FCPXML MCP

The bridge between Final Cut Pro and AI. 53 tools that turn timeline XML into structured data Claude can read, edit, and generate.

Why This Exists

After directing 350+ music videos (Chief Keef, Migos, Masicka), I noticed the same editing bottlenecks on every project: counting cuts manually, extracting chapter markers one by one, hunting flash frames by scrubbing, building rough cuts clip by clip.

These are batch operations that don't need visual feedback. Export the XML, let Claude handle the tedium, import the result. That's the entire philosophy.

See It In Action

You:    "Run a health check on my wedding edit"

Claude: ✓ Analyzed WeddingFinal.fcpxml
        ├─ 247 clips · 42:18 total · 24fps · 1920×1080
        ├─ 3 flash frames detected (clips 44, 112, 198)
        ├─ 2 unintentional gaps at 12:04 and 31:47
        ├─ 14 duplicate source clips
        └─ Health score: 72/100

You:    "Fix the flash frames and gaps, then add chapter markers from
         this transcript"

Claude: ✓ Extended adjacent clips to cover 3 flash frames
        ✓ Filled 2 gaps by extending previous clips
        ✓ Added 18 chapter markers from transcript
        → Saved: WeddingFinal_modified.fcpxml

Import the modified XML back into Final Cut Pro. Every change is non-destructive — your original file is never touched.

What Claude Actually Sees

This is the magic trick. When you export XML from Final Cut Pro, your timeline becomes structured data that Claude can reason about:

<!-- What FCP exports -->
<asset-clip ref="r2" offset="342/24s" name="Interview_A"
            start="120s" duration="720/24s" format="r1">
    <marker start="48/24s" duration="1/24s" value="Key quote"/>
    <keyword start="0s" duration="720/24s" value="Interview"/>
</asset-clip>

# What Claude works with (after parsing)
Clip(
    name="Interview_A",
    offset=TimeValue(342, 24),   # timeline position: 14.25s
    start=TimeValue(120, 1),     # source in-point: 2:00
    duration=TimeValue(720, 24), # 30 seconds
    markers=[Marker(value="Key quote", start=TimeValue(48, 24))],
    keywords=["Interview"]
)

Every time value stays as a rational fraction — 720/24s, not 30.0 — so trim, split, and speed operations have zero rounding error across any frame rate. Comparisons use cross-multiplication (a/b < c/d → a*d < c*b) to stay in integer-land end to end. Denominators are always normalized to positive values at construction, so sign lives on the numerator and cross-multiplication is always correct. Addition and subtraction share a single _binop() code path that handles same-denominator fast paths and LCM alignment in one place.

How It Works

  ┌──────────┐      ┌──────────────────────────────┐      ┌──────────┐
  │ Final Cut│      │  parser.py   → Python objects │      │ Final Cut│
  │   Pro    │─XML─>│  writer.py   → Modify & save  │─XML─>│   Pro    │
  │          │      │  rough_cut.py→ Generate new   │      │          │
  └──────────┘      │  diff.py     → Compare        │      └──────────┘
                    │  export.py   → Resolve / FCP7 │
         

... [View full README on GitHub](https://github.com/DareDev256/fcpxml-mcp-server#readme)