--- title: "The MCP server for Claude video generation." url: "https://riffads.com/mcp" description: "Claude and ChatGPT video generation for ads: connect the RiffAds MCP server and your AI agent makes UGC video ads, priced first and capped by limits you set." updated: "2026-09-28" source: "RiffAds" --- # The MCP server for Claude video generation. The RiffAds MCP server brings video generation to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and other MCP clients, so your AI agent can make UGC video ads with AI actors. It prices every job before it spends and stops at limits a person sets. ## What is an MCP server for video? The RiffAds MCP server is a remote MCP server for video ads, at mcp.riffads.com. Connect it in Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor and your AI agent gets video generation: it prices a job, makes a talking actor ad, an image or a video, and hands back a download link. It spends the same credits as the studio. **Server URL**: `https://mcp.riffads.com` - **Transport**: Streamable HTTP. It is a remote server, so there is nothing to run on your computer. - **Sign-in**: OAuth, in your browser. There is no API key to copy. Your app finds the sign-in page through the RFC 9728 metadata the MCP spec asks for. - **Access**: You choose when you approve it: read only, which can browse and price but never spend a credit, or generate and spend credits. - **Workspace**: In more than one workspace? You pick which one it spends from, and you can disconnect it on the Connections page. - [Connect it: steps for each app](https://riffads.com/connect) - [Connect guide in the docs](https://docs.riffads.com/mcp/setup) - [Server card (JSON)](https://riffads.com/.well-known/mcp/server-card.json) - [Writing your own code? The AI video generation API](https://riffads.com/video-ad-api) ## Video generation in Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor. Each of these apps connects with the URL above. The connect page has the exact button or command for each one. - **Claude** (Web or desktop): Custom connectors work on every Claude plan, including Free. Source: [Claude Help Center, August 2026](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11175166-getting-started-with-custom-connectors-using-remote-mcp) - **Claude Code** (In the terminal): Claude Code recommends HTTP for remote servers and supports OAuth sign-in. Source: [Claude Code docs, checked September 2026](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/mcp) - **ChatGPT** (Custom connector): ChatGPT adds remote MCP servers in developer mode, on Pro, Plus, Business, Enterprise and Education accounts on the web. Source: [OpenAI developer docs, checked September 2026](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/developer-mode) - **Cursor** (One click): Cursor supports remote servers over Streamable HTTP, with OAuth sign-in. Source: [Cursor docs, checked September 2026](https://cursor.com/docs/context/mcp) - **VS Code** (Copilot agent mode): VS Code runs the OAuth sign-in for a remote server on its own. Source: [VS Code docs, September 2026](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/copilot/reference/mcp-configuration) Any other MCP client that supports remote servers and OAuth sign-in can use the same URL. [Step by step for each app](https://riffads.com/connect) ## Every tool your agent gets. Grouped by the job in hand. Only `submit_generation`, `generate_talking_actor` and `run_workflow` spend credits. Everything else is free to call. | Job | Tools | What they do | | --- | --- | --- | | To find and price | `list_capabilities`, `get_capability_schema`, `list_actors`, `list_voices`, `list_presets`, `estimate_generation`, `get_credit_balance` | See what RiffAds can make, the settings each job takes, the actors, voices and presets, and your credit balance and spend limits. `estimate_generation` prices a job before anything is spent. | | To make | `submit_generation`, `generate_talking_actor` | Start a job. `submit_generation` runs any capability by its id, and `generate_talking_actor` is the same call, named for talking actor ads. Both need `max_credits`. | | To follow a job | `wait_for_generation`, `get_generation`, `get_batch` | Wait on the server, up to 20 seconds per call, until a job is done, then read the result. `get_batch` reads a set of variants together. | | To read history and the library | `list_generations`, `search_library`, `get_asset` | Look up past jobs and your library of uploads and outputs, and get a fresh link to a file. | | To bring files in | `create_upload`, `finalize_upload`, `import_media_from_url`, `open_upload_box`, `send_file_bytes` | Upload a photo, video or audio file, or bring one in from a public link. Each file is checked before a job can use it, and images also get a safety check. Neither step costs credits. | | For workflows | `list_templates`, `run_workflow`, `get_workflow_run`, `list_workflow_runs` | List the ready-made workflow templates, run one in a single call with one `max_credits` for every step, and follow its runs. | | To check the connection | `riffads_ping` | Check that the connection works, which workspace and plan it uses, and whether it may spend. | ## How an AI agent makes a video ad. ### The steps 1. **Find an actor and a voice**: `list_actors` and `list_voices` return the AI actors and voices your workspace can use. 2. **Price the job**: `estimate_generation` is free. It returns the credits and `max_credits_needed`: the price plus a small margin that is held while the job runs. 3. **Make the voice-over**: Call `submit_generation` with the `tts` capability, the script, the actor, the voice and `max_credits`. Some actors speak for themselves and skip this step. 4. **Make the video**: Call `generate_talking_actor` with the finished voice-over and `max_credits`. A job over `max_credits` or over a limit is refused before it starts, never trimmed. 