Ableton Live MCP Server

What is Ableton Live MCP Server about?

Enables communication between MCP clients (including LLMs) and Ableton Live by translating MCP requests into OSC messages and handling OSC responses. It maps AbletonOSC addresses to MCP tools, allowing programmatic control of Live sessions.

How to use Ableton Live MCP Server?

Install uv, clone the repository, and sync dependencies with uv sync.
Run the OSC daemon: uv run osc_daemon.py. This starts the socket on port 65432, forwards commands to Ableton Live on port 11000, and listens for responses on port 11001.
Start the MCP server (if separate) with uv run mcp_ableton_server.py.
Configure your MCP client (e.g., Claude Desktop) to point to the server using the provided JSON snippet in the Claude settings.

Key features of Ableton Live MCP Server

MCP‑compatible API exposing all AbletonOSC commands as tools.
Built on python‑osc for reliable OSC communication.
Request‑response handling ensures synchronous control flows.
Default localhost configuration with easy port customization.
Works out‑of‑the‑box with Claude Desktop and other MCP clients.

Use cases of Ableton Live MCP Server

Automating track creation, routing, and recording setups via LLM prompts.
Real‑time performance control where an AI assistant adjusts effects and parameters.
Scripting batch operations across multiple Ableton projects.
Integrating Ableton Live into larger AI‑driven audio production pipelines.

FAQ from the Ableton Live MCP Server

Q: Which Python version is required? A: Python 3.8 or newer.

Q: What ports does the server use by default? A: MCP socket = 65432, Ableton send = 11000, Ableton receive = 11001.

Q: How do I change the host or ports? A: Edit the AbletonOSCDaemon class in osc_daemon.py and modify the socket_host, socket_port, ableton_host, ableton_port, and receive_port attributes.

Q: Do I need AbletonOSC installed? A: Yes, follow the AbletonOSC repository instructions to set up the control surface.

Q: Can I run the server on a remote machine? A: The server binds to 127.0.0.1 by default; change socket_host to the appropriate network interface to expose it remotely.

📌 Overview

The Ableton Live MCP Server is a server implementing the Model Context Protocol (MCP) to facilitate communication between LLMs and Ableton Live. It uses OSC (Open Sound Control) to send and receive messages to/from Ableton Live. It is based on AbletonOSC implementation and exhaustively maps available OSC adresses to tools accessible to MCP clients.

This project consists of two main components:

mcp_ableton_server.py: The MCP server handling the communication between clients and the OSC daemon.
osc_daemon.py: The OSC daemon responsible for relaying commands to Ableton Live and processing responses.

✨ Features

Provides an MCP-compatible API for controlling Ableton Live from MCP clients.
Uses python-osc for sending and receiving OSC messages.
Based on the OSC implementation from AbletonOSC.
Implements request-response handling for Ableton Live commands.

⚡ Installation

Requirements

Python 3.8+
python-osc (for OSC communication)
fastmcp (for MCP support)
uv (recommended Python package installer)
AbletonOSC as a control surface

Installation Steps

Install uv (https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation):
```
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
```

Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/your-username/mcp_ableton_server.git
cd mcp_ableton_server

Install the project and its dependencies:
```
uv sync
```
Install AbletonOSC Follow the instructions at AbletonOSC

🚀 Usage

Running the OSC Daemon

The OSC daemon will handle OSC communication between the MCP server and Ableton Live:

uv run osc_daemon.py

This will:

Listen for MCP client connections on port 65432.
Forward messages to Ableton Live via OSC on port 11000.
Receive OSC responses from Ableton on port 11001.

Example Usage

In Claude desktop, ask Claude:

Prepare a set to record a rock band
Set the input routing channel of all tracks that have "voice" in their name to Ext. In 2

⚙️ Configuration

By default, the server and daemon run on localhost (127.0.0.1) with the following ports:

MCP Server Socket: 65432
Ableton Live OSC Port (Send): 11000
Ableton Live OSC Port (Receive): 11001

To modify these, edit the AbletonOSCDaemon class in osc_daemon.py:

self.socket_host = '127.0.0.1'
self.socket_port = 65432
self.ableton_host = '127.0.0.1'
self.ableton_port = 11000
self.receive_port = 11001

Claude Desktop Configuration

To use this server with Claude Desktop, you need to configure it in your Claude Desktop settings. The configuration file location varies by operating system:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Add the following configuration to your mcpServers section:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Ableton Live Controller": {
      "command": "/path/to/your/project/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/path/to/your/project/mcp_ableton_server.py"]
    }
  }

This configuration ensures that:

The server runs with all dependencies properly managed
The project remains portable and reproducible

Contributing

Feel free to submit issues, feature requests, or pull requests to improve this project.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

Model Context Protocol (MCP)
python-osc for OSC handling
Daniel John Jones for OSC implementation with AbletonOSC
Ableton Third Party Remote Scripts
Julien Bayle @Structure Void for endless inspirations and resources.

TODO

Explore resources and prompts primitives opportunities.
Build a standalone Ableton Live MCP client.

Ableton Live MCP Server