Chip Pops

Install and generate the library

Chip Pops runs on macOS 14 or later, on Apple silicon and Intel Macs. After purchasing, connect GitHub in Polar and accept the invitation. Download the app ZIP from the private Chip Pops releases, unzip it, and move Chip Pops.app to Applications.

The app is signed and notarized. Confirm Open at the normal first-launch prompt. Click Generate the Library when you first open it. The sounds are generated on your Mac and use about 300 MB.

Find a sound for your app

Suppose you need a short sound when a task is saved. Select Success in the sidebar, then click sounds to hear them. The arrow keys move through sounds and play them; Space plays or stops the selection.

The sidebar groups sounds by purpose:

Group	Examples
Interface	Click, toggle, success, error, notification
Game	Coin, jump, laser, explosion
Combos	Sent, received, trash, confirm
Jingles	Fanfare, countdown, startup, alarm

The inspector shows the waveform, pitch, tags and generation parameters. Combo sounds show their two parts, which you can audition separately. Jingles show their notes.

Export a sound

Drag a sound into Finder or an Xcode project to copy its WAV file. Alternatively, choose Sound → Export…, or press Command-E, and save it as saved.wav.

The Sound menu also offers Copy File, Show in Finder and Open in sfxr.me. The last option opens an external editor in your browser for sounds with supported parameters. Right-click a sound for its ID or an export command; right-click a sidebar category to export the whole category.

The generated sounds can be used in free or commercial projects without attribution.

Keep the same sound across projects

A sound ID, such as success-003, identifies a sound within a generated library. A library seed makes generation reproducible. Keep both the ID and seed when you want to reproduce the choice later.

Library → Generate… offers New Sounds for a random seed, or Seed… for a specific one. A different seed changes the sounds behind the IDs. Export the sounds your project uses before replacing its library, and note the seed shown in the sidebar.

Library → Show Library in Finder opens the local library. It lives in ~/Library/Application Support/Blips, including generated audio and library metadata.

Install blips and the agent skill

From the Chip Pops menu, choose Install Command Line Tool…. This links blips into ~/.local/bin. Add that directory to your PATH if Terminal cannot find the command.

Install Agent Skill… installs instructions for compatible coding agents. You can then ask an agent to find a soft success sound and copy it into your project. Listen to its candidates before settling on one.

List matching sounds:

blips list --category success --tag soft --json

Play a couple of candidates, then export your choice:

blips play success-003 success-005
blips export success-003 --to Resources/Sounds --name saved.wav

Use an ID returned by your library’s list. --name applies to one sound at a time. --format m4a converts the export; WAV is the default. blips show success-003 prints its details and parameters.

Run blips help for available commands and blips capabilities --json for the agent-readable manifest.

Troubleshooting and updates

If no sounds appear, finish the initial generation, then use Library → Reload if needed. If the app and CLI show different selections, check which library and seed each command is using; blips help describes seed options.

Audio stays local. Opening sfxr.me is an explicit browser action. Download app updates manually from the private Releases page and quit before replacing the app. Older public-API update checks cannot retrieve private releases.