pre-alpha · v0.1.0

MCP server

Zing runs as a local MCP server with 36 tools. Claude, Codex and other MCP clients can study a reference, plan and render drafts, check music and make memes, all on your machine. Most tools return file paths and measurements. One tool, get_frames, sends frame images to your client, so use it with a client you trust with those images. Run uv run --frozen zing serve-mcp --print-config to get settings for your client, then check zing_status.

Set up an MCP connection Read the quickstart Read the tool manifest

Tool inventory

36 tools over stdio

This list comes from the pinned source below. The manifest includes full descriptions and input schemas derived from source annotations. It is not a runtime compatibility test.

Source commit: d308dc3f9c2b42e305afd4d7d61e4bfa2f276bc4

zing_explain: Explain a local video or uoink:<id> as card.json, card.md, card.png and StyleRecipe.
zing_studio: Start here. Stateless guided creative session: pass path a-f and answers so far; returns the next question with recommendation/reason/evidence, or a plan to confirm.
zing_studio_run: Start a confirmed studio plan for b (no-reference edit), d (style breakdown) or f (re-delivery).
brief_questions: Get six creative-brief topics with optional answer fields, defaults, and JSON examples.
brief_save: Validate and atomically save answers to brief.json in an existing local project folder.
study_video: Start studying a video (URL or local file path).
study_uoink_item: Study a uoink corpus item by its stable reference (uoink://item/<id>).
import_shot_list: Import a Writer shot-list export (the user-chosen .md file) against a studied breakdown.
get_breakdown: Fetch a studied video's Breakdown JSON by slug.
list_breakdowns: List all studied videos in the workspace: slug, platform, title, duration, measurement counts, judgment sections.
generate_thumbnails: For a studied video slug, extract 3-5 source-resolution thumbnail candidate frames and attach them with three distinct YouTube image-model prompts (emotion, object/result tease, story contrast).
save_judgment: Write your judgment of a breakdown back to Zing (hook type, structure beats, caption style, why it works; the shape is defined by get_prompt('study')).
zing_status: Zing's health and state: tool availability (ffmpeg, yt-dlp, whisper, OCR), workspace stats, running/failed study jobs, available prompts.
push_to_uoink: Optional: push a studied video's breakdown.md into the user's uoink corpus as a note (only works when the uoink helper is running locally; zing_status shows it under environment).
list_presets: List installed taste preset packs (curated reference sets with genre and why-picked notes).
setup_taste: Onboard a named taste: from a preset pack OR your own reference links.
render_edl: Render EDL v1 or Composition v2 JSON to a video with ffmpeg (cuts, positioned ASS word captions, voiceover/music mix).
get_render: A render job's honest state: running / done (with the output path) / failed (with the error and next step).
export_otio: Export an EDL json as an OpenTimelineIO (.otio) timeline that opens in real NLEs.
build_profile: Aggregate N studied+judged reference videos into a StyleProfile: robust stats (median/p25/p75) of pacing, hook timing, captions, audio, plus collected judgments.
get_profile: Fetch a StyleProfile by name: the measured aggregates and collected judgments to compare new videos against (see the 'compare' prompt).
list_profiles: List stored StyleProfiles: name, genre, platform, source counts, unjudged-source count, warnings.
get_frames: SEE the video: extract labeled still frames at the given timestamps (seconds) from a studied video's stored media.
get_prompt: Fetch a Zing prompt-pack file by name (e.g. 'study': how to judge a Breakdown and write it back).
still_concepts: Create 1-8 distinct meme concepts from a local photo folder and topic.
still_render: Re-render a concept from still_concepts: supply its out_folder and concept_id.
meme_templates: Search the offline classic meme catalog: ids, names, box counts, and normalized regions.
meme_ideas: Generate 1-8 deterministic formula ideas for a topic and optional template.
meme_check: Check on-image texts: 70 characters per box, 110 total, beat count, banned filler.
meme_render: Render a finished PNG/JPEG/WebP from exactly one local image path or template id.
meme_render_video: Render a local video/GIF or still image/cached template to H.264 MP4 (AAC when source has audio), optionally a companion GIF.
inspect_timeline: Create one local PNG showing a filmstrip, aligned waveform, planned cuts and timed transcript.
music_check: Rate local music candidates for a brief or v2 plan: good, usable or bad, with measured reasons.
plan_drafts: Plan three distinct Composition v2 edits from a project folder, StyleRecipe JSON path, and saved brief.json.
match_start: Start a resumable background reference-to-drafts job.
match_status: Read match job progress, failures/log paths, final comparison and actual ready count. cancel=true stops this server's owned worker tree and preserves checkpoints for resume.