ableton-mcp

Quickstart

Three steps: install uv, point your MCP client at the server, install the Ableton Remote Script.

1. Install uv

# macOS
brew install uv

Otherwise, install from uv's official website.

Warning: Do not proceed before installing uv.

2. Add the MCP server to your client

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "AbletonMCP": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": [
                "ableton-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}

uvx ableton-mcp

Warning: Only run one instance of the MCP server (either on Cursor or Claude Desktop), not both.

3. Install the Ableton Remote Script

uvx --from ableton-mcp ableton-mcp-install-script
uvx --from ableton-mcp ableton-mcp-install-script --list-targets   # preview target folders first

4. Connect

1. Launch Ableton Live
2. Go to Settings/Preferences → Link, Tempo & MIDI
3. In the Control Surface dropdown, select AbletonMCP
4. Set Input and Output to None

That's it — ask Claude to build something.

Table of Contents

• Quickstart
• Features
• Components
• Installation
  • Prerequisites
  • Claude for Desktop Integration
  • Cursor Integration
  • Installing the Ableton Remote Script
• Usage
  • Starting the Connection
  • Using with Claude
  • Capabilities
  • Example Commands
• Troubleshooting
• Technical Details
• Limitations & Security Considerations
• Telemetry
• Join the Community
• Contributing
• Disclaimer

Features

Components

The system consists of two main components:

1. Ableton Remote Script (Ableton_Remote_Script/__init__.py) — a MIDI Remote Script for Ableton Live that creates a socket server to receive and execute commands
2. MCP Server (server.py) — a Python server that implements the Model Context Protocol and connects to the Ableton Remote Script

Installation

Prerequisites

• Ableton Live 10 or newer
• Python 3.8 or newer
• uv package manager

If you're on Mac, please install uv as:

brew install uv

Otherwise, install from uv's official website

Warning: Do not proceed before installing uv.

Claude for Desktop Integration

Follow along with the setup instructions video

Go to Claude → Settings → Developer → Edit Config → claude_desktop_config.json to include the following:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "AbletonMCP": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": [
                "ableton-mcp"
            ]
        }
    }
}

Cursor Integration

Run ableton-mcp without installing it permanently through uvx. Go to Cursor Settings → MCP and paste this as a command:

uvx ableton-mcp

Warning: Only run one instance of the MCP server (either on Cursor or Claude Desktop), not both.

Claude Code Integration

In the terminal, run:

claude mcp add AbletonMCP uvx ableton-mcp

Installing the Ableton Remote Script

Follow along with the setup instructions video

Install the Remote Script with:

uvx --from ableton-mcp ableton-mcp-install-script
uvx --from ableton-mcp ableton-mcp-install-script --list-targets   # preview target folders first

If you installed the package with pip or pipx, the command is on your PATH directly — just run ableton-mcp-install-script.

This copies the matching Remote Script into your Ableton User Library's Remote Scripts folder — the location Live (10.1.13+) scans for third-party control surface scripts. The installer reads the User Library location from Live's Library.cfg, falling back to the default (~/Music/Ableton/User Library on macOS, Documents\Ableton\User Library on Windows). If a different version of the script is already there, the existing file is backed up to __init__.py.bak before being replaced.

If your User Library lives somewhere non-standard and isn't detected, point the installer at it directly:

uvx --from ableton-mcp ableton-mcp-install-script --target "/path/to/User Library/Remote Scripts"

The legacy Preferences/User Remote Scripts folder (used for instant-mapping configs, not Python control surfaces) is no longer targeted by default; pass --legacy if you need it for an old Live version.

Then restart Ableton (or re-select the AbletonMCP control surface) so Live loads it. Re-run the command after upgrading the package — the server logs a warning when the loaded script version doesn't match what it expects.

Note: The server does not install the script on startup. Writing into Ableton's preferences directory is an explicit action, not a side effect of launching a server.

First-time Ableton setup:

1. Run uvx --from ableton-mcp ableton-mcp-install-script
2. Launch Ableton Live
3. Go to Settings/Preferences → Link, Tempo & MIDI
4. In the Control Surface dropdown, select AbletonMCP
5. Set Input and Output to None

The MCP server and Remote Script share a version handshake (get_remote_script_info). If they diverge, newer tools degrade gracefully until Live is restarted.

Usage

Starting the Connection

1. Ensure the Ableton Remote Script is loaded in Ableton Live
2. Make sure the MCP server is configured in Claude Desktop or Cursor
3. The connection should be established automatically when you interact with Claude

Using with Claude

Once the config file has been set on Claude, and the remote script is running in Ableton, you will see a hammer icon with tools for the Ableton MCP.

Capabilities

• Get session and track information
• Create and modify MIDI and audio tracks
• Create full song arrangements from start to finish in Arrangement View
• Create, edit, and trigger clips
• Control playback
• Load instruments and effects from Ableton's browser
• Add notes to MIDI clips
• Change tempo and other session parameters

Example Commands

Here are some examples of what you can ask Claude to do:

Troubleshooting

Technical Details

Communication Protocol

The system uses a simple JSON-based protocol over TCP sockets:

• Commands are sent as JSON objects with a type and optional params
• Responses are JSON objects with a status and result or message

Limitations & Security Considerations

• Creating complex musical arrangements might need to be broken down into smaller steps
• The tool is designed to work with Ableton's default devices and browser items
• Always save your work before extensive experimentation

Telemetry

There are two tiers, and they have different defaults.

Anonymous telemetry — on by default. A random install ID, a per-run session ID, which tools ran, whether they succeeded, and how long they took. This is what counts active users and catches broken tools. It contains none of your content: no prompts, no MIDI, no track or clip names, no device settings.

Dataset recording — off by default, opt-in. Everything with your work in it: prompts, MIDI notes, track and clip names, and device settings, which may be published as part of an open dataset used to train music-production models. Nothing here is collected unless you explicitly turn it on.

To see exactly what data each tier collects, see the Terms & Data Use.

Opting in to dataset recording

Either set the environment variable before starting the server:

export ABLETON_MCP_ENABLE_DATASET=true

…or answer the question when your client asks it. On your first tool call you're asked once — as a dialog if your client supports MCP elicitation, otherwise as a message in the chat — and answering yes turns it on from that point. Your answer is stored in ~/.ableton-mcp/consent.json. Declining, or never answering, records nothing. If you dismiss the dialog without choosing, that isn't treated as an answer and you may be asked again in a later session.

Opting out of anonymous telemetry

Set one of these before starting the MCP server:

export ABLETON_MCP_DISABLE_TELEMETRY=true

Or use any of these alternatives:

• DISABLE_TELEMETRY=true
• MCP_DISABLE_TELEMETRY=true

This also disables dataset recording. ABLETON_MCP_DISABLE_DATASET=true turns off dataset recording only, and overrides any stored grant.

For Claude Desktop, add the environment variable to your config:

{
    "mcpServers": {
        "AbletonMCP": {
            "command": "uvx",
            "args": ["ableton-mcp"],
            "env": {
                "ABLETON_MCP_DISABLE_TELEMETRY": "true"
            }
        }
    }
}

Join the Community

Give feedback, get inspired, and build on top of the MCP: Discord

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Disclaimer

This is a third-party integration and not made by Ableton. Made by Siddharth.