MCP Tools Reference

The hosted VideoDB MCP server at https://mcp.videodb.io/mcp exposes 89 tools, grouped into toolsets by what they operate on. Every tool is annotated with a kind, which is how a client knows whether the call changes your account and whether to ask you first.

Kind	Meaning
read	No change to your account. Lists, lookups, search and ask.
create	Makes something new: assets, indexes, streams, jobs.
update	Changes something that exists: renames, status toggles, visibility.
destructive	Deletes.

IDs and conventions

Prefix	Object
`m-`	Video
`a-`	Audio
`img-`	Image
`rts-`	Real-time stream
`c-`	Collection

Every ID input takes one of those prefixed forms: video_id is an m- ID, audio_id an a- ID, image_id an img- ID, rtstream_id an rts- ID, collection_id a c- ID. media_id accepts a video or an audio ID. Every account has a collection named default, so leaving collection_id out sends the call there. Reading the Inputs column: a plain name is required, a trailing ? means optional, and ?=value is the default the server applies when you omit it. Tools with more than eight inputs show the first six, and a full table of every field follows the toolset table.

Inputs and outputs are snake_case.
A write that runs long returns {"status": "processing", ...} with a retry_with field naming the read tool that shows the finished result.
Large lists are capped. A capped result carries truncated: true and total.

collections

Collections hold your media. Account usage and invoices live here too.

Tool	Kind	Inputs	What it does
`list_collections`	read	none	List all collections in the account with IDs, names, descriptions and visibility.
`get_collection`	read	`collection_id?=default`	Get one collection’s ID, name, description and public/private visibility.
`create_collection`	create	`name`, `description?=""`, `is_public?=false`	Create a new collection to organize videos.
`update_collection`	update	`collection_id?=default`, `name?`, `description?`, `is_public?`	Rename a collection, change its description, or switch it between public and private.
`delete_collection`	destructive	`collection_id`	Permanently delete a collection and everything in it.
`get_account_usage`	read	none	Get the account’s current usage and billing summary.
`list_invoices`	read	none	List the account’s invoices (first 200; `truncated` is set when more exist).

media

List, fetch, upload, rename and delete videos, audio and images, plus thumbnails, signed download URLs and transcoding.

Tool	Kind	Inputs	What it does
`list_assets`	read	`collection_id?`, `asset_type?`, `name_pattern?`, `min_duration?`, `max_duration?`, `min_size?`, +5 more (see below)	List videos, audio and images together in one paginated result, filtered by type, name pattern, duration or file size, and sorted by name, duration or size.
`list_videos`	read	`collection_id?=default`	List videos in a collection: IDs, names, durations, and playable stream/player URLs.
`list_audios`	read	`collection_id?=default`	List audio files in a collection: IDs, names, durations and sizes.
`list_images`	read	`collection_id?=default`	List images in a collection: IDs, names and URLs.
`get_video`	read	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`	Get metadata for one video: name, duration, thumbnail, stream URL, and a player URL for watching it in a browser.
`get_audio`	read	`audio_id`, `collection_id?=default`	Get metadata for one audio file: name, duration and size.
`get_image`	read	`image_id`, `collection_id?=default`	Get metadata for one image: name and URL.
`upload_media`	create	`url`, `collection_id?=default`, `name?`, `description?`, `media_type?`, `callback_url?`	Upload a video, audio file or image from a public URL (direct file links and YouTube URLs both work).
`search_youtube`	read	`query`, `result_threshold?=10`, `duration?=medium`	Search YouTube and return titles, URLs and metadata, useful for finding URLs to pass to `upload_media`.
`search_videos_by_title`	read	`collection_id?=default`, `query`	Find videos in a collection whose title matches a natural-language query.
`update_video`	update	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `name`	Update a video’s display name.
`generate_thumbnail`	create	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `time_seconds?`	Get the default thumbnail of a video, or generate one from a specific timestamp (in seconds).
`list_thumbnails`	read	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`	List every thumbnail image generated for a video, with image IDs and URLs.
`get_media_download_url`	read	`media_id`, `collection_id?=default`	Get a signed, time-limited download URL for an audio file (`a-`) or image (`img-`).
`transcode_media`	create	`source`, `callback_url`, `mode?=economy`, `resolution?`, `quality?`, `framerate?`, +3 more (see below)	Start a transcode job for a video at a public URL: change resolution, quality, framerate or aspect ratio, or mute audio.
`get_transcode_status`	read	`job_id`	Get the status and output of a transcode job started by `transcode_media`.
`delete_video`	destructive	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`	Permanently delete a video from a collection.
`delete_audio`	destructive	`audio_id`, `collection_id?=default`	Permanently delete an audio file from a collection.
`delete_image`	destructive	`image_id`, `collection_id?=default`	Permanently delete an image from a collection.
`remove_video_storage`	destructive	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`	Delete the stored media bytes of a video while keeping its record, indexes and transcripts.

