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Media Context

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Give your AI assistant eyes and ears — analyze any video, audio, or image, entirely on your machine.

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Give your AI assistant eyes and ears — analyze any video, audio, or image, entirely on your machine.

README

media-context-mcp — local media analysis for AI assistants

npm version npm downloads license node

Give your AI assistant eyes and ears.
Analyze any video, audio, or image — locally, right inside your editor.

Install  ·  Capabilities  ·  Modes  ·  Examples  ·  Tools  ·  Options  ·  Docs


LLMs read text and glance at a single image — but they can't watch a video or listen to audio. media-context-mcp closes that gap. Hand it a file or a link and it returns clean, model-ready context — keyframes, a transcript, or the text on screen — entirely on your machine. Nothing is uploaded.

A 10-second clip turned into one contact sheet of keyframes

A 10-second clip becomes one tidy contact sheet your model reads in order — not hundreds of stills.


🚀 Install

Two steps — add the server, then install the local helpers it uses.

1 · Add the server to your client

# Claude Code
claude mcp add media-context -- npx -y media-context-mcp

The launch command is always npx -y media-context-mcp. Pick your client:

Claude Desktop

Settings → Developer → Edit Config (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "media-context": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "media-context-mcp"] }
  }
}
Cursor

~/.cursor/mcp.json (global) or .cursor/mcp.json (per-project):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "media-context": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "media-context-mcp"] }
  }
}
VS Code (GitHub Copilot, agent mode)

.vscode/mcp.json — VS Code uses the servers key:

{
  "servers": {
    "media-context": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "media-context-mcp"] }
  }
}
Windsurf

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "media-context": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "media-context-mcp"] }
  }
}
Cline / Roo Code

cline_mcp_settings.json (the extension's MCP settings):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "media-context": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "media-context-mcp"] }
  }
}
Kiro

.kiro/settings/mcp.json (project) or ~/.kiro/settings/mcp.json (user):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "media-context": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "media-context-mcp"] }
  }
}
Gemini CLI

~/.gemini/settings.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "media-context": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "media-context-mcp"] }
  }
}
Zed

settings.json — Zed uses context_servers:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "media-context": { "command": { "path": "npx", "args": ["-y", "media-context-mcp"] } }
  }
}
Codex CLI

~/.codex/config.toml:

[mcp_servers.media-context]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "media-context-mcp"]
JetBrains AI Assistant

Settings → Tools → AI Assistant → Model Context Protocol → Add, then use command npx with args -y media-context-mcp.

Tip: in Claude Code you can install it as a plugin instead — run /plugin marketplace add vishalguptax/media-context-mcp, then /plugin install media-context. To share with a team, install per-project: --scope project (writes .mcp.json) or commit a .cursor/mcp.json in the repo.

2 · Install the local helpers

One command sets up everything the server uses, via your OS package manager:

npx media-context-mcp setup          # core: keyframes, links, on-screen text
npx media-context-mcp setup --audio  # also enable transcription

The server finds the helpers automatically afterward — no extra configuration. Run check_media_deps to see what's ready, and setup --uninstall to remove them. (Install by hand →)

3 · Ask

“Summarize demo.mp4.”

✨ Capabilities

Video Keyframe overview, full-size stills, scene detection, or a dense filmstrip that catches split-second glitches
Audio Speech turned into text — clips, voice notes, meetings, podcasts
Images The picture, plus the exact text shown on screen
Anywhere Local files or links — YouTube, Vimeo, and 1000+ sites
Private Runs on your machine. No API keys, no uploads
Efficient A long clip becomes a couple of images, not hundreds

🎞️ Modes

analyze_media auto-detects audio and images. For video, choose how frames are sampled:

Mode Best for
sheet (default) A cheap overview — frames tiled into one or two contact sheets
frames Detail on specific moments — individual full-size stills
scenes Slide decks & static screencasts — only scene-change frames
filmstrip Catching a sub-second UI glitch — a dense, near-native-rate strip

💬 Examples

Just ask in plain language — the assistant picks the right options.

