Install¶

Hugging Face account¶

The models are downloaded from Metacreation/MIDI-GPT on Hugging Face, which needs a free account. Before installing:

Sign in at huggingface.co and accept the license on the model page.
Create an access token in Settings › Access Tokens (huggingface.co/settings/tokens); the Read type is enough.

The installer asks for the token and saves it in ~/.cache/huggingface/token, where the server finds it on every start (or run hf auth login in the server's environment, or set HF_TOKEN). Only the server uses it, to download the model; the device never sees it. A model that is already downloaded keeps working without one.

One-line install¶

macOS and Linux, in Terminal:

curl -fsSL https://metacreation.net/midigpt-LIVE/bootstrap.sh | bash

Windows, in PowerShell:

irm https://metacreation.net/midigpt-LIVE/bootstrap.ps1 | iex

This downloads the latest release and copies the MIDI-GPT folder into your Live User Library (its location is read from Live's preferences). It then asks whether to set up a server on this computer: a Python environment with midigpt (in ~/Library/Application Support/MIDI-GPT/server, ~/.config/MIDI-GPT/server on Linux, %APPDATA%\MIDI-GPT\server on Windows), a Start MIDI-GPT Server launcher (Desktop and Start menu shortcuts on Windows), and the model. On Windows it also offers Microsoft's Visual C++ runtime, which PyTorch needs, and the CUDA build of PyTorch when there is an NVIDIA GPU. If no Hugging Face token is saved yet, it asks for one (see Hugging Face account). Skip the server if yours runs on another machine.

Options go after bash -s --, for example … | bash -s -- --no-server:

Flag
`--no-server` / `--server`	install only the devices, or set up the server without asking
`--model yellow_small`	the smaller, faster model (default `yellow_medium`)
`--user-library DIR`	install the devices into another User Library
`--zip FILE`	install from a downloaded release zip
`--yes`	accept every default (a Hugging Face token is then read from `HF_TOKEN`)
`--uninstall`	remove everything (see below)

On Windows the options are PowerShell flags, passed through a script block, for example & ([scriptblock]::Create((irm https://metacreation.net/midigpt-LIVE/bootstrap.ps1))) -NoServer: -NoServer / -Server, -Model, -UserLibrary, -Zip, -Gpu / -Cpu (the PyTorch build), -Yes, -Uninstall.

Manual install¶

The devices. Download MIDI-GPT-for-Live-<version>.zip from the latest release, unzip it, and move the MIDI-GPT folder into your User Library (by default ~/Music/Ableton/User Library). Keep its contents together:

File
`MIDI-GPT.amxd`	the device you use
`MIDI-GPT Instrument.amxd`	a small tag MIDI-GPT adds to each track to remember its instrument; you never add it yourself
`Server/`	the server launchers: Start MIDI-GPT Server.command (macOS), .bat (Windows), `start-server.sh` (Linux)

A Python environment with Python 3.10–3.14 (3.10–3.12 on an Intel Mac), in the server folder the launchers look in:

OS	server folder
macOS	`~/Library/Application Support/MIDI-GPT/server`
Linux	`~/.config/MIDI-GPT/server`
Windows	`%APPDATA%\MIDI-GPT\server`

python3.12 -m venv ~/Library/Application\ Support/MIDI-GPT/server/.venv     # Windows: py -3.12 -m venv "%APPDATA%\MIDI-GPT\server\.venv"
source ~/Library/Application\ Support/MIDI-GPT/server/.venv/bin/activate    # Windows: "%APPDATA%\MIDI-GPT\server\.venv\Scripts\activate"

MIDI-GPT:
```
pip install "midigpt[http,inference]==0.4.2"
```
On an Intel Mac, add "torch<2.3" "numpy<2" (the last PyTorch built for Intel Macs).
Sign in to Hugging Face with your token (see Hugging Face account):
```
hf auth login
```
Start the server from the Server folder inside MIDI-GPT: double-click Start MIDI-GPT Server.command (macOS) or Start MIDI-GPT Server.bat (Windows), or run start-server.sh (Linux). The first start downloads the model. Leave the window open while you work; Ctrl+C stops the server. To use another model or port, put MODEL=yellow_small or PORT=3457 lines in a server.conf file in the server folder.

GPU or CPU

The server uses the GPU when there is one (CUDA, or MPS on a Mac). On a Mac, MPS can be slower than the CPU for a model this size (twice as slow on an Intel Mac with a Radeon GPU): if generations are slow, start it with start-server.sh --device cpu.

The server on another computer¶

The server can run on a more powerful machine, such as a studio computer. Start it there with --host 0.0.0.0 (start-server.sh --host 0.0.0.0) so other machines can reach it, then enter its address on the device's SETUP page. The device remembers it for every set.

macOS quarantine¶

macOS quarantines files downloaded with a browser. If Live won't load the device, or the launcher won't open, clear the flag (the one-line installer does this for you):

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine ~/Music/Ableton/User\ Library/MIDI-GPT

Update or uninstall¶

Run the one-line install again to update: it replaces the devices and keeps your settings and server. To remove everything:

curl -fsSL https://metacreation.net/midigpt-LIVE/bootstrap.sh | bash -s -- --uninstall

On Windows, in PowerShell:

& ([scriptblock]::Create((irm https://metacreation.net/midigpt-LIVE/bootstrap.ps1))) -Uninstall

This removes the MIDI-GPT folder from the User Library, the server environment, the launchers and the settings. Downloaded models stay in ~/.cache/huggingface; delete models--Metacreation--MIDI-GPT there to free the space. The Hugging Face token stays there too; hf auth logout removes it.