What is the TouchDesigner MCP server?

TouchDesigner is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server profile on explainx.ai. MCP lets AI hosts (e.g. Claude Desktop, Cursor) call tools and resources through a standard interface; this page summarizes categories, install hints, and community ratings.

How do MCP servers relate to agent skills?

Skills are reusable instruction packages (often SKILL.md); MCP servers expose live capabilities. Teams frequently combine both—skills for workflows, MCP for APIs and data. See explainx.ai/skills and explainx.ai/mcp-servers for parallel directories.

How are reviews shown for TouchDesigner?

This profile displays 10 aggregated ratings (sample rows for discoverability plus signed-in user reviews). Average score is about 4.5 out of 5—verify behavior in your own environment before production use.

developer-tools

TouchDesigner▌

by 8beeeaaat

Control TouchDesigner nodes and properties with natural language for audio reactive installations and interactive digita

Provides a bridge between TouchDesigner visual programming environment and natural language commands, enabling real-time control of nodes, properties, and Python script execution for interactive digital art and installations.

github stars

★ 214

GitHub npm

Real-time control via natural languageDirect WebServer DAT integration

best for

/ Interactive digital art installations
/ Real-time visual programming workflows
/ AI-assisted creative coding in TouchDesigner

capabilities

/ Create and delete TouchDesigner nodes
/ Query node properties and project structure
/ Execute Python scripts within TouchDesigner
/ Call Python methods on nodes
/ Control TouchDesigner projects via natural language

what it does

Bridges TouchDesigner's visual programming environment with natural language commands, allowing AI agents to control nodes, properties, and execute Python scripts in real-time.

about

TouchDesigner is a community-built MCP server published by 8beeeaaat that provides AI assistants with tools and capabilities via the Model Context Protocol. Control TouchDesigner nodes and properties with natural language for audio reactive installations and interactive digita It is categorized under developer tools.

how to install

You can install TouchDesigner in your AI client of choice. Use the install panel on this page to get one-click setup for Cursor, Claude Desktop, VS Code, and other MCP-compatible clients. This server runs locally on your machine via the stdio transport.

license

MIT

TouchDesigner is released under the MIT license. This is a permissive open-source license, meaning you can freely use, modify, and distribute the software.

readme

TouchDesigner MCP

This is an implementation of an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server for TouchDesigner. Its goal is to enable AI agents to control and operate TouchDesigner projects.

English / 日本語

Overview

TouchDesigner MCP acts as a bridge between AI models and the TouchDesigner WebServer DAT, enabling AI agents to:

Create, modify, and delete nodes
Query node properties and project structure
Programmatically control TouchDesigner via Python scripts

Installation

Please refer to the Installation Guide.

If you are updating, please refer to the procedure in the Latest Release.

MCP Server Features

This server enables AI agents to perform operations in TouchDesigner using the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

Tools

Tools allow AI agents to perform actions in TouchDesigner.

Tool Name	Description
`create_td_node`	Creates a new node.
`delete_td_node`	Deletes an existing node.
`exec_node_method`	Calls a Python method on a node.
`execute_python_script`	Executes an arbitrary Python script in TouchDesigner.
`get_module_help`	Gets Python help() documentation for TouchDesigner modules/classes.
`get_td_class_details`	Gets details of a TouchDesigner Python class or module.
`get_td_classes`	Gets a list of TouchDesigner Python classes.
`get_td_info`	Gets information about the TouchDesigner server environment.
`get_td_node_errors`	Checks for errors on a specified node and its children.
`get_td_node_parameters`	Gets the parameters of a specific node.
`get_td_nodes`	Gets nodes under a parent path, with optional filtering.
`update_td_node_parameters`	Updates the parameters of a specific node.

Prompts

Prompts provide instructions for AI agents to perform specific actions in TouchDesigner.

Prompt Name	Description
`Search node`	Fuzzy searches for nodes and retrieves information based on name, family, or type.
`Node connection`	Provides instructions to connect nodes within TouchDesigner.
`Check node errors`	Checks for errors on a specified node, and recursively for its children.

Resources

Not implemented.

Developer Guide

Looking for local setup, client configuration, project structure, or release workflow notes? See the Developer Guide for all developer-facing documentation.

