DaVinci Resolve MCP: Connect Claude or Codex to Resolve

DaVinci Resolve has an official MCP route: Resolve Studio 21.1 includes a built-in MCP server that you connect with File → Setup AI Assistants, and Blackmagic names Claude Desktop, Claude Code and Codex. Community DaVinci Resolve MCP servers, led by samuelgursky/davinci-resolve-mcp, add their own tools and explicit Claude Code and Codex configuration, and the main ones also rely on Studio’s external scripting. This guide covers both routes, Free versus Studio, 15 prompts that start read-only, troubleshooting, and one alternative: assemble the cut in ChatCut, then hand Resolve an XML timeline.

Choose your DaVinci Resolve MCP route

Several projects share the name “davinci-resolve-mcp”, and Blackmagic’s built-in server is different again. Pick one route before you copy any commands.

The samuelgursky project (MIT, 4,061 GitHub stars, updated November 11, 2026) documents media organization, timeline inspection, markers, color helpers, Fusion and render checks. The apvlv project (MIT, 80 stars, updated October 22, 2026) covers projects, the media pool, timelines and Fusion, plus execute_python and execute_lua tools that run arbitrary code. Neither is made by Blackmagic, and their packages and settings don’t mix.

How we chose

ChatCut publishes this guide. We compared each route on what it controls, which Resolve edition it needs, how the client is configured and what you can check afterwards. ChatCut is included only as an assemble-then-hand-off option; it can’t control an existing Resolve project. Setup steps come from Blackmagic’s documentation and the maintainers’ instructions as of November 12, 2026, and stars come from GitHub’s API on that date. We didn’t install the servers or run the prompts.

For servers that work with other editors, see video editing MCP servers.

Connect the official Resolve integration

Use this route if you have Resolve Studio 21.1 or later. The reference manual, Chapter 201, describes a built-in MCP server and names Claude Desktop and Claude Code. Blackmagic’s 21.1 announcement also names ChatGPT Codex.

1. Open a test project in Resolve Studio.
2. Choose File → Setup AI Assistants and wait for the confirmation, which lists the assistants Resolve found on your computer.
3. Restart your assistant. Blackmagic notes that changes may need a restart to take effect.
4. Run prompt 1 below and compare the project and timeline it reports with what Resolve shows.

If your assistant isn’t in the confirmation, fix that before installing a second server.

Set up the community server

These steps are for samuelgursky/davinci-resolve-mcp. Its installation guide asks for Resolve 18.5 or later and Python 3.10 or later; 3.10 to 3.12 is the lowest-risk range. The quick installer runs through npx, so you also need Node.js. Use a copy of your project for the first edit.

Run the installer

1. In Resolve Studio, set Preferences → General → External scripting using → Local, as the maintainer’s quick start says. Blackmagic’s manual marks this setting as Studio only; Local lets apps on the same computer control Resolve.
2. Leave Resolve running with the test project open, then run:

npx davinci-resolve-mcp setup

3. Choose Claude Code or Codex CLI in the installer. The client table shows where each config goes: .mcp.json in the project root for Claude Code, ~/.codex/config.toml (or $CODEX_HOME/config.toml) for Codex CLI.
4. Keep the default live server, src/server.py. The README’s server modes also describe an advanced server that edits Resolve files and databases offline; leave it out of your first connection.
5. Restart your client and run prompt 1. If you already had other MCP servers configured, check that their entries survived.

To install from source instead, the quick start gives:

git clone https://github.com/samuelgursky/davinci-resolve-mcp.git
cd davinci-resolve-mcp
python install.py

Configure Claude Code by hand

Use the installer’s values when you can. As a fallback, the configuration guide uses this structure in the project’s .mcp.json. Add the entry to your existing mcpServers object rather than replacing the file.

Every /ABSOLUTE/... value is a placeholder for the real path to your Python interpreter, the checkout and Resolve’s scripting library. On Windows, use the paths the installer generates.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "davinci-resolve": {
      "command": "/ABSOLUTE/venv/bin/python",
      "args": ["/ABSOLUTE/davinci-resolve-mcp/src/server.py"],
      "env": {
        "RESOLVE_SCRIPT_API": "/ABSOLUTE/Developer/Scripting",
        "RESOLVE_SCRIPT_LIB": "/ABSOLUTE/fusionscript.so-or-dll",
        "PYTHONPATH": "/ABSOLUTE/Developer/Scripting/Modules"
      }
    }
  }
}

Configure Codex CLI by hand

Codex CLI uses TOML. Add this block with the same placeholders replaced. The maintainer guide requires absolute paths because Codex doesn’t expand ~ here.

[mcp_servers.davinci-resolve]
command = "/ABSOLUTE/venv/bin/python"
args = ["/ABSOLUTE/davinci-resolve-mcp/src/server.py"]
env = { RESOLVE_SCRIPT_API = "/ABSOLUTE/Developer/Scripting", RESOLVE_SCRIPT_LIB = "/ABSOLUTE/fusionscript.so-or-dll", PYTHONPATH = "/ABSOLUTE/Developer/Scripting/Modules" }

This configures the community server, not Blackmagic’s built-in one. After either setup, run prompt 1 and stop if the project name is wrong or missing.

15 DaVinci Resolve MCP prompts

Prompts 1 to 4 change nothing; the rest ask for a plan and wait for your approval. They follow the community server’s documented features, so the built-in server may expose different tools. If an action isn’t available, the prompt asks the agent to say so instead of guessing.

1. Check the connection

Use it first, whichever route you set up.

