How to edit video with Claude or Codex through MCP

What is MCP?

MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is an open standard for connecting AI agents to the tools and data of other programs. A program that speaks it publishes what it can do; an agent that speaks it can use those tools the way you would, in the order the job needs.

Sharpy speaks MCP, so an agent you already use can run a whole edit: not one effect at a time, but the full job from footage to render.

What can your agent do with Sharpy?

Everything Sharpy can. Its MCP server offers:

• 82 tools, including the five that carry an edit from start to finish: read_format, set_format, read_recording, plan_beats and assemble.
• The working material as resources: the media, the transcript, the timeline and the edit decisions, so the agent can read them before it changes anything.
• 15 workflow prompts, ready-made plans such as editing a recording to match a reference.
• Progress as it works, so a long render reports back instead of going quiet.

When an agent connects, Sharpy tells it to start with the workflow tool, which sets out the steps that fit the job, and never to create accounts on your behalf.

How do you connect Claude to Sharpy?

In Claude Code, add the server with one command:

claude mcp add sharpy -- /Applications/Sharpy.app/Contents/Resources/bin/sharpy-mcp

In Claude Desktop, open Settings, then Developer, choose Edit Config, and add Sharpy to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sharpy": {
      "command": "/Applications/Sharpy.app/Contents/Resources/bin/sharpy-mcp"
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop and Sharpy's tools appear in the conversation.

How do you connect Codex to Sharpy?

Add Sharpy to Codex's configuration file, ~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.sharpy]
command = "/Applications/Sharpy.app/Contents/Resources/bin/sharpy-mcp"

The Codex command line and the Codex editor extensions read the same file, so one entry covers both. Any other MCP client works the same way: point it at sharpy-mcp.

What does an edit look like from the agent's side?

You ask in plain language. For example:

Edit today's recording into a 60-second vertical short, paced like the reference video in my Downloads folder.

The agent then works through Sharpy step by step:

1. It calls workflow to choose the steps for the job.
2. It studies the reference with read_format and proposes its shape, which you confirm.
3. It builds the structure with set_format.
4. It reads your recording with read_recording: every word, pause and shot.
5. It plans every beat with plan_beats, checks each word against the second transcription engine, and brings you the few words worth confirming.
6. It asks the questions only you can answer, such as the finished size and quality, then cuts and renders with assemble, and checks the render before it hands it back.

Then you carry on in the same conversation: "keep the second take of the intro", "leave the pause before the last line alone", "show me every cut in the first minute and why". Each request is a new decision in the edit decision list, with its reason. How Sharpy decides where to cut explains what goes into those decisions.

What stays on your Mac?

Your footage, audio, transcripts and projects. sharpy-mcp talks to your agent through the standard input and output of a process on your Mac, and opens no network port.

Your conversation with the agent is a different matter. Claude and Codex run on their providers' servers, so what you type, and what Sharpy's tools report back to the agent, such as parts of the transcript and the edit decisions, goes through that provider under its terms. The footage itself does not. If that matters for a project, run Sharpy directly, where nothing leaves your Mac at all.

Does using an agent cost more?

Not from Sharpy. Sharpy is one plan with unlimited edits whether you drive it yourself or through an agent. Your agent's own plan and limits apply to the agent.

Frequently asked questions

01

Which AI agents work with Sharpy?

Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex and any other client that speaks MCP. The server runs on your Mac and talks over standard input and output, the transport every MCP client supports.

02

Do I need to write code?

No. Setting up is one command or one entry in a settings file. After that, you direct the edit in plain language.

03

Does my footage go to Anthropic or OpenAI?

No. Your footage stays on your Mac. The agent sees what Sharpy's tools return to it, such as parts of the transcript and the edit decisions, and that goes through the agent's provider.

04

Can I still edit without an agent?

Yes. Sharpy edits on its own; the MCP server is there for when you want your agent in charge. What an agentic video editor is explains how the edit works either way.

05

What does sharpy-mcp give the agent?

82 tools, the media, transcript, timeline and edit decisions as resources, 15 workflow prompts and progress updates, over MCP's stdio transport.