AbletonMCP Extended — Ableton Live MCP with mixer control

Connects Ableton Live to Claude through the Model Context Protocol, for prompt-assisted music production, track creation and session manipulation.

This is a fork of ahujasid/ableton-mcp by Siddharth Ahuja, MIT licensed, that adds full mixer control — see Mixer control.

Why this fork exists

You can ask the upstream MCP to build an arrangement, but not to balance it. Mixer levels are readable but not writable: get_track_info returns mixer_device.volume.value, yet nothing can set it, because set_device_parameter resolves through track.devices[...] and the mixer is not a device. Panning and sends are in the same position.

This fork adds get_mixer, set_track_volume, set_track_panning and set_send, addressing levels in real decibels rather than raw fader position. The approach is upstreamed as ahujasid/ableton-mcp#122.

A note on which version you are running

Worth knowing before you pick a base. pip install ableton-mcp currently gives you 1.3.7, whose source is not in the upstream GitHub repository — that repo is at 1.0.0. The published build has commands the repo does not (arrangement access, rack inspection) and also carries telemetry that asks to upload your session to an open training dataset on first use.

This fork is based on the GitHub 1.0.0 tree, so it has no telemetry and no arrangement commands. Raised upstream as issue #123.

Community

The upstream project has a Discord — feedback on the mixer work is welcome there, or in the issues here.

Related MCP server: ableton-mcp

Features

• Two-way communication: Connect Claude AI to Ableton Live through a socket-based server

• Track manipulation: Create, modify, and manipulate MIDI and audio tracks

• Instrument and effect selection: Claude can access and load the right instruments, effects and sounds from Ableton's library

• Clip creation: Create and edit MIDI clips with notes

• Session control: Start and stop playback, fire clips, and control transport

Components

The system consists of two main components:

1. Ableton Remote Script (Ableton_Remote_Script/__init__.py): A MIDI Remote Script for Ableton Live that creates a socket server to receive and execute commands

2. MCP Server (server.py): A Python server that implements the Model Context Protocol and connects to the Ableton Remote Script

Installation

Installing via Smithery

To install Ableton Live Integration for Claude Desktop automatically via Smithery:

npx -y @smithery/cli install @ahujasid/ableton-mcp --client claude

Prerequisites

• Ableton Live 10 or newer

• Python 3.8 or newer

• uv package manager

If you're on Mac, please install uv as:

brew install uv

Otherwise, install from [uv's official website][https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation/]

⚠️ Do not proceed before installing UV

Claude for Desktop Integration

Follow along with the setup instructions video

1. Go to Claude > Settings > Developer > Edit Config > claude_desktop_config.json to include the following:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "AbletonMCP": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": [
                "ableton-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Cursor Integration

Run ableton-mcp without installing it permanently through uvx. Go to Cursor Settings > MCP and paste this as a command:

uvx ableton-mcp

⚠️ Only run one instance of the MCP server (either on Cursor or Claude Desktop), not both

Installing the Ableton Remote Script

Follow along with the setup instructions video

1. Download the AbletonMCP_Remote_Script/__init__.py file from this repo

2. Copy the folder to Ableton's MIDI Remote Scripts directory. Different OS and versions have different locations. One of these should work, you might have to look:

   For macOS:

   • Method 1: Go to Applications > Right-click on Ableton Live app → Show Package Contents → Navigate to: Contents/App-Resources/MIDI Remote Scripts/

   • Method 2: If it's not there in the first method, use the direct path (replace XX with your version number): /Users/[Username]/Library/Preferences/Ableton/Live XX/User Remote Scripts

   For Windows:

   • Method 1: C:\Users[Username]\AppData\Roaming\Ableton\Live x.x.x\Preferences\User Remote Scripts

   • Method 2: C:\ProgramData\Ableton\Live XX\Resources\MIDI Remote Scripts\

   • Method 3: C:\Program Files\Ableton\Live XX\Resources\MIDI Remote Scripts\ Note: Replace XX with your Ableton version number (e.g., 10, 11, 12)

3. Create a folder called 'AbletonMCP' in the Remote Scripts directory and paste the downloaded '__init__.py' file

4. Launch Ableton Live

5. Go to Settings/Preferences → Link, Tempo & MIDI

6. In the Control Surface dropdown, select "AbletonMCP"

7. Set Input and Output to "None"

Usage

Starting the Connection

1. Ensure the Ableton Remote Script is loaded in Ableton Live

2. Make sure the MCP server is configured in Claude Desktop or Cursor

3. The connection should be established automatically when you interact with Claude

Using with Claude

Once the config file has been set on Claude, and the remote script is running in Ableton, you will see a hammer icon with tools for the Ableton MCP.

Capabilities

• Get session and track information

• Create and modify MIDI and audio tracks

• Create, edit, and trigger clips

• Control playback

• Load instruments and effects from Ableton's browser

• Add notes to MIDI clips

• Change tempo and other session parameters

• Read and set mixer levels — volume, panning and sends

Mixer control

get_mixer, set_track_volume, set_track_panning and set_send work on regular tracks, return tracks and the master (track_type is "track", "return" or "master").

Levels are set in decibels:

set_track_volume(track_index=0, db=-4)
set_send(track_index=0, send_index=0, db=-12)

Prefer db over the raw value. Live's fader position is not proportional to level — 0.85 is 0 dB and 1.0 is +6 dB — and the taper has no published closed form, so approximating it drifts away from unity gain. Passing db resolves the exact fader position by bisecting against DeviceParameter.str_for_value(), i.e. asking Live what a position actually reads as. Accuracy is bounded by Live's own 0.01 dB display resolution. Targets beyond the fader range clamp to its ends.

get_mixer reports each parameter three ways — the raw value, the dB, and the string Live displays:

{
  "name": "1-Drums",
  "volume": { "value": 0.85, "db": 0.0, "display": "0.0 dB" },
  "panning": { "value": 0.0, "db": null, "display": "C" },
  "sends": [ { "index": 0, "name": "A Reverb", "db": -12.0, "display": "-12.0 dB" } ]
}

Example Commands

Here are some examples of what you can ask Claude to do:

• "Create an 80s synthwave track" Demo

• "Create a Metro Boomin style hip-hop beat"

• "Create a new MIDI track with a synth bass instrument"

• "Add reverb to my drums"

• "Create a 4-bar MIDI clip with a simple melody"

• "Get information about the current Ableton session"

• "Load a 808 drum rack into the selected track"

• "Add a jazz chord progression to the clip in track 1"

• "Set the tempo to 120 BPM"

• "Play the clip in track 2"

• "Set every track to -4 dB"

• "Pan the hats 30% left and send them to the reverb at -12 dB"

Troubleshooting

• Connection issues: Make sure the Ableton Remote Script is loaded, and the MCP server is configured on Claude

• Timeout errors: Try simplifying your requests or breaking them into smaller steps

• Have you tried turning it off and on again?: If you're still having connection errors, try restarting both Claude and Ableton Live

Technical Details

Communication Protocol

The system uses a simple JSON-based protocol over TCP sockets:

• Commands are sent as JSON objects with a type and optional params

• Responses are JSON objects with a status and result or message

Limitations & Security Considerations

• Creating complex musical arrangements might need to be broken down into smaller steps

• The tool is designed to work with Ableton's default devices and browser items

• Always save your work before extensive experimentation

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Disclaimer

This is a third-party integration and not made by Ableton.