MCP server · Video editing
Crabcut MCP server
by realcrabcut
Turn a YouTube link into short vertical clips with subtitles, straight from your AI chat.
Crabcut is a helper that takes a YouTube video and turns it into short clips for TikTok, Reels or Shorts. It picks the best moments, crops them to a tall 9:16 shape, adds subtitles, and gives you download links. It is handy if you make social clips from longer videos and want to skip the manual cutting.
What is an MCP server? The 30-second version
On its own, your AI can only chat with you. An MCP server is a small helper program that gives your AI a new skill or a connection to another service. This one connects your AI to Crabcut, so when you ask for clips from a YouTube video, the AI can send that request to Crabcut and bring the results back to your chat. You do not need to understand how it works under the hood. You just talk to your AI like normal.
What this MCP server does
You paste a YouTube link and ask your AI to make clips. Your AI passes the link to the Crabcut helper. Crabcut downloads the video, listens to it, finds the most interesting moments, cuts them, reframes them into a tall vertical shape, and adds subtitles. After a few minutes, the clips come back with download links, sorted so the best one is first.
Click to zoomWhat you can do with it
- Turn a YouTube video into several short vertical clips
- Get clips sorted by a score so the best moment is first
- See a short reason why each moment was picked
- Get download links and thumbnail images for each clip
- Check how many credits you have left on your plan
- List your past projects and their status
- Look up the full details of one clip
Try asking your AI
- “Make short clips from this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...”
- “Turn this video into vertical clips with subtitles, only from the first 10 minutes”
- “How many Crabcut credits do I have left?”
- “Show me my recent Crabcut projects and which ones are done”
- “Give me the download link for the best clip from my last project”
What it gives back to you
You get a list of clips in the chat, each with a title, a length, a score, and a short note about why it was chosen. When a clip is finished, you also get a download link and a thumbnail image link. If you ask about your account, you get your plan name and how many credits remain. While a job is running, you get a progress update instead of the clips.
Before you start
What you need
- A Crabcut account and an API key from app.crabcut.ai/developers (an API key is like a password that lets apps talk to Crabcut for you)
- Node.js installed on your computer if you run it yourself with npx
- The Claude desktop app or Cursor if you want to add it there
Good to know
Making clips uses your Crabcut credits, so long videos can use more, and the service needs to download and process the YouTube video you point it at.
Install it with your AI
Add Crabcut MCP server to your AI, no technical skills needed
You don't install anything by hand. You copy one prompt, paste it into an AI that can work on your computer, and it checks, installs and connects the server for you, asking you when it needs something.
Sign in to get the install prompt
Members get a ready-made prompt that lets the Claude desktop app check Crabcut MCP server, install it and connect it for them, step by step. You don't need any technical skills: you copy, paste and answer a few questions. Your connected AI can also find and install any of the 4,066 MCP servers here for you.
Who it's for
People who make short social videos from longer YouTube content, like social media managers, content creators, and podcast or video editors.
