● Connect · MCP

MCP server.
Claude Desktop and Claude Code.

The MCP server lets an AI assistant such as Claude Desktop or Claude Code work with one workspace's channels: "start an episode about the history of the lighthouse lens on Harbour Lights and run research and the script". It talks to the studio through the REST API, so it can run on any computer that can reach the studio, with that workspace's API key. Like the API, it can never publish to YouTube: a person does that in the studio.

STUDIO_URLSTUDIO_API_KEYnpm run -s mcp

01Tools it offers

Tool	What it does
`list_channels`	The workspace's channels: language, style pack, YouTube connection, autopilot, episodes per stage, next slots
`list_episodes`	A channel's episodes with the state of every step
`create_episode`	Starts an episode on a topic (nothing runs or is charged yet)
`run_episode_step`	Runs one step in the background: research, script, factcheck, produce, footage, render, package, shorts (and localize on a language version). Costs credits
`get_episode`	One episode: steps, errors, render files (links valid for an hour), YouTube uploads
`create_video_from_storyboard`	Creates a storyboard from a full storyboard JSON (no AI call, no credits)
`render_video`	Queues a render of a storyboard (costs credits)
`get_render`	Status of a render, and download links when it is done
`list_videos`	The workspace's storyboards with their status

02What you need

The API turned on and included in the workspace's plan, and an API key from the studio's Developers page (see API and webhooks).
Node.js 22 or newer on the computer that runs the assistant (tested on Node.js 22 and 26).
The MCP server file. After npm run build it is dist/src/mcp/server.js in the studio's folder. It has no dependencies: you can copy that one file to another computer as channelsmith-mcp.mjs and run it there (keep the .mjs ending).

It reads two environment variables:

Variable	Value
`STUDIO_URL`	The studio's address, e.g. `https://studio.your-agency.com`
`STUDIO_API_KEY`	The workspace's key, `msk_…`

On Windows: the studio server is meant to run on Linux (WSL 2 with Ubuntu, or Docker Desktop with its WSL 2 backend). The MCP file runs on Windows too: in PowerShell, write the claude mcp add command on one line and use a Windows path such as C:\mcp\channelsmith-mcp.mjs.

03Claude Desktop

Settings, Developer, Edit Config, and add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "channelsmith": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/opt/mcp/channelsmith-mcp.mjs"],
      "env": {
        "STUDIO_URL": "https://studio.your-agency.com",
        "STUDIO_API_KEY": "msk_your_key_here"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. The tools appear under the tools icon in a new chat.

04Claude Code

claude mcp add channelsmith \
  -e STUDIO_URL=https://studio.your-agency.com \
  -e STUDIO_API_KEY=msk_your_key_here \
  -- node /path/to/channelsmith-mcp.mjs

Check it with claude mcp list.

05From the studio's folder

npm run -s mcp starts the same server (the compiled one in dist, else the TypeScript source). Always use -s: without it npm prints a line of its own on the output, which the assistant cannot read.

06Good to know

The assistant can only do what the key allows: one workspace, its credits, its plan's limits.
Tool errors come back as text the assistant reads, for example "The studio said (402): The workspace's plan does not include the API." Nothing is retried by itself.
Revoking the key on the Developers page stops the MCP server at once.

MCP server.Claude Desktop and Claude Code.