New here? You don't need to know music or code. Open an AI agent that can run programs on your computer (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, or the Code tab in the Claude desktop app) and paste this line:

Set me up with ismail: https://github.com/newsbubbles/ismail

It installs everything, asks what you want to make, and plays you a first idea. You don't need to know what a "skill", "MCP" or "plugin" is: your agent handles that.

ismail

Not a DAW with an agent added on. ismail starts from what the agent lacks: it can't hear, so ismail reads the music to it as text, and you steer through screens it builds for you.

The agent you already use does the work in the background. You bring the taste.

Made by Measured Instruments: https://measuredinstruments.com (for agents: https://measuredinstruments.com/agents/)

If you are an AI agent: read AGENTS.md first; it is short. Then the playbook, skills/ismail/SKILL.md. Setup for every client is in setup.md (one command with uv: uvx --python 3.12 ismail mcp). Your first tool call is guide. Find any tool by what you need with ops_find. Every render comes back to you as text.

What it looks like

1. You talk; the agent writes the notes, the sounds and the mix as text.

you   > Make me an 8-bar deep house loop: kick, a bass line in A minor, and some keys.

agent > project_new(bpm=120, length_bars=8, name='Demo Song')
        track_add('kick', instrument='preset:kick')
        notes_write('kick', 1, '0 C1 0.5; 1 C1 0.5; 2 C1 0.5; 3 C1 0.5', repeat=8)
        track_add('bass', instrument='preset:pluck')
        notes_write('bass', 1, '0 A1 0.5; 1.5 A1 0.5; 2.5 C2 0.5; 3 E2 0.5', repeat=8)
        track_add('keys', instrument='preset:pluck')
        notes_write('keys', 1, '0 A3 2; 0 C4 2; 0 E4 2; 2 G3 2; 2 B3 2; 2 D4 2', repeat=8)
        render()

        rendered 18.0s -> renders/latest.wav
        master: -16.7 LUFS, true peak -0.3 dBTP
          kick   peak  -6.1   rms -20.1 dB
          bass   peak -10.2   rms -27.6 dB
          keys   peak  -3.0   rms -26.8 dB

        Listening report
        1. Balance: the keys peak 3 dB over the kick, so they sit on top of the groove.
           I'll bring them down 4 dB and give the bass 2 dB.
        Have a listen: does the bass line feel right before I add hats?

2. Every render comes back as text the agent can read: here, a song's form, bar by bar.

      bar 12345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890...
      mix 66666687787787787887888888888888888888888888888878...
     ~sub 777777777777777777777776777777666666777777777777.7...
    ~bass 7777778888888888888888888888888888888888888889888...
     root ..B...AGGAGGAGGAGGGGGGGGGGGAGGGGaAGGaGaaaaAGaaGaAG...
  section A----------------------------------------------|B--
A   bars   1-48  (48)  level    9.6 dB  low X...X...X...X...  snare ....x.......x...
B   bars  49-56  ( 8)  level   12.6 dB  low XxxXX.XxXxxXxxXx  snare .......x........

3. Your phone: listen away from the desk, and send a voice note on the beat you heard.

**4. A page built for one

... View full README on GitHub