Live Mixer Connection

Beta: The WingBridge helper and the live mixer connection are marked Beta. They work and are safe to use — every live write asks you to confirm an old→new preview first — but the feature is still settling, so behaviour and wording can change between releases. You'll see the Beta badge in the Mixer menu, in the Connect to Mixer dialog, on the download page, and in the helper's own window.

Several Wing Tools features can talk to a real WING console on your network — linting a live desk, generating a routing PDF from what's actually patched, comparing a saved show against the live state, and more. They all connect the same way: through the small WingBridge helper app and the Connect to Mixer dialog.

Note: The connection itself is free, but the live features it powers each have their own tier — for example, live linting is Pro. You'll see an upgrade prompt if a live feature isn't included in your plan.

Overview

Your browser can't open a raw network socket to a mixing console, so Wing Tools uses a tiny local helper — WingBridge — that runs on your computer and relays between the browser and the console. Everything you read this way is a live, partial view: it is never saved and never overwrites your stored files.

The typical flow is:

1. Start the WingBridge helper on the same network as the console.
2. In Wing Tools, open Connect to Mixer. Every entry point opens the same dialog: the Connect a mixer… button in a live-capable feature, or Connect… / Manage connection… in the Mixer menu in the top bar.
3. Pair the helper once (a one-time security confirmation).
4. Choose your connection protocol (Native or OSC).
5. Discover or add your console, select it, and read.

The Mixer menu in the top bar is your status display: it shows whether the helper is live, which console is active (switch consoles right there), the protocol in use, Write Mode, undo/redo, and the activity log. Everything that changes the connection happens in the dialog.

Getting Started

Requirements

• The WingBridge helper installed and running on your computer. If it isn't running, the dialog shows a download hint with a link.
• Your computer and the WING on the same network.
• A plan that includes the live feature you want to use.

Pairing the helper (one time)

The first time your browser talks to the helper, you'll see a short list of pairing words. Confirm that the same words appear in both places, then click confirm. This protects the connection and only happens once per browser/helper pair.

Connecting and reading

1. Click Connect helper. The status badge turns to connected.
2. Click Discover on LAN to find consoles automatically, or add one by IP (for example 192.168.1.8).
3. Select a console with its checkbox.
4. Click the read button (its label depends on the feature, e.g. Lint or Generate routing PDF). When you opened the dialog just to set the connection up, there is nothing to read and the dialog simply closes with Done.

Choosing the Connection Protocol

In the Connect to Mixer dialog you choose how Wing Tools talks to the console. This choice is made in Wing Tools (not in the helper) and is remembered between sessions.

The WING's OSC server accepts only one client at a time, so connecting Wing Tools over OSC can bump another OSC app off the console (and vice versa). The native protocol allows several clients at once, so you can read your desk in Wing Tools while WING‑Edit or Mixing Station stays connected.

Note: OSC is the default because it reconstructs every WING model. Native (TCP) supports the WING Desk, WING Compact and WING Rack — on any other model a native read reports an error and you switch back to OSC. Support for further models is coming.

Tip: Choose Native when you need to work alongside other WING software; otherwise the default OSC is the simplest choice.

Important: There is no automatic fallback between protocols. If the selected protocol can't reach the console, Wing Tools shows an error and stays on your choice — switch protocols manually and try again. This keeps the behavior predictable rather than silently changing how Wing Tools connects.

Reading and writing

• Reading (lint, routing PDF, signal flow, diff, source parse) works over either protocol and produces the same result.
• Writing to the console (for example, applying linter fixes or source remaps) follows your selected protocol: a Native session writes natively (WING Desk/Compact/Rack), an OSC session writes over OSC. You don't need to do anything — the write path matches your read protocol, and every write still shows an old value → new value confirmation before it's sent.

Read-Only and Write Mode

The connection is read-only by default. Reading never changes the console.

To make changes (such as applying fixes to the desk), switch to Write Mode using the read-only/write toggle in the connection dialog or the Mixer menu in the top bar, and pick a scope:

Warning: Write Mode lets Wing Tools change a live, connected console — it can alter what your musicians and audience hear. Every write still shows a confirmation of old value → new value before anything is sent. Apply changes only when it's safe (not mid‑song).

Multiple Mixers

You can register more than one console (discovered or added by IP). The active selection is remembered. Each console gets its own connection, so switching the active mixer reads the right desk.

