DaVinci Resolve Lite MCP

davinci-resolve-lite-mcp

Unavailable on DaVinci Resolve Lite 21.1+ (App Store) — Python menu scripts are blocked; the MCP server cannot start. Works on pre-21.1 Lite or Studio.

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/8429932f-643b-4131-bdf6-dad0d3399137

*Claude builds an opening title in DaVinci Resolve Lite — a gold "GameHelper" Text+ node with glow and a zoom-in keyframe reveal — from a plain-language request, via insert_fusion_title + style_fusion_title.*

An MCP server that lets an AI client such as Claude Code control DaVinci Resolve — including free (Lite) builds that still allow Python menu scripts, which the existing davinci-resolve-mcp project cannot drive.

The free edition blocks *external* scripting, but it still runs Python scripts launched from its own Workspace > Scripts menu. This project rides that path: the MCP server runs inside Resolve as a menu script, and exposes Resolve's Python API over a small local HTTP endpoint that Claude connects to.

Claude Code ──HTTP JSON-RPC (MCP)──▶  127.0.0.1:8765/mcp

│ server runs INSIDE Resolve │ (Workspace > Scripts > Utility) ▼ command queue → main script thread ▼ global resolve object → Resolve API

Tools

Ask Claude in plain language; it drives Resolve through the tools — see the demo above. See the tools reference for the full 163-tool surface — editing, color, render, media pool, and Fusion title styling.

Why this works on compatible free editions

• Compatible free Resolve builds permit Python scripts run from the Scripts menu (only *external* network scripting is restricted).
• A menu script gets the resolve object for free and may run a long-lived loop — long enough to host a server.
• The sandboxed Lite app ships the com.apple.security.network.server entitlement, so it can open a localhost listening socket.
• Zero dependencies — pure Python standard library. Nothing to pip install into Resolve's interpreter.

Requirements

• macOS with DaVinci Resolve Studio, or a DaVinci Resolve Lite/free build that still exposes Python scripts in Workspace > Scripts.
• Claude Code (or any MCP client that speaks the Streamable HTTP transport).

[!WARNING]

DaVinci Resolve Lite 21.1+ compatibility issue: Blackmagic's

DaVinci Resolve 21.1 release notes

and current user reports indicate that the free/App Store Lite build may block

Python menu scripts. When this happens, Workspace > Scripts opens but its

category folders (Utility, Comp, Edit, Color, Deliver) are all empty, even

though the MCP files are installed in the correct Fusion/Scripts/Utility

folder.

This server must be launched from Resolve as a Python menu script. If your

Lite build blocks Python scripts, reinstalling this project will not fix the

empty menu. Use a pre-21.1 Lite build that still allows Python menu scripts,

or use a Studio/non-blocked build. The Lua Console may still open, but that is

not enough: if bmd.scriptapp("Resolve") returns nil, the Resolve scripting

object is unavailable there too.

Install

git clone https://github.com/2sem/davinci-resolve-lite-mcp.git

cd davinci-resolve-lite-mcp ./install.sh

Or via pip, if you'd rather not clone the repo:

pip install davinci-resolve-lite-mcp

davinci-mcp-install

davinci-mcp-install does exactly what install.sh does (same Lite/Studio detection, same copy-vs-symlink logic) — it just reads the files from your pip-installed package instead of a git checkout. davinci-mcp-uninstall reverses it. Either way, the sandbox note below still applies, and you still start the server from Resolve's own menu — see Run.

macOS user-install note. If you see `Defaulting to user installation

because normal site-packages is not writeable`, pip installed the console

scripts under $(python3 -m site --user-base)/bin, which usually isn't on

PATH. Either run the full path —

"$(python3 -m site --user-base)/bin/davinci-mcp-install" — or add that

bin directory to PATH. And use &&, not &, between the two commands:

a bare & backgrounds pip install and races davinci-mcp-install before

the package exists.

Also listed on the MCP Registry as io.github.2sem/davinci-resolve-lite-mcp (verify) — for discoverability only. The listing is metadata-only (no auto-install packages/remotes entry): this server can't be spawned by an MCP client the way a typical registry server can, since it must run inside Resolve's own embedded Python interpreter, started by hand from the Scripts menu. Install it one of the two ways above.

install.sh deploys:

• the two launcher scripts into Fusion/Scripts/Utility (a folder Resolve scans for the Scripts menu; Utility shows on every page), and
• the resolve_mcp package into Fusion/Scripts/MCP — a folder Resolve does not scan, so the helper modules stay out of the menu.