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting version compatibility

The MCP server uses semantic versioning for flexible compatibility checks

MCP Server	API Server	Minimum compatible API version	Behavior	Status	Notes
1.3.x	1.3.0	1.3.0	✅ Works normally	Compatible	Recommended baseline configuration
1.3.x	1.4.0	1.3.0	⚠️ Warning shown, continues	Warning	Older MCP MINOR with newer API may lack new features
1.4.0	1.3.x	1.3.0	⚠️ Warning shown, continues	Warning	Newer MCP MINOR may have additional features
1.3.2	1.3.1	1.3.2	❌ Execution stops	Error	API below minimum compatible version
2.0.0	1.x.x	N/A	❌ Execution stops	Error	Different MAJOR = breaking changes

Compatibility Rules:

✅ Compatible: Same MAJOR version AND API version ≥ 1.3.0 (minimum compatible version)
⚠️ Warning: Different MINOR or PATCH versions within the same MAJOR version (shows warning but continues execution)
❌ Error: Different MAJOR versions OR API server < 1.3.0 (execution stops immediately, update required)
To resolve compatibility errors:
1. Download the latest touchdesigner-mcp-td.zip from the releases page.
2. Delete the existing touchdesigner-mcp-td folder and replace it with the newly extracted contents.
3. Remove the old mcp_webserver_base component from your TouchDesigner project and import the .tox from the new folder.
4. Restart TouchDesigner and the AI agent running the MCP server (e.g., Claude Desktop).
For developers: When developing locally, run npm run version after editing package.json (or simply use npm version ...). This keeps the Python API (pyproject.toml + td/modules/utils/version.py), MCP bundle manifest, and registry metadata in sync so that the runtime compatibility check succeeds.

For a deeper look at how the MCP server enforces these rules, see Version Compatibility Verification.

Troubleshooting connection errors

TouchDesignerClient caches failed connection checks for 60 seconds. Subsequent tool calls reuse the cached error to avoid spamming TouchDesigner and automatically retry after the TTL expires.
When the MCP server cannot reach TouchDesigner, you now get guided error messages with concrete fixes:
- ECONNREFUSED / "connect refused": start TouchDesigner, ensure the WebServer DAT from mcp_webserver_base.tox is running, and confirm the configured port (default 9981).
- ETIMEDOUT / "timeout": TouchDesigner is responding slowly or the network is blocked. Restart TouchDesigner/WebServer DAT or check your network connection.
- ENOTFOUND / getaddrinfo: the host name is invalid. Use 127.0.0.1 unless you explicitly changed it.
The structured error text is also logged through ILogger, so you can check the MCP logs to understand why a request stopped before hitting TouchDesigner.
Once the underlying issue is fixed, simply run the tool again—the client clears the cached error and re-verifies the connection automatically.

Contributing

We welcome your contributions!

Fork the repository.
Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature).
Make your changes.
Add tests and ensure everything works (npm test).
Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some amazing feature').
Push to your branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature).
Open a pull request.

Please always include appropriate tests when making implementation changes.

License

MIT

FAQ

What is the TouchDesigner MCP server?: TouchDesigner is a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server profile on explainx.ai. MCP lets AI hosts (e.g. Claude Desktop, Cursor) call tools and resources through a standard interface; this page summarizes categories, install hints, and community ratings.
How do MCP servers relate to agent skills?: Skills are reusable instruction packages (often SKILL.md); MCP servers expose live capabilities. Teams frequently combine both—skills for workflows, MCP for APIs and data. See explainx.ai/skills and explainx.ai/mcp-servers for parallel directories.
How are reviews shown for TouchDesigner?: This profile displays 10 aggregated ratings (sample rows for discoverability plus signed-in user reviews). Average score is about 4.5 out of 5—verify behavior in your own environment before production use.

MCP server reviews

Ratings

4.5★★★★★10 reviews

★★★★★Shikha Mishra· Oct 10, 2024
TouchDesigner is among the better-indexed MCP projects we tried; the explainx.ai summary tracks the official description.
★★★★★Piyush G· Sep 9, 2024
We evaluated TouchDesigner against two servers with overlapping tools; this profile had the clearer scope statement.
★★★★★Chaitanya Patil· Aug 8, 2024
Useful MCP listing: TouchDesigner is the kind of server we cite when onboarding engineers to host + tool permissions.
★★★★★Sakshi Patil· Jul 7, 2024
TouchDesigner reduced integration guesswork — categories and install configs on the listing matched the upstream repo.
★★★★★Ganesh Mohane· Jun 6, 2024
I recommend TouchDesigner for teams standardizing on MCP; the explainx.ai page compares cleanly with sibling servers.
★★★★★Oshnikdeep· May 5, 2024
Strong directory entry: TouchDesigner surfaces stars and publisher context so we could sanity-check maintenance before adopting.
★★★★★Dhruvi Jain· Apr 4, 2024
TouchDesigner has been reliable for tool-calling workflows; the MCP profile page is a good permalink for internal docs.
★★★★★Rahul Santra· Mar 3, 2024
According to our notes, TouchDesigner benefits from clear Model Context Protocol framing — fewer ambiguous “AI plugin” claims.
★★★★★Pratham Ware· Feb 2, 2024
We wired TouchDesigner into a staging workspace; the listing’s GitHub and npm pointers saved time versus hunting across READMEs.
★★★★★Yash Thakker· Jan 1, 2024
TouchDesigner is a well-scoped MCP server in the explainx.ai directory — install snippets and categories matched our Claude Code setup.