MCP: tools
Every tool the Maru MCP server offers, what it does and the permission it needs, plus the machine-readable catalog.
The Maru MCP server offers these tools to a connected agent. Each name starts
with maru_ so you and the agent can tell them apart from other servers'
tools. Read tools need mcp:read; tools that create something need
mcp:write; tools that spend your generation credits need mcp:generate,
which your agent asks for separately the first time it generates.
The same list is published as JSON at /mcp/tools.json,
with each tool's full description, input schema and annotations, for scripts
and for checking what an agent will see before you connect.
Guides
| Tool | Permission | Does |
|---|---|---|
maru_list_guides | mcp:read | Lists the Maru guides and when each applies |
maru_read_guide | mcp:read | Reads one or more guides |
Your projects
| Tool | Permission | Does |
|---|---|---|
maru_list_studio_projects | mcp:read | Lists your Studio projects with status, slug and Studio link |
maru_list_module_files | mcp:read | Lists one project's files, named by its slug |
maru_search_module_source | mcp:read | Searches a project's source for text or a pattern |
maru_read_module_source | mcp:read | Reads a window of one source file |
Community and engine
| Tool | Permission | Does |
|---|---|---|
maru_search_community_modules | mcp:read | Searches modules other creators published |
maru_list_community_module_files | mcp:read | Lists a published module's source files |
maru_read_community_module_source | mcp:read | Reads a published module's open source |
maru_list_dsp_nodes | mcp:read | Lists the engine's DSP nodes, their channels and parameters |
maru_list_effects | mcp:read | Lists the named effects you can chain in MultiFX, by family, so you can recompose before writing DSP |
Plug-in builds
| Tool | Permission | Does |
|---|---|---|
maru_list_plugin_builds | mcp:read | Lists your plug-in builds: state, latest release, each format |
maru_show_plugin_build | mcp:read | One plug-in's recent builds, errors and releases |
Create
| Tool | Permission | Does |
|---|---|---|
maru_list_studio_templates | mcp:read | Lists the templates a new project can start from |
maru_create_studio_project | mcp:write | Creates a Studio project from a template |
maru_create_sound_bank | mcp:write | Creates an empty MIDI sound bank |
Generate
| Tool | Permission | Does |
|---|---|---|
maru_generate_audio | mcp:generate | Generates one-shots, loops or effects from a prompt (1 to 4 variations) |
maru_generate_kit | mcp:generate | Generates a 16-pad drum kit from a prompt |
maru_check_audio_generation | mcp:read | Collects a generation that was still rendering when the call returned |
maru_cancel_audio_generation | mcp:generate | Requests cancellation of your existing gateway-backed audio or kit take without starting a new render |
Every generated sound is saved to your Generated Sounds library and comes back as a link you can open. Generation spends credits the same way it does on the site.
To cancel, call maru_cancel_audio_generation with
{"job":"<returned job id>"}. It uses your existing generation permission
and spends no new credits. Queue-backed takes currently return an explicit
unsupported error. Read permission alone cannot cancel a generation.
Not on the remote server
Some Maru operations stay with the CLI and the local maru mcp server, which
work on the project in your checkout:
- Editing source, building, checking, evaluating, exporting and deploying a module. Source edits in your account happen in Studio.
- Instrument generation and transcription (
maru audio generate instrument,maru audio transcribe): not served by the hosted service yet. - Hardware projects and the local module catalog.
maru tools list prints every operation the CLI and the local server offer,
and maru tools describe --json prints their input schemas. Run
npx maruaudio mcp install --local to add the local server to your coding
agents, and npx maruaudio skill install for the agent skill, which teaches
the agent to discover these operations itself. A signed-in maru runs the
same hosted operations as this server; see
Use Maru from your agent.