Name: Ableton Live MCP
Author: Simon-Kansara

LABSCO SUMMARY

It maps the OSC surface exhaustively rather than picking a handful of convenient commands.

Because it is built on AbletonOSC's address space rather than a curated shortlist, the reach is wide — which matters for the bulk edits that are tedious in the UI, like changing input routing on every track matching a name. The daemon is a second process you have to remember to start.

What it is

A server that talks to Ableton Live over OSC, mapping the AbletonOSC address space to MCP tools. Two pieces run: the MCP server, and an OSC daemon that relays to Live.

What you get

Control of Ableton Live from an MCP client, with the available OSC addresses exhaustively mapped to tools
Request-response handling, so a command's result comes back rather than being fired and forgotten
Prompts like preparing a set to record a band, or setting the input routing on every track whose name contains a word

Requirements

Python 3.8+, AbletonOSC installed as a control surface in Live, and uv to install the project. Run osc_daemon.py alongside the server: it listens for MCP client connections on port 65432, sends to Live on 11000 and receives on 11001, all on localhost by default. Point the client at mcp_ableton_server.py using the project's virtualenv Python.

Setup effort

Build from source — git clone https://github.com/Simon-Kansara/ableton-live-mcp-server.git

See installation options

USE CASES

01

Preparing a session before anyone arrives

Describe the setup you need — a band recording, say — and have the tracks and routing built out.

02

Making the same change to many tracks

Set input routing on every track whose name contains a word, instead of clicking through each one.

03

Driving Live from an assistant you already have open

Work through your MCP client rather than learning the OSC address space yourself.

BEFORE YOU INSTALL

What to know first

Requires

uv
Python 3.8+
Ableton Live with AbletonOSC installed as a control surface

Where it runs

The documented client runs the server on your machine.

INSTALLATION

Connect your client

Server setup

TERMINAL

git clone https://github.com/Simon-Kansara/ableton-live-mcp-server.git
cd ableton-live-mcp-server
uv sync

Install AbletonOSC as a control surface in Ableton Live — follow the instructions at https://github.com/ideoforms/AbletonOSC

Start the OSC daemon and keep it running while you use the server:

TERMINAL

uv run osc_daemon.py

MCP Clients

Claude Desktop

CLAUDE DESKTOP · JSON

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "Ableton Live Controller": {
      "command": "<YOUR_PATH_TO_PROJECT>/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": [
        "<YOUR_PATH_TO_PROJECT>/mcp_ableton_server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

<YOUR_PATH_TO_PROJECT> is the full path of your ableton-live-mcp-server clone. Uv sync creates the .venv inside it. Keep uv run osc_daemon.py running alongside.

Ableton Live MCP