Definitive MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for Ableton Live. Exposes the full Live Object Model to LLMs (Claude, Cursor, etc.) with an embedded native device knowledge base, declarative music recipes, an integrated verify loop, and reactive listeners.

Status: alpha / v0.1.0 release-ready — core smoke passed against Ableton Live 12.4.1 on macOS and package validation is green. Public npm/GitHub/MCP registry releases still require the final manual publish gate. API unstable. Don't use in production yet.

Phase 8 status: slice 1 delivers read-only Max for Live/plug-in introspection and Link/remote status discovery. Deeper M4L control, VST3 sidecars, remote DAW integration and mobile companion work remain pending.

📚 Full documentation: pantani.github.io/ableton-mind/

Architecture (3 layers)

Claude/Cursor ──MCP/stdio──▶ ableton-mind (TS, Node 20+) ──TCP NDJSON JSON-RPC──▶ Remote Script (Python, inside Live)

src/ — TypeScript MCP server. Tools, resources, prompts, TCP client, recipe runner, knowledge loader.
live/AbletonMind/ — Python Remote Script. TCP server on port 9876, dispatches JSON-RPC to LiveAPI.
recipes/, src/knowledge/ — embedded JSON (drum kits, basslines, racks, device schemas).

Full spec in PLAN.md. Frozen contracts in _workspace/contracts/.

Highlights vs. existing MCP/OSC servers

Capability	ahujasid/ableton-mcp	AbletonOSC + MCP wrapper	ableton-mind
MCP tools	22	~30	36
LOM coverage	~10%	~95%	~100%
Knowledge base	none	none	55 devices, scales, drum kits
Recipes	none	none	14 across 7 categories
Verify loop	no	no	yes, integrated (`session_snapshot/diff`)
Render preview	no	no	yes (snapshot now, bounce planned)
Reactive listeners → MCP notifications	no	partial (OSC)	yes (7 events live)
Transactions (undo unitary)	no	no	yes
Automation envelopes	no	partial	complete (linear / hold)
Push 1/2/3 control	no	no	yes (pad/button/mode LEDs)
Docker	no	no	yes
`.mcpb` 1-click	no	no	yes
Doctor CLI	no	no	yes

Requirements

Node 20+
Ableton Live 12 (priority; Live 11 supported)
macOS (primary), Windows (Phase 1 final)

Setup (source install)

npm install
npm run typecheck
npm run lint
npm run test
npm run build

Install Remote Script (Python bridge)

Dev mode (symlink):

node scripts/install-remote-script.mjs           # creates symlink
node scripts/install-remote-script.mjs --check   # status only
node scripts/install-remote-script.mjs --copy    # full copy (CI / snapshot)

Manual:

macOS: copy live/AbletonMind/ to ~/Music/Ableton/User Library/Remote Scripts/AbletonMind/
Windows: copy to ~/Documents/Ableton/User Library/Remote Scripts/AbletonMind/

Then Live → Preferences → Link/Tempo/MIDI → Control Surface → AbletonMind.

Smoke test: docs/smoke-test.md.

Run the MCP server

npm run build
node dist/index.js

Env vars:

Var	Default
`ABLETON_MIND_HOST`	`127.0.0.1`	Python bridge host
`ABLETON_MIND_PORT`	`9876`	Bridge TCP port
`ABLETON_MIND_TIMEOUT_MS`	`5000`	Per-request timeout
`ABLETON_MIND_MAX_FRAME_BYTES`	`1048576`	Max incoming JSON-RPC frame
`ABLETON_MIND_MAX_PENDING_REQUESTS`	`128`	Max in-flight JSON-RPC calls
`ABLETON_MIND_LOG_LEVEL`	`info`	`debug` \| `info` \| `warn` \| `error`

Local copilot

Run a local LLM against a curated subset of the same Ableton tools:

ollama pull qwen2.5:3b      # optional; the UI can pull too
node dist/index.js chat     # opens http://127.0.0.1:4142
node dist/index.js ask "What is in this set?"

The default tier is read-only (safe). Use --write for simple changes or --creative for recipes/browser load.

Var	Default
`ABLETON_MIND_LLM_BASE_URL`	`http://127.0.0.1:11434/v1`	OpenAI-compatible endpoint
`ABLETON_MIND_LLM_MODEL`	`qwen2.5:3b`	Local model id
`ABLETON_MIND_LLM_TIER`	`safe`	`safe` \| `standard` \| `creative`
`ABLETON_MIND_CHAT_PORT`	`4142`	Browser UI port

See Local copilot.

Doctor CLI

npx ableton-mind-doctor

Checks Node version, Remote Script install, bridge port, knowledge base integrity, recipes.

Distribution

Source today: npm ci && npm run build && npm run install:remote-script.
Claude Desktop one-click: npm run build:dxt builds build/ableton-mind-<ver>.mcpb; the release bundle is validated locally and waits only on the manual publish gate.
Docker: docker build -t ableton-mind . && docker run --rm -i --network host ableton-mind.
Smithery: smithery.yaml ready for the release path.
npm: not published yet; npm publish --dry-run is green, publish only after explicit release approval.

Roadmap

See PLAN.md §12 and _workspace/PROGRESS.md.

Phase	Status
0 — Spike	✅ real smoke pass
1 — ahujasid parity	✅ 22/22
2 — Listeners	✅ 7 events
3 — Knowledge	✅ 55 devices
4 — Automation envelopes	✅
5 — Preview/verify	✅ snapshot+diff (bounce planned)
6 — Push	✅ pad/button/mode LEDs
7 — Distribution	✅ DXT/Docker/Smithery/CI/release ready
8 — Long tail	🔵 slice 1 delivered: read-only M4L/plug-in introspection + Link/remote status discovery; deeper M4L/VST3/remote DAW/mobile work pending