Premiere MCP · Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
The most common issues users hit and how to fix them. If yours isn't here, send the MCP client logs and your Premiere version by email.
MCP client says premiere-mcp didn't respond
Symptom: The client loads the server but then times out or says 'tool not available'.
Fix: Confirm Premiere Pro is open with a project loaded. The server talks to Premiere via CEP/ExtendScript — without app or project, tools error out. Then restart the MCP client.
Invalid license error
Symptom: Client logs say 'license validation failed' or 'PREMIERE_PRO_MCP_LICENSE not set'.
Fix: The license in your config doesn't match the one on /dashboard/licenses. Recopy it — check for leading/trailing spaces when you pasted it into the JSON.
Commands failing on older Premiere versions
Symptom: Some tools (especially Lumetri and auto-captions) error on PP 2022/2023 but work on 2024+.
Fix: Adobe only added those APIs in PP 2024. If you need those specific tools, you have to be on 2024 or newer. The server detects the version and gives a clear message when a tool doesn't apply.
npx is slow on every launch
Symptom: Every time the MCP client starts, it takes 10-30s to load the server.
Fix: npx checks for an update on each launch. To make it instant, install it globally: npm i -g @synthetic-ai/premiere-mcp then change command in the config to premiere-mcp (no npx, no args).
Premiere hangs after many tool calls
Symptom: After 20-30 operations in a row, Premiere stops responding.
Fix: Known limit of Premiere's ExtendScript runtime — its internal queue fills up. Save your project, restart Premiere. If it happens often, report it with your MCP client logs via support email.
If none of this helps
Send me an email with: (1) your Premiere Pro version, (2) your MCP client and its version, (3) the client's logs when it tries to launch the server, and (4) the config snippet you pasted (without the license key).