Pro Tools MCP Server

An MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that enables AI assistants like Claude to control Pro Tools via the PTSL (Pro Tools Scripting Library) gRPC API.

⚠️ Experimental Project: This is a work in progress and not all Pro Tools features are implemented yet. Use at your own risk!

Features

The server provides AI assistants with the following capabilities:

• Session Management - Query session info, save sessions, get comprehensive session overview
• Timeline Navigation - Browse tracks and clips with pagination, search by name, navigate the timeline (audio clips only)
• Track Control - List, select, mute, solo, and manage tracks
• Clip Management - Find and work with audio clips on the timeline
• Editing Operations - Cut, copy, paste, clear, undo/redo with timeline selections
• Markers - Create, list, and navigate session markers
• Transport Control - Play, stop, record, and control playback
• Visual Analysis - Generate waveform images and analyze audio content (onsets, peaks, silence detection)
• Raw PTSL Access - Send custom PTSL commands for advanced use cases
• Diagnostics - Test and verify PTSL connection status

Known Limitations

• MIDI Clips: The timeline indexing only captures audio clips. MIDI clip positions cannot be queried due to PTSL API limitations. MIDI clips can be seen in the clip list but their timeline positions are not available.

Safety Features

The server uses a granular permission system to protect your Pro Tools sessions. By default, it runs in read-only mode with safe audio analysis enabled.

Default Permissions (No Configuration Needed)

Always allowed:

• Read operations (queries, track lists, clip info, session info)
• Playback control (play, stop, toggle)
• UI state changes (mute/solo, timeline selection, edit tools)
• Copy to clipboard (non-destructive)
• Export audio to temp directories only (enables audio analysis)

Blocked by default (require ALLOW_WRITES to enable):

• Creating/editing markers (memory)
• Cut/paste/clear operations (clipboard)
• Exporting to custom paths (export)
• Creating/deleting tracks (track_structure)
• Saving/opening sessions (session)
• Recording (recording)

Enabling Write Operations

Use the ALLOW_WRITES environment variable to enable specific permission groups:

Claude Desktop (~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "protools": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/protools-mcp-server/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "PTSL_PROTO_PATH": "/absolute/path/to/PTSL.proto",
        "ALLOW_WRITES": "memory,clipboard"
      }
    }
  }
}

Command Line:

# Allow markers and clipboard editing
ALLOW_WRITES=memory,clipboard PTSL_PROTO_PATH=/path/to/PTSL.proto node dist/index.js

# Allow everything (use with caution)
ALLOW_WRITES=all PTSL_PROTO_PATH=/path/to/PTSL.proto node dist/index.js

Permission Groups

Audio Analysis for AI

Since AI models like Claude cannot directly listen to audio, this server provides several methods to help the AI "understand" audio content through visual and textual analysis. The analyze_audio tool can bounce any region of your Pro Tools session and analyze it in multiple ways:

Analysis Modes

Isolated Mode: Analyzes a single track by soloing it, bouncing the region, and generating analysis. Perfect for examining individual instruments or vocals.

Mix Mode: Analyzes the full mix as it currently sounds in Pro Tools,

... View full README on GitHub