whipscribe-mcp

Name: Whipscribe
Author: neugence

mcp-name: io.github.neugence/whipscribe-mcp

MCP server for Whipscribe — transcribe audio and video from a URL or local file via Claude Desktop, Claude Code, Cursor, Windsurf, or any MCP-compatible client.

⚠️ Beta service

whipscribe-mcp and the Whipscribe API are in beta. Endpoints, response shapes, and quotas may change without notice.

Jobs can fail, stall, or return partial output. Retry logic is your responsibility.

Beta credits can be invalidated without notice — e.g. for infrastructure migration, key compromise, or pricing reset. Beta credits do not convert to cash.

We will give 7 days' written notice before any pricing change that affects active keys, and honor unused credits at the old rate for 7 days after the notice.

Not suitable for production use cases where transcription failure has legal, safety, or financial consequences.

By installing and using this package, you accept the full terms at whipscribe.com/terms.

Install

bash

uvx whipscribe-mcp

Alternatives:

bash

pipx install whipscribe-mcp
pip install whipscribe-mcp

Requires Python 3.10+.

Claude Desktop

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "whipscribe": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["whipscribe-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Optional: set WHIPSCRIBE_API_KEY in env to unlock paid quota.

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "whipscribe": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": ["whipscribe-mcp"],
      "env": {
        "WHIPSCRIBE_API_KEY": "your-key"
      }
    }
  }
}

Restart Claude Desktop. Type "transcribe this podcast URL: …" and Claude will call the tool.

Tools

Tool	Description
`transcribe_url(url, language?, diarize?, word_timestamps?)`	Transcribe audio/video from any URL (YouTube, podcast feeds, direct file links).
`transcribe_file(path, language?, diarize?, word_timestamps?)`	Transcribe a local audio/video file.
`get_job_status(job_id)`	Check progress of a running job.
`get_transcript(job_id, format)`	Fetch the transcript in `txt`, `json`, `srt`, `vtt`, or `docx`.
`list_recent_jobs(limit?)`	Browse your recent jobs (local cache).

All tools return a JSON object of the shape:

json

{
  "ok": true,
  "job_id": "...",
  "status": "done",
  "transcript_preview": "first 300 chars...",
  "url_to_full": "https://whipscribe.com/view?id=...",
  "duration_sec": 967.3,
  "beta_notice": "..."
}

On failure:

json

{
  "ok": false,
  "error": {
    "code": "upload_failed",
    "message": "human-readable explanation",
    "retryable": true
  }
}

Environment variables

Variable	Required	Default	Purpose
`WHIPSCRIBE_API_KEY`	No	—	API key (links jobs to your account and its credits; without it, every recording still gets a free preview)
`WHIPSCRIBE_API_BASE`	No	`https://whipscribe.com/api/v1`	Override API base URL (e.g. for staging)
`WHIPSCRIBE_MCP_TELEMETRY`	No	`1`	Set to `0` to disable anonymous usage telemetry
`WHIPSCRIBE_MCP_POLL_TIMEOUT_SECONDS`	No	`600`	Max seconds `transcribe_url` / `transcribe_file` waits before returning the job_id with a non-terminal status
`WHIPSCRIBE_MCP_POLL_INTERVAL_SECONDS`	No	`3`	Seconds between job-status polls during transcription

Privacy

Opt-in anonymous telemetry (on by default; disable with WHIPSCRIBE_MCP_TELEMETRY=0):

What we collect (metadata only):

Anonymous install hash: sha256(machine_id + salt)[:16]
Package version, OS, Python version
Tool name, duration in milliseconds, error code

What we never collect:

URLs you transcribe
Local file paths
API keys
Transcript text
Email or any personally identifying information

The anonymization algorithm is in this repo (src/whipscribe_mcp/telemetry.py). Inspect it. If it's not acceptable, turn it off.

Pricing

See whipscribe.com/pricing for current rates. Every recording gets a free preview, with or without an API key; credit packs start at $4 and never expire, and the Workspace plan is $19 a month (fair use 300 hours a month).