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ableton-mcp

by amamparo
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ableton-mcp

MCP server for controlling Ableton Live — enabling AI assistants to interact with Live sessions via the Model Context Protocol.

Prerequisites

  • Ableton Live 10+

Related MCP server: remix-mcp

Setup

1. Install the Control Surface

A control surface script must be installed into Ableton Live. It runs inside Live and exposes a TCP socket for the MCP server to connect to.

macOS:

mkdir -p ~/Music/Ableton/User\ Library/Remote\ Scripts/AbletonMCP && curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/amamparo/ableton-mcp/main/control_surface/AbletonMCP/__init__.py -o ~/Music/Ableton/User\ Library/Remote\ Scripts/AbletonMCP/__init__.py

Windows (PowerShell):

New-Item -ItemType Directory -Force -Path "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\Ableton\User Library\Remote Scripts\AbletonMCP" | Out-Null; Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/amamparo/ableton-mcp/main/control_surface/AbletonMCP/__init__.py" -OutFile "$env:USERPROFILE\Documents\Ableton\User Library\Remote Scripts\AbletonMCP\__init__.py"

2. Enable in Ableton Live

  1. Open (or restart) Ableton Live

  2. Go to Preferences > Link, Tempo & MIDI

  3. Under Control Surface, select AbletonMCP from the dropdown

  4. You should see "AbletonMCP: Listening on port 9877" in Ableton's log

3. Configure the MCP Client

Claude Desktop — add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ableton-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "git+https://github.com/amamparo/ableton-mcp", "ableton-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

To pin to a specific version:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ableton-mcp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["--from", "git+https://github.com/amamparo/ableton-mcp@v0.1.0", "ableton-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code:

claude mcp add ableton-mcp -- uvx --from "git+https://github.com/amamparo/ableton-mcp" ableton-mcp

Available Tools

Tool

Description

get_session_info

Get tempo, time signature, track counts

get_track_info

Get track details (name, volume, pan, clips, devices)

create_midi_track

Create a new MIDI track

create_audio_track

Create a new audio track

delete_track

Delete a track

delete_all_tracks

Delete all tracks (clear session)

set_track_name

Rename a track

set_track_volume

Set track volume (0.0–1.0)

set_track_pan

Set track pan (-1.0–1.0)

set_track_mute

Mute/unmute a track

set_track_solo

Solo/unsolo a track

create_clip

Create an empty MIDI clip

add_notes_to_clip

Add MIDI notes to a clip

set_clip_name

Rename a clip

fire_clip

Start playing a clip

stop_clip

Stop a clip

get_clip_notes

Read MIDI notes from a session clip

get_clip_info

Get clip details (name, length, loop points)

duplicate_clip_to_scene

Duplicate a session clip to another scene

delete_clip

Delete a clip from a session clip slot

create_scene

Create a new scene

delete_scene

Delete a scene

set_scene_name

Rename a scene

fire_scene

Fire all clips in a scene

start_playback

Start session playback

stop_playback

Stop session playback

set_tempo

Set tempo in BPM

set_time_signature

Set time signature (e.g. 5/4, 7/8)

undo

Trigger Ableton's undo

get_browser_tree

Browse instruments/effects categories

get_browser_items_at_path

List items at a browser path

load_instrument_or_effect

Load a device onto a track

create_midi_track_with_instrument

Create a MIDI track and load an instrument in one step

load_drum_kit

Load a drum rack and kit

get_device_parameters

List all parameters of a device

set_device_parameter

Set a device parameter value

get_arrangement_clips

List clips on the arrangement timeline

create_arrangement_clip

Create a MIDI clip on the arrangement timeline

delete_arrangement_clip

Delete an arrangement clip

duplicate_arrangement_clip

Duplicate an arrangement clip to a new position

get_arrangement_clip_notes

Read MIDI notes from an arrangement clip

set_arrangement_clip_notes

Set MIDI notes on an arrangement clip

set_song_time

Set the playback cursor position

get_arrangement_loop

Get the arrangement loop brace

set_arrangement_loop

Set the arrangement loop brace

back_to_arranger

Switch from session to arrangement playback

duplicate_session_to_arrangement

Copy a session clip to the arrangement

session_to_arrangement

Lay out scenes sequentially on the arrangement

Note: Automation breakpoints are not available via the control surface API. Arrangement view features require Ableton Live 11+.

Development

just install                  # Install dependencies
just check                    # Run lint + tests
just fmt                      # Auto-format code
just install-control-surface  # Install control surface to Ableton
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