Claude — Desktop & Code

The easiest way is Claude Desktop — no terminal, no Node, no setup files. The whole tdmcp server is bundled inside one extension file. Three steps, about 3 minutes. Using Claude Code or Cursor? See the section below. Prefer Codex, or a free local model with no API? See Codex or Local copilot.

Using Claude Code, Cursor, or Codex instead?

You don't need to do any of this by hand. Paste this one message into your AI and it installs everything for you:

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.

1. Download the extension

⬇ Download tdmcp.mcpb

An .mcpb (MCP Bundle) is a single file Claude Desktop installs as an extension. The server is inside it — nothing else to download. (.mcpb is the current format; it was previously called .dxt, and any older .dxt you may already have still installs.)

If the download link doesn't work

A release may not be published yet. Ask whoever shared tdmcp with you for the tdmcp.mcpb file directly, then continue at step 2.

2. Install it in Claude Desktop

1. Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Extensions.
2. Choose Install from file (or just drag tdmcp.mcpb onto the window).
3. If it asks for settings, leave TouchDesigner host = 127.0.0.1 and TouchDesigner port = 9980. (The defaults are right when TouchDesigner runs on the same computer.)
4. Enable the "TouchDesigner (tdmcp)" extension.

3. Turn on the bridge inside TouchDesigner

This is what lets Claude actually drive TouchDesigner. You only do it once.

1. Open TouchDesigner.

2. Open the Textport: menu Dialogs → Textport and DATs.

3. 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 (/project1/tdmcp_bridge)

That's it. ✅ It's safe and reversible — it adds one tidy tdmcp_bridge component. To remove it later, paste from mcp import install; install.uninstall().

You're connected

With TouchDesigner open and the bridge on, you're ready to make your first visual.

One safety note

The bridge lets Claude run code inside TouchDesigner and listens on port 9980. Only use it on a network you trust (like your own computer), not on public Wi-Fi without a firewall. Developers can lock it down further — see Security.

Claude Code, Cursor & other MCP clients

Claude Desktop (above) is the no-terminal route. For Claude Code or Cursor, connect tdmcp from source — you'll need Node.js 20+. (Codex has its own walkthrough on the Codex page; the same source build also powers the local copilot.)

Easiest — let your AI do it

Paste the one-liner from the top of this page into your client; it clones, builds and wires everything itself, stopping only for the bridge line in step 3.

Or wire it by hand:

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

npm run setup prints a ready-to-paste command with your real paths filled in. The manual equivalents (<project-path> is the cloned folder — run pwd inside it):

• Claude Code — claude mcp add tdmcp -- node <project-path>/dist/index.js

• Codex CLI — codex mcp add tdmcp -- node <project-path>/dist/index.js, or add this to ~/.codex/config.toml:

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

• Cursor — create .cursor/mcp.json in your workspace:

  {
    "mcpServers": {
      "tdmcp": { "command": "node", "args": ["<project-path>/dist/index.js"] }
    }
  }

Restart your client so it loads the server, then turn on the bridge — step 3 above. It's the same one line for every client.

Trouble?

See Troubleshooting — it covers "TouchDesigner isn't reachable", download errors, and the macOS microphone permission popup.