@rendobar/mcp

Serverless media processing for AI agents.
The official Model Context Protocol server for Rendobar.

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@rendobar/mcp is the official Model Context Protocol server for Rendobar. It lets AI agents in Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline, Windsurf, Zed, VS Code, Claude Code, and Continue submit Rendobar jobs and upload local files in a single tool call.

The difference from the hosted MCP at api.rendobar.com: this server runs locally, so it can read and upload files straight from your machine. An agent can take a video on your disk, run an FFmpeg job on it, and hand back the result without you touching a browser.

Install

You don't install it. Configure your MCP client to spawn it via npx.

Get an API key

Sign up at app.rendobar.com → Settings → API Keys.

Configure your client

Claude Desktop

Edit ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json (macOS) or %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json (Windows):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rendobar": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@rendobar/mcp"],
      "env": { "RENDOBAR_API_KEY": "rb_..." }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop.

Cursor

Edit ~/.cursor/mcp.json or <project>/.cursor/mcp.json. Same schema as Claude Desktop.

Cline (VS Code extension)

Open Cline's MCP panel → Configure → paste the same mcpServers block.

Windsurf

Edit ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json. Same schema.

Zed

Edit ~/.config/zed/settings.json:

{
  "context_servers": {
    "rendobar": {
      "source": "custom",
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@rendobar/mcp"],
      "env": { "RENDOBAR_API_KEY": "rb_..." }
    }
  }
}

VS Code (1.101+)

Edit .vscode/mcp.json:

{
  "servers": {
    "rendobar": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@rendobar/mcp"],
      "env": { "RENDOBAR_API_KEY": "${input:rendobarKey}" }
    }
  },
  "inputs": [{ "id": "rendobarKey", "type": "promptString", "password": true, "description": "Rendobar API Key" }]
}

Claude Code (terminal)

claude mcp add rendobar -s user --env RENDOBAR_API_KEY=rb_... -- npx -y @rendobar/mcp

Continue

Create .continue/mcpServers/rendobar.yaml:

type: stdio
command: npx
args: ["-y", "@rendobar/mcp"]
env:
  RENDOBAR_API_KEY: rb_...

Tools

Tool	Purpose
upload_file	Upload a local file. Returns a download URL to use in submit_job.
submit_job	Submit any Rendobar job. Its description lists the active job types.
get_job	Poll job status, fetch result.
list_jobs	List recent jobs.
cancel_job	Cancel a waiting/dispatched job.
get_account	Check balance, plan limits, active job count.

Job types

submit_job takes a type. The active types:

type	What it does
ffmpeg	Run any FFmpeg command (transcode, trim, mux, filter, concat).
captions.animate	Burn animated word-level captions onto a video (Hormozi / MrBeast / TikTok / pill presets).
caption.burn	Burn static styled subtitles from an SRT/VTT/ASS file, or auto-transcribe when none is given.

Example

A typical exchange once the server is configured in your client:

You: Mute the first 3 seconds of ~/clips/intro.mp4 and save it.

The agent runs, in order:

// 1. Stage the local file → returns a hosted download URL
upload_file { "path": "~/clips/intro.mp4" }
// → { "downloadUrl": "https://cdn.rendobar.com/u/abc123/intro.mp4", "sizeBytes": 4821004 }

// 2. Submit an FFmpeg job that references it
submit_job {
  "type": "ffmpeg",
  "inputs": { "intro.mp4": "https://cdn.rendobar.com/u/abc123/intro.mp4" },
  "params": { "command": "-i intro.mp4 -af \"volume=enable='lt(t,3)':volume=0\" -c:v copy out.mp4" }
}
// → { "jobId": "job_9f2a", "status": "waiting" }

// 3. Poll until done
get_job { "jobId": "job_9f2a" }
// → { "status": "complete", "cost": "$0.01", "output": { "file": { "url": "https://cdn.rendobar.com/o/job_9f2a/out.mp4", "type": "video" } } }

Agent: Done — muted the first 3 seconds. Output: https://cdn.rendobar.com/o/job_9f2a/out.mp4

Auto-caption a clip with animated word-level captions — no subtitle file needed:

submit_job {
  "type": "captions.animate",
  "inputs": { "clip.mp4": "https://cdn.rendobar.com/u/abc123/clip.mp4" },
  "params": { "preset": "hormozi" }
}
// → { "jobId": "job_7c1b", "status": "waiting" }

The server advertises its tools even before an API key is configured, so clients and directories can list them; calls that need the API return a clear error until RENDOBAR_API_KEY is set.

Local vs hosted MCP

	@rendobar/mcp (this package)	Hosted MCP (api.rendobar.com)
Transport	stdio, spawned by your client	Streamable HTTP
Local file upload	Yes, the whole point	No, server has no disk
Setup	npx line in a config file	Bearer API key over HTTP
Best for	Claude Desktop, Cursor, Cline, Zed, local agents	claude.ai web, ChatGPT, hosted gateways

Authentication

Three sources, first match wins:

1. --api-key=<key> flag
2. RENDOBAR_API_KEY environment variable
3. ~/.config/rendobar/credentials.json (Unix) / %APPDATA%\rendobar\credentials.json (Windows), written by Rendobar CLI's rb login (CLI v1.1+)

Troubleshooting

Cursor on macOS (Dock launch) can't find npx

Cursor launched from the Dock has the GUI PATH, not the shell PATH. Use the absolute path to npx in your mcp.json:

"command": "/Users/you/.nvm/versions/node/v20.x/bin/npx"

Windows: npx not found

Use "command": "npx.cmd" instead of "command": "npx" if your client doesn't auto-resolve.

Server fails to start

Check logs in your client's output panel. The server writes JSON lines to stderr. Look for entries with level: "error".

Tools list but calls fail with "No Rendobar API key configured"

Expected when no key is set — the server starts and advertises its tools so clients can list them, but tool calls need an API key. Set RENDOBAR_API_KEY (or --api-key, or run rb login). On startup without a key the server logs a no_api_key warning to stderr.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md. For AI-assisted development, see AGENTS.md and CLAUDE.md.

License

MIT