This guide walks you through installing Live MCP from scratch and verifying that everything is connected.

Prerequisites

  • Ableton Live 12 with Max for Live
  • Node.js 18 or later
  • An MCP-compatible client (Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, or similar)

Steps

1. Download the bridge device

Download the Live MCP Bridge from the download page (pick your price or download for free). Unzip the download to get Live MCP Bridge.amxd.

2. Place the device in Ableton Live

Drag Live MCP Bridge.amxd onto any MIDI track in your Live set. The device will start automatically.

Open the Max Console (Window > Max Console from the Max editor, or click the hamburger menu on the M4L device title bar) and confirm you see:

lom-handler-v8.js: script loaded
Live MCP Bridge listening on port 19740

3. Configure your MCP client

Claude Code:

claude mcp add live-mcp -- npx -y @mixofreality/live-mcp@latest

JSON config (Claude Desktop, Cursor, and others):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "live-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@mixofreality/live-mcp@latest"]
    }
  }
}

4. Set custom host or port (optional)

If the bridge is running on a different machine or port, set environment variables in your MCP client config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "live-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@mixofreality/live-mcp@latest"],
      "env": {
        "LIVE_MCP_BRIDGE_HOST": "192.168.1.100",
        "LIVE_MCP_BRIDGE_PORT": "19741"
      }
    }
  }
}
VariableDefaultDescription
LIVE_MCP_BRIDGE_HOST127.0.0.1IP address of the machine running Ableton Live
LIVE_MCP_BRIDGE_PORT19740TCP port the bridge listens on

5. Verify the connection

Restart your MCP client and ask:

What's the tempo of my Ableton session?

If you get a numeric answer back, everything is working.