livebridge-ableton-mcp

<p align="center"> <a href="https://valentijnh.github.io/livebridge-ableton-mcp/"><img src="docs/images/banner.png" alt="LiveBridge: make music in Ableton Live by talking to Claude" width="100%"></a> </p> <h1 align="center">LiveBridge · Ableton Live MCP server for Claude</h1> <p align="center"> <strong>Make music in Ableton Live 12 by talking to Claude.</strong><br> 168 tools for tracks, clips, MIDI, drums, chords, devices, Serum 2, automation, arrangement, mixing and Splice samples.<br> macOS and Windows · every Live 12 edition · no Max for Live · MIT licensed </p> <p align="center"> <a href="https://github.com/valentijnh/livebridge-ableton-mcp/actions/workflows/tests.yml"><img alt="Tests" src="https://github.com/valentijnh/livebridge-ableton-mcp/actions/workflows/tests.yml/badge.svg"></a> <a href="LICENSE"><img alt="License: MIT" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-blue"></a> <img alt="Ableton Live 12" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Ableton%20Live-12-111111"> <img alt="Python 3.10+" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/python-3.10%2B-3776AB"> <img alt="macOS and Windows" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/platform-macOS%20%7C%20Windows-555555"> <a href="https://modelcontextprotocol.io"><img alt="Model Context Protocol server" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/MCP-server-D97757"></a> <a href="https://buymeacoffee.com/valentijnh"><img alt="Buy me a coffee" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/buy%20me%20a%20coffee-support-FFDD00?logo=buymeacoffee&logoColor=black"></a> </p> <p align="center"> <a href="https://valentijnh.github.io/livebridge-ableton-mcp/"><b>Website</b></a> · <a href="#quick-start"><b>Quick start</b></a> · <a href="examples/"><b>Examples</b></a> · <a href="examples/prompts.md"><b>100+ prompts</b></a> · <a href="docs/TOOLS.md"><b>Tool reference</b></a> · <a href="#faq"><b>FAQ</b></a> </p>

You: Make an 8-bar house beat at 124 BPM: a 909 kit, an off-beat sub bass on Am–F–C–G and a warm pad playing the chords. Keep the levels sensible.

Claude: sets the tempo, loads the 909 Core Kit, writes the drum pattern, loads a sub bass and a pad from Live's browser, writes the bassline and the chords with smooth voice leading, sets the levels in dB and names everything. 17 tool calls, each one undo step in Live. See every call →

You: Turn it into a full track: intro, a build-up with a clap roll and a filter sweep, the drop, a breakdown, a second build and drop, and an outro. Add locators.

Claude: writes the variations into scenes, sweeps the pad's filter through the build, lays out all seven sections in one call and adds the locators. See every call →

_{Ableton Live 12.4.5 with the song from examples 1, 5 and 6, built through LiveBridge alone.}

LiveBridge connects Claude (Claude Code, Claude Desktop or any MCP client) to a running Ableton Live: transport, tracks, clips, MIDI notes, audio clips and samples, built-in devices, third-party VST/AU plug-in parameters, the browser (instruments, effects, drum kits, presets, packs, user library), automation, the arrangement, scenes, locators, mixer, routing, recording and view navigation, plus Splice samples through Splice's official MCP server.

It works on macOS and Windows, with every Live 12 edition (built and verified against Live 12.4.5 Suite), with Live on the same computer as Claude or on another computer in your network, which is handy when you switch between a Mac and a Windows PC.

No Max for Live needed. Nothing is installed into Live except a small MIDI Remote Script.

What you can ask

| You say | Claude does it with | Example | |---|---|---| | "Make an 8-bar house beat at 124 BPM with a 909 kit" | drum patterns by pad name, presets from Live's browser, a bassline, chords, levels in dB | 1 | | "Write a sad progression in D minor, a bassline and an arp, and check they fit" | chords from symbols or Roman numerals, arpeggios, a music-theory check that finds clashes | 2 | | "Load Serum 2 and design a dark Reese bass" | 120 Serum 2 parameters controllable without Configure, macros, LFO automation | 3 | | "Find a hi-hat loop on Splice and put it on a new track" | Splice's official MCP server for search and download, LiveBridge for import and warping | 4 | | "Turn this loop into a full track with a build-up and a breakdown" | scenes, a clap roll, a filter sweep, the arrangement in one call, locators | 5 | | "Check my mix against my reference track" | meters, a bounce, LUFS and spectrum comparison, EQ, side-chain, limiter | 6 | | "Connect to Live on my Windows PC" | LAN mode with a token, discovery, file upload to the Live machine | 7 | | "Rename every clip after its track and scene" | the whole Live Object Model, batches, Python inside Live | 8 |

More in the prompt library. Scripting Live without Claude: examples/python.

