MIDI-CI is MIDI 2.0's discovery-and-negotiation layer, delivering profiles, property exchange, and process inquiry

MIDI Capability Inquiry (MIDI-CI) is the discovery and negotiation layer that lets two bidirectionally connected devices agree to use MIDI 2.0’s extended capabilities. Its purpose is to let a sender learn a receiver’s capabilities and then auto-configure. It delivers this through three areas of functionality: Profile Configuration (agree to use auto-configuration Profiles), Property Exchange (get and set device property data as JSON), and Process Inquiry (discover the current state and values of supported MIDI messages). The crucial rule tying them together is that MIDI-CI Discovery must be enacted before any other MIDI-CI feature can operate — discovery is the gate. Because MIDI-CI rides on System Exclusive messages, this whole layer works even over MIDI 1.0 transports.

Examples

A DAW runs MIDI-CI Discovery to identify a synth, then uses Property Exchange to read its patch list and Profile Configuration to route channels — all before playing a note.

Assessment

What is the role of MIDI-CI within MIDI 2.0, and what must happen before any of its Profile/Property/Process features can run? Name the three functional areas it provides.