Video Reader MCP

Evidence-first video MCP. Timeline document with ffprobe streams and subtitle cues.

People who work with developer tools, ffmpeg and local first and want it reachable from Claude, Cursor, VS Code, or another MCP client. The project is written in TypeScript.

NO LONGER MAINTAINED

LAST COMMIT 2026-09-25 · ★ 3 · VERIFIED 2026-09-30

MIT · TypeScript servers · how we verify → /methodology

01 · Install Video Reader MCP

Claude Code

claude mcp add sylphxai-video-reader-mcp -- npx -y @sylphx/video-reader-mcp

Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code - add to config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sylphxai-video-reader-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@sylphx/video-reader-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

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

repository archived on GitHub - read-only; no future fixes, security or otherwise

license MIT - declared in the repository

npm package @sylphx/video-reader-mcp - the @sylphx scope differs from the repo owner (sylphxai); confirm it's the project's official package

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

03 · What Video Reader MCP can do

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

What you can build

An agent gets 3 documented tools across read & search, video, including read_video, search_video, video_evidence.

The 3 tools it gives your agent

Extracted from the project's README - what Video Reader MCP lets an agent do.

read_video: - Default fast profile: container metadata, streams, chapters, and embedded subtitles. Scenes are opt-in.
search_video: - Search embedded subtitle cues. It does not run speech recognition.
video_evidence: - Named follow-up: render, crop, or OCR one frame at a timestamp

Latest releases

v0.3.5 · 2026-09-23

Report the package version from the native binary. The multi-arch build compiled without CUE_PRODUCT_VERSION, so 0.3.4 answered 0.3.3.

v0.3.4 · 2026-09-23

The default read_video profile is fast: container metadata, streams, chapters, and embedded subtitles. Scenes, frames, OCR, and speech recognition stay off unless a caller asks for them, and the public docs say so.

v0.3.3 · 2026-09-23

0.3.1 · The MCP initialize response advertises the canonical product site, and the package gains discovery keywords. · serverInfo.websiteUrl still named the retired video-reader-mcp slug, so every connecting agent saw…

04 · Who maintains Video Reader MCP

Video Reader MCP is maintained by sylphxai. We track 13 MCP servers from sylphxai - 3 actively maintained, 2,932 combined GitHub stars, oldest repo from Apr 2025. Full record: all servers from sylphxai.

05 · Facts

repository: github.com/sylphxai/video-reader-mcp
website: https://github.com/SylphxAI/video-reader-mcp#readme
category: media - dead as of 2026-09-30.
release cadence: 7 releases in the last 90 days (latest 2026-09-23)
registry: io.github.SylphxAI/video-reader-mcp (deprecated, first published 2026-07-08)
packages: npm:@sylphx/video-reader-mcp

06 · Video Reader MCP FAQ

Is Video Reader MCP still maintained?

Its last commit was 2026-09-25 (as of 2026-09-30) - we classify it as dead.

What can Video Reader MCP do?

An agent gets 3 documented tools across read & search, video, including read_video, search_video, video_evidence.

How do I install Video Reader MCP?

Run `npx -y @sylphx/video-reader-mcp`. You can also paste the ready-made client config above.

Does Video Reader MCP 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 Video Reader MCP

Alternatives to Video Reader MCP

Maintained media servers if Video Reader MCP isn't the fit.