Troubleshooting

"Connect helper" does nothing / helper not found

The WingBridge helper isn't running, or your browser can't reach it. Start the helper and try again; the dialog's download hint links to the installer. On Safari, the helper is reached over a secure local address that the installer sets up for you.

The helper window lists the addresses it is listening on ("Listening on ws://… / wss://…"). If the browser still cannot connect, those two lines are exactly what support needs.

macOS: "no route to host", or no consoles found after a helper update

macOS requires a per-app permission for local network access, and a helper update replaces the app — which macOS treats as a different app, so the permission you granted no longer applies. Everything then fails with no route to host, and Discover finds nothing, while the console is perfectly reachable from a terminal.

WingBridge checks this at startup and says so in its window. To fix it:

1. System Settings → Privacy & Security → Local Network
2. Switch WingBridge off and on again (the switch may already look enabled — that entry can belong to the previous version of the app).
3. Quit and restart WingBridge.

You may see several WingBridge entries there over time; that is the same effect, one per installed version.

macOS: "Updates are blocked" in the helper window

macOS runs an app that is still sitting in your Downloads folder from a temporary, read-only copy. The helper works, but it cannot install its own updates — every restart runs the same old version again. Drag WingBridge to your Applications folder and start it from there once; the message disappears and updates apply normally.

"WebSocket connection error" although the helper is running

Your browser reaches the helper on two addresses: ws://127.0.0.1:8444 and the secure wss://local.wing-bridge.theta-tontechnik.de:8444 (a public name that resolves to your own computer, 127.0.0.1). Chrome and Firefox work with either; Safari only works with the secure one.

Some routers and DNS filters refuse to resolve a public name that points at 127.0.0.1 — the feature is usually called DNS rebind protection.

Wing Tools detects this for you. Whenever the helper is connected, it resolves its own secure address on your network and reports the result. If the name is blocked, the Connect to Mixer dialog shows a panel titled "Your router blocks the secure local address" with the walkthrough below. The warning also appears in the WingBridge helper window, and it disappears by itself a few minutes after you have fixed the router — no restart needed.

To check it yourself, run:

ping local.wing-bridge.theta-tontechnik.de

It must answer 127.0.0.1. An "unknown host" reply confirms the block.

Fix it on your computer — works in any network

A hosts-file entry takes precedence over whatever the router answers, so this works at home and on tour, in a venue's guest Wi-Fi, or anywhere else the router is not yours to configure. The certificate is issued for this exact name, so the secure address then works everywhere, Safari included. Run once (you will be asked for your password):

# macOS and Linux
echo "127.0.0.1 local.wing-bridge.theta-tontechnik.de" | sudo tee -a /etc/hosts

# Windows, in PowerShell started as administrator
Add-Content -Path $env:WinDir\System32\drivers\etc\hosts -Value "127.0.0.1 local.wing-bridge.theta-tontechnik.de"

Add only this one line, and only the IPv4 address — the helper deliberately listens on 127.0.0.1 only, so an IPv6 (::1) entry would point your browser at a port nothing answers on. To undo it, delete the line again. The Connect dialog shows the command for your operating system with a copy button.

Adding the exception on a FRITZ!Box

1. Open http://fritz.box and log in.
2. Go to Home Network → Network → Network Settings (German: Heimnetz → Netzwerk → Netzwerkeinstellungen).
3. Under DNS Rebind Protection (DNS-Rebind-Schutz), add local.wing-bridge.theta-tontechnik.de to the host name exceptions (Hostname-Ausnahmen) and apply.

Other routers and DNS filters (Pi-hole, AdGuard, corporate resolvers) have an equivalent allow-list — look for rebind or private IP answers.

Nothing to install, right now

Use Chrome, Edge or Firefox. They reach the helper at ws://127.0.0.1:8444 and are unaffected — only Safari depends on the secure address.

Native read fails but OSC works (or vice versa)

There is no automatic fallback by design. Switch the connection protocol in the dialog and read again. If only one protocol reaches the console, check that nothing else is monopolizing the console's OSC client when using OSC.

Another app gets disconnected when I connect

That's the single-client limit of OSC. Switch to Native (TCP) so Wing Tools and the other app can share the console.

Next Steps

• Snapshot Linter: Lint and fix a live console.
• Routing Generator: Generate routing documents — including from a live desk.
• Source Management: Read and remap sources from a live console.

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Questions? Check the Reference section for troubleshooting tips.