Install AbletonMCP | Ableton Live MCP Setup

Agent-assisted setup

Give your agent one clear prompt.

Your agent explains the setup and helps with the terminal. You restart Live and select the Control Surface.

Want to check the project first? Review the source on GitHub or follow the manual steps below.

Prompt for your coding agent

Help me install AbletonMCP ([email protected]) using https://abletonmcp.com/docs/. Explain the changes first and ask before replacing any files or settings. Keep my existing MCP connections and hardware controllers unchanged. Guide me through Ableton's Control Surface setup, then verify the connection without changing my Live set.

Manual setup

Prefer to do it yourself?

Install the Remote Script, connect your client, and check the bridge.

Live-side setup

Install the Remote Script.

This copies the matching Live-side script into your Ableton User Library.

Terminal

$ uvx [email protected] install

Restart Ableton Live.
Open Settings → Tempo & MIDI, then find the MIDI section and its Control Surface list.
In an unused row, select AbletonMCP. Keep existing hardware controller rows unchanged.
In that same row, set Input: None and Output: None.

This selection is required: installing the files alone does not start the bridge. It uses a local socket, so no hardware MIDI input or output is needed.

Link is a separate Settings page in current Live versions. In older versions, look under Link, Tempo & MIDI or Link/MIDI in Settings/Preferences, then find MIDI.

I don't have uv yet

On macOS with Homebrew:

Terminal

$ brew install uv

For Windows, Linux, or another macOS method, use the official uv installer. Python 3.10 or newer is required.

Client setup

Add AbletonMCP to your client.

Choose the client you already use.

CodexOne terminal command

Terminal

$ codex mcp add ableton -- uvx [email protected]

Start a new Codex session after adding the server.

Open the detailed Codex guide →

Claude CodeOne terminal command

Terminal

$ claude mcp add --scope user AbletonMCP -- uvx [email protected]

Run claude mcp list to confirm the entry, then start a new Claude Code session.

Claude Desktop or CursorPaste one configuration

Add this entry to the client's mcpServers configuration, save, and restart the client:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "AbletonMCP": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["[email protected]"]
    }
  }
}

Another stdio clientUse the launch command

Create a local stdio MCP server named AbletonMCP. Use uvx as the command and [email protected] as its only argument.

Launch uvx [email protected] without the install subcommand.

Connection check

Verify before making music.

With Live running and AbletonMCP selected as its Control Surface:

Terminal

$ uvx [email protected] doctor --json

Look for "ok": true. Then make a read-only first request in your client:

Tell me the current tempo and track names in Ableton Live. Do not change the set or start playback.

Once both checks pass, you’re connected. Save your set before asking the agent to edit it.

Troubleshooting

Need help?

Open the issue that matches what you see.

Updating or using a custom User Library

Rerun the install command after an upgrade. Add --user-library "/path/to/User Library" for a custom location. Use --replace only after reviewing an existing Remote Script folder.

AbletonMCP is missing or does not respond

Restart Live, confirm AbletonMCP is selected as the Control Surface, and dismiss any open Live dialog. Then run doctor again.

Port 9877 is not listening

Live must be running with the Control Surface selected. If another process uses port 9877, configure matching ABLETON_MCP_PORT and ABLETON_PORT values.