{
  "slug": "reaper-mcp",
  "name": "REAPER MCP",
  "vendor": "Community (bonfire-systems / Youssef Hemimy)",
  "official": false,
  "category": "sound-design",
  "featured": false,
  "tagline": "Drives a live REAPER session: tracks, MIDI, FX, mixing, stems, and loudness analysis.",
  "description": "The first server in this directory that puts an agent inside an actual DAW session rather than beside it. 58 tools cover project and track management, MIDI item and note writing, FX chains and parameters, sends and busses, volume and pan automation, mastering chains, and rendering to stems or a time selection. For a filmmaker-agent it closes the loop after generative SFX and dialogue: import the clips, lay them against picture, mix, then analyze loudness, dynamics and clipping before delivery.",
  "capabilities": [
    "daw-control",
    "mixing",
    "mastering",
    "midi",
    "fx-chains",
    "automation",
    "stem-render",
    "loudness-analysis"
  ],
  "tools_sample": [
    "create_track",
    "import_audio_file",
    "add_fx",
    "set_fx_parameter",
    "set_track_volume",
    "add_volume_automation",
    "render_stems",
    "analyze_loudness",
    "detect_clipping",
    "apply_limiter"
  ],
  "install": {
    "claude_code": "claude mcp add reaper -- reaper-mcp-server",
    "remote_url": null,
    "stdio_command": "reaper-mcp-server (after installing from source: `git clone https://github.com/bonfire-systems/reaper-mcp && pip install -e ./reaper-mcp`. The PyPI package `reaper-mcp-server` 0.1.1 predates the mcp 2.x port — see notes. Never `pip install reaper-mcp`, which is someone else's project)"
  },
  "auth": {
    "type": "local-app",
    "env_var": null,
    "key_url": "No key; requires a licensed REAPER install running locally with its distant API enabled"
  },
  "pricing": "free",
  "links": {
    "repo": "https://github.com/bonfire-systems/reaper-mcp",
    "docs": "https://github.com/bonfire-systems/reaper-mcp#readme",
    "site": "https://www.reaper.fm"
  },
  "added": "2026-08-11",
  "verified": "2026-09-27",
  "caveats": [
    "A fresh pip install reaper-mcp-server resolves an SDK the 0.1.1 release was not written for and should fail at import; install from source.",
    "reaper-mcp on PyPI is an unrelated project by a different author.",
    "Two-stage setup: enable REAPER's distant API by running scripts/enable_reapy.py from Actions > Run ReaScript, then restart REAPER.",
    "REAPER itself is a paid licence after evaluation, and the analysis tools pull in librosa, numpy and soundfile."
  ],
  "notes": "Install friction is the story, and it got worse. The PyPI release, `reaper-mcp-server` 0.1.1 (27 Mar 2026, still the only version since), imports `mcp.server.fastmcp` and declares an unbounded `mcp>=1.0.0`. The repo's own port commit (merged 23 Aug 2026) says mcp 2.0 removed that module, and PyPI's current mcp is 2.2.0. So a fresh `pip install reaper-mcp-server` resolves an SDK the release was not written for, and it should fail at import. Install from source, where the server now targets mcp 2.x. Pinning `mcp<2` next to the PyPI package is the untested fallback. The same port also serialises tool calls, because parallel calls under mcp 2.x interleaved on reapy's single socket. Don't confuse the names either: `reaper-mcp` on PyPI is an unrelated project by a different author (nbdy). Setup is two-stage: the server talks to REAPER through python-reapy, which needs REAPER's distant API switched on by running `scripts/enable_reapy.py` via Actions > Run ReaScript and then restarting REAPER. MIT, Python >=3.10, ~143 stars, classified Alpha on PyPI. The repo was last pushed 23 Aug 2026 after two quiet months: alive, but not busy. REAPER itself is a paid licence after its evaluation period, and pulls in librosa, numpy and soundfile for the analysis tools.",
  "evidence": "docs_checked",
  "last_probe": null,
  "package_check": null
}