Drives Instagram's Edits for Mac desktop video editor through its built-in automation server, exposing the full editor tool set (274 tools) once a project is open: importing clips, arranging timelines and cutting on beats, adding text and word-by-word captions, effects, transitions, keyframes, speed ramps, audio and titles, checking rendered frames, and rendering/exporting reels. Publishing stays manual in the Edits window unless explicitly requested.
Click on "Deploy Server".
Wait a few minutes for the server to deploy. Once ready, it will show a "Started" state.
In the chat, type @ followed by the MCP server name and your instructions, e.g., "@io.github.faisalkhanzemi/insta-edits make a 15-second beat-synced reel with captions and export it"
That's it! The server will respond to your query, and you can continue using it as needed.
Here is a step-by-step guide with screenshots.
Let Claude Code edit in Instagram Edits for Mac, with the full editor and not just the home screen.
Edits for Mac, which Meta launched on 5 November 2026, has a built-in automation server that speaks MCP: in Meta's words, you can connect AI agents "to the desktop editor through MCP so they can help with your projects". You can point Claude Code at it directly, but you only get part of it.
Edits changes its tools with the screen. The home screen offers 32 tools: projects, imports and catalogs. Open a project and it offers 274, with text, captions, effects, transitions, keyframes, audio and export. Edits says it will announce that change (tools.listChanged: true) but never sends the notification. Claude keeps the 32 home tools for the whole session and never sees the editor.
This bridge sits between the two. After every tool call it asks Edits which tools it offers now. If the set has changed, it tells Claude, and Claude refreshes the list. It also fixes a reply format that some Claude Code builds reject, gives readable errors, and keeps your token out of config files.
Claude Code ──stdio──▶ insta-edits ──HTTP──▶ Edits for Mac (127.0.0.1:19501)
◀── tools/list_changed ──┘ checks the tool set after each callWorks with Claude Code in the terminal and in the Code tab of the Claude desktop app. It's a standard stdio MCP server, so other MCP clients (the Claude desktop chat, Cursor, Codex) can run insta-edits serve too, though we've only tested Claude Code.
The full editor. Claude receives notifications/tools/list_changed as soon as Edits moves between home (32 tools) and the editor (274). Without the bridge, that notification never arrives.
Replies that every Claude Code build accepts. Edits marks each result "resultType": "complete" without the caching fields that newer MCP schemas pair with it. Some Claude Code builds then dropped every tool, with Invalid result for tools/list: ttlMs … cacheScope. The bridge removes the marker only when those fields are missing.
Your token stays private. The plugin keeps it in the macOS keychain. The CLI keeps it in a 0600 file. It never appears in ~/.claude.json, in logs or in error messages.
Start in any order. If Edits isn't open yet, the bridge still connects and reports no tools, then tells Claude the moment Edits answers, so the editor appears without a restart.
Errors you can act on. "Cannot reach Edits: open it and enable the Automation Server" replaces a stack trace. A rejected token says how to update it.
doctor checks every link from the app to the sign-in, and --json gives you a report to attach to a bug.
An edits skill that teaches Claude how the server behaves: discover before guessing, work in normalised canvas coordinates, check rendered frames, and never publish without your explicit go-ahead.
Python standard library only. Nothing to pip install for the plugin, and it runs on the python3 that comes with macOS.
Related MCP server: Oh My Cassette
A Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later) and Edits for Mac, free and signed in to Instagram
Claude Code
python3 3.9 or newer. Run xcode-select --install if macOS asks for the command line tools.
Go to Edits › Settings › Automation, switch on Enable Automation Server, and copy the Access token. Keep Edits open while Claude works.
Start claude in a terminal and type:
/plugin marketplace add faisalkhanzemi/insta-edits-for-claude
/plugin install insta-edits@insta-editsClaude Code asks for the access token with a masked prompt and stores it in your keychain. Restart Claude Code, then run /mcp: edits should show as connected. The plugin also installs the edits skill.
The shell commands do the same thing but don't prompt for the token, so set it afterwards with /plugin configure insta-edits@insta-edits inside Claude Code:
claude plugin marketplace add faisalkhanzemi/insta-edits-for-claudeclaude plugin install insta-edits@insta-editsA plugin installed this way, at user scope, also shows up in the Code tab of the Claude desktop app, which reads the same settings.
pipx install insta-editsinsta-edits set-tokenclaude mcp add --scope user edits -- insta-edits serveset-token asks for the token with a hidden prompt and saves it to ~/.config/insta-edits/token with 0600 permissions. Never put the token itself on the claude mcp add line: it would end up in plain text in ~/.claude.json and in your shell history.
insta-edits doctorinsta-edits 0.1.0 doctor
✓ macOS 27.0.1
✓ Edits app installed /Applications/Edits.app
✓ Automation server answering at http://127.0.0.1:19501/mcp (HTTP 403 without a token, as expected)
✓ Access token from ~/.config/insta-edits/token
✓ Sign-in metapilot-native 1.0.0, protocol 2025-06-18
✓ Tools 32 on the current screen (home screen; Edits offers more once a project is open)
✓ Reply format normalised for older Claude Code builds (resultType without caching fields)
✓ Edits automation schema 2026.10.19-1
✓ Tool-change notifications Edits announces them but never sends any; the bridge checks after each call and tells Claude
All good. Claude can drive Edits.Each ✗ line names its fix. Plugin users who want doctor can install the CLI as in 2b. The plugin token lives in the keychain, so without set-token the doctor checks stop at the sign-in step.
