Disting Nt Cpp Plugin Writer

The current verified baseline is API v13: 64 logical buses (12 input, 8 output, 44 aux). Pin the distingNT_API submodule and verify the target firmware/API from official Expert Sleepers sources before each release; do not assume this baseline will remain current.

• Treat pool sizes and loader placement as dated firmware facts, not API guarantees; inspect the pinned firmware and the real ARM object.
• Put persistent per-instance data in memory requested by calculateRequirements() rather than static DTC allocations.
• Use NT_globals.workBuffer only for non-persistent scratch that fits workBufferSizeBytes; it resides in DTC.
• Do not assume cold plug-in code can run from flash or that proposed relocation changes exist until the target firmware proves they do.

• A gate group owns one gate bus and Count consecutive pitch buses immediately after it: pitch voice i reads gateBus + i + 1 in host numbering.
• Validate the highest derived pitch bus against kNT_lastBus, the configured voice ceiling, and all other groups' reservations.
• Allocate fixed, non-overlapping voice partitions in group order. Reserve the remainder for MIDI; do not let MIDI steal a CV-owned slot or one CV group borrow another group's slot.
• Use Schmitt hysteresis, explicit sample-and-hold semantics, fresh-edge activation after count increases, and short transition fades for removal/reassignment.
• Retrigger an audible release tail in place when logical voice identity is unchanged; stealing/reassignment should fade the old sound before resetting phase/filter/envelope state.

• Keep the public guide player-focused: purpose, installation, controls, defaults, ranges, routing, ownership, S&H behavior, panic behavior, compatibility, and practical examples. Keep build/developer commands in developer docs.
• Audit every numeric or behavioral claim against code and tests. Audit firmware, API, installation, and hardware claims against current primary sources.
• Label ambiguous pitch anchors with both MIDI note number and frequency; do not rely on octave-name conventions.
• Distinguish user envelope Release from internal safety fades, a plugin's own output limiting from the final Add-mode bus, and MIDI channel messages from system/realtime messages.
• Record unresolved or time-sensitive claims instead of smoothing over uncertainty.

Use the claim inventory and release gate in production-workflow.md.

1. Native unit/behavior tests, including worst-case voice counts and state transitions.
2. Strict compile warnings and available static analysis.
3. ARM hardware build with -fPIC and no exceptions/RTTI.
4. Object inspection: ELF32 little-endian ARM relocatable object, exported pluginEntry, section/size review, and an understood undefined-symbol set.
5. Documentation fact-check against the release commit.
6. nt_emu and/or physical hardware testing appropriate to the change, reported separately.
7. Clean repository status and a reviewed release diff.

Use testing.md for desktop/emulator setup and production-workflow.md for the release gate.

1. Fix warnings rather than suppressing them unless the exception is documented.
2. Run clang-tidy with the actual compile database when available and cppcheck --enable=warning,style,performance,portability --std=c++17 --suppress=missingIncludeSystem . when appropriate.
3. Inspect arm-none-eabi-size -A, arm-none-eabi-nm -S --size-sort, and arm-none-eabi-readelf -h. Do not encode a timeless fixed plugin-size limit: firmware memory availability changes, including an increase in firmware 1.16.
4. Confirm immutable tables and metadata are actually const, enum strings exactly match their ranges, hot callbacks allocate nothing, and every array/index path is bounded.
5. Review the user-facing diff for stale defaults, renamed controls, changed behavior, missing compatibility notes, or developer-only clutter.
6. Check git status; preserve completed work in the repository's normal durable flow.