Crabcut

@crabcut/mcp-server

Turn YouTube videos into short clips — from Claude, Cursor, or any AI assistant that supports MCP.

Give it a YouTube link. It finds the best moments, reframes for vertical video (9:16), adds subtitles, and returns download-ready clips.

Quick Start

1. Get an API key at app.crabcut.ai/developers
2. Run:

CRABCUT_API_KEY=sk_live_... npx @crabcut/mcp-server

Setup

Claude Desktop / Cursor

Add to your config file — claude_desktop_config.json for Claude, .cursor/mcp.json for Cursor:

{

"mcpServers": { "crabcut": { "command": "npx", "args": ["@crabcut/mcp-server"], "env": { "CRABCUT_API_KEY": "sk_live_..." } } } }

Cursor Directory

Install in Cursor

Smithery

npx @smithery/cli mcp add crabcut/crabcut-mcp-server

Remote (Streamable HTTP)

For n8n, custom integrations, or any client that supports remote MCP:

• Endpoint: https://mcp.crabcut.ai/mcp
• Auth: Authorization: Bearer sk_live_...
• Transport: Streamable HTTP (POST)

Tools

How It Works

1. Call generate_clips with a YouTube URL
2. Get back a project_id immediately
3. Poll get_project_status every 10–15 seconds (or pass a callback_url for webhook)
4. When done, clips are sorted by score (best first), each with a download_url

Statuses

Project: pending → processing → completed (or completed_no_clips / failed)

Processing steps: queued → DOWNLOADING_VIDEO → EXTRACTING_AUDIO → TRANSCRIBING → DETECTING_HIGHLIGHTS → CUTTING_CLIPS → EXPORTING_CLIPS → done

Clips: pending → exporting → completed (or failed). The download_url is available when clip_status is completed.

API Reference

generate_clips

Start clip generation from a YouTube video.

{

"project_id": "43dbe622-8ac6-4579-9625-0ad7f0f9db0b", "status": "processing", "poll_url": "/api/v1/projects/43dbe622-8ac6-4579-9625-0ad7f0f9db0b", "estimated_minutes": 5, "message": "Processing started. Poll with get_project_status every 10-15 seconds until status is 'completed'." }

get_project_status

Check progress and get clips.

{

"id": "43dbe622-...", "name": "Video Title", "status": "completed", "step": "done", "error": null, "expected_clips": 9, "duration": 639, "created_at": "2026-03-15T02:21:46.226Z", "clips": [ { "id": "32538b9c-...", "title": "One Dating Theory Leads to Chaos", "duration": 41.83, "score": 90, "reason": "Sharp universal joke that hooks instantly with strong reactions.", "clip_status": "completed", "download_url": "https://cdn.crabcut.ai/exports/premium/.../clip-32538b9c-....mp4", "quality": "1080p", "thumbnail_url": "https://cdn.crabcut.ai/exports/premium/.../clip-32538b9c-...-thumb.jpg", "created_at": "2026-03-15T02:29:10.954Z", "updated_at": "2026-03-15T02:30:43.907Z" } ] }

Clips are sorted by score (highest first).

list_projects

{

"projects": [ { "id": "43dbe622-...", "name": "Video Title", "status": "completed", "step": "done", "expected_clips": 9, "clips_count": 8, "duration": 639, "created_at": "2026-03-15T02:21:46.226Z" } ], "total": 1, "limit": 20, "offset": 0 }

get_clip

{

"id": "32538b9c-...", "project_id": "43dbe622-...", "title": "One Dating Theory Leads to Chaos", "duration": 41.83, "score": 90, "reason": "Sharp universal joke that hooks instantly.", "export_status": "completed", "export_quality": "1080p", "is_exported": true, "video_url": "https://cdn.crabcut.ai/...", "video_url_720p": "https://cdn.crabcut.ai/...", "video_url_1080p": "https://cdn.crabcut.ai/...", "thumbnail_url": "https://cdn.crabcut.ai/...", "created_at": "2026-03-15T02:29:10.954Z", "updated_at": "2026-03-15T02:30:43.907Z" }

check_usage

No input required.

{

"plan": "pro", "credits_remaining": 450, "credits_total": 500, "period_start": "2026-03-01T00:00:00.000Z", "period_end": "2026-04-01T00:00:00.000Z" }

Errors

Webhooks

Pass a callback_url when calling generate_clips to receive a POST when all clips are ready.

Completed:

{

"event": "project.completed", "project_id": "43dbe622-...", "status": "completed", "source_url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H51iLa1leOU", "clips": [ { "id": "32538b9c-...", "title": "One Dating Theory Leads to Chaos", "duration": 41.83, "score": 90, "download_url": "https://cdn.crabcut.ai/exports/premium/.../clip-32538b9c-....mp4", "thumbnail_url": "https://cdn.crabcut.ai/exports/premium/.../clip-32538b9c-...-thumb.jpg", "quality": "1080p" } ] }

Failed:

{

"event": "project.failed", "project_id": "43dbe622-...", "status": "failed", "error": "YouTube video is unavailable", "clips": [] }

Clips are sorted by score (highest first). We retry up to 3 times if your server doesn't respond.

Signature verification (optional): Each callback includes an X-Crabcut-Signature header. Compute HMAC-SHA256 of the request body using SHA-256(your_api_key) as the signing key. Compare with the header value (sha256= ).

Using with n8n

Option A — Webhook (recommended):

1. Create a workflow with a Webhook trigger node. Copy its URL.
2. Add an HTTP Request node: POST https://api.crabcut.ai/api/v1/clips/generate with Header Auth (Authorization: Bearer sk_live_...) and body:

   {

"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...", "callback_url": "https://your-n8n.com/webhook/abc123" }

3. When clips are ready, the Webhook node receives the payload.

1. Best clip: {{ $json.clips[0].download_url }}

Option B — Polling loop:

1. POST to generate clips (same as above, without callback_url).
2. Wait 15 seconds → GET https://api.crabcut.ai/api/v1/projects/{{ $json.project_id }} → IF status is not completed, loop back to Wait.

REST API

For direct HTTP calls without MCP:

Base URL: https://api.crabcut.ai — All endpoints require Authorization: Bearer sk_live_...

Environment Variables

Links

• Website: crabcut.ai
• API key: app.crabcut.ai/developers
• Pricing: crabcut.ai/pricing

License

MIT