The Go2Cue guide

Set up a show in about fifteen minutes, then run it from one screen: standbys, GO, live cue numbers from the consoles, messages and countdowns for every crew position.

The idea

The stage manager's computer is the hub. It talks to the consoles (Eos, QLab, or any software that sends OSC), and it holds every cue light. Each crew position is a station: a Go2Cue box on the wall, or any laptop or desktop running Go2Cue. Stations show the cue that's running and the one that's next, light up red for a standby, and green for GO.

• Everything runs on your own network. No internet is needed during a show.
• Stations are free. Only the stage manager's hub needs a license, and the free plan runs one feed and one station.
• A station that loses the hub shows NO LINK in slate blue. It never keeps showing an old standby or GO.

The stage manager's computer

1. Download Go2Cue for Windows or Mac from the download section and open it.
2. Allow it on the network. Windows asks once: allow it on private networks. A Mac asks to find devices on the local network: say yes. If this is missed, stations won't appear (see When something's wrong).
3. Choose Stage Manager on the first screen.
4. Pick a system id under the cog (top right). Every computer and box on one show uses the same number. Two shows on one network use different numbers.

The stage manager's screen has the cue feeds across the top, the station tiles below, and the big GO at the bottom. The header has the clock, a run timer, the message envelope, INTERMISSION, and the cog.

Cue feeds

A feed is one source of cues: a lighting console, a QLab workspace, anything that sends OSC, or a typed list. Set them up under the cog > Cue feeds. Give each a name the crew will recognise: LIGHTS, SOUND, VIDEO, FLY.

Each feed row shows the cue running (with its fade), NEXT, and what follows. Eos feeds are light blue and QLab violet, everywhere.

Crew cue lists

Give a crew position its own cue list and its screen shows it the way it shows a desk: the cue they're on, NEXT, and what follows. Its standby says what's coming: STANDBY · FLY 7 · Fly in the house. Each GO to that station steps its list on by itself, however the GO came (the screen, a key, a Stream Deck, an assistant or a desk's cue), and the stage manager's tile shows the next one.

• By hand: cog > Cue feeds > a feed set to CUE LIST. Type the cues, one per line, and choose the station it belongs to.
• From a cue sheet: cog > Import a cue sheet… takes a CSV, or rows exported from Excel or Google Sheets. Columns are found by their headings (Cue or Q, Description or Action, Time or Fade). A Department column makes one list per department: Go2Cue suggests the station for each (FLY to Fly Rail) and you confirm.
• HOLD on the stage manager's list row steps it back one, if a GO went early.
• Cue lists are free in every plan, and they're saved in the show file.

Crew stations

A Go2Cue box

1. Put the firmware on it once, by USB, from the Station boxes page (Chrome or Edge). After that, boxes update over the show network (see Updates).
2. Tap the cog on the box: pick the Wi-Fi network and type its password, set the station number (1 to 16), the name (Fly Rail, SL Deck, Spot 1) and the same system id as the stage manager.
3. The box restarts and appears on the stage manager's screen as a tile.

A computer

1. Install Go2Cue and choose Crew Station.
2. Under the cog, give it a name, a station number and the show's system id.

From the stage manager's screen

• Right-click a tile (long-press on a box) to rename the station, choose which feeds it shows, turn its sound on, or message it. The station saves these itself.
• Tiles grow from 4 to 8 to 16 as stations join.
• Two boxes can share a number on purpose, for example both sides of the stage: one tile, one standby for both, and READY once both have acknowledged.

Running the show

1. Standby: click a station's tile. It turns red and flashes on both screens, with the station's view filling its panel.
2. Acknowledge: the crew member taps their screen (or presses Space on a computer). The flashing stops and a yellow edge shows READY on both screens.
3. GO: press the big GO (or Space). Everything on standby goes at once: stations turn green and feeds on standby take their next cue. The strip above GO lists exactly what will go.
4. A station's GO clears itself after 3 seconds.

Each feed has its own STANDBY, HOLD and GO:

• STANDBY puts the feed on standby, so the big GO takes it with the stations. Stations following that feed see a red edge and a STANDBY tag.
• GO takes that feed's next cue now, and nothing else.
• HOLD on Eos is Stop/Back: once holds a running fade, again goes back. On QLab it pauses, and a second press resumes. GO resumes a held cue.
• CLEAR in the header drops every standby.

