Codex + TouchDesigner

tdmcp connects the Codex CLI to TouchDesigner over the Model Context Protocol. Once it's wired up you describe a visual in plain language inside Codex and it builds the actual network of operators in your project — then checks it for errors and shows you a preview.

If you also use Claude or Cursor, the setup is the same idea; this page is the Codex-specific path. For the full picture see Install.

What you need

• TouchDesigner — the free non-commercial edition is fine.
• Node.js 20+ — Codex runs the tdmcp server as a local node process over stdio.
• The Codex CLI installed and working (codex --version).

Connect tdmcp to Codex

You can register tdmcp from the published npm package (no clone) or from a local build. Either way Codex launches it as a stdio MCP server.

Let Codex do it for you

Paste this into Codex and it installs and wires everything itself, stopping only for the one TouchDesigner line:

Install and connect tdmcp for me by reading and following
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Pantani/tdmcp/main/tdmcp-install-prompt.md
Do every step yourself; only stop when you need me to paste one line into TouchDesigner.

Option A — from npm (no clone)

Add tdmcp to ~/.codex/config.toml (merge into any existing [mcp_servers.*]):

[mcp_servers.tdmcp]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@dpantani/tdmcp"]

Option B — from a local build

Clone and build, then point Codex at dist/index.js:

git clone https://github.com/Pantani/tdmcp.git
cd tdmcp
npm run setup   # installs, builds, and prints the exact connect line

Then either run codex mcp add tdmcp -- node <project-path>/dist/index.js (<project-path> is the cloned folder — run pwd inside it), or add it to ~/.codex/config.toml by hand:

[mcp_servers.tdmcp]
command = "node"
args = ["<project-path>/dist/index.js"]

Restart your Codex session afterwards so it picks up the new server.

Turn on the bridge in TouchDesigner

tdmcp needs a small bridge running inside TouchDesigner. Open the Textport (Dialogs → Textport and DATs), paste this one line, and press Enter:

import urllib.request; exec(urllib.request.urlopen("https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Pantani/tdmcp/main/td/bootstrap.py").read().decode())

You should see [tdmcp] bridge running on port 9980. This is the only step that has to happen inside TouchDesigner — see Install for the details and how to remove it later.

Make something

With TouchDesigner open and the bridge on, ask Codex in plain language:

"Create an audio-reactive particle galaxy and show me a preview."

It builds the network, checks it for errors, and returns a thumbnail. Keep going in plain language — "make it warmer," "add a feedback trail," "output it fullscreen." More ideas are in the prompt cookbook, and Your first visual walks through one end to end.

Not connecting?

• Confirm the bridge is on: curl http://127.0.0.1:9980/api/info should return JSON.
• Restart the Codex session after editing ~/.codex/config.toml — MCP servers are loaded at startup.
• Full Troubleshooting covers the common cases.

For host/port, environment variables, and the local copilot CLI, see the CLI reference and environment variables.