Beatled Server

Source code: github.com/oost/beatled (server/)

The beat server is a C++ application that captures audio, detects beats in real time, and distributes timing data to LED controllers over UDP. It also serves an HTTPS REST API and the React web dashboard.

Architecture

Module	Description
`beat_detector`	Audio capture (PortAudio) and real-time beat detection (BTrack)
`core`	State management, configuration, client registry
`server/http`	HTTPS REST API (RESTinio + OpenSSL) and static file serving
`server/udp_server`	UDP request handler for device registration and time sync
`server/tempo_broadcaster`	Periodic UDP broadcast of beat timing to registered devices
`server/logger`	Ring-buffer logger exposed via the `/api/log` endpoint

Local Development

# Build and start the HTTPS server with the web client
scripts/beatled.sh server start --start-http

# With UDP server for LED controllers
scripts/beatled.sh server start --start-http --start-udp

# With CORS for the Vite dev server
scripts/beatled.sh server start --start-http --cors-origin "https://localhost:5173"

# With Bearer token authentication
scripts/beatled.sh server start --start-http --api-token "secret"

# Run server tests
scripts/beatled.sh test server

The server is built with CMake and uses vcpkg for dependency management. The first build will configure CMake and install dependencies automatically.

Prerequisites

macOS: brew install pkg-config cmake libtool automake autoconf autoconf-archive
vcpkg: Must be installed and VCPKG_ROOT set in your environment
A USB microphone for audio capture (or use a virtual audio device for testing)

Custom Test Domain

The default development domain is beatled.test. To use it locally, add an entry to /etc/hosts:

sudo sh -c 'echo "127.0.0.1 beatled.test" >> /etc/hosts'

Or open /etc/hosts in an editor and add the line manually:

127.0.0.1 beatled.test

On a Raspberry Pi, point the domain to the Pi’s IP instead:

192.168.1.100 beatled.test

The .test TLD is reserved by IANA for testing and will never resolve publicly, making it safe for local development.

TLS Certificates

The server requires TLS certificates for HTTPS. Generate self-signed certificates for local development:

# Default domain (beatled.test)
scripts/beatled.sh certs

# Or specify one or more domains
scripts/beatled.sh certs beatled.test localhost 127.0.0.1

This creates certificates in server/certs/ using mkcert. The server expects cert.pem, key.pem, and dh_param.pem.

For iOS Simulator, install the mkcert root CA so the app trusts self-signed certs:

xcrun simctl keychain booted add-root-cert "$(mkcert -CAROOT)/rootCA.pem"

API Authentication

When started with --api-token, the server requires a Bearer token for all API requests:

Authorization: Bearer <token>

Cross-Compilation and Deployment

Cross-compile for Raspberry Pi (ARM64) using Docker:

git submodule update --init --recursive   # first time only
scripts/beatled.sh build rpi
scripts/beatled.sh server deploy <username> <host>

See the Deployment page for the full guide covering certificates, service management, and troubleshooting.

Dependencies

Managed via vcpkg (pinned to a specific commit for reproducibility):

Library	Purpose
asio	Async networking
restinio	HTTP/HTTPS server
nlohmann-json	JSON parsing
spdlog / fmt	Logging and formatting
portaudio	Audio capture
fftw3	FFT for beat detection
openssl	TLS support
catch2	Unit testing