ableton-cli

ableton-cli is a Python CLI to control and inspect Ableton Live through a local Remote Script. It is designed for both humans and automation (Skills/agents), with stable JSON output and fixed exit codes.

Prerequisites

• Ableton Live 12+ (the Remote Script uses dataclass slots=True, which requires the Python 3.11 interpreter bundled with Live 12; Live 11 ships Python 3.7 and cannot load this Remote Script)
• Python 3.14+
• uv

Install

Install as a standalone tool with uv (no checkout needed). Use this repository’s URL (shown under the GitHub “Code” button) as ``:

uv tool install "git+"
# or pin a release tag:
uv tool install "[email protected]"

Then use ableton-cli directly (no uv run prefix):

ableton-cli install-remote-script --yes
ableton-cli doctor

Release tags and prebuilt artifacts are published on this repository’s GitHub Releases page. To work from source instead, follow Quick Setup below.

Quick Setup

1. Install dependencies:

uv sync

2. Install the Remote Script files:

uv run ableton-cli install-remote-script --yes

3. In Ableton Live, open Preferences and set Control Surface to AbletonCliRemote.

4. Run diagnostics:

uv run ableton-cli doctor

5. Verify connection:

uv run ableton-cli ping

Core Commands

Representative commands:

uv run ableton-cli doctor
uv run ableton-cli install-remote-script --yes
uv run ableton-cli install-skill --yes
uv run ableton-cli wait-ready
uv run ableton-cli song info
uv run ableton-cli song undo
uv run ableton-cli song redo
uv run ableton-cli transport play
uv run ableton-cli transport tempo set 128
uv run ableton-cli transport position get
uv run ableton-cli transport position set 32
uv run ableton-cli transport rewind
uv run ableton-cli tracks list
uv run ableton-cli track volume get --track-index 0
uv run ableton-cli track meter get --track-index 0 --samples 20 --interval-ms 50
uv run ableton-cli track volume set 0.7 --track-index 0
uv run ableton-cli track panning set --track-index 0 -- -0.25
uv run ableton-cli track send set 1 0.6 --track-index 0
uv run ableton-cli track routing input get --selected-track
uv run ableton-cli track routing output set --type Master --channel 3/4 --track-name "Bass"
uv run ableton-cli return-tracks list
uv run ableton-cli return-track volume set 0 0.5
uv run ableton-cli return-track meter get 0 --samples 20
uv run ableton-cli master info
uv run ableton-cli master meter get --samples 20 --interval-ms 50
uv run ableton-cli master devices list
uv run ableton-cli device insert Utility --main
uv run ableton-cli device parameter set-display --main --device-name "Glue Compressor" --parameter-name Threshold -- -10
uv run ableton-cli session capture-tracks --track-index 0 --track-index 9 --start 304 --bars 8 --bypass-main-devices