Why LiveBridge

• All of Live that its API allows, not just transport and notes: 168 tools backed by 200 commands, plus direct access to the Live Object Model for anything else.
• Tools that think like a producer: drum patterns written against the kit's pad names, chords from symbols or Roman numerals with voice leading, arps and basslines from a progression, humanize/swing/groove, section layouts, filter sweeps and LFOs, mixing in dB.
• Ears, of a kind: a music-theory check (key, chords, clashes between parts) and audio analysis (LUFS, spectrum, stereo, tempo, key), optionally against a reference track.
• Big plug-ins, fully controllable: Serum 2 and other VST3 synths without clicking Configure for every knob.
• Splice in the same conversation, through Splice's official MCP server.
• Two computers: Claude on your laptop, Live on the studio PC (or the other way round), with discovery and a token.
• Safe to try: every change is one undo step, the token protects the connection, LAN mode is opt-in and Python-in-Live can be switched off.
• Tested: 1,500+ unit tests on macOS, Windows and Linux, and end-to-end checks against a real Live 12.4.5.

How it works

 Claude Code / Claude Desktop / any MCP client            + Splice's official remote MCP
            │  stdio (MCP)                                  (https://mcp.splice.com/mcp)
            ▼
 ┌───────────────────────────┐   TCP JSON lines :9880    ┌──────────────────────────────────┐
 │ livebridge-mcp            │ ────────────────────────▶ │ Ableton Live 12                  │
 │ MCP server (Python ≥3.10) │ ◀──────────────────────── │  └ LiveBridge Remote Script      │
 │ 168 tools, reconnecting   │   UDP discovery :9881     │    (stdlib Python 3.11 in Live,  │
 │ client, LAN discovery     │ ◀ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ │     runs every command on Live's │
 └───────────────────────────┘                           │     main thread, 1 undo step each)│
                                                         └──────────────────────────────────┘

1. Remote Script (remote_script/LiveBridge) — loaded by Live as a control surface. It runs a small TCP server on a background thread and executes every command on Live's main thread against the Live Object Model (LOM). Every change is one undo step.
2. MCP server (mcp_server, package livebridge-mcp) — exposes curated, validated tools to Claude and talks to the Remote Script (reconnects automatically, finds Live on the LAN).
3. Installer (installers/) — copies the script into Live's User Library, writes the config with a random token, installs the MCP server, registers it (and Splice) with Claude and installs the LiveBridge skill for Claude Code and Claude Desktop.

Design and wire protocol: docs/ARCHITECTURE.md, docs/PROTOCOL.md.

Quick start

Requirements: Ableton Live 12 (any edition), Python 3.10+ for the MCP server (python.org; the installer itself runs on 3.9+ and can use uv with --uv to fetch Python for you), and Claude Desktop and/or Claude Code. Node.js (npx) is only needed for Splice in Claude Desktop's JSON config.

macOS

git clone https://github.com/valentijnh/livebridge-ableton-mcp.git LiveBridge && cd LiveBridge
./installers/install.sh            # or: python3 installers/install.py

Windows (PowerShell)

git clone https://github.com/valentijnh/livebridge-ableton-mcp.git LiveBridge; cd LiveBridge
powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File installers\install.ps1   # or: py installers\install.py

Then, on both

1. Start (or restart) Live.
2. Live → Preferences → Link, Tempo & MIDI → Control Surface → LiveBridge (Input/Output: None). The status bar says LiveBridge … ready on port 9880.
3. Restart Claude Desktop / open a new Claude Code session and ask: "run live_status".
4. Claude Desktop only: upload the skill the installer built — Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill → ~/.livebridge/livebridge-skill.zip (Claude Code gets it automatically).

Try: "Make a 4-bar house beat at 124 BPM with a 909 kit, a sub bass following Am–F–C–G and a pad on the chords, then loop it."

The installer is idempotent — run it again after git pull to update; it keeps the token and every setting you do not pass again (LAN mode, port, allow_eval, paired host). --dry-run shows every action without writing anything. Details, flags and manual setup: docs/INSTALL.md.

Two machines (Mac ↔ Windows, LAN)

Live runs on one computer, Claude on another:

# on the computer that runs Live — listen on the LAN, prints the token and this machine's IP
python installers/install.py --network

# on the computer that runs Claude
python installers/install.py --pair 192.168.1.20 --token <token printed above>

At runtime Claude can find Live instances with live_discover (UDP beacon) and switch with live_connect(host, port, token, persist=true). Firewall: the Live machine needs incoming TCP 9880; the Claude machine needs incoming UDP 9881 only for live_discover (the beacon travels from Live to Claude). On macOS 15+ allow Claude (or your terminal) and Live under Privacy & Security → Local Network — otherwise connecting fails with "No route to host". install.py --local makes a machine standalone again. See docs/NETWORK.md.

No git remote to clone from on the second computer? python installers/bundle.py packs this folder into dist/LiveBridge-<version>.zip; unzip it on the other computer into a folder you keep (the MCP server is installed from it — moving it later means re-running the installer) and run the installer there (details).

Splice

LiveBridge does not reimplement Splice: the installer registers Splice's official remote MCP (https://mcp.splice.com/mcp) next to LiveBridge (disable with --no-splice). Claude searches and downloads sounds with the Splice tools (search is free; downloads need a paid plan and are limited to 100 per 24 h), then live_splice_import_downloaded(files=[<paths Splice reported>]) puts them into Live (session slot, arrangement, Simpler or a Drum Rack pad). When Live runs on another computer LiveBridge sends the files over first (into <User Library>/Samples/LiveBridge there). live_splice_watch_folder is for downloads