mcp-video-reader

An MCP server that gives Claude full access to ffmpeg — extract frames, convert formats, trim and join clips, manipulate audio, apply filters, and handle subtitles. No external API key required.

Prerequisites

ffmpeg must be installed and available on your PATH.

• Windows: winget install ffmpeg or choco install ffmpeg

• macOS: brew install ffmpeg

• Ubuntu/Debian: sudo apt install ffmpeg

Related MCP server: FFmpeg MCP

Installation

npx (no install)

npx mcp-video-reader

npm global

npm install -g mcp-video-reader

From GitHub directly

npx github:lawriec/mcp-video-reader

Local dev

git clone https://github.com/lawriec/mcp-video-reader.git
cd mcp-video-reader
npm install
npm run build

Configuration

Claude Desktop

Add to your Claude Desktop config (claude_desktop_config.json):

Via npx (recommended):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "video-reader": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-video-reader"]
    }
  }
}

Via GitHub (before npm publish):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "video-reader": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "github:lawriec/mcp-video-reader"]
    }
  }
}

Local build:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "video-reader": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/mcp-video-reader/build/index.js"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code

claude mcp add video-reader -- npx -y mcp-video-reader

Tools

Inspection

get_video_info

Get metadata about a video file.

Input:

• file_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the video file

Output: Text with duration, resolution, fps, codecs, bitrate, file size.

extract_frames

Extract evenly-spaced frames from a video file as JPEG images.

Input:

• file_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the video file

• num_frames (number, optional) — Number of frames to extract, 1–20 (default: 10)

• start_time (number, optional) — Start time in seconds (default: beginning)

• end_time (number, optional) — End time in seconds (default: end of video)

Output: Text summary + base64 JPEG images of each frame.

extract_frame_at_timestamp

Extract a single frame at a specific timestamp.

Input:

• file_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the video file

• timestamp (number, required) — Timestamp in seconds

Output: Text label + single base64 JPEG image.

Convert

convert_video

Convert a video to a different container format and/or codec. Audio is copied without re-encoding unless the container requires otherwise.

Input:

• file_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the input video file

• output_format (string, required) — Container format: mp4, mkv, webm, avi, or mov

• codec (string, optional) — Video codec: h264, h265, vp9, av1, or copy (re-container without re-encode)

• crf (number, optional) — Constant Rate Factor for quality (0–63; lower = better). Typical: 18–28 for h264/h265, 28–40 for vp9

• bitrate (string, optional) — Target video bitrate, e.g. 2000k or 5M. Cannot be combined with crf

• output_path (string, optional) — Defaults to same directory as input with _converted suffix

Output: Text confirming the output file path.

Trim / Edit

trim_video

Cut a clip from a video by start and end time. Re-muxes without re-encoding (lossless, fast).

Input:

• file_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the input video file

• start_time (number, required) — Start time in seconds

• end_time (number, required) — End time in seconds

• output_path (string, optional) — Defaults to same directory with _trimmed suffix

Output: Text confirming the output file path.

concat_videos

Join multiple video files into one in the order provided, without re-encoding (lossless, fast). All inputs must share the same codec and resolution.

Input:

• file_paths (array of strings, required) — Ordered list of absolute paths (minimum 2)

• output_path (string, optional) — Defaults to same directory as the first file with _concat suffix

• output_format (string, optional) — mp4, mkv, webm, avi, or mov. Defaults to the format of the first input file

Output: Text confirming the output file path.

split_video

Split a video into equal-duration segments without re-encoding. Output files are named <basename>_part_000.<ext>, <basename>_part_001.<ext>, etc.

Input:

• file_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the input video file

• segment_duration (number, required) — Duration of each segment in seconds

• output_dir (string, optional) — Directory to write segments to. Defaults to same directory as input

• output_format (string, optional) — mp4, mkv, webm, avi, or mov. Defaults to same format as input

Output: Text listing all created segment file paths.

Audio

extract_audio

Extract the audio track from a video and save it as a standalone audio file.

Input:

• file_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the input video file

• output_format (string, optional) — Audio format: mp3, aac, flac, wav, or ogg (default: mp3)

• output_path (string, optional) — Defaults to same directory with _audio suffix

Output: Text confirming the output file path.

strip_audio

Remove the audio track from a video, producing a silent video. The video stream is copied without re-encoding.

Input:

• file_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the input video file

• output_path (string, optional) — Defaults to same directory with _noaudio suffix

Output: Text confirming the output file path.

adjust_volume

Change the audio volume of a video. The video stream is copied without re-encoding.

