Derivative's TDMCP is the official MCP server for TouchDesigner. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets AI agents such as Claude or Codex connect to other software and work with it through a defined set of tools. TDMCP gives those agents direct access to a running TouchDesigner project, so they can inspect it, edit its code and operators, and check the results live.
TDMCP is now in beta.
https://github.com/TouchDesigner/TDMCP - releases, Issues and Discussions
https://github.com/TouchDesigner/TDMCPSkills - agent skills
What it is
Derivative TDMCP is a single .tox. Drop it into the root of a project and activate it. It runs an MCP server inside TouchDesigner on localhost, with no separate process or bridge, on TouchDesigner's bundled Python, so there is nothing else to install. Any MCP-capable client can connect. The MCP page on the component has registration presets for Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity and OpenCode; other clients can be pointed at the endpoint by hand.
Through it an agent can list operators and connections, read parameters and DAT contents, set parameters, read errors, profile cook times, sample live CHOP, TOP, SOP, POP and DAT values, and render an operator's output to an image it can look at. It can also create, wire and edit operators. There are 26 tools in total, and every one returns structured errors so the agent can tell an invalid menu value from a missing operator and correct itself.
Two tools serve documentation. get_help returns parameter names and types for any operator type from the running build, and menu values from a catalog extracted per build. get_docs serves the Python reference and operator help articles from the offline documentation installed with TouchDesigner or from the wiki, as set on the Docs page. Agents make fewer mistakes when they read the docs for your installed version instead of recalling them from training data.
Where it is useful
Agents are good at Python and GLSL, at reading structured state, and at checking their own results, so that is what TDMCP is built around. An agent can sync a DAT to a file on disk, edit that file with its normal tools while TouchDesigner reloads it, then check errors and sample the running output to confirm the change worked. Code on disk plus verification through the live process is where we currently see the value. Agents are also useful for analysing an existing project and answering questions about it.
Where it is less tested
Building networks from scratch has not been our focus. TouchDesigner is a visual language, and much of what makes a network good is how it reads to a person at a glance, which an agent working through tool calls cannot see. Agents can still produce useful networks, and the results depend a lot on the model, but expect more variation here than with code and analysis. The skills reflect this: they cover extensions, shaders, callbacks, debugging, review and localised edits, and go lighter on autonomous network building.
Skills
TDMCPSkills is a separate repo of short, portable instruction files that teach an agent TouchDesigner conventions before it touches your project. They install from the MCP page on the TDMCP component or as a Claude Code plugin. All of them use the td- prefix and the installer only manages that namespace; your own skills are not touched.
Security
An MCP endpoint in TouchDesigner is a code-execution service, and we wanted one whose security we could vet and stand behind ourselves. That was a primary concern from the start and one of the main reasons we decided to build our own. TDMCP is localhost-only by default and requires authentication and HTTPS before it will serve beyond localhost. The full security notes are in the repository.
Community MCPs
Several community developers have created TouchDesigner MCPs that are already in broad use, and they got there well before us. That work showed what agents could do in TouchDesigner, and it shaped TDMCP directly: authors of several of those projects were alpha testers and their feedback is in this release. We are grateful to them.
If you build or maintain one of these, keep going. Derivative TDMCP is meant as a reference implementation to compare against, not a replacement for community work. The license allows you to use its parts and concepts in your own TouchDesigner MCP server, provided you keep the notice and do not present the result as endorsed by Derivative.
Status
Beta means the interface may still change and feedback is wanted. Requires TouchDesigner 2025.33070 or later. Current release: 1.1.51. Please use Issues and Discussions on either repository.
