DaVinci Resolve MCP · Installation

Installing DaVinci Resolve MCP

DaVinci Resolve MCP is a server that runs on your computer and that your MCP client launches (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Claude Code, Codex). You install it with Synthetic Setup. It talks to DaVinci Resolve through a small connector that you load inside Resolve. It works on Windows. macOS is in beta: it has not been fully tested and may have errors. The Synthetic window, installed with the server on Windows, can load the connector for you with one button (step 5).

Requirements

DaVinci Resolve	21, free edition
Node.js	18 or higher
OS	Windows 10/11 · macOS (beta: it may have errors)
Synthetic window	Installed by Synthetic Setup on Windows; macOS (beta): download it in step 5
MCP client	Claude Desktop, Cursor, Codex, or any MCP client
License	Your DaVinci Resolve MCP license key (see /dashboard/licenses)

1. Install it with Synthetic Setup

Download Synthetic Setup from /dashboard/downloads and run it. It finds your MCP clients (Claude Desktop, Cursor, Claude Code, Codex) and adds DaVinci Resolve MCP to each one with your license already loaded. When it finishes, it shows the line you paste in DaVinci Resolve in step 3.

Prefer to edit your client's config by hand? The MCP client setup guide shows the exact entry.

2. Restart your MCP client

Quit your MCP client and open it again: servers are loaded at startup. The first time, the server downloads in a few seconds and, once your license is checked, creates the connector for DaVinci Resolve on your computer.

Synthetic Setup also takes care of Node.js: if your computer doesn't have it, it adds it for your MCP clients.

3. Load the connector inside DaVinci Resolve

Open DaVinci Resolve with a project. Go to Workspace → Console, choose Lua at the top of the Console and paste the line for your system, replacing YOUR_USER with your user name on that computer:

Windows

dofile([[C:\Users\YOUR_USER\.synthetic\davinci-resolve-mcp\bridge\synthetic_server.lua]])

macOS

dofile([[/Users/YOUR_USER/.synthetic/davinci-resolve-mcp/bridge/synthetic_server.lua]])

The Console shows that the connector is ready, and Resolve keeps working normally. You do this once per Resolve session: after you close and reopen Resolve, paste the line again.

The first time the server creates the connector, your MCP client's log shows this same line with your own folder already in it, ready to copy.

4. Try it

With Resolve open and the connector loaded, ask your MCP client something simple:

What project is open in DaVinci Resolve, and what is on the current timeline?

If it answers with your project and your timeline, everything works. Then try something bigger: add markers, apply a LUT, render the timeline.

Important: DaVinci Resolve must be open, with a project and the connector loaded, whenever your MCP client runs a tool. Otherwise the tools answer that Resolve is not connected.

5. The Synthetic window

The Synthetic DaVinci Resolve MCP window shows whether Resolve is connected and has a Connect button that opens Resolve's Console and loads the connector for you. It needs Node.js on the computer (the same one your MCP client uses). If Connect cannot do it, Connect by hand shows the line to paste. On Windows, Synthetic Setup installs it together with the server: find it in the Start menu as «Synthetic DaVinci Resolve MCP». You can also download it from /dashboard/downloads.

Windows: Synthetic Setup installs it for you; if you download the installer by hand, run it. It is not signed yet, so Windows may show a SmartScreen warning: click More info, then Run anyway.
macOS: download the .dmg for your Mac's chip, Apple Silicon (M1 and newer) or Intel, and drag the app to Applications. It is not signed by Apple yet: the first time, right-click the app and choose Open. If macOS still refuses, go to System Settings → Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway.

On a Mac, Connect needs the Accessibility permission to type the line in Resolve's Console: System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility → turn on «Synthetic DaVinci Resolve MCP» (macOS may also ask to let it control System Events). If you prefer not to give it, use Connect by hand: Workspace → Console, Lua mode, paste the line from step 3, once per Resolve session.

On a Mac, this window and its Connect button have only been tested on test machines, not yet with DaVinci Resolve. If Connect does not work, use Connect by hand and tell us what happened.

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