@instavar/mcp-server

Make local videos with Instavar's open-source Remotion templates from Claude Code or Codex. The public template, schema, scaffold, and troubleshooting tools work without an account or API key.

Add an Instavar API key when you want the hosted workflow: create → render → approve → publish → metrics. The authenticated tools are thin HTTP clients to the hosted Instavar API. The package holds no database connection and stores no data of its own.

Which model runs?

The MCP host supplies the general-purpose LLM.

• In Claude Code, the selected Claude model interprets the request and calls Instavar tools.

• In Codex, the selected OpenAI model interprets the request and calls the same tools.

• Other compatible hosts use their own selected model and authentication.

The MCP server does not provide Sonnet, GPT, or another general-purpose model. It exposes typed Instavar capabilities to the model already running in the user's host. Depending on the host and sign-in method, that model usage may draw from a personal or workspace subscription, separate usage credits, or API billing. Those provider rules can change.

Local Remotion rendering uses your own machine. Instavar meters or charges its hosted services, including rendering, storage, specialist media generation, QA, publishing, and other declared job costs. Using a subscription-backed agent does not make those services free.

For the full architecture, see docs/architecture/studio-agent-workflow-architecture.md. For dated provider evidence, see reports/research/subscription-backed-agent-runtime-2026-07-10.md.

Related MCP server: Clean-Cut-MCP

Setup

Add the server to your MCP client config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instavar": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@instavar/mcp-server"]
    }
  }
}

This starts with the free local template tools. To unlock hosted Studio tools, create an API key at https://instavar.com/studio/settings, then add it:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instavar": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@instavar/mcp-server"],
      "env": { "INSTAVAR_API_KEY": "ik_live_..." }
    }
  }
}

Restart the client. The free tools appear in both modes. Hosted tools appear when the key is configured.

Environment

Tools

Free local tools:

Hosted tools, available when INSTAVAR_API_KEY is configured:

Workflow inspection, preview, and comparison require read. Workflow draft, patch, validation, and approval require write. publish_job requires publish.

Workflow tools reject unknown arguments instead of silently discarding them. API calls time out after 15 seconds. A stale-version 409 tells the caller to inspect the latest version, while an unavailable upload or other dependency conflict tells the caller to resolve that dependency before retrying.

Connecting a social account from the terminal

connect_account returns an approve URL and a short confirm code. Open the URL in a browser where you are signed in to Instavar, check the code matches the one in your terminal, and approve — you go through the platform's normal sign-in, then return to Instavar. Poll connect_account_status with the returned pairingId until it reports connected. Pairings expire after 10 minutes and can only be approved by an owner/admin of the workspace.

CLI

npx @instavar/mcp-server --version
npx @instavar/mcp-server --help

License

MIT