Edit Video with Claude Code or Codex: Plugin Setup

Claude Code and Codex can edit a ChatCut project through the Agent Plugin: connect the desktop host, choose or create a project, import footage, and request a bounded edit. Review the saved timeline in ChatCut before exporting. As of October 28, 2026, the instructions below cover the hosted plugin; Desktop local projects use a separate connection.

Verified connection facts

Last verified: 2026-10-28. This is a documentation and setup check, not a new end-to-end editing test in either external host. A built-in ChatCut Agent demonstration does not establish Claude Code or Codex plugin success.

A provider’s native model capabilities do not establish which tool or option is available through your connection. Check the actual tools and model capability matrix before requesting generation. For reference inputs, see Generation References.

Which desktop apps are supported?

Install the plugin from a supported desktop app. Do not paste an installation prompt into Claude’s website, ChatGPT’s website, a remote browser workspace, or the ChatCut web editor.

Claude Code video editing: connect first

Start a new conversation in Claude Code Desktop, then paste and send:

Codex video editing: connect first

Create a new task in the Codex desktop app, then paste and send:

WorkBuddy uses a different setup. Follow chatcut.io/workbuddy instead of reusing the Claude Code or Codex prompt.

Install the Claude Code or Codex plugin

1. Open the ChatCut web app and sign in.
2. Click your avatar in the top-right corner and hover over Agent Plugin.
3. Select Copy beside Claude Code or ChatGPT/Codex.
4. Open the matching desktop app, start a new conversation or task, paste the prompt, and send it.
5. Wait for the agent to open the ChatCut authorization page, then sign in and allow access there.
6. After installation, follow the prompt to start a new conversation or task. Plugin tools load when a session starts; the installation session does not gain them automatically.
7. In the new session, explicitly ask the agent to use ChatCut and describe the edit you want.

Update the plugin

The plugin is installed from a Git marketplace, so it does not update itself. Refresh it from the same desktop app you installed it in. You can run these in a terminal, or paste them into the agent and let it run them.

Claude Code

Codex

Codex assigns the marketplace name when you add it, so read the current name first and upgrade that entry.

Refreshed tools load when a session starts, exactly as they do after a first install: open a new conversation or task before asking ChatCut to edit anything. In Claude Code, do not run /reload-plugins — a new session is the supported path.

To confirm the connection survived, check that the ChatCut MCP server is still registered: claude mcp get plugin:chatcut:chatcut in Claude Code, or codex mcp get chatcut in Codex. If ChatCut Desktop is installed on the same computer, these checks can fail because Desktop has replaced the plugin with its local connection; check claude mcp get chatcut_desktop or codex mcp get chatcut_desktop instead, and see Where does the editor appear?. If an update fails partway, the recovery steps are the same as for a first install — see Common installation problems.

What can the plugin do?

The plugin can operate the same editable project shown in the agent app’s Browser panel. It can:

• import and organize project media;
• cut, trim, arrange, and inspect a timeline;
• transcribe speech and add or revise captions;
• create and place motion graphics;
• generate video, images, voiceover, music, and sound effects;
• export a finished video or an editable handoff.

For editor controls, see Editor and Media. For models, voices, and generated media, see AI Features. For delivery formats, see Export Panel.

Where does the editor appear?

After installation, the agent opens ChatCut in its Browser panel. The conversation and editor appear side by side: the agent can change the project, and you can enter the editor to adjust the timeline, captions, or motion graphics manually.

The Agent Plugin uses ChatCut’s hosted connection. It is not ChatCut Desktop’s Agent Selection, and it does not automatically create Desktop’s local MCP connection. To select and work on a local Desktop project, see Edit a Desktop Project from Your Agent.

The reverse does happen: when ChatCut Desktop is installed and opened on the same computer, it connects Claude Code, Codex, and WorkBuddy to its local MCP connection and turns off this plugin in those apps. Desktop disables the plugin in Claude Code and WorkBuddy and removes it from Codex, so the agent then edits ChatCut Desktop projects instead of web projects.

Make one editable cut and review it

1. In the new host session, ask ChatCut to list your projects without changing them. Select the returned project you intend to edit, or explicitly request a new one. Ask the agent to identify the project and timeline it will use; a similar name is not enough.
2. Have it inspect existing assets before importing. Import only the footage needed for this task, and wait for media processing or transcription when the edit depends on speech.
3. Request a new review timeline and state the content to preserve. Start with existing footage so the first edit does not depend on a paid generation.

