DaVinci Resolve MCP Server

The most complete MCP server for DaVinci Resolve's Scripting API. Control projects, timelines, media, color grading, rendering, and more from any MCP-compatible client.

Features

• 212 tools across 15 domains (playback, project, media storage, media pool, clips, timelines, timeline items, render, color, Fusion, gallery, Fairlight, extensions, media analysis, grade exchange)

• 3 resources for quick context (resolve://system, resolve://project, resolve://timeline)

• Complete API coverage of the DaVinci Resolve Scripting API (Phases 1-3)

• Offline authoring & analysis (Phase 4): DCTL/Fuse/script installers, FFmpeg probe / frame extraction / QC, and ASC CDL grade exchange — all work on the free edition with Resolve closed, since they never touch the scripting bridge

• Pydantic v2 models for type-safe inputs and outputs

• Pagination for large clip and timeline item lists

• Auto-reconnect if Resolve restarts or becomes unresponsive

• Platform auto-detection for macOS, Windows, and Linux

Related MCP server: resolve-mcp

Requirements

• DaVinci Resolve 18+

  • Studio for the scripting-bridge tools (the 189 live tools). External Python scripting is a Studio-only feature — on the free edition scriptapp("Resolve") returns None, so live tools cannot connect.

  • The free edition is enough for the 23 offline tools (extensions, media analysis, grade exchange), which only touch the filesystem and FFmpeg.

• Python 3.11+

• macOS, Windows, or Linux

• Optional: FFmpeg on PATH (or FFMPEG_BINARY/FFPROBE_BINARY) for the media analysis tools; a Whisper backend (faster-whisper) for transcription

Quick Start

Install from PyPI

pip install davinci-resolve-mcp

Or with uv:

uv pip install davinci-resolve-mcp

Claude Desktop Configuration

Add to your Claude Desktop config file:

macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "davinci-resolve": {
      "command": "davinci-resolve-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Then restart Claude Desktop. DaVinci Resolve must be running for tools to work.

See docs/CLAUDE_DESKTOP.md for a detailed setup guide with troubleshooting.

Development Setup

git clone https://github.com/luquimbo/davinci-resolve-mcp.git
cd davinci-resolve-mcp
uv sync --dev
uv run davinci-resolve-mcp

Verify Your Setup

python scripts/check_resolve.py

This prints Resolve version, current project, and timeline info to confirm the scripting bridge is working.

Tool Domains

Offline domains (extensions, media analysis, grade exchange) do not use the Resolve scripting bridge, so they run on the free edition and with Resolve closed. Everything else requires DaVinci Resolve Studio (external Python scripting is a Studio-only feature).

Resources (read-only context, no tool call needed):

Architecture

src/davinci_resolve_mcp/
  server.py          FastMCP instance, registers all modules, CLI entry point
  resolve_api.py     Lazy singleton with platform auto-detection and health checks
  platform_paths.py  Cross-platform Resolve support-dir resolution (LUT/Fuses/Scripts)
  models.py          Pydantic models (CDLValues for ASC color correction)
  constants.py       Enums for pages, track types, clip colors, marker colors, export types
  exceptions.py      ResolveNotRunning, ResolveOperationFailed
  tools/
    playback.py      Page navigation, timecode, version
    project.py       Project CRUD, settings, folders, import/export
    media_storage.py Volume browsing, file listing, import
    media_pool.py    Folder CRUD, clip management, timeline creation
    media_pool_item.py  Clip metadata, properties, markers, flags
    timeline.py      Timeline CRUD, tracks, items, markers
    timeline_item.py Transform, crop, composite, color, markers
    render.py        Formats, codecs, presets, jobs, rendering
    color.py         Nodes, LUTs, CDL, versions, groups
    fusion.py        Compositions, generators, titles
    gallery.py       Stills, albums, PowerGrades
    fairlight.py     Audio insertion, presets
    extensions.py    Offline DCTL/Fuse/script authoring (filesystem)
    media_analysis.py Offline FFmpeg probe, frames, QC, transcription
    cdl.py           Offline ASC CDL read/write, .drx inspection
    _offline_helpers.py  Safe filenames + ffmpeg/ffprobe discovery
  resources/
    system_info.py   resolve://system
    project_info.py  resolve://project
    timeline_info.py resolve://timeline

Key patterns:

• Lazy singleton (ResolveAPI): Connects to Resolve on first access, not at import time. A GetVersion() health check runs on every access to detect stale references and reconnect automatically.

• One module per domain: Each tool module exports a register(mcp) function that decorates tool functions with @mcp.tool().

• Defensive error handling: Every API call catches AttributeError (stale scripting bridge) and re-raises as ResolveNotRunning. Version-specific methods are wrapped so missing APIs return clear errors instead of crashes.

• Pagination: Large lists (clips, timeline items) support offset and limit parameters, returning has_more to signal additional pages.

See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md for the full design document.

Testing

# Unit tests (no Resolve needed)
uv run pytest

# Integration tests (requires Resolve running)
uv run pytest -m integration

Scope

The 189 scripting-bridge tools (v0.1.0) cover core editing, color grading, Fusion compositions, gallery stills, Fairlight audio, timeline export, compound clips, transcription, takes management, scene detection, auto-subtitles, stabilization, smart reframe, project archival, and database management.

v0.2.0 adds 23 offline tools (212 total) that work on the free edition with Resolve closed: DCTL/Fuse/script authoring, FFmpeg-based media probe / frame extraction / black+silence QC / Whisper transcription, and ASC CDL (.cdl/.ccc) grade exchange plus .drx inspection.

Auto-Generated Tool Reference

Run the following to generate a complete tool reference from the registered MCP tools:

python scripts/generate_tool_docs.py

This creates docs/TOOLS.md with every tool name, description, parameters, and return type grouped by domain.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md.

License

MIT. See LICENSE.