This MCP server provides a bridge between large language models and Ableton Live via the Model Context Protocol (MCP). It exposes a set of MCP-compatible tools that translate high-level requests into OSC messages sent to Ableton Live, enabling control over devices, tracks, clips, and other Ableton parameters without leaving the MCP ecosystem. The server relies on an OSC daemon to handle the low-level OSC communication, while the MCP server handles the MCP protocol, request/response semantics, and tool orchestration. Typical interactions involve asking the model to prepare a set, route audio, or adjust device parameters, which the MCP server translates into OSC commands understood by Ableton Live and then returns the responses back to the client.

To use it, run the MCP server (the Python script mcp_ableton_server.py) and optionally the OSC daemon if you want to run the OSC layer separately. Clients connect to the MCP server, discover the available tools, and issue requests using standard MCP tool calls. The tools cover common Ableton operations such as transport control, device manipulation, clip launching, track routing, and other OSC-addressable actions exposed by the AbletonOSC integration. When a client sends a request, the server processes it, formats the corresponding OSC message, sends it to Ableton Live, waits for a response if applicable, and returns the result to the MCP client.

Prerequisites:

• Python 3.8 or newer
• pip (or uv for easier dependency management as described in the repository)
• Access to the repository with the mcp_ableton_server.py and osc_daemon.py files

Installation steps:

1. Install uv (optional but recommended) for Python package management:

   curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

2. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/mcp_ableton_server.git cd mcp_ableton_server

3. Create and activate a Python virtual environment (optional but recommended):

   python -m venv .venv source .venv/bin/activate # macOS/Linux .venv\Scripts\activate # Windows

4. Install dependencies (python-osc, fastmcp, and any other requirements):

   pip install -r requirements.txt

   If requirements.txt is not present, install commonly used packages:

   pip install python-osc fastmcp

5. Install AbletonOSC (as documented in the repository or its README) so Ableton Live commands can be mapped to MCP tools.

6. Run the OSC daemon (separate process) if you plan to use OSC directly:

   uv run osc_daemon.py

7. Start the MCP server:

   python mcp_ableton_server.py

Prerequisites recap:

• Python 3.8+
• OSC support via python-osc
• MCP support via fastmcp
• AbletonOSC integration for Ableton Live control

Tips and common considerations:

• Ensure Ableton Live is reachable on the same machine or network as the OSC daemon, and that the configured ports (send/receive) are open.
• If you modify the OSC daemon, be aware of the default ports used for MCP (65432) and Ableton (11000/11001); adjust the mcp_ableton_server.py environment or configuration accordingly.
• Use a virtual environment to keep dependencies isolated and the project portable.
• When debugging, check that Python scripts have execute permissions and that the correct Python interpreter is used (especially when using multiple virtual environments).
• For Claude Desktop integration, you can map the MCP server to Claude by pointing Claude’s mcpServers entry to your Python venv Python executable and the mcp_ableton_server.py script as shown in the repository example.
• Review the available tools exposed by the server to understand which OSC addresses are mapped to which MCP operations.