Audacity, Linux and PipeWire

Audacity 4
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OK, being lazy I will just copy and paste my question to Copilot AI along with its answer.

tl;dr - Audacity only exposes its audio “nodes” when it needs them, not on app start.

In Linux pipewire, Audacity does not appear in qpwgraph until I actually start recording.

Audacity only appears in qpwgraph once recording starts because it doesn’t create a PipeWire node until it actively uses the audio input. This is expected behavior due to how Audacity interacts with PipeWire via PortAudio.

Here’s a deeper look into what’s happening:

:headphone: Why Audacity Is Invisible in qpwgraph Until Recording

  • Audacity uses PortAudio, which dynamically opens audio streams only when needed. Until you hit “Record,” it doesn’t request an input stream, so PipeWire doesn’t create a node for it.
  • qpwgraph visualizes active PipeWire nodes, not all potential clients. If Audacity hasn’t initiated a stream, it won’t show up.
  • This behavior is common with apps that lazily initialize audio—they only appear in the graph when they actively engage with the audio system.

:hammer_and_wrench: Workarounds and Observations

  • Start playback or recording: Once Audacity begins using audio, it will appear in qpwgraph and you can route or monitor it.
  • Use dummy input/output: Some users create virtual devices or loopback nodes to keep Audacity visible persistently, but this requires manual setup via pw-loopback or pactl.
  • Monitor devices missing? If you’re trying to record system output (e.g., “Monitor of Built-in Audio”), PipeWire may not expose those until a stream is active. This has been noted in recent Audacity versions.
  • Flatpak quirks: If you’re using Audacity or qpwgraph as a Flatpak, sandboxing may delay or restrict device visibility.

:magnifying_glass_tilted_left: Related Notes from the Community

  • Some users on Linux Mint and Kubuntu report that Audacity 3.4.2 works with PipeWire, but only shows up during overdub or active recording.
  • Others trying to use JACK with PipeWire (via pipewire-jack) find similar behavior—no node until the app starts streaming audio.

If you’re trying to pre-route audio before recording starts (e.g., for monitoring or effects), you might consider using a more PipeWire-native DAW like Ardour or Reaper, which expose their nodes immediately upon launch.

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Pro Tip: Press Pause and then Record buttons to put Audacity in “record mode” without recording.

Note that Audacity also allows you to select output connections before playing/recording from within Audacity itself, though this option has been hidden by default in recent versions. To expose these settings:
View menu > Toolbars > Device Toolbar

(These settings have been duplicated behind the “Audio Setup” button. You only really need the “Device Toolbar” or the “Audio Setup Toolbar”, not both. Hide the one that you don’t use via the “View > Toolbars” menu.)