What are Ableton Live Extensions?

Goal: Understand what Live Extensions are and how Patchwright helps you build them without coding.

Time: ~8 minutes

What is an extension?

An Ableton Live Extension is a small add-on that runs inside Live 12 Suite (beta). You trigger it from the right-click Extensions menu. It can rename clips, generate MIDI, add tracks, show dialogs, and more — then stop. It is not a VST plugin and does not run in the background forever.

How Patchwright fits

Patchwright is a visual graph builder for extensions. You wire nodes instead of writing code. When you Build & Run or Build .ablx, Patchwright turns your graph into a real extension package Live can load.

Learn the studio layout at patchwright.live/docs/the-studio.

Steps to your first extension

  1. Read Welcome and Getting Started.
  2. Load a Template (for example rename & recolor clip).
  3. Set Extension name and Author on the toolbar.
  4. Build & Run with Live open (desktop) or Build .ablx to export.
  5. Right-click in Live → Extensions → your command.

Expected result

You know extensions are menu-driven tools inside Live, and Patchwright is the designer for producers who do not want a code editor.

If something goes wrong

Problem What to do
No Extensions menu in Live Enable Developer Mode and Extensions in Live preferences
Thought it was a plugin Extensions run on demand from the menu, not as insert devices
Need installable file How to make an .ablx extension
Want AI help Ableton extensions with AI

See also