RESEARCH · Audiotool · WIP

An agent in the session still needs a theory layer.

NEXUS lets any LLM into a live multiplayer session over MCP. That is the bold half. The other half is that a language model still cannot reason reliably about harmony. This note is the loop we can run today, and the write we have not finished.

THE LOOP

An agent in the session, with a theory engine behind it

Step through the integration. The tool calls are real and the outputs are the engine's documented answers — this is the exact loop NEXUS + thiri-mcp makes possible, and the build we're bringing to the Audiotool challenge.

thiri-mcp is live today at mcp.thiri.ai — step 3 is the NEXUS device we're building.
THE NOTEBOOK

Six observations from building against NEXUS

Each starts from something the platform already shipped — MCP, community chord tools, a multiplayer session — and pairs it with what we measured or built. This is a research thread, not a partner deck.

01
THE MOMENT

The doors are open. The theory layer is still missing.

NEXUS gives third parties reach into "virtually every part of Audiotool" — free, no license fees, with Splice and Ujam already inside. An open platform earns its bet through the partners who show up early with something real.

WHAT WE BUILT

A THIRI chord device for the session. A harmony panel any collaborator can use — progressions, voicings, reharmonization — writing chord-skeleton MIDI into the project through @audiotool/nexus, in real time, for everyone in the room.

NEXUS APPREAL-TIME

STATUS — chord device is the remaining write into the session.

02
THE MOMENT

Your community already asked for this

The NEXUS showcase leads with a community-built Harmony Editor — clear demand for chord tools, proven by your own builders. Demand like that deserves an engine underneath it.

WHAT WE BUILT

The production-grade version of that idea. Deterministic analysis, instrument-ready voicings, voice-leading scores, eight reharmonization techniques — an API the whole ecosystem's chord tools can stand on, so community builders get depth for free.

CHORD APIDETERMINISTIC

STATUS — comparison not yet run. Demand signal is the community Harmony Editor.

03
THE MOMENT

MCP was the right call — here's the layer that proves it

Letting creators bring their own LLM into a live session is the boldest AI move any DAW has made. The demo that sells it is the one where the agent's musical suggestions are actually correct.

WHAT WE BUILT

thiri-mcp — chord-correct reasoning for every agent that enters. Hosted, live today, already on npm and in Claude and Cursor workflows. Wire an agent to thiri-mcp and a NEXUS session and you have the flagship demo of your own platform story.

HOSTED MCP — LIVEmcp.thiri.ai

STATUS — live today through step 2. Point any agent at mcp.thiri.ai.

04
THE MOMENT

You're onboarding a generation that plays first

"Google Docs meets a creative sandbox" — plus the esports partnerships — says it plainly: your next million users arrive expecting play, not prerequisites. Theory is the wall they hit first.

WHAT WE BUILT

Harmony as guidance, not homework. In-session rails — suggest the next chord, stay-in-key hints, one-tap reharmonize — powered by the same engine behind Run The Changes, our shipped practice game that turns chord charts into levels. We've gamified theory before; it works.

GUIDANCE UXPROVEN PATTERN

STATUS — guidance pattern proven in Run the Changes; session prototype open.

05
THE MOMENT

The hackathon was the first public write

The Music Technology Hackathon Montreal (August 22–23, 2026) was the first public write of this thread — a chord device on NEXUS, demoed in person.

WHAT WE BUILT

An Audiotool-challenge entry, in person. The THIRI chord device was the core of the Montreal write (August 22–23, 2026) — built on NEXUS and demoed live. The remaining work is landing a full band from a chat prompt as tracks in the session.

MONTREAL · AUG 22–23

CONTEXT — Music Technology Hackathon Montreal, August 22–23, 2026.

06
THE MOMENT

Early is when the APIs still move

The SDK is young and moving fast — which is when device APIs for music-intelligence tools get designed. We build against moving APIs and write the findings as we go.

WHAT WE BUILT

A live stress test of document edit, sync, and MCP. The MCP ecosystem moves monthly. The chord device is how we find where NEXUS document editing and session write still break — findings shared as we go.

WIPFEEDBACK LOOP

STATUS — findings shared as the APIs move. Write Dennison if you are on that stack.

THE ENGINE

Deterministic harmony, served as infrastructure

THIRI computes chords, voicings, voice-leading, and reharmonization from pitch-class-set theory — the same answer every time, in milliseconds, from a production API. It ships in the exact shapes NEXUS speaks: an MCP server for agents, a REST API for devices, and an n8n node for workflows.

Deterministic
Computed, not guessed — C7sus4 keeps its suspension, every time
Hosted MCP
Live at mcp.thiri.ai — Claude, Cursor, any agent, no install
REST + n8n
Five endpoints at chords.thiri.ai, plus a community n8n node
Proven live
Powers Run the Changes and the hosted MCP at mcp.thiri.ai

Run the loop through step 2. Follow the write.

thiri-mcp is live. The remaining work is landing the changes in the session. If you are building agent surfaces for a DAW, the MCP call is public.

dennison@bluesprincemedia.com · MCP at mcp.thiri.ai · MUTEK Forum, August 22–23, 2026