Messages and sound

• The envelope in the header sends a message to everyone, to chosen stations, or to everyone following a feed. Quick calls (Places, please; Hold please; Five minutes…) send with one click.
• A message fills the station's panel in flashing amber until it's tapped. If a standby is up, the standby keeps the panel and "Message waiting" shows underneath.
• The tile shows an envelope until the message is read, then a tick.
• A sound with a message: none, a chime, or an alert. A station plays it only if its own sound is on: off to start, so a box in the wings stays quiet. Turn it on for a dressing room or the green room (Off, Soft, Medium or Loud). It plays when the message arrives and twice more, 30 seconds apart, while unread.

Countdowns and calls

• INTERMISSION in the header starts the intermission with one press: 15 minutes, with ten, five and "Places for Act Two" called to every station as messages, with their sounds.
• Curtain: the ▾ beside it starts a countdown to curtain, at a clock time or in so many minutes, with the half hour, fifteen, five and places called.
• Every station shows the time left. At zero it shows PLACES for two minutes.
• The ▾ also edits both lists of calls (up to six each, with their words and sounds) and the intermission's length. While a countdown runs it moves zero a minute either way, or stops it.
• A call already past when the countdown starts is skipped, not sent late.

Asst Stage Managers

A second stage manager (or third) can run the show from another computer or box: choose Asst Stage Manager. It shows the stage manager's screen live, and every press goes to the hub, so two people can never leave the stations disagreeing. The plan says how many: Starter 1, Standard 2, Pro 4, Unlimited any.

Keys, MIDI and Stream Deck

• Keyboard: cog > Shortcuts. Space is GO, 1–0 stand by stations 1–10, M opens messages. Any action can have its own key.
• MIDI: in the same dialog, click an action's MIDI slot, then press a pad, key or foot pedal. MIDI works even with Eos or QLab in front, so you can call by feel with your eyes on the stage.
• Stream Deck: install the Go2Cue plugin and drag the keys you want anywhere: GO, a station's standby, a feed's STANDBY/HOLD/GO, a preset message, Intermission, Clear, and Acknowledge for a crew computer. Each key shows live state in the screen's colors.
• Companion, show software or scripts: the same buttons over OSC (UDP 53100, /standby/sm/go…) or a WebSocket. Allowed from this computer by default; the cog sets it to the show network or off.

Let a desk cue the crew

A lighting desk or QLab can stand stations by and GO them as part of its own cues. The fly rail lights STANDBY when the desk's cue 42 runs, and GO comes with cue 43, without the stage manager pressing anything.

• Where to send it: the stage manager's computer, UDP port 53100.
• Eos: under Setup › System › Show Control › OSC, set the OSC UDP transmit address to the stage manager's computer and the port to 53100. Then add the string to the cue (or to a macro the cue fires).
• QLab: a Network cue, destination the stage manager's computer on port 53100, with the OSC message above. Group it with the cue it belongs to.
• Who may send them: a desk that is one of the show's feeds (its address is in the feed settings) always may. Anything else on the network needs the cog's remote control set to the show network.
• An automatic standby shows on the stage manager's screen like any other, and the stage manager can still clear it or GO it by hand.

Show files

Cog > Show… saves the show as a .go2cue file: the feeds (with addresses and passcodes), the countdown calls, the manual cue lists, and each station's name, feeds and sound. Open it on another computer, or for the next run. Opening asks first, then everything applies at once: the feeds reconnect and the stations are renamed (one that's off gets its name when it comes back). This computer's role, network, system id, shortcuts and license stay as they are.

Updates

• Go2Cue itself: when a new version is out, a yellow UPDATE chip appears in the header. It shows what's new, whether your license covers it, and a Download button. Nothing installs by itself: update between shows. Your settings carry over.
• Station boxes: when the stage manager's computer runs a newer version than the boxes, the header shows N BOXES TO UPDATE. Press it, then Update them. Each box updates when nothing is on standby there, shows UPDATING, and restarts in about a minute. No internet is needed: the box gets it from the stage manager's computer, and takes only firmware signed by us.

Licenses

• Add a license: cog > License, type the key from your email, and press Activate. A booth computer with no internet: open the activation page on any phone with the computer's id, and paste the code it gives you.
• Two computers per license: the hub and a spare. Move it from your account page or with Remove license.
• To own: the versions released in your year of updates run for good. Renew updates to keep getting new versions.
• To rent: the header shows RENTAL ENDS for the last three days, then everything still runs for one grace day. After that the hub moves to the free plan at its next launch, or after an hour with nothing on standby, never in the middle of a show. Every rental dollar counts toward owning.
• Education: K-12 theatre teachers 50% off, college and university students and teachers 30% off, from the education page.
• Over the plan, extra feeds show "Needs a bigger license" and an extra box shows FULL. A box already in the show always gets back in.

When something's wrong

Still stuck? Write to support@go2cue.com with what you see and the version (in the window title).