DaVinci Resolve Lua MCP server

DaVinci Resolve Lua MCP

Control the free edition of DaVinci Resolve 21.1 from Claude through a Lua script that runs inside Resolve. macOS and Windows (experimental), no Studio licence, no network.

DaVinci Resolve 21.1 moved Python scripting and the external scripting API to the Studio edition, and Blackmagic's own MCP server ships with Studio only. One door is still open on the free edition: Workspace > Scripts lists and runs Lua files. This project puts a small Lua script there. Launched once per Resolve session, it holds the live resolve object and executes Lua on behalf of an MCP server that Claude Desktop runs as an extension.

[!NOTE]

Nothing here unlocks Studio features: the bridge uses the free edition's own Lua scripting API. Studio 21.1 users already have Blackmagic's native MCP server.

Features

• 15 purpose-built tools: project overview, project and timeline lists, Media Pool clips, timeline items, markers, timeline and project switching, rendering with status polling, and a search over Blackmagic's shipped scripting reference.
• runlua for everything else**: any Lua 5.1 chunk runs inside Resolve with the live resolve object and returns JSON, captured print output and errors.
• One .mcpb bundle: install it in Claude Desktop, and the server copies its two Lua scripts into Resolve's user scripts folder on first launch.
• No network: the server and the script talk through a request file and Fusion's preferences. There are no sockets, no listeners and no telemetry.
• Fast enough to feel interactive: about 60 ms per call, measured end to end on a Mac.

Requirements

• macOS (Apple Silicon is the only hardware measured).
• Windows 10 or 11, experimental. The default paths come from Blackmagic's documentation and forum reports; nothing has been measured on Windows yet. docs/windows.md lists what to check.
• DaVinci Resolve 21.1 free edition (build 21.1.0.17 is the one measured). Studio is not needed and not targeted. Blackmagic documents neither this Lua host nor its sandbox, so a point release can change what works.
• Claude Desktop. It ships the Node runtime the server needs (Node 20 or newer); nothing else is installed.
• A project open in Resolve while you use the tools.

Install

1. Download davinci-resolve-lua-mcp.mcpb (the latest release; the release notes and the SHA-256 are on the Releases page).
2. Double-click the file, or drag it onto the Claude Desktop window. Claude Desktop shows the extension's details and five settings; keep the defaults and click Install.
3. In Resolve, open a project and click Workspace > Scripts > resolvemcpbridge. That script is the bridge; the extension put it there when it first started.

• The bridge stops when Resolve quits. Click it again after every Resolve launch, before using the tools.

1. Ask Claude "Are you connected to DaVinci Resolve?".

From a terminal, either command downloads the file and opens the same dialog.

macOS:

Shortened. The full README is on GitHub.