Getting started

ableton-mind is an MCP server that lets an AI assistant create, inspect and verify Ableton Live sets. This page takes you from a local checkout to your first verified tool call.

Prerequisites

• Node.js 20+
• Ableton Live 12. The real smoke pass used Live 12.4.1 on macOS.
• An MCP client such as Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Codex or Cursor.

1. Build from source

Public npm and .mcpb channels are not published yet. Use the source path for now:

npm ci
npm run build

2. Install the Remote Script (Python bridge)

The Remote Script runs inside Live and exposes the LOM over TCP at 127.0.0.1:9876.

npm run install:remote-script

Or manually copy live/AbletonMind/ to:

• macOS: ~/Music/Ableton/User Library/Remote Scripts/AbletonMind/
• Windows: ~/Documents/Ableton/User Library/Remote Scripts/AbletonMind/

3. Activate in Live

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

4. Point your MCP client at the local build

Example claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "ableton-mind": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/ableton-mind/dist/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Replace the path with this repo's absolute path after npm run build.

5. First read

Ask Claude/Cursor:

"Check that ableton-mind can reach Live. Read the session info and list the tracks. Do not change anything."

Then try:

"Play the set, verify playback state, then stop."

The assistant should return a verified state and a small diff. From there, continue with Your first Live set or the prompt cookbook.