publisher gives you the commercial license to sell it under your own brand. Giveaway releases are free-only (they carry pook branding); paid, white-labeled products come with Publisher, and you keep every sale.
When someone buys your plugin, they unlock it with their purchase email and a one-time code — no serial numbers or license files to keep track of. Connect your store (Gumroad, LemonSqueezy, Paddle, Stripe) and licenses are issued automatically on purchase. You set how many machines each license covers, and your customer can move it between their own machines themselves.
From your Publisher dashboard — your whole business in one place. See your customers and what they bought, issue free licenses, set trial length and the machine limit per license, revoke a license for support or refunds, view and remotely deactivate machines, connect your store to issue licenses automatically, and push one-click updates to your whole customer base.
Send someone your plugin file (.pook) — if they have pook it opens instantly, and if not, their free 7-day trial activates from it in under two minutes. Keep in mind the .pook holds your actual source, so anyone you share it with can read and modify it. That’s perfect for collaborating; when you’re ready to release something protected and for sale, use a Giveaway or Publisher plan instead.
Fix it in your source, rebuild, and ship an update — rebuilds and updates are unlimited on Publisher. Your customers get a one-click update prompt the next time they open the plugin, so the fix reaches everyone without you touching an installer.
VST3, AU, and AAX, on macOS and Windows — every major DAW: Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Pro Tools, FL Studio, Cubase, Nuendo, Studio One, Bitwig Studio, Reaper, Reason, Cakewalk, Digital Performer, GarageBand, Luna, Ardour, and more.
They keep their plugins forever. When you cancel, pook rebuilds each released plugin with an offline license and emails your existing customers a personal key they can use forever, on as many machines as they like — no server or pook account needed. You simply can’t sell to new customers or issue new licenses until you’re back.
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