Callboard

Callboard is a free, open-source, read-only companion app for QLab and vMix. It connects to whichever one is running your show, reads its live timeline and cue state over the network, and shows it in a browser to everyone else on the venue's LAN — lighting, sound, video, stage management — without giving any of them a way to touch the show itself.

Think of it as a shared callboard for the booth: the operator's QLab workspace or vMix instance stays the single source of truth, and every device on the network gets a live, read-only view of what's playing, what's next, and which department's cue is coming up — on a phone, tablet, or laptop, no install required beyond opening a browser tab.

• QLab: live playhead, per-cue department tags ([LX], [AUDIO], [VIDEO], ...), a running-order table with two-stage "coming up" warnings.
• vMix: live Program/Preview readout — what's on air and what's cued next.
• Read-only, always. Callboard only ever queries state; it has no code path that can start, stop, or edit a cue. See Safety.

Setup

npm install

Run

Mock mode (no backend needed, simulated markers + moving playhead — use this to check the UI):

npm run mock

Live mode (QLab or vMix must be running, reachable, and configured in the Settings drawer):

npm start

Then open http://localhost:3000 locally, or http://<host-ip>:3000 from another device on the same LAN.

Configuration

All configuration is web-based: open the Settings drawer (gear icon, top right). Pick the active backend (QLab or vMix), set its connection details, department list, and warning thresholds. Saves persist to config.json and hot-reload the connection — no restart needed. Timelines/tracks are always auto-discovered; there's no name to configure for them.

Packaged app (end users)

Ships as a self-contained desktop app — no Node install, no terminal. It runs a background server and lives in the menu bar (macOS) / system tray (Windows); its only UI is the browser page above. The tray icon has Open Callboard (opens the interface) and Quit. It's an app you launch and that stays running until you quit it — it does not auto-start on login.

Build the installers (on a Mac with create-dmg and makensis from Homebrew):

npm run package:mac   # -> dist/Callboard.dmg  (drag Callboard.app to Applications)
npm run package:win   # -> dist/CallboardSetup.exe  (NSIS installer)

Both builds are ad-hoc signed, not notarized (no paid Apple/Microsoft developer certificate). The ad-hoc signature is what lets the Mac build run at all on Apple Silicon and avoids the "app is damaged" error, but first launch still needs a one-time manual bypass:

• macOS ≤14: right-click the app → Open → Open.
• macOS 15+ (Sequoia): double-click, then System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway.
• Windows: More info → Run anyway (SmartScreen).

On first launch macOS also asks to allow Local Network access (for serving other devices on the show LAN) — allow it, or other devices won't be able to reach Callboard.

Reaching it from other devices: Settings → Connect lists every LAN IP Callboard is reachable on, each with a QR code.

QLab setup

1. Preferences → Network → enable OSC input, TCP, port 53000. View privileges are enough (Callboard never edits or controls cues).
2. Callboard auto-discovers two kinds of tracks in your cue list, no naming convention required for either:
   • Timelines — one Group cue per song/scene, each in Timeline mode. Marker cues (Memo or Network) inside the group, named [DEPT] Title (e.g. [LX] Cue 45 - Fade caldo 5s), show up as department-tagged notes. Drag them on QLab's Timeline to position them — that sets the cue's preWait, which is what Callboard reads as its position.
   • Plain tracks — any other top-level cue with a duration (e.g. an audio file cue not inside a Timeline group). These show up too, just as a name and a running time — no notes, no department tags, since there's nothing inside them to tag.

Before trusting live data on a new show file, run:

node scripts/osc-debug.js

It dumps raw OSC replies against the real show and confirms preWait reflects each marker's dragged position, actionElapsed moves during playback, and every real Timeline Group and plain track is discovered.

vMix setup

1. vMix's TCP API is on by default (Settings → Web Controller), port 8099.
2. No naming convention or per-input setup: Callboard always shows whatever's currently on Program and whatever's in Preview.

Before trusting live data, run:

node scripts/vmix-debug.js

Tests

npm test

Safety

• Read-only: QLab — /workspaces, /connect, /updates 1, /cueLists, valuesForKeys; vMix — XML only. No transport or edit commands, ever, on either backend.
• On backend disconnect, the browser shows an offline banner and freezes the last known state — it does not guess or extrapolate forever.
• Markers/cues are never stored anywhere but the backend itself — no marker database, no write path. Editing a QLab marker means dragging its cue in QLab.