Simon-Kansara/ableton-live-mcp-server

📌 Overview
The **Ableton Live MCP Server** is a server implementing the
Model Context Protocol (MCP) to facilitate
communication between LLMs and **Ableton Live**. It uses **OSC (Open Sound
Control)** to send and receive messages to/from Ableton Live. It is based on
AbletonOSC implementation and
exhaustively maps available OSC adresses to
**tools** accessible to
MCP clients.
This project consists of two main components:
- mcp_ableton_server.py: The MCP server handling the communication between
clients and the OSC daemon.
- osc_daemon.py: The OSC daemon responsible for relaying commands to Ableton
Live and processing responses.
✨ Features
- Provides an MCP-compatible API for controlling Ableton Live from MCP clients.
- Uses **python-osc** for sending and receiving OSC messages.
- Based on the OSC implementation from
AbletonOSC.
- Implements request-response handling for Ableton Live commands.
⚡ Installation
Requirements
- Python 3.8+
- python-osc (for OSC communication)
- fastmcp (for MCP support)
- uv (recommended Python package installer)
- AbletonOSC as a control surface
Installation Steps
1. Install uv (https://docs.astral.sh/uv/getting-started/installation):
2. Clone the repository:
3. Install the project and its dependencies:
4. Install AbletonOSC Follow the instructions at
AbletonOSC
🚀 Usage
Running the OSC Daemon
The OSC daemon will handle OSC communication between the MCP server and Ableton
Live:
This will:
- Listen for MCP client connections on port **65432**.
- Forward messages to Ableton Live via OSC on port **11000**.
- Receive OSC responses from Ableton on port **11001**.
Example Usage
In Claude desktop, ask Claude:
- _Prepare a set to record a rock band_
- _Set the input routing channel of all tracks that have "voice" in their name
to Ext. In 2_
⚙️ Configuration
By default, the server and daemon run on **localhost (127.0.0.1)** with the
following ports:
- **MCP Server Socket:** 65432
- **Ableton Live OSC Port (Send):** 11000
- **Ableton Live OSC Port (Receive):** 11001
To modify these, edit the AbletonOSCDaemon class in osc_daemon.py:
Claude Desktop Configuration
To use this server with Claude Desktop, you need to configure it in your Claude
Desktop settings. The configuration file location varies by operating system:
- macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
- Windows: %APPDATA%/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json
Add the following configuration to your mcpServers section:
This configuration ensures that: