Fast Video Cataloger
Search, view and tag your local video library from Claude: transcripts, scenes, visual search.
Runs on your machine from its package; the steps are below.
What it does
- Reads
- Writes
- High impact
At most: creates or changes data: records, files, settings.
What it costs
FreeOdel charges nothing per call. The publisher may charge for its own service.
Runs locally over stdio
This server isn't hosted — your MCP client launches it from a package registry. Use one of the commands below, or drop the config into your client (e.g. Claude Desktop).
Distributed as an MCP bundle (`https://github.com/frelo/fvc-mcp/releases/download/v10.4.0/fvc-mcp-10.4.0.mcpb`) — download it and import the bundle in your MCP client.
Fast Video Cataloger MCP server
Search, view and tag your local video library from an AI assistant.
Fast Video Cataloger keeps a searchable catalog of your own video files on Windows: scene thumbnails, keywords, transcripts and faces. This MCP server lets an assistant such as Claude work with that catalog. You ask for footage in your own words; the assistant searches, looks at the actual shots and does the filing for you.
- Find videos and moments by what was said, with timecodes
- Find scenes by describing the picture ("a drone shot over a city at night"), nothing tagged first
- Fetch scene thumbnails so the assistant can see and judge a shot
- With an Editor key: add or remove keywords, build bins, index new videos
It runs against the Fast Video Cataloger server on your own computer. No video is uploaded; the assistant receives the titles, transcript lines and scene images it asks for.
More: MCP server for your video library
Requirements
- Windows 10 or 11 (x64)
- Fast Video Cataloger
10.4 or later. The free 30-day trial works.
fvc-mcp.exeis also installed with the program, together with the .NET 10 runtime it needs. - Your catalog shared through the Fast Video Cataloger server: in the program, open the start page's Server section and click Setup. The assistant connects to the server, not to the desktop program, so it works with the program closed.
- An API key: Manage Users in the same Server section.
Viewerto search and read,Editorto also tag and build bins.
Install
Claude Desktop: one click
Download fvc-mcp-<version>.mcpb from Releases and
open it. Claude Desktop asks for the server address (leave http://localhost:8754 when the server
runs on this computer) and your API key.
Claude Desktop: config file
Use the copy installed with Fast Video Cataloger. In claude_desktop_config.json:
{
"mcpServers": {
"fast-video-cataloger": {
"command": "C:\\Program Files\\FastVideoCataloger\\fvc-mcp.exe",
"env": {
"FVC_SERVER_URL": "http://localhost:8754",
"FVC_API_KEY": "fvc_your_key_here"
}
}
}
}
Claude Code
claude mcp add fast-video-cataloger --env FVC_SERVER_URL=http://localhost:8754 --env FVC_API_KEY=fvc_your_key_here "--" "C:\Program Files\FastVideoCataloger\fvc-mcp.exe"
Keep the quotes around "--" in PowerShell.
Gemini CLI
gemini mcp add fast-video-cataloger "C:\Program Files\FastVideoCataloger\fvc-mcp.exe" -s user -e FVC_SERVER_URL=http://localhost:8754 -e FVC_API_KEY=fvc_your_key_here
Full setup, things to try and troubleshooting: Connect an AI Assistant (MCP).
Configuration
| Variable | Meaning |
|---|---|
FVC_SERVER_URL | Address of your catalog server. Default http://localhost:8754. |
FVC_API_KEY | The API key. |
FVC_MCP_LOG_LEVEL | Warning by default; Information or Debug when a connection will not come up. Logs go to stderr. |
Tools (23)
| Tool | What it does |
|---|---|
search_videos | Find videos by free text or by keyword. |
search_scenes | Find individual scenes, with their timecodes. |
search_scenes_semantic | Find scenes by describing the picture, or scenes that look like a given one. Needs the visual search index and, for descriptions, the Visual search model on the server. |
search_transcripts | Find spoken words, with their video and timecode. |
search_actors | Find people by name or tag. |
list_keywords | Every keyword in the catalog, so the assistant knows what it can search for. |
get_video | One catalog entry in full. |
get_video_scenes | A video's scene thumbnails in timecode order. |
get_video_transcript | The transcript as timed lines. |
get_video_tags, get_video_actors | Keywords and cast. |
get_scene_image | The thumbnail image itself, so the assistant can see the shot. |
catalog_stats, list_bins, get_bin_videos | Catalog size, the build serving it, and existing bins. |
tag_video, tag_scene | Add keywords to a video or a single scene. Editor key. |
untag_video, untag_scene | Remove named keywords again. Editor key. |
create_bin, add_video_to_bin | Build a collection. Editor key. |
index_video, list_videos_needing_indexing | Index catalog entries that have no thumbnails yet. Editor key. |
It cannot delete videos or bins, take a video out of a bin, play video or drive the player.
Source
src/FvcMcpServer is the source of the fvc-mcp.exe shipped with Fast Video Cataloger, copied
from each release. It is a thin client over the Fast Video Cataloger server's REST API: it holds
no state and every tool is one or two REST calls. Build with the .NET 10 SDK:
dotnet publish src/FvcMcpServer -c Release -r win-x64 --self-contained false -p:PublishSingleFile=true
Released builds are code-signed by VideoStorm Sweden AB. Issues and pull requests are welcome; the code here follows the version in Fast Video Cataloger, so accepted changes ship with the next release.
License
MIT for the source in this repository, see LICENSE. Bundled packages: THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md. Fast Video Cataloger itself is commercial software with a free 30-day trial.
