library-browser

name

library-browser

description

Walk the user's local Ableton Library: User Library, installed Packs, Sounds, Drums, Instruments, Audio Effects, MIDI Effects, Max for Live devices, Samples. Use when the user says "find a preset for", "do I have a [sound] in my library", "search my Packs", "what kits do I own", "/library", "browse library", or any request that should be satisfied by something already on disk before reaching for Splice. Mirrors how the Live browser categorizes content.

Library Browser

Acts like Ableton's left-hand browser, but searchable and AI-curated. Default to the user's own content: Splice is fallback.

Library locations (macOS)

Category	Path
User Library	~/Music/Ableton/User Library/
User Library: Presets	~/Music/Ableton/User Library/Presets/
User Library: Samples	~/Music/Ableton/User Library/Samples/
Factory + Pack content	/Users/Shared/Ableton/ (default install) or /Applications/Ableton Live 12 Suite.app/Contents/App-Resources/Core Library/
Max for Live devices	~/Music/Ableton/User Library/Presets/Audio Effects/Max Audio Effect/ etc.

On Windows: substitute %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Ableton\User Library\ and C:\ProgramData\Ableton\ respectively. Always confirm path with ls before searching.

How to search

1. find for filename matches across both User Library and Core Library
2. rg --files | rg -i <term> if recursive search is faster
3. .adv (presets), .adg (racks), .alc (clips), .als (sets), .amxd (Max devices), .wav/.aif (samples): filter by extension when the category is clear
4. For preset metadata (tags, description), unzip -p file.adv | xmllint --xpath against the embedded XML

# All bass presets in the user library
find ~/Music/Ableton/User\ Library/Presets -iname "*bass*" \( -name "*.adv" -o -name "*.adg" \)

# All drum kits across factory + user
find ~/Music/Ableton "/Users/Shared/Ableton" -iname "*kit*" -name "*.adg" 2>/dev/null

# Samples tagged "snare top" across everything
find ~/Music ~/Documents -iname "*snare*top*" \( -iname "*.wav" -o -iname "*.aif" \)

Output format

Match read: "Found 6 candidates. The 3 strongest:"

#	Name	Type	Pack / Library	Path
1	Heavy Sub Bass	Wavetable preset	User Library	~/Music/Ableton/User Library/Presets/Instruments/Wavetable/Bass/Heavy Sub Bass.adv

For each top match, one line on why it fits ("60 Hz fundamental, light saturation, perfect for the drop").

If nothing matches locally, fall back to Splice (describe_a_sound) and surface 3 candidates from there instead: flag them as Splice.

Categorization (mirror Live's browser)

When listing, group like the Live browser does:

• Sounds: instrument racks (.adg) tagged for genre/mood
• Drums: drum racks + drum kits + drum hits
• Instruments: Wavetable / Operator / Drift / Analog / Meld / Simpler / Sampler / external
• Audio Effects: racks + chains
• MIDI Effects: racks
• Max for Live: Audio Effect / Instrument / MIDI Effect
• Clips: .alc files
• Samples: .wav / .aif / .flac
• Grooves: .agr files
• Templates: .als templates

Tagging shortcut

If the user has tagged their User Library via Live 12 collections (Yellow/Red/Blue/etc.), surface those tags by reading ~/Music/Ableton/User Library/Ableton Folder Info/Tags.cfg. Group results by tag color.

Hand-offs

• Found a preset → ask whether to load it in Live via session-bridge
• Found a sample → ask whether to drop it onto a Simpler / new audio track
• Nothing local → Splice (describe_a_sound → download_asset)

Connectors

• File system (Bash find / rg)
• Splice as fallback
• Ableton MCP (session-bridge) to actually load a found preset into the current set

After

"Want me to load Heavy Sub Bass into a new MIDI track in Live, or keep browsing?"