FenderStudioProMCP

Control PreSonus Studio One with an LLM — an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that turns Studio One into an AI-controllable DAW instrument. Aimed at production workflows (editing, MIDI manipulation, mixing, effects, export), with a longer-term vision of AI-assisted live-set control.

Community project, work in progress. Not affiliated with or endorsed by PreSonus.

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How it controls Studio One

Studio One has no public remote-control API, so FenderStudioProMCP drives it through four complementary, push-based paths — each proven to work on Studio One 7 (macOS):

Path	What it does	Needs
MIDI → command dispatch ⭐	A user control-surface (StudioOneMCP Pads) maps MIDI CCs/notes to Studio One commands and macros. The MCP sends MIDI on a virtual port → the command fires. Reliable, no Accessibility.	Virtual port + surface bound to Receive From
MCU MIDI	Faders, pan, mute, solo, transport via the built-in Mackie Control Universal surface	Virtual port + MCU surface
Menu / keyboard automation	Clicks Studio One menu items and sends shortcuts via macOS System Events; verifies actions via the Edit▸Undo label	macOS Accessibility
Macro generation	Writes .studioonemacro files for command sequences with no shortcut	Nothing

⭐ Superseded. The MIDI → command path described above never reliably fired in practice (a shelved upstream finding — its CC range collides with MCU's V-Pots on the same channel/port) and the code that sent those CCs has since been removed. Command/macro dispatch now goes through the DAW's Ctrl+K command palette instead (studio_one_run_command), backed by a per-user catalog generated from the DAW's own .keyscheme export — see docs/shortcut-setup.md. This section is kept for history; the StudioOneMCP Pads control surface below is not required for current functionality.

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Function catalog

Studio One's command surface is enumerated into docs/function-catalog.json:

• 194 built-in commands (Edit, Event, Audio, Transport, Track, Song, File, View — top level)
• 221 macros (the installed macro library — quantize, humanize, velocity, articulations, chords, tempo, add-EQ/compressor, export, …)
• = 415 functions, mappable to MIDI (notes/CCs × 16 channels ≈ 2000 slots)

Mapping all 415 to MIDI + exposing them as named MCP tools is the current build — see Issues.

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Setup

1. Install

git clone https://github.com/pajdarova/FenderStudioProMCP
cd FenderStudioProMCP
python -m venv .venv && ./.venv/bin/pip install -e ".[dev]"

2. Virtual MIDI port

FenderStudioProMCP opens a virtual port named StudioPro-MCU (pinned to a fixed uniqueID so Studio One re-binds to it every launch). Just run the server — the port appears. (On Windows/Linux, use a loopback such as loopMIDI / snd-virmidi named StudioPro-MCU.)

3. Install the control surface (MIDI → command)

Copy studio-one-devices/StudioOneMCPPads/ into your Studio One User Devices folder:

~/Library/Application Support/PreSonus/Studio One 7/User Devices/StudioOneMCPPads/

Then in Studio One ▸ Settings ▸ External Devices ▸ Add… pick StudioOneMCP ▸ StudioOneMCP Pads, and set Receive From = StudioOneMCP. Leave Send To empty (the surface is receive-only). Relaunch Studio One so it scans the device.

4. (Optional) MCU surface for faders/transport

External Devices ▸ Add ▸ Mackie Control Universal ▸ Receive From = StudioPro-MCU.

5. (Optional) Accessibility for menu/keyboard automation

System Settings ▸ Privacy & Security ▸ Accessibility → enable your MCP host app.

6. Add to your MCP client (e.g. Claude Desktop)

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "studio-pro": { "command": "studio-pro-mcp", "args": ["--port-name", "StudioPro-MCU"] }
  }
}

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Available tools (current)

• studio_one_run_command(name) ⭐ — fire any of 224 built-in Studio One commands by name (Edit, Track, Event, Audio, Song, Transport, Zoom, Show, Arranger, …). Case-insensitive, unique partial match accepted. e.g. "Duplicate", "Split Range", "Find Track", "Bounce Selection". Verified working end-to-end.
• studio_one_list_commands(filter) — discover command names.
• Transport: play · stop · record · rewind · fast-forward · toggle-loop · save · undo · redo
• Mixer (MCU): set-fader · toggle-mute · toggle-solo · toggle-rec-arm · select-channel · set-pan
• Automation: add tracks · new song · save-as · toggle mixer/browser/editor · zoom · split · …
• Macros: generate .studioonemacro sequences

Note: the 224 mapped commands are Studio One built-ins (they dispatch from a control surface). User macros (139 in docs/macros-todo.json) do not dispatch from a surface — they need a keyboard/Command-Bar trigger, tracked in #3.

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Architecture

LLM / MCP client
   │ JSON-RPC (stdio)
   ▼
MCP server (server.py) ── tool registration, arg validation
   │
   ├─ MidiBridge (midi_bridge.py) ─┐
   │   MCU mixer/transport         │  virtual port "StudioPro-MCU"
   ├─ CoreMIDI pin (coremidi.py) ──┘  (pinned uniqueID)  ──► Studio One
   │                                       surface: Mackie Control Universal
   ├─ Command/macro dispatch (keystrokes.py)  ──► Ctrl+K palette / direct shortcut
   ├─ Automation (keystrokes.py)  ──► System Events (menus / shortcuts)
   └─ Macro writer (macro_writer.py) ──► ~/Documents/Studio One/Macros

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Roadmap

Tracked in GitHub Issues. Highlights:

• Expand the pad surface to the full MIDI → function map (all 415)
• Named MCP tools to trigger any function ("quantize to 1/16", "add EQ + comp", "export stems")
• Vision: AI DAW-controller for autonomous mixing — songs, faders, effects, transitions
• Feedback/sensing (MCU meters, state model) for level-aware decisions

Development

pytest ; ruff check src tests ; mypy src

Credits

FenderStudioProMCP began as a fork of tiwadara/StudioOneMcp (MIT licensed), which established the MIDI/MCU control-surface approach to driving Studio One from an MCP server. This repository has since been substantially rewritten: Windows support, adaptation to the Fender Studio Pro rebrand, an MCP SDK 2.0 upgrade with dual stdio/HTTP transport, and a command catalog generated per-user from .keyscheme exports.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.