You ask What you get
“Summarize demo.mp4.” A quick overview from sampled keyframes
“What error does bug.mp4 show at the end?” The exact on-screen text, read back
“Walk me through the UI flow in onboarding.mov.” Step-by-step from scene-change frames
“Transcribe standup.m4a and list action items.” A local transcript
“Summarize https://youtu.be/… with the transcript.” Fetched and transcribed
“Read the error in this screenshot crash.png.” The picture plus its exact text
“Find where the slider in ui.mp4 flickers ~0:06.” The exact frame of a sub-second glitch

🧰 Tools

Tool What it does
analyze_media Turn a video, audio, or image — file or URL — into model-readable context. Auto-detects the type and supports cropping, time windows, language, and sampling rate.
check_media_deps Report which capabilities are ready on this machine.

Every call runs locally and cleans up after itself.

⚙️ Options

Your assistant fills these in for you, but you can steer it (“use filmstrip mode”, “crop to the toolbar”).

Full analyze_media parameters
Param Default Description
source Local file path (video/audio/image) or http(s) URL
context A note framing the analysis; echoed atop the summary
detail high = readable stills for screen recordings; low = cheap overview
mode sheet sheet · frames · scenes · filmstrip
format webp webp (smallest) · jpeg · png (crisp text)
maxFrames 30 Upper bound on sampled frames
grid 5 Tiles per row/column for contact-sheet modes
scale 320 Per-frame width in px — lower = fewer tokens
sceneThreshold 0.4 Scene-change sensitivity (scenes mode)
fps auto Explicit sampling rate; pair high with filmstrip
crop {x,y,width,height} (pixels, or 0–1 fractions) to zoom a region
stripRows 18 Tiles per image in filmstrip mode
startSec / endSec Restrict to a time window
transcript false Also produce a transcript (video)
whisperModel small tiny · base · small · medium · large
ocr false Extract on-screen text
ocrLang eng Language code(s), e.g. eng+deu
ocrPsm 3 Page-segmentation: 3 auto · 6 block · 11 sparse
detectJumps false Track an on-screen number and report jump-back glitches with timestamps
maxDurationSec 3600 Reject URL downloads longer than this
maxFileSizeMb 500 Abort a URL download past this size

Worked recipes for each are in the usage guide.

❓ FAQ

Can an LLM watch a video? Not directly — models take images and text, not video. This server turns the video into frames and a transcript it can read.

Does anything get uploaded? No. Everything runs on your machine; no keys, no cloud.

Which clients work? Any MCP client — Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Cline, Kiro, Gemini CLI, JetBrains, Zed, Codex.

Does it handle YouTube and other links? Yes.

How much does it cost? It's free and open source.

📋 Requirements

Node.js 18+, on Windows, macOS, or Linux. The one-time npx media-context-mcp setup installs everything else.

🛠️ Development

npm install
npm run build
npm test

Issues and PRs welcome — see the usage guide for the architecture.

📄 License

Apache-2.0 © Vishal Gupta

from github.com/vishalguptax/media-context-mcp

Install Media Context in Claude Desktop, Claude Code & Cursor

Recommended · one command, every IDE
unyly install media-context-mcp

Installs into Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor & VS Code — handles npx, uvx and build-from-source repos for you.

First time? Get the CLI: curl -fsSL https://unyly.org/install | sh

Or configure manually

Run in your terminal:

claude mcp add media-context-mcp -- npx -y media-context-mcp

FAQ

Is Media Context MCP free?

Yes, Media Context MCP is free — one-click install via Unyly at no cost.

Does Media Context need an API key?

No, Media Context runs without API keys or environment variables.

Is Media Context hosted or self-hosted?

Self-hosted: the server runs locally on your machine via the install command above.

How do I install Media Context in Claude Desktop, Claude Code or Cursor?

Open Media Context on unyly.org, pick your client tab (Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor) and press Install — the config is generated automatically, no JSON editing.

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