Explore an installed instrument in a separate session, compare candidate sounds, and keep the ones you choose as presets.
Design, protocol and test evidence: Explore plugin sounds with Copilot. Available in macOS Studio for one AU, VST3 or CLAP instrument with editor/state support.
Choose Copilot → Explore plugins, select an instrument or enter a reference such as FM8.vst3, then Open instrument. This creates a fresh instance; load a saved preset to recover a particular sound. Live song edits are not copied.
Describe a sound and choose Explore with Copilot. It can inspect parameters, load Volta presets, navigate the editor, request screenshots, render phrases and snapshot candidates. Screenshots go to the existing Copilot provider.
Audition with ▶ for RMS matching or Original level. Restore returns to a candidate. Name it, Keep preset, then Insert instrument at cursor. Existing presets are not overwritten; retention and source insertion require user actions. Kept states include earlier observations for Copilot to revalidate.
Stop or Back ends the process and expires snapshots. Runs have 12 model turns and eight candidates. The user hears previews; the model gets measurements. Editor events, accepted state and readback do not prove the intended sound. Long tails and asynchronous loading can affect results. Effects, internal tempo sync and full-song plugin rendering remain in Plugin Production Reliability.