Ableton Forum

When using midiin in a standalone Max device, it works as expected.
When used inside M4L device though, it does not work. I need it for external midi comunication inside an audio device.

Is it possible to have midi comunication without using an Ableton midi track/Max midi device?

Short answer, no.
That said, in your case, you can access to the midi tracks and ports with [live.routing].