docs/core concepts/Project Sense

project sense:
what tonee actually sees.

Before every reply, tonee mirrors your Live session into a structured snapshot. No guessing. No hallucinated track names. This page covers exactly what's in that snapshot, and what isn't.

01 /What it reads

Project Sense reads your set through Ableton's Python API via the OSC bridge. Every time you send a message, a fresh snapshot is taken, so tonee always reflects your current state, not a cached version from earlier in the session.

Tracks

Name, type (audio/MIDI/return/master), armed state, mute/solo, color

Clips

Name, color, slot position, playing state (all scenes)

Arrangement clips

Every clip on the timeline: which bar it starts on and how long it runs

Device chains

Every device in order: name, type, rack contents, macro names

Send levels

All send amounts per track, in dB

Scene names

All scene names and launch state

Tempo & key

Master BPM and the set's root key/scale if set

MIDI note data

Note sequences inside MIDI clips: pitches, velocities, and timing.

Automation

Envelope presence per parameter, available from v1.4+

02 /How it stays current

The snapshot is taken on-demand: triggered when you send a message, not on a timer. This means tonee always has the freshest view of your set at the moment you ask, and there's no background polling slowing down playback.

In practice: if you rename a track in Live and then ask tonee about it, the new name is what tonee sees. You don't need to refresh or reconnect.

Mid-session changes: if you add or delete tracks mid-conversation, tonee sees the updated layout on your next message. References to removed tracks from earlier in the chat will be noted as no longer present.

03 /What it doesn't see

The snapshot is structural. tonee knows your set's shape and the notes you've written, but not what any of it sounds like, and not where anything lives on disk.

Audio content

The snapshot carries no sample data, waveforms or recorded audio. tonee can hear your mix, but only when you play it to it. See Listening.

File paths

Sample filenames and plugin bundle paths are not included.

Some device params

A small number of parameters are not exposed by Ableton's Python API. Pre/post fader send routing is one example.

API limits: some parameters tonee would like to expose aren't accessible through Ableton's Python API at all. These are Live's limitations, not tonee's. They get resolved as Ableton opens up new API surface.

04 /Privacy: what leaves your machine

The snapshot that gets sent to the AI backend is structured state: names, types, levels, device chains, scene layout, and the note data inside MIDI clips. No audio, no sample content, no file paths, and never your project file itself.

Voice transcription runs entirely on-device and is never transmitted. In normal use, the only things that leave your machine are that snapshot and the text of your message.

There is exactly one exception, and you trigger it deliberately: when you play something to tonee and press Stop, a short excerpt of that capture goes out so it can describe what it heard. Listening covers it in full.

05 /Seeing it yourself

The Live session panel down the right side of the app is this snapshot on screen: your tracks in their own colours, their mute and solo state, and whether the bridge is up at all. If a rename hasn't reached the panel, it hasn't reached tonee either.

For the parts the panel doesn't show (device chains, sends, note data), just ask: "what can you see in my set?" gets you a full readout.

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project sense:what tonee actually sees.