# Shotcut MCP

An MCP server that lets your assistant open saved Shotcut projects, change the timeline, review it and render the result.

- MCP server · `type=mcp` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Windsurf (Devin Desktop), Cline, Zed · ★ 22
- Author: matrodrigs
- License: MIT · policy=link-only · description only; the file stays with the author
- Source: https://github.com/matrodrigs/shotcut-mcp
- Updated: 2026-10-17
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/mcp/shotcut-mcp

## What it does

The server talks to Shotcut project files (`.mlt`) over a local `stdio` connection. Your assistant builds a timeline from clips in a folder, adds transitions, titles and subtitles, and the output stays a normal project you can open and edit in Shotcut. You can ask for preview frames or a short clip before anything is exported.

Every edit is compared against the revision the server already inspected, checked with Melt and copied to a backup before the file is swapped in atomically. Ambiguous changes get rejected, unfamiliar XML is left untouched. Each export runs on a frozen project snapshot, so later timeline tweaks cannot disturb a job that is already rendering.

You need Python 3.10+ and a local Shotcut install (26.8.1 with bundled MLT 7.41.0 is recommended); no extra Python packages are involved. It works only with saved files, so unsaved work in the Shotcut window stays invisible, and you should not overwrite the same project from the GUI while an MCP edit is running. Network resources and dubious consumer properties are blocked unless an administrator opens the runtime configuration.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

**Install**
- The MCP registry has no launch command for it: see the repository README

## When to use it
- build one project from every clip in a folder at a chosen resolution and frame rate
- add crossfades between clips and keep the result as an editable `.mlt`
- check source quality and colour before cutting
- look at frames or a short fragment before committing to a full export
- export the whole project, a range or a named marker to a video file

## Example prompts
- Run `shotcut_status` and `shotcut_doctor`, then list tool paths, versions and any failed checks.
- Generate a contact sheet from the project frames so I can look at the cut before rendering.

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