MCP

Built-in MCP server inside TouchDesigner. Connects AI agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex) to your live TD session over HTTP — they create operators, wire networks, read errors, run Python, capture screenshots, and reason about your patch through natural language.

What you can do

Things your agent can act on directly:

The agent traverses your project, executes changes live in the editor, and returns structured results — all while you watch. It can also reach your Cloud — list repos and files, download a component and place it in the current network — without you leaving the chat.

Setup

Connect your agent in one click. The connection wizard opens right after installation, and any time from Settings → Reconnect agents. It scans your machine for Claude Code, Cursor, Codex and Claude Desktop, and writes the twozero_td entry into the config of the ones you pick:

1. CONNECT next to an agent — twozero merges the entry into that agent's own config file (~/.claude.json, ~/.cursor/mcp.json, ~/.codex/config.toml, Claude Desktop config). Nothing else in the file is touched. Already-connected agents show CONNECTED, and DISCONNECT removes the entry again.
2. The wizard then verifies the connection live and shows a starter prompt you can copy.
3. Reload the client afterwards — reload Cursor, run /mcp in Claude Code, restart codex, fully quit and reopen Claude Desktop.

What we recommend: Claude Code — either in the terminal, or the Code section inside Claude Desktop. Both talk to twozero directly, with nothing else to install.

The Chat section of Claude Desktop is a different route: it reaches local servers through npx mcp-remote, so it additionally needs Node.js installed, and the wizard says so instead of offering the button. We don't recommend going that way — use Code instead.

Auto-start on TD launch — Settings → MCP → Auto start → Yes. The server boots on the next TD launch using the port from Settings → MCP → Port (default 40404).

Manual config, if you prefer to do it yourself — add one server named twozero_td pointing at http://localhost:40404/mcp, or just ask your agent:

After that the agent picks up TD automatically from any project / workspace. Configure only one MCP URL — twozero handles additional TD instances internally; do not add separate client entries per instance.

Starting a chat

The twozero MCP server has to be running before you open the chat. It comes up together with TouchDesigner — Settings → MCP → Auto start is on by default — and the MCP status in the twozero window reads connected once the server is up and reachable.

Only then open the chat. An agent connects to twozero once, at the moment the chat starts, and does not retry — a chat that was already open when the server came up stays without the twozero tools for good, no matter how many times you reconnect from inside it. Server first, then a new chat.

Open every new agent chat with a priming prompt so the agent immediately uses MCP and confirms it can see your current TD context (project, network, selected ops):

Once the agent confirms context, drop the ritual and just talk normally.

Pointers — `*here` and `*this`

Two phrases that resolve to your current viewport / selection:

The asterisk is the magic: it never appears in normal code or text, so the agent treats these as unambiguous pointers and the response is rock-solid. Plain "here" / "this op" works too, but the asterisk version is bulletproof — use it when precision matters.

Handing the agent exact operators

Pointers cover "the thing I'm looking at right now". When you need to name specific operators instead — several at once, or ones sitting in another network — select them in the network editor and press Ctrl/Cmd+C. twozero puts their full paths on the clipboard, comma-separated; paste them into the chat and write the task around them:

The copy includes the operator under the white outline, not only the highlighted ones, and it works even with the twozero window closed — the only requirement is that a network editor pane is in focus. On by default: Settings → Copy paths to clipboard.

Built-in triggers

Phrases the agent recognises as named flows:

Working safely

Two workflow phrases that keep the agent from breaking your patch:

Combine with the asterisk pointers — *this to scope the work, *here to keep the agent inside the network you're looking at.

Russian and TD slang

Mix English and Russian freely — the agent normalises TD terms across languages:

How it works

Agent → MCP request → twozero server (inside TD) → executes in your live project → result back to agent. Everything happens on your machine; nothing leaves except whatever your agent's LLM provider sees in the conversation.

When several TD instances are open at once, twozero auto-claims the next free port for each (40404, 40405, …) and the agent lists them and asks which one to act on — no manual configuration.

Troubleshooting