JSON Config File

It’s best to use the Settings application and the transport / processing plugins for Settings to manipulate the file. However, if you edit it by hand, here are some notes.

The File location is Restricted

The JSON configuration files are all stored in %allusersprofile%\Microsoft\MIDI which typically resolves to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\MIDI. For security reasons, we don’t allow the file to be stored in any other location. However, you can have as many files in that folder as you want, and switch between them as needed.

The default config file is typically named Default.midiconfig.json. The actual name is stored in the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows MIDI Services in the CurrentConfig value. This value must not contain any non-filename path characters (no backslashes, colons, etc.).

JSON is Case-Sensitive

JSON is typically case-sensitive for all keys. The Windows.Data.Json parser used by Windows MIDI Services is case-sensitive with no option to ignore case. That includes GUID values. For example, the following two values are not equivalent JSON keys:

"{26FA740D-469C-4D33-BEB1-3885DE7D6DF1}":
{
    "_comment": "KS MIDI (USB etc.)"
}

and

"{26fa740d-469c-4d33-beb1-3885de7d6df1}":
{
    "_comment": "KS MIDI (USB etc.)"
}

Schema

The JSON config file is such that each transport owns its own schema within the bucket associated with its class ID (GUID). We do not impose a schema on the transports or other plugins. Therefore there is no formal JSON Schema for this file.

Here’s an example of a bare-bones file, with sections for three different transports.

{
    "header":
    {
        "_comment": "NOTE: All json keys are case-sensitive, including GUIDs.",
        "product" : "Windows MIDI Services",
        "fileVersion": 1.0
    },
    
    "endpointTransportPluginSettings":
    {
        "{26FA740D-469C-4D33-BEB1-3885DE7D6DF1}":
        {
            "_comment": "KS MIDI (USB etc.)"
        },
        "{C95DCD1F-CDE3-4C2D-913C-528CB8A4CBE6}":
        {
            "_comment": "Network MIDI"
        },
        "{8FEAAD91-70E1-4A19-997A-377720A719C1}":
        {
            "_comment": "Virtual MIDI"
        }
    },
    "endpointProcessingPluginSettings":
    {

    }
}

Endpoint Properties

NOTE: This section is in flux, as we’re changing how devices are identified, and how properties are set.

The basics of this are identical for each transport. We’ll use KS (USB) as an example as it has the most complex lookup mechanisms to attempt to identify devices, even when they are moved from port to port.

"{26FA740D-469C-4D33-BEB1-3885DE7D6DF1}":
{
    "_comment": "KS MIDI (USB etc.)",
    "update":
    [
        {
            "match":
            {
                "SWD": "\\\\?\\swd#midisrv#midiu_ks_bidi_6051189816177518400_outpin.0_inpin.2#{e7cce071-3c03-423f-88d3-f1045d02552b}"
            },
            "_comment" : "Roland A88 mk2",
            "userSuppliedName" : "Pete's A88",
            "userSuppliedDescription" : "The A88 is the giant MIDI 2.0 piano-action keyboard here in my studio."
        },
        {
            ...
        }
    ]   
},

Valid properties you can set across all supported endpoints

Property	Type	Description
userSuppliedName	Quoted Text	The name you want to use for the endpoint. This will override the name displayed in correctly-coded applications, but won’t necessarily change what you see in Device Manager. These names should be relatively short so they display fully in all/most applications, but meaningful to you.
userSuppliedDescription	Quoted Text	A text description and/or notes about the endpoint. Applications may or may not use this data

Plugin-specific settings

Appropriate configuration information may be found in the individual transport pages.