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Loophole

Troubleshooting

Each problem below has one cause and one fix. The /doctor command in the ableton-live skill runs these checks for you and prints the failing one.

The client shows no Loophole tools

Section titled “The client shows no Loophole tools”

The client is not connected to the bridge.

  • Confirm Live 12.4.5b Suite is running with the extension installed and active. The bridge only exists while Live is open.
  • Confirm the URL and bearer token in your client config match bridge.json exactly (the port can change between runs; see port-in-use below).
  • For Claude Desktop, confirm you fully quit and reopened the app. A window close does not reload the config.

A tool returns STALE_REFERENCE

Section titled “A tool returns STALE_REFERENCE”

The id you passed no longer resolves: a track was deleted, an index shifted, or a slot emptied. Re-run live_get_song_overview or live_list_clips and use the fresh id. Path ids are positional by design, so they move when the tree changes; the error is the system telling you to re-read, not a bug.

Dev Mode hot-load vs the packaged extension

Section titled “Dev Mode hot-load vs the packaged extension”

Two ways to run the extension behave differently:

  • start:live hot-loads the bundle into a running Live with Dev Mode enabled (Settings, then enable Dev Mode first). Use it while developing.
  • package:live produces the installable .ablx you add in Settings, then Extensions. Use it for a stable install.

If a code change does not take effect, you are likely running the packaged extension while editing source. Re-package, or switch to the Dev Mode hot-load.

Port already in use

Section titled “Port already in use”

The bridge probes the range 8420 to 8429 and writes the first free port to bridge.json. If another app holds a port, it picks the next one, so the port in your client config can go stale. Re-read bridge.json and update the config (or let the skill’s /setup rewrite it). If every port in the range is taken, free one and restart Live.

Live is not running

Section titled “Live is not running”

The bridge lives inside Live’s Extension Host, so there is no server to reach when Live is closed. Open Live 12.4.5b Suite with the extension active, then reconnect the client.

Version mismatch

Section titled “Version mismatch”

The Extensions SDK is 1.0.0-beta, and the API has documented gaps. If a tool returns UNSUPPORTED, the feature is absent in this API version (real-time audio, Max for Live, tuning systems, an unknown built-in device name). Do not retry a different path; the limit is real. Record the exact Live build number when reporting an issue, since beta behavior shifts between builds.