StarReel MCP

Turn a script into a finished, downloadable short-drama episode — from Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client.

StarReel is a prepaid AI video-production pipeline. This MCP server exposes the whole factory — 120+ tools covering every stage — so an AI agent can take a raw script all the way to a finished .mp4:

script → AI rewrite → cast / scenes / props extraction → storyboards
       → character portraits & sheets (anchor the people) + scene plates (anchor the backdrops)
       → keyframes → video shots → voiceover (TTS) → final cut (.mp4 link)

It is a thin, open client: all the heavy lifting (character-consistency gates, frame chaining, best-of-N auditing, billing) runs server-side at starreel.ai.

Quick start

1. Create an API key with produce scope in StarReel → Settings → API Keys (srk_live_..., shown once).
2. Add the server to Claude Code:

claude mcp add starreel -e STARREEL_API_KEY=srk_live_xxx -- npx -y @starreel/mcp

Or install the Claude Code plugin — MCP server + agent skill in one step (set STARREEL_API_KEY in your shell first):

/plugin marketplace add starreel/starreel-mcp
/plugin install starreel@starreel

3. Ask your agent: "Take this script and produce a full episode: <your script>" — it will quote each paid stage first and only spend after you confirm.

Works with any MCP client

Requires Node ≥ 18 (npx). The standard config below works as-is in Cursor · Windsurf · Cline / Roo Code · Claude Desktop · Trae · Cherry Studio · Chatbox · DeepChat and any client that reads an mcpServers JSON block:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "starreel": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@starreel/mcp"],
      "env": { "STARREEL_API_KEY": "srk_live_xxx" }
    }
  }
}

Clients with their own format:

[mcp_servers.starreel]
command = "npx"
args = ["-y", "@starreel/mcp"]
env = { "STARREEL_API_KEY" = "srk_live_xxx" }

{
  "servers": {
    "starreel": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@starreel/mcp"],
      "env": { "STARREEL_API_KEY": "srk_live_xxx" }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "starreel": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@starreel/mcp"],
      "env": { "STARREEL_API_KEY": "srk_live_xxx" }
    }
  }
}

Drive the same pipeline over REST (/v1/produce/*) and paste SKILL.md into your system prompt — it carries the full workflow order, billing disciplines, and failure playbook. See the API docs.

What's inside

Stage	Tools (selection)
Orientation	get_capabilities_guide (free, local) — which entry point for which material, pipeline order, gates, billing
Project setup	create_drama · update_project_settings · list_project_options
Script	set_script · AI rewrite · edit_rewritten_script
Bring your own material	get_script_format_spec · check_script_format · adopt_external_script (rewrite on any AI, then adopt verbatim) · get_storyboard_table_spec → check_storyboard_table → import_storyboard_table (a finished shot list skips rewrite + breakdown) · get_bulk_import_spec → check_bulk_import → bulk_import_storyboards (structured JSON builds cast, scenes and shots in one go) · upload_* (own portraits / scene / prop / shot images)
Cast & world	asset extraction · update_character · generate_world_concept · generate_art_bible
Identity anchors	generate_portraits_and_sheets (portraits + character sheets = the consistency anchor)
Storyboards	quote_storyboards → generate_storyboards → get_storyboards
Frames & video	quote_frames → generate_frames · quote_videos → generate_videos
Audio	generate_tts · generate_bgm (steerable via prompt) · get_bgm_prompt_guide · generate_sfx · voice cloning · design_voice (a new voice from one sentence)
Finishing	compose_episode (free) · get_final_cut · render_multi_aspect · posters & covers
Localization	translate_subtitles · localization jobs
Ads / MV modes	product library & product sheets · MV lyrics → story → script

Project types: drama / ad / mv / brand_film.

Design a voice from a description (no sample needed)

When the narrator or a character has no fitting voice in the library and there is no authorized recording to clone, design one from a single sentence.

Step	Tool	Cost
1. Describe, generate candidates	design_voice (description, optional preview text) → design_id	free
2. Wait and listen	get_voice_design (design_id) — about 1-3 minutes; when done, every candidate is downloaded as a local wav (local_path) for the customer to pick	free
3. Keep one	save_designed_voice (design_id, index, name) → voice_id (e.g. lib:12)	same as a voice clone; saving the same candidate twice charges once
4. Use it	set_character_voice (character_id, voice_id) — generate_tts then reads every line of that character with it	free

The narrator is a character too (char_type voiceover). Describe what you want rather than what you don't — age, gender, timbre, pace, mood — e.g. "a middle-aged man, low and warm voice, slow pace, sentences trail downward". Always make the customer pick one before dubbing: the same description gives a different person every time (measured voice similarity as low as 0.23), while a saved voice is cloned for every line (0.85-0.90). Limits: one design at a time per account, 30 per 24 h; preview sentence 14-28 characters; candidates are kept for 6 hours; never name a real person to imitate their voice.

Billing is agent-safe by design

• Prepaid, never negative. Costs are pre-authorized before any vendor call; insufficient balance returns a clean 402 — nothing half-runs.
• Quote before spend. Big-ticket stages are quote_* → show the user → generate_* with the returned quote_id. For video, quote == actual charge (same function computes both).
• Final cut is free. Composition, transitions, SFX matching and deliverable packaging don't bill.
• API keys are stored hashed and exchanged for 15-minute short-lived tokens; revoke in Settings at any time.

Built for agents: the operating skill

SKILL.md ships inside the package — a platform-agnostic operating manual (full pipeline order + ten operating disciplines + a failure playbook). The server also announces the same guidance at connect time (MCP instructions) and exposes it as a tool, get_capabilities_guide, so an agent that has never seen this file still learns which entry point each kind of material takes. Skill-aware clients load it automatically; on platforms that can't run npx (Coze / Dify / GPTs / custom agents) paste it into the system prompt and drive the same pipeline over REST (/v1/produce/*).

Install it as a standalone agent skill (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenCode and 70+ agents) via the skills CLI:

npx skills add starreel/starreel-mcp

Environment variables

Variable	Required	Default
STARREEL_API_KEY	✅	—
STARREEL_AUTH_BASE		https://api.shortreelai.com

REST API (OpenAPI)

Prefer plain REST? The full production facade is described in openapi.json (OpenAPI 3.1, 100+ operations — generated from this package's tool surface, so operationIds match MCP tool names 1:1). Browse it rendered at starreel.github.io/starreel-mcp, or generate a typed client for any language:

npx openapi-typescript https://raw.githubusercontent.com/starreel/starreel-mcp/main/openapi.json -o starreel.d.ts

Links

• Website: starreel.ai
• API reference (OpenAPI): starreel.github.io/starreel-mcp
• Full MCP / REST docs: api.shortreelai.com/docs/mcp
• npm: @starreel/mcp
• 中文文档: README.zh-CN.md

License

MIT — this client is open; the production pipeline is a hosted service.