I think if DAWs could pass their own MIDI data directly to VSTs, we wouldn't have to deal with nearly as much keyswitch input.

For example, look at ACE Studio—it reproduces natural instrument performances without keyswitches, right? That's because the AI model references the MIDI notes, which is exactly the "DAW to VST" relationship I'm talking about.

Some sound libraries have a look-ahead feature that analyzes incoming MIDI notes in real-time to switch articulations automatically, but that introduces latency.
While you need that when playing on a keyboard, for someone like me who does everything via MIDI programming, it's incredibly frustrating.

I often find myself thinking,
"The DAW already has the MIDI data—it knows exactly which measure has what note. It could mechanically determine if it's sustain or staccato, or if it's legato because of consecutive long notes.
But since the DAW can't share that with the VST, I have to manually input keyswitches, which is totally inefficient."
It really pisses me off.
Of course, you still need keyswitches to force a specific articulation.

A DAW like Reaper would be fine since you can do anything with scripts, but unfortunately, the one I use doesn't have that.
Between that and a few other reasons, I finally reached the point where I started developing my own MIDI editor.

On a bit of a tangent, I really hate apps that can't be controlled via scripts, not just DAWs. I know that's just my personal take as someone comfortable with scripting. Niche requests almost never get implemented, so no matter how many updates come out, my frustrations never get resolved. It feels like being told, "You're the only one who wants to do that." In that regard, I love apps like Blender or Adobe products that let you extend them freely—they're so exciting to use. I wish more DAWs were like that.

What do you guys think about the main topic?