Ableton Project Scanner

Scan and search your Ableton Live projects without opening them. Extracts track names, plugins, effects, project sizes, and audio file info from .als files.

Features

• Fast scanning - Parses gzipped XML directly from .als files
• Plugin tracking - Lists all AU, VST, and Ableton native devices
• Size analysis - Shows project folder sizes and audio file breakdown
• Audio breakdown - Separates recorded vs imported audio
• Natural language queries - Ask questions like "which projects use Moog?"
• Caching - Scan once, query instantly from cache
• iCloud support - Detects projects stored in iCloud, triggers downloads on demand

Requirements

• Python 3.6+
• No external dependencies (uses only standard library)

Installation

git clone https://github.com/cfurrow7/ableton-scanner.git
cd ableton-scanner
chmod +x ableton_scanner.py

Usage

First-time scan

python3 ableton_scanner.py /path/to/your/Ableton/projects

This creates a cache at ~/.ableton_index.json.

Query commands

# Interactive mode - ask questions naturally
python3 ableton_scanner.py -i

# Search for a plugin, effect, or track name
python3 ableton_scanner.py -s "Valhalla"
python3 ableton_scanner.py -s "OB6"

# List projects by size (largest first)
python3 ableton_scanner.py --sizes

# List projects by recorded audio amount
python3 ableton_scanner.py --audio

# List all plugins ranked by usage
python3 ableton_scanner.py --plugins

# Show all projects with full details
python3 ableton_scanner.py -l

Interactive mode examples

Ask: Which projects use Moog?
Ask: What's my biggest project?
Ask: List all plugins
Ask: How many projects do I have?
Ask: Projects with most recordings
Ask: Tell me about Dec13.2025

Options

Flag	Description
-s, --search	Search for a term in tracks/plugins
-i, --interactive	Interactive natural language mode
-l, --list	List all projects with details
--plugins	List all unique plugins by usage
--sizes	List projects sorted by size
--audio	List projects sorted by recorded audio
--icloud	List projects not downloaded from iCloud
--download	Trigger download of .als files from iCloud
--download-full	Trigger download of entire project folders
-r, --rescan	Force rescan (ignore cache)
-c, --cache	Custom cache file path

iCloud Support

If your Ableton projects are stored in iCloud Drive, the scanner automatically detects files that aren't downloaded locally (shown as .icloud placeholders).

# See which projects are in iCloud but not downloaded
python3 ableton_scanner.py --icloud

# Download just the .als files (enough to scan metadata)
python3 ableton_scanner.py /path/to/projects --download

# Download entire project folders (including all audio samples)
python3 ableton_scanner.py /path/to/projects --download-full

Note: --download only fetches the .als project file, which is enough to scan track names and plugins. Use --download-full if you want to actually open and work with the project (downloads all audio files too).

How it works

Ableton .als files are gzipped XML. This script:

1. Finds all .als files in a directory (skipping Backup folders)
2. Decompresses and parses the XML
3. Extracts track names, plugin info, and device chains
4. Calculates project folder sizes and audio file stats
5. Caches everything to JSON for instant queries

License

MIT