Crabcut MCP Server

Turn YouTube videos into short clips - from Claude, Cursor, or any AI assistant that supports MCP. Its 5 documented tools cluster into read & search, generate, check. It runs locally over stdio via the published package.

People connecting media tools to Claude, Cursor, VS Code, or another MCP client. The project is written in TypeScript.

VERIFIED ACTIVE

LAST COMMIT 2026-03-15 · ★ 2 · #107 OF 155 MAINTAINED MEDIA · VERIFIED 2026-08-25

MIT · TypeScript servers · how we verify → /methodology

01 · Install Crabcut

before you install - you'll need

CRABCUT_API_KEY

Environment variables documented in the project's README - it lists which are required and which have defaults.

Claude Code

claude mcp add realcrabcut-crabcut-mcp-server -- npx -y @crabcut/mcp-server

Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code - add to config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "realcrabcut-crabcut-mcp-server": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@crabcut/mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Same JSON for Cursor. For VS Code, rename the top-level key from `mcpServers` to `servers`.

Using another client? Same JSON, different key

Claude Desktop · mcpServers

Cursor · mcpServers

VS Code · servers

Windsurf · mcpServers

Zed · context_servers

Cline · mcpServers

Roo Code · mcpServers

Continue · mcpServers

LibreChat · mcpServers

Gemini CLI · mcpServers

Codex CLI · mcp_servers

Full setup guides: every client.

02 · Evidence

Security posture

What to check before giving this server access to your agent - from the registry, GitHub, and our own probes. We don't score safety; we show what's verifiable.

runs as local process (stdio) - runs on your machine with your user's permissions

license MIT - declared in the repository

npm package @crabcut/mcp-server - the @crabcut scope differs from the repo owner (realcrabcut); confirm it's the project's official package

registry namespace io.github.realcrabcut is GitHub-verified and matches the repo owner

03 · What Crabcut can do

Prose above is summarized from the project's README and registry record - no invented capabilities.

Capability map

Tools grouped from the project's README - what Crabcut lets an agent do.

read & search

3 tools - e.g. Check progress and get clips when ready. Clips are sorted by score (best first).; List your projects with status and clip counts.; Get full details for a single clip.

get_project_status · list_projects · get_clip

Generate

1 tool - e.g. Start clip generation from a YouTube URL. Returns a project_id right away.

generate_clips

Check

1 tool - e.g. See your plan, remaining credits, and usage.

check_usage

04 · Who maintains Crabcut

crabcut is maintained by realcrabcut. It's the only MCP server we track from this author; the repo dates to Mar 2026.

05 · Facts

repository: github.com/realcrabcut/crabcut-mcp-server
category: media - ranked #107 of 155 actively-maintained media servers as of 2026-08-25.
registry: io.github.realcrabcut/crabcut (active, first published 2026-03-14 · 2 versions)
packages: npm:@crabcut/mcp-server

06 · Crabcut FAQ

Is Crabcut still maintained?

Yes - as of 2026-08-25, its last commit was 2026-03-15. We re-verify nightly.

What can Crabcut do?

Its README documents 5 tools, including generate_clips, get_project_status, list_projects.

How do I install Crabcut?

Run `npx -y @crabcut/mcp-server`. The README documents one environment variable (CRABCUT_API_KEY) to set first. You can also paste the ready-made client config above.

Does Crabcut run locally?

Yes - it's a stdio server: it runs on your machine (via npx) with your user's permissions. Your data stays local unless the server itself calls external APIs.

07 · Alternatives to Crabcut

Alternatives to Crabcut

Maintained media servers if Crabcut isn't the fit.

More media MCP servers · Red Hat Lightspeed MCP · Q-SYS MCP · Gemini MCP · Osc Bridge · Flstudio MCP

More TypeScript MCP servers · Refgrow MCP Server · StitchAPI Docs · Replen · Lune Research · see all