# Shotstack MCP

> Cloud video editing, Studio previews, and template rendering over Shotstack's hosted MCP.

- **Category:** Editing & Post
- **Vendor:** Shotstack (official)
- **Pricing:** freemium
- **Verified:** 2026-08-28

## What it does

Shotstack's MCP server exposes its cloud video editing API to agents: render Edit JSON timelines, save reusable templates, render merge-field variants, poll render status, and open an interactive Studio canvas so a human can preview a cut before it burns credits. For filmmaker-agents it is the programmable render farm lane — fast campaign variants, data-driven video, and cloud assembly jobs that should not depend on a local NLE being open. A `get_shotstack_guide` tool ships the Edit JSON conventions so the agent authors valid timelines without guessing at the schema.

## Connect

- Remote endpoint: `https://mcp.shotstack.io/`
- Remote headers required: `x-api-key`
- Claude Code: `claude mcp add --transport http shotstack https://mcp.shotstack.io`
- Local: `npx -y mcp-remote https://mcp.shotstack.io/ --header x-api-key:YOUR_KEY`

**Auth:** oauth — <https://app.shotstack.io> — OAuth is the default; headless clients skip it by sending the same key as an x-api-key header

## Capabilities

[cloud-render](https://mcp.film/capabilities/cloud-render.md) · [template-rendering](https://mcp.film/capabilities/template-rendering.md) · [programmatic-video](https://mcp.film/capabilities/programmatic-video.md) · `studio-preview` · `json-timeline` · [remote-mcp](https://mcp.film/capabilities/remote-mcp.md)

## Sample tools

`studio` · `render_video` · `get_render_status` · `create_studio_link` · `get_shotstack_guide` · `create_template` · `list_templates` · `get_template` · `render_template` · `delete_template`

## Field notes

Rebuilt around the hosted endpoint since the last check: npm @shotstack/shotstack-mcp-server 1.1.0 now carries a deprecation notice — "This local stdio server is deprecated. Use the hosted Shotstack MCP server instead" — so the old `-e SHOTSTACK_API_KEY -- npx` recipe listed here is dead and stdio-only clients must bridge through mcp-remote. Shotstack calls the hosted server beta and warns tools may change without notice. The endpoint answers an unauthenticated probe with 401, alive and gated. There is still no readable source: npm points at github.com/shotstack/shotstack-mcp-server, which 404s to both an anonymous fetch and the GitHub API, so there are no stars or commits to judge — trust the vendor docs and the live endpoint, not GitHub signals. Agents should call `get_shotstack_guide` before composing Edit JSON, prefer `studio` over `render_video` when a human is watching, and pass real public HTTPS asset URLs rather than inventing them.

## Verification

- Status: Freshly checked (checked today)
- Added: 2026-06-29
- Last verified: 2026-08-28
- Machine JSON: https://mcp.film/api/mcps/shotstack.json

## Links

- Site: https://shotstack.io/?utm_source=mcp.film&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=directory&utm_content=shotstack%3Asite
- Docs: https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/agents/mcp-server/?utm_source=mcp.film&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=directory&utm_content=shotstack%3Adocs

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Structured data: https://mcp.film/api/mcps/shotstack.json · Directory: https://mcp.film