Codex CLI
Use Producer Pal with OpenAI's command line coding assistant.
Prefer a Desktop App?
The Codex App offers an easier setup with a graphical interface. The CLI is best for developers who prefer the terminal.
If you feel comfortable with the command line and have an OpenAI subscription, this is a good option.
Requirements
Ableton Live 12.3+ with Max for Live. Live 12.4 or later is recommended — some features don't work on older versions of Live. Use the version of Max bundled with Live, or make sure your standalone Max is up to date.
Node.js 22+ (required by Codex; Producer Pal itself only needs 20+)
OpenAI Codex (requires OpenAI account, and a paid subscription at time of writing)
Installation Steps
1. Install the Max for Live Device
Download Producer_Pal.amxd, the Producer Pal Max for Live device, and add it to a MIDI track in Ableton Live:
It should display "Producer Pal Running" or something isn't working.
2. Configure Codex
Add Producer Pal to Codex's settings in ~/.codex/config.toml:
Option A: With npx (recommended) - Allows flexible startup order and auto-reconnection:
[mcp_servers.producer-pal]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "producer-pal"]Scripting or building against Producer Pal?
If you'll have the agent write code that generates or parses Producer Pal data — building MIDI programmatically, or piping tool output through JSON tooling — add --format json and --notation midi-json to the args:
[mcp_servers.producer-pal]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "producer-pal", "--format", "json", "--notation", "midi-json"]--format json returns standard JSON instead of the token-optimized compact form, and midi-json represents notes as a JSON array the agent can generate and read directly.
For a normal music-making conversation, keep the defaults (compact output, bar|beat notation) — they use fewer tokens and the agent reads them fine.
Both are global device settings, so they also change what the chat UI and any other connected clients see.
Option B: Direct HTTP - Requires Ableton running first, no auto-reconnection:
[mcp_servers.producer-pal]
url = "http://localhost:3350/mcp"3. Start Codex
Run codex in an empty folder (so it can focus on Producer Pal instead of coding)
4. Verify Tools
Run /mcp in the Codex CLI to confirm the Producer Pal tools are available:
5. Start Using Producer Pal
Start a conversation with "connect to ableton"
Troubleshooting
If it doesn't work, see the Troubleshooting Guide.