Let an AI edit the real timeline

CutWire Drift speaks MCP (Model Context Protocol). That means Cursor, Claude Code, or another compatible agent can work inside the open project — not in a chat window that pretends to edit video.

This is a real editor hook. The agent sees the timeline, makes cuts you can undo, and only runs when you turn it on.

How to turn it on

1. Open Drift.
2. Go to Settings → Agent access.
3. Enable it. It stays off at every launch until you do.
4. Copy the connection snippet from Settings into Cursor, Claude Code, or your MCP client.

The server listens only on your computer (127.0.0.1). A bearer token rotates each session.

You can also attach with stdio: run drift --mcp-stdio against an editor that already has Agent access enabled. Setup details live in the MCP guide on GitHub.

What an agent can do

The agent does not get a single “make a video” button. It gets the same jobs you do, grouped into toolboxes:

• Media — import files (local paths), list, rename, replace, export a still
• Timeline — tracks, clips, selection, bookmarks, copy/paste, link or unlink audio
• Canvas — position, flip, blend, mask, fades, speed, reverse
• Playback — seek, play, pause, In/Out work area
• Text and shapes — titles, captions, stickers, emoji, fonts
• Subtitles — cues, import/export, generate captions from speech
• Effects — video/audio effects, transitions, look templates
• Project — new/open/save, package a bundle, canvas size, export
• Keyframes and speed — animation keys, speed ramps
• Cutout — SAM-style subject segmentation
• AI addons — denoise and face detection (if those models are installed)
• Audio — waveforms, beat detection, beat-synced cuts, clip volume
• Scenes — shot detection, what is in each shot, split or bookmark on scene boundaries
• UI — theme, shortcuts, editor preferences

Typical loop: inspect the project, apply a batch of edits (one undo step), capture a JPEG of the composition to check the frame, then export.

Working to the music or the footage

Agents can:

• Detect beats, snap clips to the grid, split on bars, bookmark downbeats
• Detect scenes, list shots, find a label such as “person”, split or bookmark on those boundaries
• Capture a still of the mixed frame to verify the look before export

Beat analysis is temporary (a mix-changing edit clears it). Scene analysis is cached on the source file.

Safety — what this is not

• Not on by default. Off until you enable Agent access, and off again the next time you launch.
• Not the cloud. Nothing is sent to CutWire. The MCP port binds to localhost. Your agent still uses whatever model it uses.
• Not a sandbox. Any local process with the session token can drive the editor. Treat the token like a password for this session.
• Not a substitute for addons. MCP will not install Whisper, cutout, or other models. If a tool needs a pack, install it in Drift first.
• Not atomic. A failed batch keeps the ops that already ran. Check the reply, then undo if needed.

Who this is for

• People already in Cursor or Claude Code who want the editor to follow a prompt
• Automation: import a folder, caption it, export, without clicking every clip
• Open-source builders extending Drift through the same protocol the UI uses

If you just want to cut a Reel by hand, ignore Agent access. The rest of Drift works without it.

See also the full feature list, the FAQ, and the protocol reference.