4. Read back the resulting timeline, then open the same project in the host’s Browser panel. Play speech joins with sound; check missing words, clip order, captions and any blank frames. A successful tool response is not a visual review.
5. Request a specific revision in that same timeline, such as restoring a clipped breath. Once the edit is approved, export and open the actual delivered file to check it.

For a local package, use the Desktop agent workflow to find, target and read the project instead. For ChatCut’s built-in Agent, open the editor’s AI panel; no external plugin installation is needed. These paths can share editing goals while using different sessions and project access.

Approvals and charges

Claude Code or Codex reasoning uses the host’s own allowance or billing. ChatCut media generation can use ChatCut credits separately; built-in Agent usage also has its own ChatCut charge. Manual editing is described in the credits policy, which owns the current rates.

Review the proposed operation, inputs and displayed estimate before approving generation. After completion, inspect avatar → Credits history → Detail for the actual transaction. If confirmation or progress becomes unclear, check the original task and My Assets before submitting again. See workflow recovery.

Export through the hosted connection

Video and audio exports use a signed-in supported browser by default. The agent must identify the full project and Timeline IDs; the target need not be the project visible in the browser. Keep the selected browser open while it renders and delivers the file.

You can instead explicitly request cloud video or audio, or agree after the agent explains a specific browser-rendering blocker. For an authorized saved Timeline whose media is already remotely readable, cloud rendering does not require a browser executor or an inbound callback to your computer. Local-only files and Google Drive or Dropbox connection media do not automatically meet that requirement; resolving missing media can still require a connected browser.

Cloud video supports up to 1080p. Keep the returned export ID and check the same job rather than resubmitting. Follow the cloud export steps for media readiness, font choices and progress checks. A browser-rendering failure does not authorize an automatic cloud retry.

Authorization and security

Complete authorization in the browser page opened by ChatCut. Do not paste cookies, access tokens, or account passwords into an agent conversation. If authorization times out, let the installer continue from the failed sign-in step, and do not start multiple authorization flows at once.

Common installation problems

Generation fails at the approval step

If an external agent shows Generation confirmation failed or Method not found during generation confirmation, keep the original request. A missing confirmation card or task ID does not prove that no task started. Follow Generation Confirmations and Auto-Allow to check for an existing task and get help if its status is unclear.

The agent says it cannot install the plugin

Confirm that the session is running in a supported desktop app, not a website or isolated remote workspace. Claude Code and Codex users should copy the latest prompt again from avatar → Agent Plugin. WorkBuddy users should reopen its dedicated installation guide.

Installation succeeded, but ChatCut tools are missing

Start a completely new conversation or task. The plugin tool list is fixed when a session starts and cannot be added to the already-open installation session.

Tools are still missing or report “temporarily unavailable”

If a new conversation and reselecting ChatCut did not help, and tools still report “temporarily unavailable” or remain missing, you can continue in ChatCut Web. Keep your existing project and original media. Before editing, check that the intended project and required media are available there. Use the built-in AI or manual editor to continue. See ChatCut products for platform differences. To get help with the connection, share the error and what you already tried through Contact.

The connection fails before a browser opens

If the host app reports “error sending request” or a response-decoding error before opening the authorization page, record that stage separately from an interrupted browser sign-in. The wording alone does not establish whether the cause is the host, network, service response, or plugin configuration.

1. Keep the exact error text, the host app and version, your operating system, and the approximate failure time. Note whether installation completed, whether a browser opened, and what you already tried.
2. Use the current installation guide for your host above. Do not guess a different MCP server address or start several authorization flows to work around the message.
3. Send those details through Contact. If you have a screenshot, remove tokens, cookies, email verification codes, and other private account details before sharing it.

A successful page load in an ordinary browser does not by itself prove that the agent host can complete the same connection. If you already tried another network, include the result rather than repeating that step without new evidence.

Authorization timed out or was interrupted

Keep only one authorization flow active and let the installer continue from the failed login or verification step. If it still fails, copy the current installation prompt again or restart from the WorkBuddy guide.

Verification and sources

Checked 2026-10-28 against the public Claude Code and Codex installation guides, the linked project, approval and billing references, and the current documentation controls. No new paid generation or external-host editing/export acceptance run was performed for this update.