SampleKit

An Ableton Live extension that exports arrangement segments between locators as device-ready WAV files.

Right-click an audio track → Export Locator Samples… to render pre-FX audio for each locator range and save named samples to your Live project or extension storage.

Requirements

• Ableton Live 12.4.5 or later with Extensions enabled (public beta)
• For building from source: Node.js 24.16.0 LTS or higher

Installing

Option A — Download a release (recommended)

No Node.js required.

1. Open Releases and download the latest .ablx file (e.g. Sample-Kit-0.1.0.ablx).
2. In Live: Settings → Extensions.
3. Drag the .ablx file into the Extensions window.
4. Right-click an audio track in Arrangement View → Export Locator Samples…

Option B — Build a package yourself

git clone https://github.com/lfieldprojects/sample-kit.git
cd sample-kit
npm install
npm run package

Then drag the generated Sample-Kit-0.1.0.ablx into Settings → Extensions.

Option C — Load the project folder (development)

npm install
npm run build

In Live: Settings → Extensions → Developer Mode OFF → add this project folder → Reload.

Building from source

This repo vendors the Ableton Extensions SDK tarballs under vendor/ so npm install works after cloning. If you replace them with a newer SDK release, keep the filenames in sync with package.json.

npm install
npm run build      # outputs dist/extension.cjs
npm run package    # outputs Sample-Kit-<version>.ablx

Live development bridge (optional):

npm start

Requires Ableton Live 12 Beta running with Developer Mode enabled. See Troubleshooting if the terminal does not connect.

Usage

1. Add at least two locators in Arrangement View, including an end locator after the last section.
2. Right-click an audio track title bar, or select multiple audio tracks in Arrangement View.
3. Choose Export Locator Samples…
4. Select which segments to export, pick a device preset, then click Export.

Exported filenames include the locator name, track name, key, and BPM, for example:

Verse 1 - Bass - C Major - 128bpm.wav

Save locations

• Live project folder — imports samples into the current Live Set project
• Extension storage — saves to the extension’s persistent storage directory

Limitations (SDK beta)

• Audio tracks only (freeze MIDI tracks first)
• Pre-FX render only (no sends/master)
• WAV output only
• No native macOS/Windows folder picker yet

Troubleshooting

Developer Mode: it won't appear in Settings (that's normal)

With Developer Mode ON, your extension is not listed in Settings → Extensions. npm start injects it directly while the terminal is running.

How you know it's working:

1. Terminal shows FlipMessageStreamSocket send success (within ~1 second of Started: Extension Host)
2. Terminal shows [Sample Kit] Extension activated.
3. Right-click an audio track title bar in Arrangement View → Export Locator Samples…

No send success? Live is not connected

Started: Extension Host only means the CLI launched — not that Live accepted the connection.

Do this full reset (order matters):

1. Quit npm start (Ctrl+C in the terminal)
2. Quit Ableton Live completely (both Beta and Suite if either is open)
3. Open only Ableton Live 12 Beta — confirm the app name in the menu bar says Beta, not Suite
4. Settings → Extensions → turn Developer Mode OFF, then ON again
5. Leave Live running and the Extensions settings page open for a moment
6. In Terminal:

 cd sample-kit
 npm start

7. Wait up to 5 seconds for FlipMessageStreamSocket send success

Common causes:

Problem	Fix
Live Suite open instead of Beta	Quit Suite, use Beta only
npm start ran before Live was open	Start Live first, then npm start
Developer Mode off	Turn it on in Beta's Extensions settings
Stale connection after toggling Dev Mode	Full reset above

Installed mode (recommended if dev mode won't connect)

Skip Developer Mode and the terminal entirely:

1. npm run build or download a release .ablx
2. In Ableton Live 12 Beta: Settings → Extensions → Developer Mode OFF
3. Drag in the .ablx file, or add this project folder and click Reload
4. Right-click an audio track → Export Locator Samples…

Installed mode also fixes the Temp directory is unavailable error, because Live provides temp/storage paths itself.

Export fails with "Temp directory is unavailable" (dev mode only)

When using npm start, the CLI must pass temp/storage paths. This project's npm start script includes:

--temp-directory .dev-runtime/temp --storage-directory .dev-runtime/storage

Restart npm start after pulling the latest changes, or switch to installed mode above.

Publishing a release

npm run package

Upload the generated Sample-Kit-<version>.ablx to GitHub Releases. Bump version in manifest.json before packaging.

License

Sample Kit is released under the MIT License.

The Ableton Extensions SDK in vendor/ is provided by Ableton and subject to its own terms. Download the latest SDK from ableton.github.io/extensions-sdk.