Audacity MCP Server

MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for controlling Audacity through mod-script-pipe.

This server communicates with Audacity over named pipes and exposes many Audacity scripting commands as MCP tools.

Features

• Connects to Audacity via mod-script-pipe
• Exposes a broad set of Audacity commands as MCP tools
• Uses stdio transport (works with Codex/Claude/Desktop clients)
• Auto-detects pipe suffixes in /tmp (for example .501)

Requirements

• Audacity 3.x+
• Python 3.10+
• mod-script-pipe enabled in Audacity

Install

git clone https://github.com/An-3/mcp-audacity.git
cd mcp-audacity
./scripts/setup.sh

Quick local test (no MCP host needed)

# 1) Start Audacity and enable mod-script-pipe (see section below)
# 2) Verify local connectivity:
./scripts/smoke_test.sh

# 3) Start MCP server:
./scripts/run.sh

If you prefer manual setup instead of scripts:

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install "mcp[cli]>=1.6.0" "httpx>=0.28.1"

Optional (install as package + CLI entrypoint):

pip install .
audacity_mcp_server

Enable mod-script-pipe in Audacity

1. Open Audacity.
2. Open the Modules preferences page:
   • Windows/Linux: Edit -> Preferences -> Modules
   • macOS: Audacity -> Settings... -> Modules (or Audacity -> Preferences -> Modules depending on build)
3. Set mod-script-pipe from New (or Disabled) to Enabled.
4. Restart Audacity.

Note: In current Audacity versions, this is configured in Modules, not in a separate "Scripting/Remote Control" section.

Verify pipes exist:

ls -l /tmp/audacity_script_pipe.to.* /tmp/audacity_script_pipe.from.*

If the files are present, Audacity is ready.

Run the server manually

./scripts/run.sh

Expected startup logs include:

• Audacity MCP server starting up
• Opened Audacity mod-script-pipe
• Connected to Audacity mod-script-pipe

Connect from Codex

Add server to Codex MCP config:

codex mcp add AudacityMCP -- /absolute/path/to/mcp-audacity/.venv/bin/python /absolute/path/to/mcp-audacity/audacity_mcp_server.py

List configured MCP servers:

codex mcp list

Connect from Claude Desktop

Example claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "audacity": {
      "command": "/absolute/path/to/mcp-audacity/.venv/bin/python",
      "args": [
        "/absolute/path/to/mcp-audacity/audacity_mcp_server.py"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Troubleshooting

• Failed to open Audacity pipes:
  • Confirm Audacity is running.
  • Confirm mod-script-pipe is Enabled.
  • Confirm pipe files exist in /tmp.
• spawn uv ENOENT:
  • Use absolute paths in client config, or use the Python command shown above instead of uv.
• Server starts but tools behave inconsistently:
  • Ensure you are using this latest version, which sends commands in Command: form and reads full responses until BatchCommand finished.

License

MIT