Ask for edits in plain words:
Open my latest Edits project and tell me what's on the timeline.
Import
~/Movies/broll/into a new project, cut it to the beat of the voice-over, and add word-by-word captions in a clean sans.
Add a soft zoom on every product close-up and a whoosh on each cut, then render a preview so I can check the frames.
Claude opens the project, the editor tools appear, and it works from them. It doesn't post. Publishing stays in the Edits window unless you explicitly tell Claude to share a specific video.
Step | What happens |
Session | The bridge forwards |
Replies | It accepts both JSON and |
Tool sync | After each |
Notifications | If a future Edits build opens a server-to-client stream, the bridge listens on it and forwards what arrives. Edits doesn't offer one today, so the bridge stops trying after the first refusal. Turn it off with |
Edits closed | The bridge answers |
Errors | A tool call while Edits is closed returns JSON-RPC |
Settings come from the environment: EDITS_MCP_URL (default http://127.0.0.1:19501/mcp), EDITS_MCP_TOKEN, and EDITS_MCP_TOKEN_FILE. Logs go to stderr.
Version | |
Edits for Mac | 454.0.0 (server |
Claude Code | 2.1.296 |
macOS | 27.0.1 |
Python | 3.9.6 (system), 3.11, 3.13 in CI |
Edits updates often and its automation server is undocumented. If a new build breaks something, run insta-edits doctor --json and open an issue with the output. It contains no token.
Symptom | Fix |
| Open Edits and switch on Settings › Automation › Enable Automation Server. |
HTTP 401 or 403 | The token changed in Edits. Update it in |
Only home tools, even with a project open | Check that |
Import fails with | Edits doesn't expand |
Import fails with | Edits is sandboxed. In our tests it imported from |
Exported video is silent where the song should be | Songs from Edits' music library come in as licensed tracks, and exports started through automation leave them out: the music bed was silent in every test, while our own audio files exported fine. Export or post from the Edits window when a library song matters. |
| Passing a track id sometimes added another track. Passing the exact title added the right song in our test. |
The bridge only connects to the URL you configure, which defaults to 127.0.0.1. It sends nothing anywhere else and has no telemetry.
The token is redacted in every log line, error message and repr. doctor --json reports where the token came from, never its value.
Edits is signed in to your Instagram account. The bundled skill tells Claude never to publish, share or schedule without your explicit go-ahead for that specific post.
Report vulnerabilities privately as described in SECURITY.md.
How do I connect Claude to Instagram Edits? Install Edits for Mac, switch on Settings › Automation › Enable Automation Server, then add this plugin with the two /plugin lines under Install. Claude can then open your projects and edit them.
Can Claude edit Instagram Reels? Yes, inside Edits for Mac. It can import clips, cut them on the beat, add captions, text, transitions, zooms and speed ramps, check rendered frames and export. You post the reel from Edits yourself.
Does it work with claude.ai in the browser? No. Edits runs on your Mac and only listens locally, so it needs Claude Code (or another MCP client) running on the same Mac.
Is this official? No. It's an independent open-source project, not affiliated with or endorsed by Meta, Instagram or Anthropic. "Instagram" and "Edits" are trademarks of Meta Platforms, Inc.
Does it work on Windows or with the Edits phone app? No. Edits on desktop is only available on macOS, and the automation server only exists there.
Do I still need this if my Claude Code build accepts Edits' replies? Yes, for the editor tools. Edits never announces that its tools changed, and no client can find that out without asking.
Can Claude post to Instagram for me? The bridge won't stop Claude from calling Edits' share tools, but the bundled skill tells it to wait for your explicit go-ahead. Posting from the Edits window is the safer default.
git clone https://github.com/faisalkhanzemi/insta-edits-for-claude && cd insta-edits-for-claude
python3 -m venv .venv && . .venv/bin/activate
pip install -e . pytest ruff
pytest && ruff check . && ruff format --check .The tests run against tests/fake_edits.py, a stand-in that behaves like the real server: it sends no notifications, changes its tool set when a project opens, and replies with resultType. You don't need a Mac or Edits to run them. See CONTRIBUTING.md.
Demo footage: stock clips from Pexels (Pexels License). Music: "Tech House vibes" by Alejandro Magaña, Mixkit (Mixkit License).
MIT © Faisal Khan
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