Claude Code
How to let Claude Code watch a video
Run `claude mcp add --transport http playhead https://mcp.tryplayhead.com/mcp`, then `/mcp` to sign in. Claude Code can then watch any URL or any file on the machine by path.
One command
claude mcp add --transport http playhead https://mcp.tryplayhead.com/mcpFree plan: 50,000 credits a month, no card needed.
What this changes
Claude Code has a filesystem, and that changes what this is for. Pass `~/Movies/cut.mov` or `./export.mp4` straight to watch_video. The file goes up once and every later question reads the same copy, so your own edits, screen recordings and renders can be looked at without publishing them anywhere. Render, ask, adjust: that is the loop a browser-only agent cannot close.
Setting it up
- 01
Add the server
claude mcp add --transport http playhead https://mcp.tryplayhead.com/mcp
- 02
Sign in
Run /mcp inside Claude Code and pick playhead. It opens a browser once, and the connection persists.
- 03
Point it at a file or a link
Either works. A path on this machine is uploaded once; a URL is fetched and cached so the second question about the same video is cheaper.
Things worth asking it
Every one of these comes back with the second attached, so you can open the video at that moment and check it yourself.
- Watch ./out/render.mp4 and tell me if the logo animation drops frames.
- Compare the pacing of ~/Movies/cut-a.mov and ~/Movies/cut-b.mov.
- Look at 4.2s to 4.8s of this export closely. Is the easing linear?
- Read every line of on-screen text in this screen recording, with timestamps.
Ask once wide, then as narrow as you like
The first question is the one that watches the video, and it costs the most. Every question after it reads what that look already found, so it comes back quickly and costs a fraction. Ask six things about one advert and you pay for one reading and five follow-ups.
Claude Code does this for you. It keeps the handle from the first answer and sends it back with the next question, so you can simply keep asking.
Questions
- Do I need any video tools installed?
- No. Both run on our machines, not yours. That is the difference between this and a local skill: nothing to install, nothing to keep updated, and it works the same on a Mac, a Linux box and a CI runner.
- Can it answer a question about a single frame?
- Yes. Ask about the moment and it looks as closely as the question needs, down to consecutive frames. That is what answers why a transition feels wrong. A short window costs a short window, not a whole minute.
- Does it work in a headless environment or CI?
- Yes, using an API key instead of the OAuth flow. Set PLAYHEAD_API_KEY and the stdio server runs anywhere Node does.
Or somewhere else
One account, every client. The connection is attached to you rather than to a machine, so adding a second one costs nothing.