How to connect DaVinci Resolve to Claude and ChatGPT with MCP

DaVinci Resolve 21.1 includes its own MCP server, so you can ask an AI assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT's Codex to work in your projects: organise media, rename clips, add markers, change settings and queue renders. To connect it, install the assistant first, then choose File > Setup AI Assistants in Resolve, which finds supported assistants and configures them for you.¹ This guide covers that setup, the ChatGPT route, a community alternative, useful jobs for a podcast edit and how to do it safely.

What MCP is, in one paragraph

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets an AI assistant use tools on your computer. An MCP server exposes a program's actions, in this case Resolve's scripting functions, and an MCP client such as Claude Desktop calls them when you ask for something in plain English. The assistant can only do what the server exposes, and it acts with your user account's permissions.²

What you need

• DaVinci Resolve 21.1 or later. Blackmagic's release notes list a "native MCP server for interacting with AI assistants".³
• Very likely, DaVinci Resolve Studio. The same notes say advanced scripting now requires Studio, and Blackmagic has moved Python scripting to the Studio version.³ Reports of the release describe the MCP server as Studio only.⁴
• An assistant that supports MCP. Blackmagic's setup recognises Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex (OpenAI), Antigravity (Google) and Grok Build (xAI).¹
• A backup. Blackmagic recommends a full project library backup and individual project backups before opening projects in 21.1.³

Connect Resolve to Claude Desktop

If Resolve does not list Claude Desktop, you can add the server by hand. Open Settings > Developer > Edit Config in Claude Desktop and add an entry that points at the ResolveMCP program inside the Resolve installation.²¹ Blackmagic says any MCP tool can be set up this way.¹ On a Mac, users report the program at this path:¹

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "davinci-resolve": {
      "command": "/Applications/DaVinci Resolve/DaVinci Resolve.app/Contents/Applications/ResolveMCP"
    }
  }
}

On Windows, look for ResolveMCP.exe in the DaVinci Resolve folder under Program Files. If Claude does not see the server, the logs are in ~/Library/Logs/Claude on a Mac and %APPDATA%\Claude\logs on Windows.²

Connect Resolve to Claude Code

If you use Claude Code, File > Setup AI Assistants configures it in the same way.¹ To add it yourself, use claude mcp add, with the path to ResolveMCP on your computer after the --:⁵

claude mcp add davinci-resolve -- "/Applications/DaVinci Resolve/DaVinci Resolve.app/Contents/Applications/ResolveMCP"

Connect Resolve to ChatGPT

There are two ChatGPTs to tell apart:

• ChatGPT in the browser cannot connect to Resolve directly. OpenAI says ChatGPT connects to remote MCP servers, not local ones, and that custom MCP apps are web only and on selected plans.⁶ Resolve's server runs on your own computer.
• Codex can. Codex, which runs in the ChatGPT desktop app, the Codex command line and IDE extensions, supports local MCP servers, and all three share one configuration file.⁷ Blackmagic lists Codex among the assistants Setup AI Assistants configures.¹

To configure Codex yourself, add the server to ~/.codex/config.toml:⁷

[mcp_servers.davinci_resolve]
command = "/Applications/DaVinci Resolve/DaVinci Resolve.app/Contents/Applications/ResolveMCP"

On Windows, the command is the full path to ResolveMCP.exe, with each backslash doubled. Some users on Blackmagic's forum report trouble getting Codex on Windows connected, while others have it working, so check the settings in the app if it does not appear.¹

A community alternative

Before Blackmagic's server, the most widely used option was the open-source davinci-resolve-mcp project. It is MIT-licensed, actively maintained, and offers a compact set of 37 tools by default or 390 in full mode.⁸

• It controls Resolve through Blackmagic's scripting API, so it also needs DaVinci Resolve Studio, with Preferences > General > External scripting using set to Local.⁸
• The project says it treats camera originals and source media as read-only, and that its default server runs as a local process with no network listener.⁸
• It installs with npx davinci-resolve-mcp setup, and its install guide has manual configurations for each client.⁸

Use it if you need actions the built-in server does not offer. Otherwise, the official server is simpler to keep up to date.

Useful jobs for a podcast edit

The assistant can only do what Resolve's scripting allows, so it is best at organising, repetitive changes and renders, not creative judgement.¹ Blackmagic's examples include rendering several formats, renaming clips, exporting markers to a spreadsheet, applying a LUT and reframing to 9:16.⁹ For a podcast, try:

• "Rename every clip in the Cameras bin after the person it shows, using these names: …"
• "Create bins for Host, Guest, Wide and Mics and move each clip into the right one."
• "Export all timeline markers on the Episode 12 timeline to a CSV with timecodes and notes." Useful for show notes and chapter lists.
• "Duplicate the Episode 12 timeline, set it to 1080 × 1920 and name it Episode 12 vertical." A starting point for Shorts.
• "Queue renders of the Episode 12 timeline: an H.264 master for YouTube and an audio-only WAV."

Resolve 21.1 also lets scripts read media pool clip transcriptions with speaker and timing data,³ which opens up jobs such as finding where a topic was discussed.

Staying safe

• Back up first. Make a full project library backup, and try the assistant on a copy of a project before a real one.³
• Remember what it can reach. An MCP server runs with your user account's permissions and can do any file operation you can.² Reports of Blackmagic's manual say scripts created by an assistant have the same access to disk, network and system resources as the assistant itself.⁹
• Only install servers you trust. OpenAI and Anthropic both warn that untrusted MCP servers increase the risk of prompt injection.⁶⁵
• Ask before it acts. Start each session with "don't change anything until I confirm", and review the timeline before you render.
• Mind the content. If your project contains guests' recordings or transcripts, the assistant's provider will process what it reads. Check that your agreements with guests and your privacy notice cover it.

Watch it done

Where podswitch fits

An assistant can organise and render, but it does not watch the conversation and decide who should be on screen. That is what podswitch does: it cuts the multicam edit from each speaker's microphone and opens it in Resolve, ready for you, or your assistant, to finish. See how to edit a podcast in DaVinci Resolve for the full workflow.