@kernel.chat/kbot-control

kbot-control

One Max for Live device. One TCP socket. Full control of Ableton Live over JSON-RPC 2.0.

import { kc } from '@kernel.chat/kbot-control'

await kc('song.tempo', { value: 120 })
await kc('view.focus_track', { index: 2 })
await kc('clip.fire', { track: 0, slot: 0 })

// Real-time listener — same socket, streamed as JSON-RPC notifications
const client = KbotControlClient.get()
await client.subscribe('song.is_playing', v => console.log('play:', v))

That is the whole surface. Drag one .amxd onto a track and every program on your machine can drive Ableton through a clean newline-delimited JSON-RPC API on 127.0.0.1:9000 — no Remote Scripts, no Python bridges, no OSC mapping, no UI automation. Zero npm dependencies on the client (uses node:net).

TODO: 30-second screencast — drag .amxd onto track, run smoke test, watch tempo change and track focus scroll. Place GIF here.

This is the infrastructure layer kbot sits on top of. We use it in production; we're open-sourcing it so you can too.

Install

npm install @kernel.chat/kbot-control

Install the M4L device into Ableton:

cp node_modules/@kernel.chat/kbot-control/kbot-control.amxd \
   ~/Music/Ableton/User\ Library/Presets/Audio\ Effects/Max\ Audio\ Effect/

# Companion JS files — Max looks for them next to the device
cp node_modules/@kernel.chat/kbot-control/kbot-control.js \
   node_modules/@kernel.chat/kbot-control/kbot-control-server.js \
   ~/Music/Ableton/User\ Library/Presets/Audio\ Effects/Max\ Audio\ Effect/

In Ableton: Browser → Audio Effects → Max Audio Effect → drag kbot-control onto any track. The device listens on 127.0.0.1:9000 the moment it loads.

Requirements: Ableton Live 11+ with Max for Live, Node.js 20+.

JSON-RPC examples

Transport: TCP 127.0.0.1:9000, one JSON message per line (\n delimited), JSON-RPC 2.0.

// -> song.tempo get
{ "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "method": "song.tempo" }
// <- { "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 1, "result": { "value": 128.0 } }

// -> song.tempo set
{ "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 2, "method": "song.tempo", "params": { "value": 120 } }

// -> view.focus_track (selects AND scrolls the UI)
{ "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 4, "method": "view.focus_track", "params": { "index": 2 } }

// -> listen.subscribe (streamed notifications follow)
{ "jsonrpc": "2.0", "id": 5, "method": "listen.subscribe", "params": { "path": "song.is_playing" } }
// <- push notification (no id):
// { "jsonrpc": "2.0", "method": "notify", "params": { "path": "song.is_playing", "value": true } }

See PROTOCOL.md for the full method list (song, track, clip, scene, device, browser, view, arrangement, listen, midi, kbot).

How it compares

	AbletonOSC	AbletonBridge	kbot-bridge	kbot-control
Install	Remote Script folder	Python env + script	Node daemon	One .amxd drag-in
Transport	UDP 11000	TCP 9001	TCP 9999	TCP 9000 (JSON-RPC 2.0)
Transport + device control	Yes	Partial	Yes	Yes
Browser API (search/load)	No	Yes (353 tools)	No	Yes
Listeners / streaming state	No	Partial	No	Yes (same socket)
view.focus_track scrolls UI	No (known bug)	No	Workaround	Yes (native LOM)
Device load reliability	Flaky	OK	Partial	Reliable (URI + fuzzy)
Live 12.4b15 browser regression	Unhandled	Unhandled	Unhandled	Fallback path
Client deps	OSC library	Python + deps	Node deps	Zero (node:net)

kbot-control replaces all four with one device that exposes the full Live Object Model, ships listeners natively, drives the UI through LOM (not screenshots), and is a single .amxd.

What this is NOT

• Not a MIDI bridge. MIDI already has transports. This is a control/query layer for the DAW itself — transport, tracks, clips, devices, browser, view, arrangement.
• Not an audio plugin. It's a Max for Live audio effect only as a hosting vehicle. It does not process audio.
• Not a DAW replacement. Ableton is still doing everything it always did. This just gives external programs a clean way to ask it questions and tell it things.
• Not a UI automation layer. No screenshotting, no keystroke sending, no pixel-clicking. Everything goes through the Live Object Model.
• Not a remote control protocol. It binds to 127.0.0.1 by design. If you need network access, put your own auth in front of it.

Live 12.4b15 gotcha

Live 12.4b15 removed the JS browser object on LiveAPI.get_control_surface(...). On that beta line, browser.* methods fall back to walking Live.Application.view.browser directly. Non-beta Live 11 and Live 12 stable behave normally. If you see Method not found: browser.list or silent hangs on browser calls, update to the latest device build and file an issue with your Live version.

FAQ

Q: Why TCP and not WebSocket? Because the client is meant to be a 10-line node:net connection with zero dependencies, and every language on earth has a TCP client in stdlib. A WebSocket layer would require framing, HTTP upgrade handling, and a dependency we don't need. If you want WebSockets, wrap the TCP socket in 30 lines — we'll link community wrappers in the repo.

Q: Does it work with Live 11? Yes. Live 11 and Live 12 (stable) are both supported. Only the 12.4 beta line has the browser object regression, and there's a documented fallback for that too.

Q: Can I use it without kbot? Yes. That's the point. kbot-control is a standalone package — drag the .amxd in, talk to 127.0.0.1:9000 from anything. Python, Node, Rust, a shell one-liner with nc. kbot is one user; we want more.

Q: What happens if multiple clients connect at once? Every connected TCP client receives every notify broadcast from listen.subscribe. Request/response is per-client (your id gets your result). There is no per-client auth — localhost only.

Q: What's the overhead vs. native LOM? Each call is one JSON encode + TCP round-trip + LOM call. On a local socket the round-trip is <1ms in practice. For parameter sweeps or automation, subscribe to the listener path instead of polling.

Files

• kbot-control.amxd — the drag-in M4L device
• kbot-control.maxpat — the Max patch source
• kbot-control.js — LOM dispatcher (runs inside Max's JS engine)
• kbot-control-server.js — Node for Max TCP server
• manifest.json — device metadata
• PROTOCOL.md — JSON-RPC method reference
• src/client.ts — TypeScript client (compiled to dist/client.js)
• examples/basic.mjs — 30-line smoke test
• build.mjs — rebuild the .amxd from the .maxpat source

License

MIT. See LICENSE.

Who built this

kernel.chat — the team behind kbot, an open-source terminal AI agent. kbot-control is how kbot drives Ableton. We pulled it out so anyone building music tools, agents, controllers, or visualizers can stand on the same surface.