Operating Manual

RA Plugin Manifest Editor

Curate RA Control’s Insert Plugins list

Six Walls v1.1 Windows & macOS

Unofficial, third-party tool

Not created by, affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Rocksolid Audio. “RA Control” and any related names or marks belong to their respective owners and are used here only to describe compatibility.

The app edits a local configuration file (HostMode.props) and is not supported by Rocksolid Audio — use at your own risk. It writes a timestamped backup before every save (see Backups).

What it is

RA Control keeps a list of every plug-in it has found on your system in a file called HostMode.props. That list is what populates the Insert Plugins activity in Host Mode.

The file is plain XML (JUCE’s KnownPluginList format), and duplicate, broken, or shell/placeholder entries pile up in it with no supported way to clear them out short of editing the XML by hand. This app is a proper interface for that: open the file, check the plug-ins you want gone, remove them, save. It remembers what you removed, so if RA Control’s scanner re-adds one later it is flagged for you.

Installing

Windows	Run the installer — Start Menu shortcut, optional desktop shortcut, uninstall via Settings → Apps. If your machine doesn’t already have the .NET 10 Runtime, the installer fetches it (Web flavor) or bundles it (Offline flavor) automatically. A freshly signed build may show a SmartScreen “not commonly downloaded” note on first launch — More info → Run anyway.
macOS	Still a self-contained, portable app — no runtime needed. Unzip, move the app to `/Applications`. If Gatekeeper blocks the first launch, right-click the app and choose Open.

The app’s settings live in a separate folder from RA Control’s files (see Where things live), so uninstalling leaves RA Control untouched.

The workflow

Open the file. Open different file… (or Open HostMode.props… if nothing is loaded) — the picker opens straight into RA Control’s own Host Mode folder, so double-click HostMode.props. The app reloads the last file you opened automatically on the next launch.
Browse. Filter by name, manufacturer, format, or category with the search box, narrow by format with the dropdown, and click any column header to sort.
Check what you want removed. The checkbox in the table header checks or unchecks every currently filtered row at once.
Stage the removal. Remove checked (N) takes the checked plug-ins out of the in-memory list. Nothing is written to disk yet.
Save. Save changes writes the file back — after copying the current version to a timestamped backup first. If plug-ins are still checked but were never removed, Save stops and asks, so a batch of intended removals can’t be lost by accident.
Restart RA Control (or leave and re-enter Host Mode) to see the trimmed list.

Reload from disk re-reads the current file without reopening the picker — useful after RA Control’s scanner has run again. Save edited copy as… exports your changes to a new file instead of overwriting the original.

Removal history

Every plug-in you remove is remembered after the app closes. If a rescan brings a removed plug-in back into HostMode.props, the next time you open or reload the file it is pre-checked and tagged history — so clearing it out again is one more Remove checked plus Save changes.

Open Removal history in the toolbar to see everything you have ever removed. Each entry has two actions:

Restore — puts that plug-in straight back into the file you currently have open, with no need to reopen the original or redo other removals.
Forget — stops it being auto-selected in future without adding it back.

Either way, click Save changes afterward to write it to disk.

Checking for maps

The Maps menu cross-checks every plug-in against RA Control’s own local map cache — no network calls. Plug-ins with no map available anywhere are auto-checked for removal, so you can trim the list down to what RA Control can actually map.

Backups

The app backs up your file automatically, on every save. Each time you click Save changes, it copies whatever is currently on disk to a timestamped backup — HostMode.props.bak-YYYYMMDD-HHmmss — in the same folder, before it writes anything. No setup, no toggle.

If an edit goes wrong, the previous version is sitting right next to the file — rename it back to HostMode.props.

These backups accumulate (one per save) and are not auto-deleted, so it is worth clearing old ones out of the Host Mode folder occasionally if you save often.

Where things live

What	Where
The manifest	%APPDATA%\Rocksolid Audio\RA Control\Host Mode\HostMode.props (Windows) ~/Library/Application Support/Rocksolid Audio/RA Control/Host Mode/HostMode.props (macOS)
Manifest backups	Same folder, as HostMode.props.bak-<timestamp>
This app’s settings	%APPDATA%\RAPluginManifestEditor\settings.json (Windows) ~/Library/Application Support/RAPluginManifestEditor/ (macOS)
Removal history	…\RAPluginManifestEditor\removal-history.json

RA Control’s folder is untouched except when you hit Save. Deleting the app’s own settings/history resets this tool without touching RA Control.

Troubleshooting

The picker doesn’t open into the right folder: RA Control may not be installed, or has never run Host Mode. Browse to the path in Where things live by hand.
Removed plug-ins came back: RA Control’s scanner re-added them. Reload the file — they will be pre-checked and tagged history; remove and save again.
Save did nothing: If you checked plug-ins but never clicked Remove checked, Save stops and asks first. Confirm the prompt, or remove them, then save.
RA Control still shows the old list: Restart RA Control, or leave and re-enter Host Mode, so it re-reads HostMode.props.
SmartScreen or Gatekeeper warning: The build is code-signed, but a fresh certificate takes time to earn reputation. Windows: More info → Run anyway. macOS: right-click → Open.

At a glance

Platform	Windows (Avalonia / .NET, installer, needs the .NET 10 Runtime — the installer handles it) and macOS (self-contained, no runtime needed)
Edits	RA Control’s `HostMode.props` (JUCE `KnownPluginList` XML)
Writes	Only on Save changes; a timestamped `.bak-` copy is made first, every time
Network	The map check reads RA Control’s local cache only — no network calls
History	Removed plug-ins are remembered across launches; re-added ones are flagged on reload
Maker	Six Walls — unofficial, no affiliation with Rocksolid Audio