GitHub: github.com/AnyByte/LinkBridge
Stack: Python · rumps · mido · Ableton Link Python bindings · py2app
The itch
I DJ at home with djay Pro, Mixxx, and Ableton Live, and my hardware sampler — a Novation Circuit Tracks — needs to play in tempo with whatever’s running on the laptop. The Circuit understands MIDI clock; the laptop apps speak Ableton Link. The two don’t talk natively, so without something in between you’re back to manual tap-tempo every time you start a set.
The solution
LinkBridge is a tiny menu-bar app that joins the Ableton Link session, listens for tempo changes, and broadcasts MIDI clock messages at 24 PPQ to a virtual MIDI port — which the Circuit (and any other clock-following hardware) picks up. The whole thing is a few hundred lines of Python: mido for MIDI out, the Link Python bindings for tempo sync, rumps for the menu-bar UI, py2app for packaging, and create-dmg for one-click install.
Status
Done what I needed it to do, runs in my home studio every week. Code is on GitHub if anyone wants the same trick for their own setup.