Quickstart

1. 01

   Add the connector

   Use the button below, or paste the server URL into your client's MCP settings. There is no API key in the link, so it is safe to share or bookmark.
2. 02

   Sign in

   Your agent shows you a screen naming exactly what it is being allowed to do. Approving takes one click and lands you back in the chat.
3. 03

   Paste a link and ask

   Any YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, X, Facebook, Vimeo, Twitch, Dailymotion or Reddit URL. Your agent calls watch_video and answers from the video itself, not from its description.

claude mcp add --transport http playhead https://mcp.tryplayhead.com/mcp
# then /mcp to sign in

Set up Playhead for me: fetch https://tryplayhead.com/agent-setup.md and follow it.

That fetches agent-setup.md: the connection line for whichever client it is running in, a call to prove the connection came up, and which tool answers what. It is written for an agent to read rather than for you, which is why it is a plain file and not this page.

https://www.tiktok.com/@user/video/730…
What is the hook here, and exactly when does it end?

Every other client is on the connect page: ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code and Codex, with a button or a config block for each.

1. 01

   Create an API key

   In the dashboard under Keys. It is shown once, so copy it then. A lost key is replaced rather than recovered.
2. 02

   Install the SDK, or skip it

   npm install @playhead/sdk if you are in Node. Everything it does is one HTTP request, so curl or any other language works just as well.
3. 03

   Ask your first question

   Send a video link and a question. Leave the question out and the answer covers the complete video, second zero to the end.

npm install @playhead/sdk

import { Playhead } from "@playhead/sdk";

const playhead = new Playhead();          // reads PLAYHEAD_API_KEY

const video = await playhead.ask({
  url: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
  question: "What is the hook, and when does it end?",
});

console.log(video.answer);            // the reading, with the second on every moment
console.log(video.seen_at);           // [0, 3.2, 5.1, 12] the seconds it read
console.log(video.credits_charged);   // what this call cost

// Keep this. The next question about the same video is the cheap one.
const session = video.session_id;

curl -X POST https://api.tryplayhead.com/v1/watch_video \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $PLAYHEAD_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ",
       "question": "what happens in this video"}'