Check: the project and timeline match what Resolve shows. A plausible name isn’t proof.

2. List the timelines

Use it to pick the timeline you want to work on.

Check: unknown fields are marked, not guessed from file names.

3. Compare delivery settings

Use it before an assembly or render. Replace the example target with yours.

Check: decide which differences to change. Matching these settings doesn’t mean you meet a full delivery spec.

4. Audit media metadata

Use it before organizing a bin. Metadata inspection is one of the server’s documented features.

Check: spot-check a few clips against the bin. Missing metadata shouldn’t be filled in by the agent.

5. Plan media bins

Use it when interviews, B-roll and audio are mixed in one bin.

Check: sort out the ambiguous clips yourself; a file name doesn’t always tell you a clip’s role.

6. Import a folder

Use it to bring new footage in. Replace /ABSOLUTE/PATH/TO/FOOTAGE first.

Check: approve the exact files and bin, then confirm Resolve can play the imported media.

7. Build a test assembly

Use it after you’ve picked the clips and their order.

Check: the maintainer describes this as a first-pass assembly. Story and pacing are still your call.

8. Find gaps and overlaps

Use it to locate timeline problems quickly.

Check: look at each spot with picture and sound. Some overlaps are intentional.

9. Report source ranges

Use it to see which parts of the originals the edit uses.

Check: compare one edit against its source before trimming or conforming.

10. Plan review markers

Use it with your list of timecodes and notes.

Check: the timecode-to-frame conversion before you approve.

11. Export review notes

Use it to turn existing markers into a review document.

Check: a few entries against the timeline, then choose where to save the file.

12. Inspect a clip’s grade

Use it to document node and LUT information before changing a grade.

Check: the right clip is selected. A node list can’t tell you whether the image looks right.

13. Plan a Fusion overlay

Use it for a small text overlay on one clip.

Check: after approving, look at the rendered frame for text, placement and timing.

14. Validate render settings

Use it to see whether your review format is available.

Check: approve format, range and destination before any job is queued.

15. Check the render queue

Use it to read the queue without changing it.

Check: a “completed” job still needs a playable file at the expected path. Watch it with sound before delivery.

Free versus Studio

Direct external scripting needs Resolve Studio. Blackmagic’s manual lists the setting as Studio only, and the built-in AI assistant setup is a Studio feature too. Studio is listed at $295 on Blackmagic’s site, and was on sale for $236 when we checked on November 12, 2026.

Two community projects target the free version, each with narrow limits:

• samuelgursky’s in-app Python bridge: the README says to treat it as a path for Resolve 21.0.x until it’s been measured on 21.1.
• kingjamesch’s Lua bridge: a separate project (MIT) lists macOS, Resolve 21.1.2 Free or Studio, and Claude Code. It’s new and has few users so far.

If you depend on Resolve Free, match the bridge’s exact requirements to your build before installing. For client work, make one read-only connection and one approved change on a copy before relying on it.

No MCP route guarantees every Resolve action, a good take selection or a finished creative edit. Review the picture and sound before you accept a change.

Troubleshoot the connection

For the community server, start with the installer’s dry run:

npx davinci-resolve-mcp doctor

From a source checkout, the Python check also covers the interpreter version, architecture and which interpreter the client actually uses:

python3 scripts/doctor.py

A Python that works in your shell doesn’t prove the client launches the same one. If Resolve closes during startup, keep the logs and test that connection on its own.

On privacy: the community server runs by default as a local stdio process started by your client, but your AI provider still receives what the agent reads. Blackmagic’s manual also notes that scripts an assistant creates get the same disk, network and other access as the assistant.

Assemble in ChatCut, finish in Resolve

This route doesn’t control Resolve. You build the cut in ChatCut with your agent, export the timeline as XML, and open it in Resolve to finish.

ChatCut lets Claude Code, Codex and other agents edit videos in ChatCut Desktop. You describe the result in the agent; ChatCut shows the real timeline, and you can adjust it yourself at any time. For interviews and podcasts, the Long Video to Shorts Skill finds complete ideas in a long recording and turns them into stand-alone clips, after showing you a clip plan with source ranges.

Setup: install ChatCut Desktop on macOS 13 or later (Apple silicon or Intel) or Windows 10 or later (x64). In a new Claude Code or Codex conversation, send:

Sign in to ChatCut if it asks, then start a new conversation so the agent loads ChatCut’s tools. To hand the cut to Resolve, follow the XML export guide:

1. Open the timeline and choose Export → XML.
2. Choose DaVinci Resolve as the target. ChatCut writes an FCP7 XMEML .xml file.
3. Optionally enable Include motion graphics. This Pro option renders each graphic as a transparent ProRes 4444 file beside the XML.
4. Download every file in the bundle and keep the XML, rendered graphics and original media together.
5. Import the XML in Resolve and relink offline clips to your original media. Compare timing, framing and audio with the ChatCut cut.

Cost: the Free plan includes the core editor: manual timeline editing, uploads, transcription and standard caption editing, which never use credits. XML export doesn’t use credits. With Claude Code or Codex, the agent’s work is covered by your Claude or ChatGPT plan; ChatCut credits are used only when the workflow calls ChatCut-hosted generation.

Watch for: XML can’t carry every ChatCut feature. Captions, GIFs, unrendered motion graphics, solids, SVGs, text items, corner radius, effects and transitions can be dropped, so read the export warning and rebuild those in Resolve. Rendered graphics arrive as video files, not editable graphics. If you need those elements to survive, work in Resolve from the start.