5. **Wait for it**: `wait_for_generation` waits on the server for up to 20 seconds per call. The agent calls it again until the job is done. 6. **Get the file**: The answer carries a download link that works for 10 minutes. `get_asset` gets a fresh one later. A sample run on mcp.riffads.com: ```text > Make a 15 second ad for my earbuds. Keep each job under 600 credits. list_actors actor picked list_voices voice picked estimate_generation voice-over priced submit_generation voice-over started wait_for_generation voice-over ready estimate_generation video 420 credits, max_credits_needed 462 generate_talking_actor video started, max_credits 462 wait_for_generation still_running, call again wait_for_generation done ad.mp4 ready. Download link valid for 10 minutes. ``` For this 15 second ad the video is about 420 credits and is held as 462, under the default cap of 600 credits a job. The voice-over is priced and held the same way, as its own job. ## Spend limits a person sets. Your agent names the most it may spend on every paid call. A person sets the limits around that number, and the agent cannot change them. | Limit | Set by | Default | Measured over | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `max_credits` on the request | Your agent, on every paid call | Required, no default | One job | | Per job cap | A workspace owner or admin | 600 credits | One job | | API key budget | A workspace owner or admin | No limit | Rolling 24 hours, per REST API key. An MCP connection has no key, so it does not apply here. | | Daily agent cap | A workspace owner or admin | 2,000 credits | Rolling 24 hours, all agent spending in the workspace | - **The smallest limit wins**: A job is checked against the lowest limit that applies, and every refusal names the limit that stopped it, in `limit.bound_by`. - **Checked before a job starts**: Limits decide whether a job may start. A job that has started is never stopped halfway, because the work is already being done. - **Zero means no spending**: Set a cap to 0 and agents in that workspace cannot spend at all. Or connect an agent read only, so it can browse and price but never spend. [Set your agent limits](https://app.riffads.com/connections) ## What your agent can never do. - **Post anywhere**: It never posts to Meta, TikTok, YouTube, X or any other social platform. - **Return anything but results**: It returns a download link to each finished file, or for an analysis, the JSON breakdown itself. Where the ad goes next is your call. - **Spend past your limits**: By default an agent may spend 600 credits a job and 2,000 credits a day. A workspace owner or admin can lower both, or set them to zero. ## MCP in numbers. MCP, the Model Context Protocol, is an open standard for connecting AI assistants to tools and data. Each number below links to where it was published, with its date. - **Nov 2024**: Anthropic open-sourced MCP, a standard for connecting AI assistants to the systems where data lives. Source: [Anthropic, November 2024](https://www.anthropic.com/news/model-context-protocol) - **10,000+**: Active public MCP servers at the protocol's one year mark, in December 2025. Source: [Anthropic, December 2025](https://www.anthropic.com/news/donating-the-model-context-protocol-and-establishing-of-the-agentic-ai-foundation) - **Dec 2025**: Anthropic gave MCP to the Linux Foundation's new Agentic AI Foundation, next to goose by Block and AGENTS.md by OpenAI. Source: [Anthropic, December 2025](https://www.anthropic.com/news/donating-the-model-context-protocol-and-establishing-of-the-agentic-ai-foundation) - **OAuth 2.1**: In the current MCP spec, dated July 28, 2026, sign-in for remote servers is based on OAuth 2.1. Source: [MCP specification, Authorization, July 2026](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/specification/2026-07-28/basic/authorization) ## MCP server, answered. ### What is an MCP server? An MCP server gives an AI assistant tools through the Model Context Protocol, an open standard Anthropic released in November 2024. The assistant connects to the server, reads its list of tools and calls one when a task needs it. The RiffAds MCP server gives it tools to price and make video ads. ### Which AI assistants can use the RiffAds MCP server? Claude, Claude Code, ChatGPT, Cursor and VS Code can all connect with one URL, and so can other MCP clients that support remote servers with OAuth sign-in. Claude allows custom connectors on every plan, including Free. ChatGPT adds them in developer mode, on Pro, Plus, Business, Enterprise and Education accounts on the web. ### Does the MCP server cost extra? No. API, MCP, Agent Skills and CLI come with every plan. Your agent spends the same credits as the studio, at the same prices, and pricing a job before it runs is free. ### Can my AI agent overspend? No. Every paid call must set max_credits, the most it may spend, and a job that costs more is refused, never trimmed. By default agents are also capped at 600 credits a job and 2,000 credits a day per workspace. An owner or admin can lower both or set them to zero, and every refusal names the limit that stopped it. ### Can my agent post ads to TikTok or Meta? No. RiffAds never posts to Meta, TikTok, YouTube, X or any other platform, and it never connects to an ad account. Your agent gets a download link to the finished file, and you decide where the ad runs. ### Can Claude generate videos? Not on its own. Claude has no video model, so it cannot render a talking actor ad or a video clip by itself. Add the RiffAds MCP server as a custom connector and Claude gets video generation tools: it prices the job, makes the ad, image or clip, and hands back a download link, spending your workspace's credits within limits a person sets. ### Do I need to code to use it? No. Add the URL as a connector in Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor, approve it in your browser, then ask for an ad in plain words. Your agent picks the actor, checks the price and brings back the file. You only need code to call the REST API from your own software. ## Get started Stop waiting on creators. Ship the ad today. Book a call for a walkthrough, or log in and make your first ad. - [Book a call](https://cal.com/ravisojitra/30min) - [Log in](https://app.riffads.com/sign-in) - [New here? Try Growth for $1](https://app.riffads.com/sign-up?redirect=%2Fpricing%3Fplan%3Dgrowth%26interval%3Dmonth) - [Connect your agent](https://riffads.com/connect)