ableton-mcp

An MCP server that lets Claude control Ableton Live. Talk to Claude about your session and it can play, stop, create tracks, write MIDI, tweak the mixer, and adjust device parameters — all in real time.

How It Works

Claude Code  <--stdio-->  ableton-mcp  <--OSC/UDP-->  AbletonOSC  <-->  Ableton Live

This server speaks MCP over stdio to Claude, and OSC over UDP to Ableton. The bridge on the Ableton side is AbletonOSC, a free Remote Script that exposes Ableton's full API over the network.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• Ableton Live 11 or later
• Claude Code

Setup

1. Install AbletonOSC

1. Clone or download AbletonOSC
2. Copy the folder to your Ableton User Library:
   • Windows: Documents\Ableton\User Library\Remote Scripts\AbletonOSC\
   • macOS: ~/Music/Ableton/User Library/Remote Scripts/AbletonOSC/
3. Open Ableton Live
4. Go to Preferences > Link, Tempo & MIDI
5. Under Control Surface, select AbletonOSC
6. The status bar should show: AbletonOSC: Listening for OSC on port 11000

2. Build the server

git clone https://github.com/adindotdev/ableton-mcp.git
cd ableton-mcp
npm install
npm run build

3. Register with Claude Code

claude mcp add ableton -- node /path/to/ableton-mcp/dist/index.js

Restart Claude Code. The Ableton tools will appear automatically.

What Can It Do?

Transport

Play, stop, and resume playback. Set tempo, time signature, and metronome. Jump to any position in the song. Undo and redo.

Tracks

List all tracks, get detailed track info. Create MIDI or audio tracks, rename, duplicate, and delete them.

Clips

Fire and stop clips or entire scenes. Create MIDI clips, read and write individual MIDI notes, rename and delete clips.

Mixer

Set volume, pan, mute, solo, and arm per track. Adjust send levels to return tracks.

Devices

List all devices on a track, inspect every parameter with its name, value, and range, and set any parameter by index.

Resources

Claude can read a snapshot of your session state (tempo, track count, time signature) and per-track details at any time without calling a tool.

WSL Note

If you're running Claude Code in WSL while Ableton runs on Windows, the server auto-detects the Windows host IP so OSC packets reach Ableton. No extra configuration needed.

Development

npm run dev    # watch mode — recompiles on save
npm run build  # one-time build
npm start      # run the server directly