Video sped up for demo purposes

Runway API MCP Server

This repository holds the code for a MCP server that calls the Runway API.

Tools

The following tools are available in this MCP:

Generation tools accept an optional model parameter to override the recommended default. Recommended models: Nano Banana Pro (gemini_image3_pro) for images, Seedance (seedance2) for video, and Aleph (aleph2) for video editing. Valid ratio, duration, and other parameter values are model-specific, so runway_listModels returns the exact valid values and required parameters for every model — call it before choosing a ratio/duration.

Related MCP server: Runware MCP Server

Prerequisites

Before starting, you'll need to have setup your Developer account on the Runway API, setup Billing, and also created an API Key.

You'll also need Node.js setup.

Setup

1. Clone this repository and save it to a folder on your computer. Remember where you saved this folder because you'll need it in a later step.

2. Run npm install in the folder, then npm run build. You should now see a new folder called build with a index.js file inside. If you later modify any source files, run npm run build again to pick up the changes.

Using the MCP as a Claude Desktop extension (recommended)

This installs the server as an unpacked Claude Desktop extension, so you don't have to edit any config files by hand.

3. Launch Claude Desktop and open Settings.

4. Go to Extensions, then Advanced Settings.

5. Click Install Unpacked Extension and select the folder you cloned in step 1 (for example /Users/edwin/runway-api-mcp-server). Click Install on the prompt.

6. Get your API key from https://dev.runwayml.com, paste it into the installed extension's settings, then Enable the extension.

7. Now, try asking Claude to generate an image!

Using the MCP with Claude Desktop (config file)

Alternatively, register the server manually through Claude's config file.

1. Follow the MCP quickstart instructions to setup a config file for Claude. If you already have it, open it by running:

MacOS

open ~/Library/Application\ Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

Windows

notepad %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

2. Add the runway-api-mcp-server to the config, make sure to replace the file path and Runway API key.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "runway-api-mcp-server": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "<ABSOLUTE_PATH_TO_YOUR_CLONED_REPO_FROM_STEP_1>/build/index.js"
      ],
      "env": {
        "RUNWAYML_API_SECRET": "<YOUR_RUNWAY_API_KEY_HERE>",
        "MCP_TOOL_TIMEOUT": "1000000"
      }
    }
  }
}

3. Now restart Claude Desktop, and you should see the runway-api-mcp-server in Claude's tools:

4. Now, try asking Claude to generate images or videos!

Deploy as a remote MCP server

The same code can run as an HTTP MCP server, which lets clients like claude.ai web, Cursor, Zed, and Windsurf connect to a single hosted URL instead of installing the extension locally.

Local HTTP development

RUNWAYML_API_SECRET=key_xxx npm run start:http
# server listens on http://0.0.0.0:3000/mcp
curl http://127.0.0.1:3000/healthz   # → {"ok":true}

To test from web clients (claude.ai) without deploying, use a tunnel that returns HTTPS. Cloudflared works; ngrok is currently blocked by Anthropic's connector backend:

cloudflared tunnel --url http://127.0.0.1:3000

Use the printed https://<random>.trycloudflare.com/mcp as the connector URL.

Deploying to Railway

Railway deploys the HTTP server with zero config.

npm i -g @railway/cli           # one-time
railway login
railway init                    # create a new project, link this folder
railway up                      # builds & deploys
railway domain                  # provisions https://<your-app>.up.railway.app

Set environment variables in the Railway dashboard (or railway variables):

Connect from claude.ai web:

1. Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector

2. URL: https://<your-app>.up.railway.app/mcp

3. Leave OAuth fields blank (Bearer-key flow)

Public deployment auth model

For public, multi-tenant hosting, every user supplies their own Runway API key:

curl -X POST https://<your-app>.up.railway.app/mcp \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: application/json, text/event-stream" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer <user_runway_key>" \
  -d '{"jsonrpc":"2.0","id":1,"method":"tools/list"}'

When REQUIRE_AUTH=true, requests without a Bearer header receive a 401. Bearer keys take priority over RUNWAYML_API_SECRET even when both are set.