Input:

• file_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the input video file

• volume (number, required) — Volume multiplier: 1.0 = original, 2.0 = double, 0.5 = half. Must be ≥ 0

• output_path (string, optional) — Defaults to same directory with _volume suffix

Output: Text confirming the output file path.

Filters

resize_video

Resize a video to new dimensions. Omit one dimension to scale proportionally and preserve aspect ratio.

Input:

• file_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the input video file

• width (number, optional) — Output width in pixels

• height (number, optional) — Output height in pixels

• output_path (string, optional) — Defaults to same directory with _resized suffix

At least one of width or height must be provided.

Output: Text confirming the output file path.

crop_video

Crop a video to a rectangular region.

Input:

• file_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the input video file

• width (number, required) — Width of the crop region in pixels

• height (number, required) — Height of the crop region in pixels

• x (number, optional) — X offset of the top-left corner (default: 0)

• y (number, optional) — Y offset of the top-left corner (default: 0)

• output_path (string, optional) — Defaults to same directory with _cropped suffix

Output: Text confirming the output file path.

rotate_video

Rotate a video 90, 180, or 270 degrees clockwise.

Input:

• file_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the input video file

• rotation (number, required) — Degrees clockwise: 90, 180, or 270

• output_path (string, optional) — Defaults to same directory with _rotatedN suffix

Output: Text confirming the output file path.

adjust_video

Adjust brightness, contrast, and/or saturation using the ffmpeg eq filter.

Input:

• file_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the input video file

• brightness (number, optional) — Range: -1.0 to 1.0. Default: 0 (no change)

• contrast (number, optional) — Range: -1000 to 1000. Default: 1 (no change)

• saturation (number, optional) — Range: 0 (grayscale) to 3.0. Default: 1 (no change)

• output_path (string, optional) — Defaults to same directory with _adjusted suffix

Output: Text confirming the output file path.

add_text_overlay

Burn a text string onto every frame of a video using the ffmpeg drawtext filter.

Input:

• file_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the input video file

• text (string, required) — Text to overlay (max 500 characters)

• x (number, optional) — X position in pixels from the left edge (default: 10)

• y (number, optional) — Y position in pixels from the top edge (default: 10)

• font_size (number, optional) — Font size in pixels (default: 24)

• color (string, optional) — Color name (e.g. white, red) or hex (e.g. #FF0000). Default: white

• output_path (string, optional) — Defaults to same directory with _text suffix

Output: Text confirming the output file path.

change_speed

Speed up or slow down a video. Both video and audio are adjusted. Values above 1.0 speed up; values below 1.0 slow down.

Input:

• file_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the input video file

• speed (number, required) — Speed multiplier, range 0.01–100. E.g. 2.0 = twice as fast, 0.5 = half speed

• output_path (string, optional) — Defaults to same directory with _Nx suffix

Output: Text confirming the output file path.

generate_thumbnail_grid

Generate a contact-sheet JPEG with evenly-spaced thumbnail frames arranged in a grid. Useful for quickly skimming a video's content.

Input:

• file_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the input video file

• columns (number, optional) — Number of columns in the grid, 1–20 (default: 4)

• rows (number, optional) — Number of rows in the grid, 1–20 (default: 3)

• output_path (string, optional) — Defaults to same directory with _grid.jpg suffix

Output: Text confirming the path of the generated JPEG contact sheet.

Subtitles

extract_subtitles

Extract a subtitle track from a video file and save it as a standalone subtitle file.

Input:

• file_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the input video file

• stream_index (number, optional) — Zero-based index of the subtitle stream to extract (default: 0)

• output_format (string, optional) — Subtitle format: srt, vtt, or ass (default: srt)

• output_path (string, optional) — Defaults to same directory with _subtitles suffix

Output: Text confirming the output file path.

embed_subtitles

Embed a subtitle file as a soft (selectable) subtitle track inside the video container. The subtitles are not burned into the video frames. Supports mp4, mkv, and mov output.

Input:

• file_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the input video file

• subtitle_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the subtitle file (.srt, .vtt, or .ass)

• output_path (string, optional) — Defaults to same directory with _subtitled suffix

• output_format (string, optional) — mp4, mkv, or mov. Defaults to same format as input

Output: Text confirming the output file path.

burn_subtitles

Permanently burn (hard-code) subtitles into the video frames. Subtitles will always be visible regardless of player settings. Requires re-encoding the video stream.

Input:

• file_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the input video file

• subtitle_path (string, required) — Absolute path to the subtitle file (.srt, .vtt, or .ass)

• output_path (string, optional) — Defaults to same directory with _burned suffix

Output: Text confirming the output file path.

Environment Variables

• FFMPEG_PATH — Override path to the ffmpeg executable

• FFPROBE_PATH — Override path to the ffprobe executable

License

MIT