shaperbox-importer

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Bulk-import preset packs into Cableguys ShaperBox 3 on macOS — without clicking through Load FXP → Save preset for every single file.

ShaperBox 3 has no built-in bulk import. This tool hosts ShaperBox via Pedalboard so the plugin itself migrates each preset to its current internal format, then writes the result directly into ShaperBox's local SQLite DB and content-addressed .dat store. After running, the presets appear in the MY PRESETS tab on next launch.

Disclaimer: Not affiliated with or endorsed by Cableguys. The internal storage format was reverse-engineered. Use at your own risk; always keep the auto-backup until you've verified your presets.

Features

• Imports hundreds of presets in one go
• Supports .vstpreset (VST3 preset files) and .fst (FL Studio plugin-state files)
• Uses ShaperBox's own migration code via Pedalboard — version-correct output
• Auto-backups your ~/Library/Cableguys/ShaperBox3/ folder before any writes
• Refuses to run while a DAW is open (avoids DB lock)
• Dry-run mode

Requirements

• macOS
• Python 3.9+
• ShaperBox 3 installed at /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3/ShaperBox 3.vst3
• A valid ShaperBox 3 license (the plugin must initialize for migration to work)

Install

pip install shaperbox-importer

Or run it once without installing, using uv:

uvx shaperbox-import /path/to/preset/folder

Or from source:

git clone https://github.com/PhillipAmend/shaperbox-importer
cd shaperbox-importer
pip install .

Usage

# Dry-run first to see what would be imported
shaperbox-import /path/to/preset/folder --dry-run

# Real import (auto-backs up ShaperBox3/ first)
shaperbox-import /path/to/preset/folder

Close your DAW first. The tool refuses to run while one is open; override with --force if you really need to.

Flags

flag	description
--dry-run	list what would be imported, no writes
--no-backup	skip the auto-backup of the Cableguys data folder
--force	proceed even with a DAW open (risks DB lock)
--version	print version

Example

$ shaperbox-import ~/Downloads/MyPresetPack
found 200 preset file(s) (200 .vstpreset) under /Users/me/Downloads/MyPresetPack

backing up ShaperBox data folder ...
backup: /Users/me/Library/Cableguys/ShaperBox3.backup-20260522-142425

loading ShaperBox 3 via Pedalboard ...

importing 200 preset(s):
  [   1/200] +  Bass Wobble 01  (4385 B)
  [   2/200] +  Bass Wobble 02  (4586 B)
  ...
imported 200 preset(s); 0 failed.
open ShaperBox in your DAW to see the new presets in MY PRESETS.

Restoring from backup

If something looks wrong, the script prints the backup path. To restore:

rm -rf ~/Library/Cableguys/ShaperBox3
mv ~/Library/Cableguys/ShaperBox3.backup-<timestamp> ~/Library/Cableguys/ShaperBox3

How it works

1. ShaperBox stores user presets in ~/Library/Cableguys/ShaperBox3/:
   • presets.db — SQLite with presets, queue, packs, pack_positions, files1, info tables.
   • Per-preset .dat files in a CAS layout (<hash[0]>/<hash[1]>/<hash>.dat), each containing #zip#\0 + zlib-compressed JUCE ValueTree.
2. The current state schema (version 75 in ShaperBox 3.6.x) differs from older saved presets — dropping older .fxp/.vstpreset bytes in directly doesn't work because internal modules (LimiterState, PitchState, etc.) have evolved.
3. Hosting ShaperBox via Pedalboard and calling load_preset() triggers the plugin's own migration code, which gives us a bit-correct current-format chunk back.
4. The chunk is written as a .dat and matching rows are inserted into presets + queue. author must be empty for the entry to appear in MY PRESETS.

For .fst files, the embedded #zip# chunk is extracted from FL Studio's container, re-wrapped as a synthetic .vstpreset, and fed through the same pipeline.

FAQ

Will this work on Windows or Linux? No. The Cableguys data folder, plugin path, and DAW-detection heuristics are macOS-specific. PRs welcome.

Will it break in the next ShaperBox release? Possibly. The schema is bumped occasionally. If imports stop showing up, the CURRENT_DB_VERSION constant in cli.py likely needs to be raised; the rest of the format has been stable for several major versions.

Does it work for HalfTime / FilterShaper Core / other Cableguys plugins? Not today. The data folder layout is similar, but each plugin has its own state schema and MY PRESETS flow.

Can I assign presets to a specific pack instead of MY PRESETS? Not yet. PRs welcome — see pack_positions in the DB.

Does it sync to my Cableguys cloud account? The imported presets land in the local sync queue (state=0). What Cableguys' server does with them on next sync isn't documented; we observed that they display correctly locally regardless.

Acknowledgments

This project was built in collaboration with Claude (Anthropic). The format reverse-engineering, code, tests, and documentation were paired with AI assistance.

License

MIT — an OSI-approved permissive open source license. Use it for anything (personal, commercial, in your own product), just keep the copyright notice.