The Lite container path is detected automatically.

Sandbox note (important). DaVinci Resolve Lite is sandboxed and can only

read its own container, ~/Movies, and files you pick interactively. A

symlink that points outside those locations (e.g. into a clone under

~/Projects) cannot be followed by the sandboxed app, so the menu script

would silently never run. For that reason install.sh copies the files

into the container on Lite (and symlinks only on the non-sandboxed Studio

build). Re-run `./install.sh` after pulling updates.

Resolve enumerates only the category folders (`Utility / Comp / Tool / Edit /

Color / Deliver`) for its Scripts menu — that is why the launchers go in

Utility and the package hides in MCP.

The same sandboxing applies to file paths you ask the tools to use:

exports/imports should target ~/Movies (or other granted locations),

otherwise Resolve cannot write/read them.

Run

1. In DaVinci Resolve: Workspace > Scripts > Utility > davinci_mcp_server.

1. Open Workspace > Console — it prints the endpoint and port:

   MCP endpoint:  http://127.0.0.1:8765/mcp

Add to Claude Code: claude mcp add --transport http davinci http://127.0.0.1:8765/mcp

The startup guide prints to the Resolve Console (Workspace > Console).

Because the server runs continuously, its Console output can buffer until

it stops, so both scripts also mirror every line to a logfile:

`

~/Movies/davinci-resolve-lite-mcp.log

`

Watch it live with ./logs.sh. (Override the directory with

DAVINCI_MCP_LOG_DIR.) ~/Movies is used because the sandboxed Lite app

is allowed to write there.

Once running, every tool call is logged to the Console as a single line ([davinci-mcp] -> ok|error (Nms)):

Update check. Like brew/CocoaPods, each launch checks PyPI in the

background for a newer release and prints a one-line nudge to the Console

if one exists — never blocks startup, and any failure (offline, PyPI

down) stays silent in the logfile only. Disable with

DAVINCI_MCP_SKIP_UPDATE_CHECK=1.

1. Register it with Claude Code (one-time):

   claude mcp add --transport http davinci http://127.0.0.1:8765/mcp

Then verify / reconnect with the `/mcp` command inside Claude Code — it lists connected servers and reconnects them. If Claude was already running when you launched the script, type /mcp (or restart the session) so it picks up the davinci server.

1. Ask Claude to control Resolve.

Troubleshooting: Workspace > Scripts is empty

If Workspace > Scripts shows the expected category folders but every folder is empty, Resolve is not loading menu scripts. Check this before reinstalling:

flowchart TD

A[Install MCP scripts] --> B[Open Resolve] B --> C{Workspace > Scripts has entries?} C -->|Yes| D[Run Utility > davinci_mcp_server] C -->|No, all categories empty| E[Resolve is not loading Python menu scripts] E --> F{Lite 21.1+ / App Store build?} F -->|Yes| G[Use pre-21.1 Lite or Studio/non-blocked build] F -->|No| H[Enable scripting in Preferences and restart Resolve]

• On DaVinci Resolve Studio / builds with the scripting preference, set Preferences > System > General > External scripting using to Local or Network, save, then fully restart Resolve.
• On DaVinci Resolve Lite 21.1+ / App Store builds where Python is blocked (see Blackmagic's 21.1 release notes), the preference may be unavailable and the Scripts menu stays empty. This MCP server cannot start on those builds because it requires Python menu-script execution inside Resolve.
• If Workspace > Console still shows a Lua> prompt, that only proves the Lua console exists. You can check whether the Resolve scripting object is available with:

  print("lua ok")

resolve = bmd.scriptapp("Resolve") print(resolve)

If the second line prints nil, the current Lite build is not exposing the Resolve scripting object through Lua either.

• The hidden Fusion/Scripts/MCP folder is not supposed to appear in the menu; only davinci_mcp_server and stop_davinci_mcp_server should appear under Utility on compatible builds.

Configure the port (stable, recommended)

By default the server listens on 8765 and auto-increments to `8766`, `8767`, … if that port is busy (another local tool may already hold 8765). Because the winner of that race can change between launches, the URL you registered with Claude can drift, surfacing as:

Failed to reconnect to davinci: HTTP 404 at http://127.0.0.1:8765/mcp

To lock the port for good, drop a small JSON config file. **When a port is set this way it is *pinned* — the server binds exactly that port and never auto-increments**, so you register Claude once and the URL never moves.

Create ~/Movies/davinci-resolve-lite-mcp.config.json:

{ "host": "127.0.0.1", "port": 8770 }

**Why