# Openclip > Turn long videos into short, captioned viral clips from your agent via the OpenClip MCP server. Also FREE with just an account (no subscription): transcribe a video, convert/compress/trim/crop/resize/mute a video, extract thumbnails, edit an image, remove an image background. Plus generate a short UGC-style ad clip from a brief. Triggers include "clip this video", "make shorts", "repurpose this",… - **Type:** Skill - **Install:** `agentstack add skill-oak-ridge-ventures-openclip-skill-openclip` - **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior - **Seller:** [Oak-Ridge-Ventures](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/oak-ridge-ventures) - **Installs:** 0 - **Category:** [Content & Media](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/content-and-media) - **Latest version:** 0.1.0 - **License:** MIT - **Upstream author:** [Oak-Ridge-Ventures](https://github.com/Oak-Ridge-Ventures) - **Source:** https://github.com/Oak-Ridge-Ventures/openclip-skill/tree/main/skills/openclip ## Install ```sh agentstack add skill-oak-ridge-ventures-openclip-skill-openclip ``` Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent. ## About # OpenClip: video editing from your agent OpenClip is a video editing MCP server. Its headline pipeline turns a long video into short, captioned, ranked clips, and around that it exposes 28 tools in five groups, identical in every client: - **Clipping pipeline**: `submit_video`, `get_video_status`, `list_clips`, `render_clip`, `get_render_status`, `list_caption_presets`, `get_transcript`, `list_supported_providers`, `list_videos`. - **Uploads**: `create_upload`, `complete_upload` (see the gotcha below: complete_upload starts the PAID pipeline; free tools skip it). - **Free media utilities** (account only, NO subscription): `transcribe`, `edit_video`, `convert_media`, `extract_thumbnails`, `edit_image`, `remove_background`, `get_tool_job_status`. - **UGC generation**: `generate_ugc`, `get_ugc_job_status`. - **Account & presets**: `get_account`, `get_usage`, `list_agents`, `create_agent`, `update_agent`, `describe_agent_settings`, `create_agent_logo_upload`, `set_agent_logo`. ## Setup (once) The remote server supports **OAuth one-click** as the primary path: paste the server URL (`https://openclip.app/mcp`) into your client and **sign in with your OpenClip account**, no token to copy. 1. Add the remote server to your agent (server URL: `https://openclip.app/mcp`): - **Claude Desktop:** Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector → paste `https://openclip.app/mcp` → Connect → sign in. - **Claude Code:** `claude mcp add --transport http openclip https://openclip.app/mcp`, then run `/mcp` and authorize in the browser. - **Cursor** (`.cursor/mcp.json`): `{ "mcpServers": { "openclip": { "url": "https://openclip.app/mcp" } } }`, Cursor runs OAuth. 2. **Manual Bearer token (alternative, for header-only / programmatic clients):** generate an **MCP token** at **openclip.app/settings/connect** ("Generate MCP token", shown once) and connect to the **`/mcp/key`** endpoint with it as a Bearer header: - **Claude Code:** `claude mcp add --transport http openclip https://openclip.app/mcp/key --header "Authorization: Bearer "` - **Cursor** (`.cursor/mcp.json`): `{ "mcpServers": { "openclip": { "url": "https://openclip.app/mcp/key", "headers": { "Authorization": "Bearer " } } } }` - **Any MCP client:** POST to `https://openclip.app/mcp/key` with header `Authorization: Bearer `. 3. Sanity check: call `get_account`. Confirm `credits_remaining > 0`. (Self-hosting/dev only: run the local stdio server with `php artisan mcp:start openclip`.) ## The loop (processing is ASYNC, always poll) 1. **Submit**: `submit_video(url)` → returns a `job_id` with `status:"queued"`. This ALWAYS succeeds (queues the job) when authenticated, it does NOT pre-check subscription or credits. 2. **Poll status**: `get_video_status(job_id)` until `status` is `completed` (or `failed`). Do NOT call list_clips before completion. Read `status` for the real state: - `failed` (often almost immediately after submit) usually means **no active subscription** - advise the user to subscribe at openclip.app. - `pending_credits` means the team is **out of credits**, advise the user to top up. - `download_failed` means the source URL couldn't be fetched, ask the user to check the link. 3. **List clips**: `list_clips(job_id)` → viral moments with `virality_score` (0-10), title/hook, start/end (ms), and `clip` / `rendered_clip` URLs. 4. **(Optional) Render captioned**: `render_clip(moment_id, caption_preset)`. Async too, poll `list_clips` and watch the moment's `rendered_clip` for the finished URL. Preset keys: `list_caption_presets`. ## Free media utilities (no subscription needed) `transcribe`, `edit_video`, `convert_media`, `extract_thumbnails`, `edit_image`, and `remove_background` are FREE: they only need an account, not a subscription or credits. All follow the same async pattern: 1. Get a file in: for a local file call `create_upload(filename, content_type)`, PUT the bytes to the returned `upload_url`, and use the returned `id` as `file`/`video`. **Do NOT call `complete_upload` for free tools** - that starts the paid clipping pipeline; free tools read the uploaded file directly. (Videos already in `list_videos` work as inputs too.) 2. Call the tool. It returns a `tool_job` hashid with `status: "queued"`. 