DAWnative

DAWnative is a proposed software standard and runtime architecture designed to enable native integration of digital audio workstation features across host applications and operating systems. It aims to unify plugin hosting, session data, and project workflows so that projects can move between DAWs with minimal conversion.

The core concept is a lightweight runtime that runs within a host DAW, providing a common API for plugins, automation, routing, and sample-accurate playback. It includes a project model for interchange, a plugin interface compatible with multiple plugin formats, and a security sandboxing layer to protect hosts.

Key features include cross-DAW project interchange, native plugin hosting, low-latency audio paths, MIDI and control-surface support, sample-accurate automation, and standardized metadata and licensing information. The design emphasizes platform neutrality and extensibility through adapters for existing formats.

Origin traces to open-standard discussions in the mid-2020s by an industry consortium seeking interoperability. Proposals and prototype implementations appeared in academic and community projects, with several host developers expressing interest but no official specification or broad vendor adoption as of 2025.

Adoption remains experimental. Some hosts have built adapters or reference implementations that run DAWnative runtimes in sandboxed modes, while others view it as a potential competitor to existing plugin standards. Critics cite governance, fragmentation risk, and performance variability as major concerns.

See also: Digital audio workstation, Plugin format, Interoperability standards.