# CartCut

> Lets your agent edit the video you have open in CartCut: cut from the transcript, add subtitles, trim clips, and add motion and effects.

The MCP bridge for CartCut, Cartesiancs' free, open-source desktop video editor. Your agent edits the project you have open, live: it cuts from a transcript, adds subtitles, trims and rearranges clips, and adds motion, transitions and effects. Every edit lands in CartCut's own undo history, so Cmd+Z takes it back.

What you can do with it
- Transcribe a clip with timings already on the timeline, then cut many ranges in one edit, such as every long pause or false start
- Find silences, beats and hits in a clip's audio to place cuts
- Add subtitles, titles, graphics and animated typography
- Trim, split, move, speed up, duplicate, merge or delete clips, and manage tracks
- Animate with keyframes and presets, and add transitions, effects, colour adjustments, LUTs, crops and masks
- Plan a whole edit, apply it as one undo step, then look at a contact sheet of the result

How it connects
CartCut runs an MCP server inside the app on your computer (http://127.0.0.1:9826/mcp). This package, @cartesiancs/cartcut-mcp, is the stdio bridge your agent starts with npx: it relays every message to the app and reads CartCut's token from CartCut's own settings, so it needs no setup (or set CARTCUT_MCP_TOKEN to the token under the lightning icon at the bottom right of the CartCut window). It needs Node.js 18 or later. CartCut documents setup for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor and Codex. On Claude Code, CartCut also offers a plugin from its own marketplace (cartesiancs/cartcut) that adds its cartcut-editing skill, which teaches the agent its editing rules.

Good to know
- CartCut has to be open, with a project loaded. Its download is for macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel).
- The bridge only talks to CartCut on your computer. If CartCut closes during a tool call, the call returns an error rather than being retried.
- Transcription uses macOS's on-device recogniser, an OpenAI API key or a local WhisperX server; edits that don't read speech need none of them.
- CartCut is free, with no watermark.

- Type: Plugin
- Made by: cartesiancs
- Category: Media
- Formats: Local MCP
- Version: 0.1.0
- Website: https://cartesiancs.com/cartcut
- Source: https://github.com/cartesiancs/cartcut/tree/HEAD/packages/mcp-bridge
- Page: https://pluginboard.ai/plugins/cartcut

## Works with

- Claude
- GitHub Copilot
- Cursor
- Claude Code
- Codex
- Antigravity
- Gemini CLI
- OpenClaw
- OpenCode
- Hermes Agent

## Install

You'll need:

- `CARTCUT_MCP_TOKEN` (optional): Optional. CartCut's MCP token; read from CartCut's own settings when unset.

Replace each `<NAME>` placeholder with your own value.

### Claude

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cartcut": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@cartesiancs/cartcut-mcp@0.1.0"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### GitHub Copilot

Add to VS Code: vscode:mcp/install?%7B%22name%22%3A%22cartcut%22%2C%22command%22%3A%22npx%22%2C%22args%22%3A%5B%22-y%22%2C%22%40cartesiancs%2Fcartcut-mcp%400.1.0%22%5D%7D

Run in your terminal:

```shell
code --add-mcp '{"name":"cartcut","command":"npx","args":["-y","@cartesiancs/cartcut-mcp@0.1.0"]}'
```

Copilot CLI:

```shell
copilot mcp add cartcut -- npx -y @cartesiancs/cartcut-mcp@0.1.0
```

### Cursor

Add to Cursor: cursor://anysphere.cursor-deeplink/mcp/install?name=cartcut&config=eyJjb21tYW5kIjoibnB4IiwiYXJncyI6WyIteSIsIkBjYXJ0ZXNpYW5jcy9jYXJ0Y3V0LW1jcEAwLjEuMCJdfQ%3D%3D

Add to .cursor/mcp.json:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cartcut": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@cartesiancs/cartcut-mcp@0.1.0"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### Claude Code

Run in your terminal:

```shell
claude mcp add cartcut -- npx -y @cartesiancs/cartcut-mcp@0.1.0
```

### Codex

Run in your terminal:

```shell
codex mcp add cartcut -- npx -y @cartesiancs/cartcut-mcp@0.1.0
```

### Antigravity

Add to ~/.gemini/config/mcp_config.json:

```json
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cartcut": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@cartesiancs/cartcut-mcp@0.1.0"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

### Gemini CLI

Run in your terminal:

```shell
gemini mcp add cartcut npx -y @cartesiancs/cartcut-mcp@0.1.0
```

### OpenClaw

In a terminal: Run openclaw mcp add cartcut --command npx, with --arg before each argument (-y @cartesiancs/cartcut-mcp@0.1.0) and --env NAME=value for each variable it needs.

### OpenCode

Run in your terminal:

```shell
opencode mcp add cartcut -- npx -y @cartesiancs/cartcut-mcp@0.1.0
```

### Hermes Agent

Add to ~/.hermes/config.yaml:

```json
{
  "mcp_servers": {
    "cartcut": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@cartesiancs/cartcut-mcp@0.1.0"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```

---
From Pluginboard (https://pluginboard.ai).