Cuecaps

cuecaps-mcp

Caption a video or audio file on your computer from Claude Code, Cursor, Claude Desktop or any MCP client. Ask "caption talk.mp4 in Karaoke and give me the MP4" and talk.captions.mp4 lands next to the original. The server drives the Cuecaps studio's own export in headless Chrome or Edge on your machine, so the result matches a studio export of the same settings. Once the project syncs to your account, caption_video also returns a studio link that opens it, to fix a word or change the style.

No install: the hosted server

Apps that connect to an MCP server by URL can use https://cuecaps.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP) with no install and no key: claude.ai and the Claude apps on phone and desktop, ChatGPT, Gemini CLI, Claude Code and Cursor. It has list_styles and studio_link, so you ask for captions the way you'd describe them ("karaoke captions on a Spanish TikTok") and get a studio link set up for them, to finish in your browser. To caption a file on your computer directly, use this package (below).

• claude.ai: Settings, Connectors, Add custom connector, and paste https://cuecaps.com/mcp.
• Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http cuecaps https://cuecaps.com/mcp
• Gemini CLI, in ~/.gemini/settings.json: { "mcpServers": { "cuecaps": { "httpUrl": "https://cuecaps.com/mcp" } } }

Setup for every client: cuecaps.com/ai-assistants.

Requirements

• Node 22 or later.
• Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge, found at its standard install path. CUECAPS_CHROME points to any other browser.
• A key from cuecaps.com/account. Agent access comes with a Creator or Pro plan: cuecaps.com/pricing.

Setup

Claude Code

claude mcp add cuecaps --env CUECAPS_API_KEY=cck_… -- npx -y cuecaps-mcp

Claude Desktop and Cursor

Add this to the MCP config: Settings, Developer, Edit Config in Claude Desktop, or ~/.cursor/mcp.json in Cursor.

{ "mcpServers": { "cuecaps": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "cuecaps-mcp"], "env": { "CUECAPS_API_KEY": "cck_…" } } } }

The Agent access card on cuecaps.com/account creates a key and shows this config with the key filled in.

Tools

Tool	Key	What it does
list_styles	no	The 10 caption styles: id, name and how each one looks.
studio_link	no	A studio link that opens set up with your settings. Works on every plan.
account_status	yes	Your plan, cloud minutes left this period, the date they reset, and whether it includes agent captioning.
transcribe	yes	Every word of a file with its start and end time in seconds, plus the SRT text. Writes no file.
caption_video	yes	Captions a file and writes the result next to it.

Every input except path is optional. The caption settings use the studio-link names: style, words (1 to 10), lines (1 or 2), position (top, middle, bottom), aspect (9:16, 1:1, 4:5, 16:9) and lang (a language code such as es; auto lets cloud transcription detect it). Each tool's schema lists the valid values.

transcribe and caption_video also take:

• engine: cloud is ElevenLabs Scribe on your plan's cloud minutes, strongest on music, accents and 90+ languages, and the default when the minutes left cover the file. device is on-device Whisper with no minutes; its first run downloads the model (132 MB). The result names the engine used.
• keyterms: up to 100 names and words for cloud transcription to spell your way.

caption_video also takes:

• output: mp4 with the captions burned in (the default), mov or webm as a transparent captions-only overlay, or srt or vtt subtitles.
• resolution: 720p, 1080p (the default), 1440p or 4k. 1440p and 4K come with Pro.
• fps: 24, 25, 30 (the default), 50 or 60.
• out_path: an absolute path in an existing folder to write to instead; its extension sets the output.

Examples

list_styles

{}

Returns [{ "id": "bold", "name": "Bold", "look": "Montserrat in capitals with a black outline, …" }, …].

studio_link

{ "style": "karaoke", "words": 4, "aspect": "9:16" }

Returns { "url": "https://cuecaps.com/studio?style=karaoke&words=4&aspect=9%3A16" }.

account_status

{}

Returns { "plan": "creator", "minutes_left": 287.5, "resets": "2026-11-20", "agents": true }.

transcribe

{ "path": "/Users/ana/clips/talk.mp4", "engine": "device" }

Returns { "words": [{ "text": "Greetings!", "start": 0.48, "end": 1.84 }, …], "srt": "1\n00:00:00,480 --> …", "engine": "device", "minutes_used": 0 }.

caption_video

{ "path": "/Users/ana/clips/talk.mp4", "style": "karaoke", "aspect": "9:16" }

Returns { "file": "/Users/ana/clips/talk.captions.mp4", "duration": 17.17, "engine": "cloud", "minutes_used": 0.29, "studio_url": "https://cuecaps.com/studio#p=…" }. While it runs, the server reports progress: Opening, Transcribing, Rendering 42%, Saving.

Output files

caption_video writes <name>.captions.<ext> next to the input. A file that already exists is never replaced: the next run writes <name>.captions-2.<ext>, then -3, and so on. The same rule applies to out_path.

The studio link in studio_url opens the saved project on Creator and Pro. The video itself stays on your machine, so the studio asks for the file again when you open the link on another device.

Settings

Variable	Use
CUECAPS_API_KEY	Your key (cck_ and 32 characters).
CUECAPS_CHROME	Path to the Chrome or Edge executable, when it isn't at a standard install path.
CUECAPS_URL	The Cuecaps site, https://cuecaps.com by default.

Privacy

• Your video stays on your machine. The render happens in a browser on your computer.
• Cloud transcription sends compressed speech audio, as the studio does, and deletes it after transcription. engine: "device" sends no audio. The project and its words still sync to your account, as every project does on Creator and Pro.
• Your key goes only to cuecaps.com/api/* requests. It is never in a URL, a log or a file.
• Each run uses a temporary browser profile and deletes it afterwards, so no cookies or projects stay behind.

License

MIT. The source is at github.com/Pantheonn3D/cuecaps-mcp.