Deadline MCP Server
Click on "Install 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., "@Deadline MCP ServerWhat's the current render farm status?"
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.
Deadline MCP Server
AI access to a Thinkbox Deadline 10 render farm via its Web Service REST API, exposed as Model Context Protocol tools. Works with Hermes, Claude, and any MCP-compatible client.
18 tools — 9 read + 9 write (see Tools)
Self-contained — own venv, no host dependencies beyond Python 3.10+
Env-configured — no secrets in the repo
Requirements
Requirement | Detail |
Python | 3.10+ |
Deadline Web Service |
|
Network | The target machine must reach the Web Service (same host, LAN, or tailnet) |
Credentials | A Deadline user account (username + password — not email) |
Related MCP server: fxhoudinimcp
Install
git clone https://github.com/officefiction/deadline-mcp-server.git
cd deadline-mcp-server
./install.shinstall.sh creates a venv/, installs mcp + httpx, and self-tests the tool registry. Expected output ends with:
tools (18): deadline_complete_job, deadline_delete_job, ...Version pin: the server targets the MCP 1.x Python SDK (
mcp>=1.28,<2). MCP 2.x movedFastMCP— do not upgrade past 2.x without testing.
Configure
cp .env.example .env
# edit .env:
# DEADLINE_WS_URL=http://localhost:8081 (or your host)
# DEADLINE_WS_USER=<deadline username>
# DEADLINE_WS_PASS=<deadline password>
chmod 600 .envVariable | Required | Default | Description |
| no |
| Base URL of the Deadline Web Service |
| yes | — | Deadline user account (not email) |
| yes | — | Deadline account password |
| no |
|
|
Register in Hermes
Add this block to ~/.hermes/config.yaml (path must match where you cloned):
mcp_servers:
deadline:
command: "/opt/deadline-mcp-server/venv/bin/python"
args: ["/opt/deadline-mcp-server/server.py"]
env:
DEADLINE_WS_URL: "${DEADLINE_WS_URL}"
DEADLINE_WS_USER: "${DEADLINE_WS_USER}"
DEADLINE_WS_PASS: "${DEADLINE_WS_PASS}"
enabled: true
timeout: 120
connect_timeout: 60Then put the three DEADLINE_WS_* values in the profile's .env (chmod 600), restart the gateway, and verify:
hermes mcp test deadline # expect 18 tools discoveredRegister in other MCP clients
Point any MCP client at the stdio server:
{
"command": "/opt/deadline-mcp-server/venv/bin/python",
"args": ["/opt/deadline-mcp-server/server.py"],
"env": {
"DEADLINE_WS_URL": "http://localhost:8081",
"DEADLINE_WS_USER": "...",
"DEADLINE_WS_PASS": "..."
}
}Tools
Read (always available)
Tool | Description |
| Overall farm snapshot: workers, jobs by state, groups, pools |
| List jobs, filter by state / user |
| One job by ID |
| Tasks (chunks) of a job, per-task status |
| Job reports / render logs |
| Farm workers (slaves) with status + heartbeat |
| Repository users |
| Worker groups |
| Job pools |
Write (disabled with DEADLINE_MCP_READONLY=true)
Tool | Description |
| Stop new tasks from starting |
| Resume a suspended job |
| Re-run a job's tasks |
| Mark a job completed |
| Mark a job failed |
| Hold a job until released |
| Release a pended job to the queue |
| Change a job's priority |
| Delete a job |
Job states
State | Meaning |
0 | Unknown |
1 | Active |
2 | Suspended |
3 | Completed |
4 | Failed |
5 | Deleted |
6 | Pending |
Architecture
MCP client (Hermes / Claude / ...)
│ stdio (JSON-RPC)
▼
server.py (FastMCP, mcp<2)
│ HTTP Basic auth
▼
Deadline Web Service (deadlinewebservice, :8081)
│ REST
▼
Deadline repository (render farm)Key API facts (this server handles them automatically):
Workers are served under
/api/slaves(not/api/workers)Job state lives in the top-level
StatfieldAuth is a Deadline user account — the Web Service returns
401without it
Development
# Regenerate/refresh docs against the live tool registry
python3 scripts/deadline_mcp_docs.py --outline # (internal tooling, not in this repo)License
Internal tooling for the Office Fiction project. MIT.
This server cannot be installed
Maintenance
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