3. Poll `get_tool_job_status(tool_job)` every 5-10s: `queued`/`processing` are in-flight, `completed`/`failed` terminal. On `completed` it returns permanent CDN `outputs` URLs (e.g. json/srt/vtt for transcribe, a zip of frames for extract_thumbnails). On `failed` it returns `error`. Operation cheat sheet (full params in `reference.md`): `edit_video` does one `operation` of crop, trim, rotate, resize, compress, or mute; `convert_media` targets mp4/webm/mov/mkv, gif, or mp3/aac/wav/flac; `edit_image` does compress, resize, or crop; `remove_background` returns a transparent PNG. Free usage is rate-limited per day with per-file size caps; the error text explains how to lift a limit. Note the transcript split: `transcribe` is the free tool for uploaded files; `get_transcript` reads the time-coded transcript of a video that went through the paid clipping pipeline (supports `start_ms`/`end_ms` windows at sentence or word level). ## UGC generation `generate_ugc` renders a short (~7-12s) vertical UGC-style clip from a creative brief (NOT a prose prompt: structured fields like `character`, or a server-side `brief_name` preset). Free accounts get ONE generation per day; paid accounts are metered in credits by the seconds rendered. It returns a `ugc_job` hashid; poll `get_ugc_job_status` every 10-15s (`queued`/`rendering` in-flight, `completed` returns `video_url` + `result_meta`, `failed` returns `error`). Renders are heavy: expect a couple of minutes. ## Reusable presets (agents) To make repeat workflows identical (same tracker model, caption preset, composition, logo watermark), save a processing agent once with `create_agent` and pass it to `submit_video`. `describe_agent_settings` documents every nested field and allowed value; `update_agent` patches only the fields you send; `create_agent_logo_upload` + `set_agent_logo` attach a watermark (max 2 MB). `get_usage` reports the credit balance (credits are MINUTES of processing) and recent activity. ## Rules & gotchas - Always poll; never assume a submit is instantly done. Poll `get_video_status` in a loop. - Pick clips by `virality_score` (higher = better) unless the user says otherwise. - Times are milliseconds. `clip.url` is a permanent CDN URL (not signed/expiring). - `submit_video` queues regardless of subscription/credit state; the gate surfaces LATER in `get_video_status` (`failed` = no subscription, `pending_credits` = out of credits). Read the status and advise the user accordingly, do NOT expect a synchronous "subscribe" error. - **Projects/folders are not supported** by this API, don't promise them. ## Error handling These are **MCP tools**, not a REST/HTTP API. A failed tool call returns a normal tool result with `isError: true` and a short **plain-text message** (no HTTP 401/402/403/422 status, no JSON error envelope). Read the message text and act on it: - **`"Not authenticated. Reconnect your OpenClip token."`**, the connection isn't carrying a valid identity → reconnect. For the OAuth path, re-run the connector sign-in (e.g. `/mcp` in Claude Code); for the manual `/mcp/key` path, re-generate the MCP token on the connect page and re-add the server with the new Bearer token. (A token missing the `mcp:use` scope/ability is rejected at the transport before any tool runs, same fix: reconnect / re-mint.) - **`"Job not found."`** (`get_video_status`, `list_clips`), the `job_id` is wrong, from a different account, or expired → re-check the id you passed; if it was from an earlier session, re-submit the video. - **`"Viral moment not found."`** (`render_clip`), the `moment_id` is wrong or belongs to another account → re-fetch moments with `list_clips` and use an id from that response. - **`"Video not yet available. Check get_video_status for progress."`** (`list_clips`), the job hasn't produced a video record yet (still queued/downloading) → keep polling `get_video_status` and only call `list_clips` once `status` is `completed`. - **Validation messages** (e.g. a bad/missing `url`, an unknown `caption_preset`), the validation error text is returned as the tool message → fix the offending argument and retry. - **Subscription / credits are NOT errors here**, they appear as `get_video_status` `status` values (`failed` = no subscription → subscribe; `pending_credits` = out of credits → top up), not as a tool error. See "The loop" above. ## Example prompts → actions - "Clip this: " → `submit_video(url)`, poll `get_video_status`, then `list_clips`. - "Give me the top 3 moments from job_…" → `list_clips`, sort by `virality_score`, take 3. - "Render moment m_… with the Beast captions" → `render_clip(m_…, caption_preset="beast")`, poll. - "Transcribe this recording" → `create_upload`, PUT bytes, `transcribe(video)`, poll `get_tool_job_status` (NO `complete_upload`). - "Convert this to a gif" / "compress this video" → `create_upload`, PUT bytes, `convert_media(file, to="gif")` / `edit_video(file, operation="compress")`, poll. - "Remove the background from this image" → `create_upload`, PUT bytes, `remove_background(file)`, poll, return the transparent PNG. - "Make a UGC ad for my app" → `generate_ugc(brief={...})`, poll `get_ugc_job_status`. See `reference.md` for status values, preset keys, operation params, and field shapes. ## Source & license This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code. - **Author:** [Oak-Ridge-Ventures](https://github.com/Oak-Ridge-Ventures) - **Source:** [Oak-Ridge-Ventures/openclip-skill](https://github.com/Oak-Ridge-Ventures/openclip-skill) - **License:** MIT Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above. ## Pricing - **Free** — Free ## Security capabilities Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access: - **Network access:** no - **Filesystem access:** no - **Shell / process execution:** no - **Environment & secrets:** no - **Dynamic code execution:** no *"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.* ## Versions - **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source. ## Links - Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-oak-ridge-ventures-openclip-skill-openclip - Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/oak-ridge-ventures - Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse --- Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. 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