H2CLI(1)

📦 version 1.2.6, in ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

✨ H2CLI(1) — the h2cli manual, but make it cute ✨

okay so bestie, welcome to h2cli, a CLI version of the advanced drum machine Hydrogen 💖 (yes that's the H2CLI(1) page you're reading, we're just vibing here)

🌸 NAME 🌸

h2cli — a CLI version of the advanced drum machine Hydrogen. periodt.

🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

h2cli options

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so basically, h2cli does not start up the GUI of Hydrogen. instead it lets you do some batch processing using its core. it can be used in two different ways:

  1. exporting a song into an audio file
  2. checking, extracting, installing, or upgrading an existing drumkit

two modes, both iconic, no cap 💅

👑 OPTIONS 👑

  • -d, --driver=[AUDIO_DRIVER] — use the selected audio driver. the description of this option in the --help output contains all audio drivers available on your system. (iykyk, go check --help for your local lineup ✨)
  • -s, --song=FILE — load a song (*.h2song) at startup. alternatively, you can just pass the filename without this option. lowkey convenient fr fr
  • -p, --playlist=FILE — load a playlist (*.h2playlist) at startup. 🎧
  • -k, --kit=DRUMKIT_NAME — load a drumkit at startup. 🥁
  • -o, --outfile=PATH — destination file (export). where your masterpiece lands 💖
  • -r, --rate=INT — set bitrate while exporting a song.
  • -b, --bits=INT — set bit depth while exporting a song.
  • --compression-level=DOUBLE — trade-off between max. quality (0.0) and max. compression (1.0) while exporting a song.
  • -I, --interpolation=INT — type of interpolation used during resampling (if required) while exporting a song. available options are 0 (linear) [default], 1 (cosine), 2 (third), 3 (cubic), and 4 (hermite). the math is mathing ✨
  • -i, --install=FILE — install a drumkit (*.h2drumkit).
  • -c, --check=FILE — validates a drumkit (*.h2drumkit) against the current drumkit format.
  • -l, --legacy-check=FILE — validates a drumkit (*.h2drumkit) against the current as well as legacy drumkit formats. extra thorough, we love that 🫶
  • -u, --upgrade=FILE — upgrades a drumkit. the provided file can be either an absolute path to a folder containing a drumkit, an absolute path to a drumkit file (drumkit.xml) itself, or an absolute path to a compressed drumkit (*.h2drumkit). if no target folder was specified using the -t option, a backup of the drumkit is created and the original one is upgraded in place. if a compressed drumkit is provided as first argument, the upgraded drumkit will be compressed as well.
  • -x, --extract=FILE — extracts the content of a drumkit (*.h2drumkit). if no target is specified using the -t option, this command behaves like --install.
  • -t, --target=FOLDER — target folder the extracted (-x) or upgraded (-u) drumkit will be stored in. the folder is created if it does not exists yet. bestie it will literally make the folder for you 💅
  • -O, --osc-port=PORT — use custom OSC port.
  • -P, --data=PATH — use an alternate system data path.
  • --user-data=PATH — use an alternate user data path.

the default one is $HOME/.hydrogen.

  • --config=PATH — use an alternate config path.

the default one is $HOME/.hydrogen/hydrogen.conf.

  • -V, --verbose=[LEVEL] — print a lot of debugging info 📝

level, if present, may be None, Error, Warning, Info, or Debug.

  • -L, --log-file=FILE — use custom log file.
  • -T, --log-timestamps — add timestamps to all log messages.
  • -v, --version — show version info.
  • -h, --help — show this help message. your bestie when you're lost 🙈

🍓 FILES 🍓

for a comprehensive list of files, configuration, and environmental variables, please see the man page of hydrogen itself. (not me redirecting you, but like, genuinely, that's where the full tea is ☕)

🌈 EXAMPLES 🌈

exporting a song into an audio file

h2cli -s /usr/share/hydrogen/data/demo_songs/GM_kit_demo1.h2song
-d GMRockKit -d auto -o ./example.wav

check the format of a drumkit

h2cli -c /usr/share/hydrogen/data/drumkits/GMRockKit

💀 BUGS & FEATURES REQUEST 💀

if you find any bug or if you would like to propose a new feature, please report it to https://github.com/hydrogen-music/hydrogen/issues — the devs wanna hear from you, fr fr 🫶

🧚 AUTHORS 🧚

the hydrogen development team. see complete list at Hydrogen's "About" Dialog. you can contact them at <hydrogen-devel@lists.sourceforge.net>.

subscription to the mailing list can be done here:

http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/hydrogen-devel .

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

  • the main graphical application — hydrogen(1)
  • a player Hydrogen-based songs on the command line — h2player(1)
Copyright (C) 2002-2008 Alessandro Cominu
Copyright (C) 2008-2025 The hydrogen development team

Hydrogen is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GPL version 2 or later. slay 💅

and that's the whole page bestie 🎀 this was Hydrogen 1.2.6, dated July 29, 2025 — and yeah, the manual page itself is literally called H2CLI(1). go make some beats 👑🥁

📦 where this page comes from