opendaw-mcp

MCP server for agent-native control of openDAW — a browser-based digital audio workstation. Exposes 550+ tools (tracks, notes, effects, mixing, rendering) over the Model Context Protocol for AI agents (Claude, GPT, etc.).

AI agent ── MCP (stdio/SSE) ──▶ Python server ── Playwright ──▶ headless Chromium ──▶ openDAW

The server drives a real openDAW instance in headless Chromium via page.evaluate(). All project state lives in the browser's V8 context. Chromium starts lazily on the first tool call.

Quick start

Requirements: Python 3.10+, Node.js 20+ (only to build the openDAW host once), Chromium via Playwright.

pip install -r requirements.txt
playwright install chromium

# Build the openDAW headless host once — it is a separate, small Vite app
# (NOT the openDAW monorepo, which has no headless-daw directory):
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/andremichelle/openDAW-headless ../headless-daw
cd ../headless-daw
# its vite.config.ts readFileSync()s these certs at config load, even for `vite build`
openssl req -x509 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout localhost-key.pem -out localhost.pem -days 365 -nodes -subj "/CN=localhost"
npm install && npm run build
cd ..

# Serve the built host statically on http://localhost:5174 (no Node needed at runtime):
OPENDAW_STATIC_DIR=../headless-daw/dist python scripts/serve_static.py &

python server.py   # stdio transport

Client config example:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "opendaw": {
      "command": "python",
      "args": ["server.py"],
      "env": {
        "OPENDAW_URL": "http://localhost:5174",
        "OPENDAW_MCP_MODE": "lite"
      }
    }
  }
}

Related MCP server: reaper-mcp

Lite mode — recommended for weak machines

Full mode registers 557 tools; every tool schema costs tokens on each agent turn. Lite mode registers a curated set of 39 essential tools — about 92% less schema payload and a faster startup:

Note: Lite mode is now the default. You only need to set OPENDAW_MCP_MODE=full if you want all tools.

OPENDAW_MCP_MODE=lite python server.py

Lite covers: project state, tracks, instruments, notes, regions, effects, mixing, BPM, markers, scriptable devices, render/export, and core composition helpers (drum pattern, bassline, melody, chord progression, mix preset).

Low-memory tuning

Chromium is launched with low-RAM flags by default: --disable-dev-shm-usage (safe on Docker's 64 MB /dev/shm), --disable-gpu, --mute-audio, a V8 heap cap, and no background networking. Offline rendering is unaffected.

In Docker, OPENDAW_SERVE_MODE=static (the default in the image) replaces the Vite dev server with a zero-dependency Python static server (scripts/serve_static.py, ~10 MB RAM instead of ~300–500 MB for Node + Vite). The image builds the headless host at build time, so no Node.js is needed at runtime.

Environment variables

Note: As of this update, OPENDAW_MCP_MODE=lite is now the default mode for better token efficiency. Use OPENDAW_MCP_MODE=full to enable all 500+ tools.

Docker

docker build -t opendaw-mcp .
docker run --rm -p 8080:8080 opendaw-mcp

The image builds the openDAW headless host (openDAW-headless) from source, serves its static build via scripts/serve_static.py, and runs the server in SSE mode on :8080. There is no Node.js in the runtime image; give the container at least 1 GB RAM for comfortable rendering.

Development

pip install -e ".[dev]"
python -m pytest tests/ -q
ruff check server.py opendaw_mcp

See ARCHITECTURE.md for internals and TOOL_CATALOG.md for the full tool list.

License

Apache-2.0 — see LICENSE.