Ableton MCP Server

ableton-mcp-server

:globewithmeridians: Live Landing Page & Interactive 97-Tool Catalog <!-- TOOLCOUNT: activetotal --> · Architecture Diagram · Agent Playbook · Tool Index

An open Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that enables AI agents (Antigravity, Gemini, Codex) and audio developers to query, analyze, drive, and automate a running Ableton Live 12 Set.

The current tool surface is 97 tools over TCP, WebSockets, composed routes, and local execution <!-- TOOLCOUNT: activetotal --> (with primary device resolution via devicename, trackindex, and clipindex); the current v0.7.0 release ships 97 tools. Historical milestones exposed 65 certified tools in v0.5.2 <!-- HISTORICALTOOLCOUNT: 65; baseline=v0.5.2 -->, 88 tools in the v0.5.6 source milestone <!-- HISTORICALTOOLCOUNT: 88; baseline=v0.5.6 -->, and 96 tools in the v0.6.0 release <!-- HISTORICALTOOLCOUNT: 96; baseline=v0.6.0 -->. v0.7.0 adds planuser_journey, an updated retrieval seed v3 with per-collection SD3/GM articulation mapping, and a dedicated UDP realtime control channel. Groove retrieval, evidence, generation, and comparison stay offline; only the guarded apply path reaches Live. A FastMCP server in Python communicates with a MIDI Remote Script on TCP 127.0.0.1:9888 and an Extension Host bridge over WebSockets on 127.0.0.1:9889.

Groove Intelligence is offline by default. Its deterministic generator needs no provider installation; an optional neural provider is isolated behind a fixed allowlist, bounded local IPC, resource limits, and signed laboratory gates. Provider failures always return the equivalent deterministic artifact, and no provider receives corpus paths, raw MIDI, notes, SQL, credentials, or network access. See the provider laboratory contract. The curated seed ships inside the wheel; ABLETONGROOVESEEDBUNDLE can override it explicitly, while derived artifacts stay in LocalAppData. Groove retrieval, evidence, comparison, and deterministic generation are portable and do not depend on the private source library. A generation request can use one primary groove plus up to seven references; incompatible PPQ, meter, or rights are rejected explicitly. Within the Groove Intelligence surface, the only Live mutation is guarded grooveapply, which must be previewed against an explicit target and empty slot before one commit.

⚡ What is Model Context Protocol (MCP) & How Agents Use It

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open standard for secure, local communication between Large Language Models (LLMs) and desktop applications.

Local IPC / stdio (Not a Cloud Service):

ableton-mcp-server runs locally on your host OS over standard input/output (stdio) or IPC loopback. The AI agent spawns the ableton-mcp-server.exe process directly. There are no external cloud endpoints or API keys required, guaranteeing zero network latency and maximum privacy.

How AI Agents Interact with Ableton Live:

1. Tool Discovery (tools/list): When an MCP client (Antigravity, Cursor, Windsurf) launches the server, it automatically discovers all 97 tool schemas <!-- TOOLCOUNT: activetotal -->.
2. Tool Execution (tools/call): When the LLM decides to manipulate Ableton Live, it issues JSON-RPC messages (e.g. settempo(tempo=128.0) or createclip(...)).
3. Write-Then-Verify Loop: The server writes to Live's local socket and verifies object model state before returning a result.
4. Self-Correcting Error Taxonomy: If an error occurs, the server returns structured codes (CAPABILITYUNAVAILABLE, AMBIGUOUSMATCH, VERIFICATION_FAILED), enabling the agent to reason and adapt.

Shortened. The full README is on GitHub.