Binary

The binary is in the repo above at human-touch-1.0.2.ablx

human-touch

Adds random timing, velocity, and duration variation (jitter) to MIDI notes in Ableton Live to make them feel more human. Built with @ableton-extensions/sdk.

Right-click a MIDI clip or ClipSlot → Human Touch Jitter… → adjust sliders, choose which clips to target → Apply to randomize.

Features

• Per-clip targeting — right-click any MIDI clip or clip slot to open the dialog with that clip pre-selected.
• Multi-clip selection — the dialog lists every MIDI clip in the set with checkboxes. Pick individual clips or toggle All to target everything.
• Session / Arrangement badges — each clip shows an [S] (Session) or [A] (Arrangement) badge so you can distinguish the same clip in both views.
• Smart labels — named clips show Track / Name; unnamed session clips show Scene N; unnamed arrangement clips show Bar N.
• Jitter controls — Timing (± ticks), Velocity (±), Duration (± ticks).

Project structure

src/extension.ts       # Entry point — exports activate()
src/html.d.ts          # *.html module declaration for TypeScript
ui/interface.html      # WebView dialog (vite dev server for rapid iteration)
vendor/                # Vendored SDK + CLI tarballs
build.ts               # esbuild bundler (inlines .html as text)
vite.config.ts         # Vite dev server for UI work (root: ui/, port 5173)
manifest.json          # Extension metadata read by Live
dist/                  # Build output (gitignored)

Requirements

• Node.js >= 24.14.1
• Ableton Live Beta with Developer Mode enabled in Preferences → Extensions
• The Extension Host module path in .env (per-machine, gitignored): EXTENSION_HOST_PATH=/Applications/Ableton Live 12 Beta.app/Contents/Helpers/ExtensionHost/ExtensionHostNodeModule.node

Setup

npm install

Edit .env if the scaffolded EXTENSION_HOST_PATH doesn't match your Live install.

Scripts

Command	Description
npm start	Dev build → launch in Live's Extension Host
npm run build	Production bundle (minified, no sourcemaps)
npm run build:dev	Dev bundle (sourcemaps, not minified)
npm run package	Production build → .ablx archive for distribution

Development

Extension logic

Edit src/extension.ts. The entry point registers one command (human-touch.jitter) and wires it as a context-menu action on both "MidiClip" and "ClipSlot" scopes. When triggered, it:

1. Resolves the handle to a MidiClip (or drills into a ClipSlot).
2. Collects all MIDI clips in the set (session + arrangement, deduplicated by handle ID) and builds a checkable list.
3. Opens a modal dialog (ui/interface.html inlined via esbuild) with the clip list, an All toggle, and timing/velocity/duration sliders.
4. On Apply, maps over clip.notes for each selected clip in a transaction.

Key SDK concepts used:

• context.getObjectFromHandle(handle, Class) — resolve a handle
• context.ui.showModalDialog(url, width, height) — blocking modal
• context.withinTransaction(() => …) — one undo step
• instanceof narrowing on MidiClip / ClipSlot
• DataModelObject.handle.id — deduplicate clips across session/arrangement

UI development

Run vite dev (or npx vite) for hot-reload of the dialog HTML. The ui/interface.html is a standalone page during dev (the window.webkit bridge is only available inside Live's WebView — test final behavior by running in Live).

The HTML uses a __CLIP_LIST__ placeholder that extension.ts replaces at runtime with the actual clip rows (with checked state, labels, and badges).

Debugging

console.log/warn/error output goes to ExtensionHost.txt: macOS: ~/Library/Preferences/Ableton/Live x.x.x/ExtensionHost.txt Windows: %APPDATA%\Ableton\Live x.x.x\Preferences\ExtensionHost.txt

Packaging

npm run package

Produces human-touch-1.0.2.ablx in the project root. Users drop this into Live's Extensions preferences.