Installation - Vibrai

Prerequisites

Requirement	Notes
Ableton Live 12	Standard, Suite, or Trial; must be open with a Live set loaded
`vibrai.amxd` device	The Max for Live device that runs the local bridge. The package installer copies it into your Ableton User Library for you — you just drag it onto a track

The Vibrai device runs a small HTTP server on http://localhost:3333. Load it on any track in your Live set before running commands that talk to Live. Commands that only work with project files (project info, project load) work offline.

Install Vibrai

macOS
Windows

Vibrai installs from a single signed package installer (.pkg) — no Homebrew. One installer sets up everything: the vibrai CLI, the MCP server and its Claude Desktop bundle, the Max for Live device, and the Python remote script.

Quit Ableton Live if it’s open — the installer refuses to run while Live is running.
Download the Vibrai package installer (.pkg) from vibrai.com.
Double-click the .pkg and follow the prompts.

The installer:

puts the vibrai CLI on your PATH at /usr/local/bin/vibrai,
installs the MCP server and drops the Claude Desktop bundle at /usr/local/lib/vibrai/Vibrai.mcpb (no separate download),
copies the vibrai.amxd device into your Ableton User Library,
installs the Python remote script.

Next: connect Claude Desktop and load the device into your Live set.

Windows is not supported in the 1.0 release — macOS only. Vibrai 1.0 ships a macOS .pkg and a macOS-only Claude Desktop .mcpb; there is no Windows installer or Windows MCP binary in this release. Windows support is planned for a future 1.x release — follow vibrai.com for updates.

Connect the MCP server

The MCP server (Vibrai.Mcp) runs as a subprocess launched by your MCP client. The easiest path is the one-click .mcpb bundle for Claude Desktop. Claude Desktop (.mcpb bundle — recommended): On macOS the package installer already put the bundle on disk — there is no separate download from vibrai.com. It lives at /usr/local/lib/vibrai/Vibrai.mcpb.

In Finder, press ⌘⇧G and enter /usr/local/lib/vibrai/ to reveal the bundle.
Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Extensions.
Drag Vibrai.mcpb into the Extensions panel.

Claude Desktop installs the extension and restarts. The vibrai.amxd device is already in your Ableton User Library (the installer put it there) — just drag it onto a track (see below). Manual registration (Claude Code, Cursor, or any MCP client): Point the MCP client config at the MCP server binary the installer placed on disk:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vibrai": {
      "command": "/usr/local/lib/vibrai/Vibrai.Mcp",
      "env": {
        "VIBRAI_LOG_FILE": "/tmp/vibrai-mcp.log",
        "VIBRAI_LOG_LEVEL": "Warning"
      }
    }
  }
}

The config file lives at ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json on macOS and %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json on Windows. Restart the client after editing. Environment variables:

Variable	Default	Purpose
`VIBRAI_URL`	`http://localhost:3333`	Override the bridge URL
`VIBRAI_LOG_LEVEL`	`Warning`	Verbosity: `Verbose` / `Debug` / `Information` / `Warning` / `Error`
`VIBRAI_LOG_FILE`	(stderr only)	Write a rolling log to a file

Load the device into your Live set

The package installer already copied vibrai.amxd into your Ableton User Library. To use it:

In Ableton Live, open your User Library in the browser.
Navigate to Presets → Max Audio Effect → vibrai.
Drag vibrai.amxd onto any track in your set.

The device runs a local server on localhost:3333. It does not process audio — it is purely the bridge between Vibrai and Live.

Verify

CLI:

vibrai --version

A healthy response shows both the CLI and bridge versions:

vibrai CLI:    1.0.0
vibrai bridge: 1.1.0 (vibrai-m4l)

If Live is not open yet, you will see (unreachable at http://localhost:3333) for the bridge — the CLI version still printed, so the install succeeded. MCP (from your AI client): Call get_version. A healthy response includes both the bridge and python_bridge fields:

{
  "mcp":           { "version": "1.0.0" },
  "bridge":        { "name": "vibrai-m4l", "version": "1.1.0" },
  "python_bridge": { "name": "vibrai-python-bridge", "version": "0.1.0",
                     "live_version": "12.4.0", "schema_version": 1 }
}

If bridge reports "status": "unreachable", the M4L device is not loaded or port 3333 is occupied by another process.

