Can Claude edit videos? Only by calling editing tools

Not on its own. Anthropic lists text and image input and text output for all current Claude models; video files are not on that list. Claude can still edit a video by calling editing tools on an MCP server: Claude chooses the tool and the settings, and the server cuts, crops, or renders a new file.

Claude's side comes from Anthropic's Models overview and its article on custom connectors. Sume's side comes from MCP tools and gates and each tool's docs page, all read on 2026-09-27. Sume has no official connector for Claude: this is a custom connector pointed at Sume's hosted MCP server.

How can Claude edit a video?

Connect a server that has editing tools, turn on write access, and describe the edit in plain words. Anthropic's article says remote MCP servers give Claude tools it can invoke during your conversation. Sume's hosted MCP server at https://mcp.sume.com/mcp has tools that cut a range, crop or dim the picture, pull out the audio, grab stills, and render clips over an audio track into one MP4. Each edit runs as a job and returns a new file; the source stays untouched. Video editing MCP server lists each tool with its limits.

Which videos can Claude edit this way?

Only clips that are already on Sume. Every editing tool takes this workspace's media.sume.com artifact or asset, and there is no open-internet fetch. In practice, that means the output of an earlier Sume job, such as a clip from generate_video (how Claude makes videos) or the file from a previous edit.

How does Claude know where to cut?

From your instructions and from what the tools return. Claude does not watch the video: video_inspect returns probe facts, stills as media.sume.com image links, and a transcript only when you ask for one. Probe and stills are unbilled, and the transcript is billed per audio minute. When you know the exact timestamps, give them to Claude.

Can Claude Code edit videos?

Yes, with the same tools. Run claude mcp add --transport http sume https://mcp.sume.com/mcp, then claude mcp login sume. In Claude, Cowork, or Claude Desktop, add the same URL as a custom connector instead (setup steps).

Either way, turn Write on at Sume's consent page. Every editing tool is a write: it needs mcp:write under OAuth and an idempotency_key on each call.

What does it cost, and what can't it do?

Frame grabs, inspect probes and stills, and filter checks are unbilled. Trims, filter encodes, and audio detaches are billed per job, at rates the docs say to confirm in GET /v1/catalog, and a Timeline render is listed at $0.10 per output minute on API pricing.

The tools also stop short of a full editor. The filter's allowlist leaves out drawtext and subtitles, so the filter adds no text overlays; the caption create tools are unlisted on hosted MCP; and fields such as ffmpeg or codec are refused, because Sume compiles ffmpeg itself. Sume's basics page also says hosted MCP still works but is not the primary path today; a product calls the same tools over the Developer API.