Green Screen Memes

Green Screen Memes API examples

Copy-paste examples for the Green Screen Memes API: about 2,100 green screen meme clips (trending reaction memes on solid green, blue or red backgrounds, most with their original sound), searchable by reaction, action or subject, over REST or MCP. New clips are added every day.

Each example finds a clip, downloads it and keys it over your own photo or video, ending with a 1080x1920 MP4 for Shorts, Reels or TikTok.

Use as a Claude Code plugin

This repo is also a Claude Code plugin marketplace. The plugin sets up the MCP server and adds a make-memes skill that plans captions, finds clips and composites them with ffmpeg, one meme or a whole batch. Set GSM_API_KEY (free key) in the shell you start Claude Code from, then run:

/plugin marketplace add green-screen-memes/green-screen-memes-api
/plugin install green-screen-memes@green-screen-memes

Then ask something like "I need a lot of memes for my business". Codex and other agents: see AGENTS.md for the same workflow and MCP setup.

Example	What it shows	Run it
claude-code/	Connect the MCP server, then make a meme from one prompt	claude mcp add --transport http green-screen-memes https://api.greenscreenmemes.app/mcp --header "Authorization: Bearer $GSM_API_KEY"
node/	Search, download and composite from Node 18+, no dependencies	node examples/node/meme.mjs "shocked cat" background.jpg
python/	The same with the Python standard library	python3 examples/python/meme.py "shocked cat" background.jpg
ffmpeg/	curl + ffmpeg scripts: key over a photo, or over a video with mixed audio	examples/ffmpeg/key-over-image.sh background.jpg greenscreen.mp4 green
remotion/	A Remotion composition with a pre-keyed transparent clip	cd examples/remotion && npm install && npm run studio
trending-to-short/	Today's #1 trending clip as a vertical short	node examples/trending-to-short/trending-to-short.mjs background.jpg

Everything except the MCP setup needs FFmpeg (with ffprobe) on your PATH.

1. Get a free key

Sign in at https://api.greenscreenmemes.app/dashboard (Google or email link) and create a free Sandbox key: 50 video downloads in total and 30,000 calls a month, for building and testing. Then:

cp .env.example .env          # put your key in GSM_API_KEY
set -a; source .env; set +a   # or: export GSM_API_KEY=gsm_live_...

Keep the key on your machine or server. The API doesn't send CORS headers, so call it from a backend, not from a browser.

2. Use it from an AI agent (MCP)

claude mcp add --transport http green-screen-memes https://api.greenscreenmemes.app/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Bearer $GSM_API_KEY"

Cursor and other MCP clients: url https://api.greenscreenmemes.app/mcp with the same Authorization header. Ready-made configs are in examples/claude-code. The server is also in the official MCP Registry as app.greenscreenmemes.api/green-screen-memes.

Then ask, for example:

Make a meme for my coffee shop. Find a green screen of someone or something reacting with pure relief or joy, key it over ./shop.jpg as a vertical video and caption it "Monday, fixed."

Tools: search_green_screens, get_green_screen (video link and a ready ffmpeg command), get_trending, list_collections, get_collection, list_tags, get_usage.

3. Or call REST

curl -H "Authorization: Bearer $GSM_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.greenscreenmemes.app/v1/memes?q=side%20eye&limit=5"

Endpoint
GET /v1/memes?q=&tag=&color=&updatedSince=&limit=&cursor=	Search or list green screens
GET /v1/memes/{id}	One green screen (URL-encode the id)
GET /v1/trending	What's trending in the Green Screen Memes app right now, with rank
GET /v1/collections, GET /v1/collections/{id}	Curated collections
GET /v1/tags	Most used tags
GET /v1/usage	Your plan and this month's usage
GET /v1/removed?since=	Clips taken down at a rights holder's request

Lists return { data, total, nextCursor }; errors return { error: { code, message } }. Each clip has id, name, description, tags, chromaKeyColor (green, blue, red or none), durationSeconds, thumbnailUrl and videoUrl. Media links are signed for your key and expire after about 6 hours, so download the file and don't store the link.

Full reference: https://api.greenscreenmemes.app/docs · OpenAPI: https://api.greenscreenmemes.app/v1/openapi.json · For LLMs: https://api.greenscreenmemes.app/llms.txt

4. Key it with FFmpeg

Over a photo (vertical 1080x1920, clip at the bottom, keeps the clip's sound):

ffmpeg -loop 1 -i background.jpg -i greenscreen.mp4 -filter_complex \
 "[0:v]scale=1080:1920:force_original_aspect_ratio=increase,crop=1080:1920,setsar=1[bg];\
  [1:v]chromakey=0x00ff00:0.2:0.05,scale=1080:-2[fg];\
  [bg][fg]overlay=(W-w)/2:H-h:shortest=1,format=yuv420p[v]" \
 -map "[v]" -map "1:a?" -c:v libx264 -crf 20 -c:a aac meme.mp4

Key colors: green 0x00ff00, blue 0x0000ff, red 0xff0000. With none, the clip is used as-is. If a green fringe stays, raise 0.2 a little; if parts of the subject turn see-through, lower it. Over a video with mixed audio: see examples/ffmpeg.

Video meme API

If you're building a video tool, a short-form content pipeline or a meme app and need actual video memes rather than image templates, this is what the API is for: short MP4 clips on a solid key color, with sound, plus the metadata to search them and the ffmpeg command to composite them. It doesn't generate memes or remove backgrounds from your footage; it gives you a curated library of ready green screens.

Reaction clip API

Clips are tagged by what happens in them, so search works best with a feeling or an action: shocked, slow clap, side eye, crying, happy dance, waiting. GET /v1/tags shows what the library covers, and GET /v1/trending returns what people are using most in the Green Screen Memes app right now. To keep a local copy in sync, poll GET /v1/memes?updatedSince=<ISO date> and drop anything listed by GET /v1/removed.

MCP server for memes

The MCP server at https://api.greenscreenmemes.app/mcp lets Claude Code, Cursor or any agent with a shell find a clip, get its download link and run the composite itself. get_green_screen returns the ffmpeg command for that clip's key color, so the agent doesn't have to work out the filter graph. Same key, same limits as REST; each tool call counts as one call.

What you can use the clips for

These are internet memes. Green Screen Memes makes the green screen versions, tags and curates them, and runs the search; the original footage isn't ours, and the API doesn't license it to you. How you use a clip is your responsibility.

• On paid plans, clips can go in apps and in videos you publish for yourself or clients. Sandbox keys are for building and testing.
• Organic posts on a business's own or its clients' accounts are fine, people included.
• Clips of identifiable people can't be used in paid ads, sponsored posts or endorsements. Animals, objects and cartoons are fine there.
• Don't use clips listed by GET /v1/removed in new work, and drop them from anything you keep.

Full terms: https://api.greenscreenmemes.app/terms

License

The example code in this repo is MIT. That covers the code only: no clips are included here, and the clips, thumbnails and catalog data you get from the API are covered by the API terms, not by MIT.

Questions: [email protected] · Green Screen Memes is made by Hedko Group LLC.