Connect AI agents to your video library with MCP

Let your agent search the actual archive

Metachlorian exposes the same core library to people and AI agents. Its MCP server provides tools for shot search, detailed records, transcripts, collections and rights checks. A REST API is available as well.

An agent can begin with a creative brief, find candidate footage and inspect the evidence behind a match. The response includes shot boundaries and rights verdicts, giving downstream editing tools more useful context than a filename alone.

Connect over HTTP

First run Metachlorian and create an agent token in Settings → Agents. Add the server to an MCP client that supports HTTP connections. The exact configuration location depends on your client; the repository provides this connection shape:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "metachlorian": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "http://127.0.0.1:8765/mcp/",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_AGENT_TOKEN"
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace the example token with the one you created. For a shared server, use its address instead of 127.0.0.1. Treat the token as a credential and keep it out of source control.

Or connect locally over stdio

For a client on the same machine, the CLI can run an MCP connection over standard input and output:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "metachlorian": {
      "command": "metachlorian",
      "args": ["mcp"],
      "env": {
        "METACHLORIAN_DATA": "/path/to/library"
      }
    }
  }
}

Use the path to your library and ensure the client can find the installed metachlorian command. Without a token, local stdio access is read-only by default.

Give the agent a concrete brief

Try: “Find slow coastal shots, at least eight seconds each, for a paid social edit.” A useful workflow is:

1. search_shots retrieves candidates using the description, filters and intended use.
2. get_shot returns detailed signals, word-timed transcripts and rights information.
3. check_rights evaluates the recorded permissions for the use, channel, territory and date.
4. build_package, when explicitly scoped for export, prepares selected media and timelines for an editor.

The agent can also scope searches to folders or collections, use find_similar to explore related footage and call library_stats to distinguish missing footage from material that has not been indexed.

Keep permissions deliberate

Agents receive library:read access by default. Exporting media requires media:export; collection edits and tag corrections have separate write scopes. Rights administration and administrator scopes are not available to agent tokens.

Every agent call is audited. Agents cannot package shots unless the recorded rights verdict is allowed. People can review the underlying rights records in the app.

From a brief to an editing handoff

Metachlorian handles indexing, understanding and retrieval. Cutawan handles editing. Together, the agent can discover the relevant footage and prepare a package with media, transcripts, timelines and a rights summary.

Read the complete agent API guide for exact parameters and scopes. To get the library running first, follow the self-hosting guide.