The python_bridge field covers automation read/write operations. If it is null, run install_vibrai_remote_script from your MCP client (or vibrai install remote-script from the CLI), restart Live, and enable Vibrai under Preferences → Link/Tempo/MIDI → Control Surface.

Activate your license

Vibrai runs as a time-limited trial until you activate a license key. Activation binds your purchased key to this machine and is CLI-only by design — it changes your seat count, so it is never performed by an AI agent.

# Activate the key from your purchase confirmation email
vibrai license activate VIBRAI-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX

# Check trial or activation status at any time
vibrai license status

Activation is CLI-only. From an MCP client you can still read status:

  What's my Vibrai license status?

Claude calls get_license_status (read-only). To clear an offline-grace
banner after reconnecting, ask it to recheck the license.

See the License reference for every command and the read-only MCP tools.

Keep Vibrai up to date

Vibrai updates itself in place — the CLI binary, the Max for Live device, and the Python remote script. The MCP server binary is managed separately by Claude Desktop’s extension manager, so vibrai update does not touch it.

# See whether a newer release is available — makes no changes
vibrai update --check

# Download, verify (SHA-256), and apply the latest release
vibrai update --yes

# Roll back to the previously installed binary
vibrai update --rollback

Ask Claude:

  Check for a Vibrai update.            (calls update — report only)
  Update Vibrai to the latest version.  (calls update with apply=true)

If Ableton Live is open during an update, the device and remote-script changes take effect after you restart Live.

Uninstalling

Vibrai ships a first-class uninstaller on both surfaces. It previews what will be removed and asks you to confirm before deleting anything.

macOS
Windows

# Preview exactly what would be removed — deletes nothing
vibrai uninstall --dry-run

# Remove Vibrai (shows the plan, then prompts for confirmation)
vibrai uninstall

# Full clean removal: program files, app data, and the Ableton integration
vibrai uninstall --purge-data --remove-ableton

Ask Claude:

  Uninstall Vibrai

Claude calls the uninstall tool. It runs preview-first: the first call
(confirm=false) returns a plan of what would be removed; confirm to actually
remove it (confirm=true). The MCP tool covers your app data, the Ableton
integration, and the Claude Desktop registration — but NOT the installed
program files. Those need root, which the MCP server can't obtain, so remove
them with `vibrai uninstall` from a terminal.

By default vibrai uninstall removes the program files (/usr/local/bin/vibrai, /usr/local/lib/vibrai) and deregisters the vibrai entry from Claude Desktop’s config. Removing program files needs root, so the command re-runs itself under sudo and may prompt for your password. Your license, session history, and the Ableton device are left in place unless you opt in with the flags below.

Flag	Effect
`--purge-data`	Also remove `~/Library/Application Support/Vibrai` (license, sessions, cache)
`--remove-ableton`	Also remove the Max for Live device and Python remote script
`--keep-claude-desktop-entry`	Leave the `vibrai` entry in Claude Desktop’s config in place
`-y`, `--yes`	Skip the confirmation prompt (required for non-interactive use)
`--dry-run`	Print what would be removed and exit without removing anything

Manual removal (fallback)

If you can’t run the CLI, remove the files by hand:

# CLI, MCP server, and Claude Desktop bundle
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/lib/vibrai /usr/local/bin/vibrai

# Max for Live device
rm -rf ~/Music/Ableton/User\ Library/Presets/Audio\ Effects/Max\ Audio\ Effect/vibrai

# Python remote script
rm -rf ~/Music/Ableton/User\ Library/Remote\ Scripts/Vibrai

Then open ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json and remove the "vibrai" entry under mcpServers, so Claude Desktop stops trying to launch a binary that’s gone.

This removes the program files only. Your license and session history live in ~/Library/Application Support/Vibrai/ and are left in place — delete that directory too if you want a completely clean removal (you’ll need to reactivate your license key if you reinstall later).

​Prerequisites

​Install Vibrai

​Connect the MCP server

​Load the device into your Live set

​Verify

​Activate your license

​Keep Vibrai up to date

​Uninstalling

Prerequisites

Install Vibrai

Connect the MCP server

Load the device into your Live set

Verify

Activate your license

Keep Vibrai up to date

Uninstalling