The Server Console
The server console is Oscilla's control room on the host machine — the computer that runs the server and serves the score to every connected performer. It opens automatically when you start Oscilla from the desktop launcher or with:
npm run electron
The same page is also available in any browser on the host machine at:
http://localhost:8001/host.html
Opened from another machine, the console is read-only: everything that touches the host's filesystem (settings, migration, updates, the log) is restricted to the host itself.
What's in the console
Open the score
Open Oscilla on this computer opens the score interface in its own window. The console stays put — it is mission control, not the score.
Restart server restarts the whole server (in the desktop app it relaunches the app, so freshly updated code loads). Connected clients reconnect automatically. Use it after an update or to recover from trouble.
Performers connect to
The machine's network addresses, each with a QR code. Performers on the same network open the address in a browser — or scan the code. Click a QR to blow it up fullscreen, big enough to hold the screen up to the room; click anywhere or press Esc to dismiss.
Projects folder
Shows where your scores live on the host (default ~/oscilla-projects).
On a first run, before any folder has been chosen, a banner at the top asks
you to decide: Choose a folder… (an existing folder of Oscilla projects,
or a new place for them) or Use ~/oscilla-projects. Nothing is created
until you pick. Later, change it with Browse… — a folder tree of the host
machine with + folder to create a new directory — then Save. Applied immediately;
existing projects stay where they are. If the OSCILLA_PROJECTS_DIR
environment variable is set, it overrides this setting on the next start
(the console warns you).
Desktop launcher
Shown until installed: one click adds Oscilla to your application menu
/ Start Menu / ~/Applications, so the console starts without a terminal
from then on.
Server log
Folded behind the ▸ Server log header — click to unfold a live, timestamped view of everything the server prints (warnings amber, errors red). It follows the tail unless you scroll up to read; your open/closed choice is remembered.
Updates
On git installations, Check & update shows the current branch and
commit and runs git pull. Restart the server (button above) to apply.
The section hides itself on non-git installs.
Projects inside the installation folder
Appears only when projects from an older Oscilla version still live inside the app's own folder — one click moves them to the projects folder, out of harm's way. See Workflow for why they belong there.
Closing the console
Closing the window asks what to do:
- Keep server running — the window closes but performers stay connected. Launch Oscilla again anytime to reopen the console (it reattaches to the running server).
- Stop server and quit — full shutdown.
The tray icon (where your desktop shows one) offers Open Oscilla, the client addresses, and Quit at all times.
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