`list_assets` inputs

Field	Type	Required	What it is
`collection_id`	`string`	no	Scope to one collection. Omitted = every collection in the account.
`asset_type`	`('video' \| 'audio' \| 'image')[]`	no	Asset types to include. Omitted = all three.
`name_pattern`	`string`	no	Case-insensitive regular expression matched against the asset name, e.g. ‘keynote\|demo’.
`min_duration`	`number`	no	Minimum duration in seconds (videos and audio).
`max_duration`	`number`	no	Maximum duration in seconds (videos and audio).
`min_size`	`number`	no	Minimum file size in bytes.
`max_size`	`number`	no	Maximum file size in bytes.
`sort_by`	`'created_at' \| 'name' \| 'duration' \| 'size'`	no (default `created_at`)	Field to sort on. created_at is newest-first per type only, since rows carry no timestamp.
`sort_order`	`'desc' \| 'asc'`	no (default `desc`)	Sort direction.
`page`	`number`	no (default `1`)	Page number (1-based).
`page_size`	`number`	no (default `100`)	Items per page.

`transcode_media` inputs

Field	Type	Required	What it is
`source`	`string`	yes	Public, downloadable URL of the source video.
`callback_url`	`string`	yes	Webhook URL VideoDB calls when the job finishes (required).
`mode`	`'economy' \| 'lightning'`	no (default `economy`)	economy = cheaper/slower, lightning = faster.
`resolution`	`number`	no	Output height in pixels, e.g. 720 or 1080 (max 4K).
`quality`	`number`	no	Encoder CRF quality, lower = better (default 23).
`framerate`	`number`	no	Output frames per second.
`aspect_ratio`	`string`	no	Output aspect ratio, e.g. “16:9”, “9:16”, “1:1”.
`resize_mode`	`'crop' \| 'fit' \| 'pad'`	no	How to reach aspect_ratio: crop edges, fit (letterbox) or pad with bars.
`mute`	`boolean`	no	Strip the audio track.

Notes

get_media_download_url covers audio and images only. For a video, render it with download_stream.
Uploads take a public URL. Local file paths are not supported.
A write that runs long comes back as status: "processing" with a retry_with: upload_media names list_videos, generate_thumbnail names list_thumbnails, transcode_media names get_transcode_status.

transcripts

Speech to text, plus translation of what comes back.

Tool	Kind	Inputs	What it does
`get_transcript`	read	`media_id?`, `video_id?`, `collection_id?=default`, `timestamped?=false`, `start?`, `end?`, `segmenter?`, `segment_length?`	Get the transcript of a video or audio file, as plain text or with timestamped segments (per word, sentence or time window).
`generate_transcript`	create	`media_id?`, `video_id?`, `collection_id?=default`, `force?=false`, `language_code?`	Transcribe a video or audio file, optionally forcing a fresh transcription or hinting the spoken language.
`translate_transcript`	create	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `language`, `additional_notes?`, `callback_url?`	Translate a video’s transcript into another language and return the translated segments.

Prerequisites

translate_transcript needs an existing transcript. Run get_transcript or generate_transcript first. It works on videos only.
get_transcript and generate_transcript accept either media_id or video_id. Give exactly one.
While a transcription is still running, both come back as status: "processing" with retry_with: get_transcript.

indexing

Two pipelines: the v1 spoken-word and scene indexes, and the v2 flow where understand_video extracts artifacts and create_index turns one analyzer’s output into a searchable index.

Tool	Kind	Inputs	What it does
`index_spoken_words`	create	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `language_code?`, `force?=false`, `segmentation_type?`, `callback_url?`	Transcribe and index everything spoken in a video so it becomes searchable with `search_video` / `search_collection` (v1 index).
`index_scenes`	create	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `prompt?`, `name?`, `batch_type?=shot`, `batch_value?`, +3 more (see below)	Visually index a video (v1 scene index): samples frames per shot or per time window and describes what is on screen, so visual moments become searchable.
`list_scene_indexes`	read	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`	List the visual (scene) indexes that exist for a video, with IDs, names and status.
`get_scene_index`	read	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `scene_index_id`	Return the per-scene records (start, end, description) of one visual scene index.
`delete_scene_index`	destructive	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `scene_index_id`	Permanently delete one visual scene index of a video. The video is kept.
`understand_video`	create	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `analyzers`, `segmentation?`, `callback_url?`	Run one or more analyzers over a video to extract artifacts: transcript, scene descriptions, on-screen text, objects, brands, activities, locations.
`get_understanding`	read	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `understanding_id`	Get the status of one understanding run and of each analyzer in it (pending, running, done, failed).
`list_understandings`	read	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`	List every understanding run of a video with its status and analyzers.
`delete_understanding`	destructive	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `understanding_id`	Permanently delete an understanding run and its stored analyzer artifacts. Indexes built from it keep their own data.
`get_analyzer_output`	read	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `understanding_id`, `analyzer_name?`, `analyzer_id?`	Return the raw artifact one analyzer produced, such as transcript segments or per-scene descriptions with start/end.
`create_index`	create	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `understanding_id`, `analyzer_name?`, `analyzer_id?`, `name?`, +3 more (see below)	Build a retrieval-ready index from one analyzer’s output of an understanding run.
`get_index`	read	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `index_id?`, `name?`	Get one v2 index manifest by ID or name: status (building/ready/failed), record count, capabilities and field schema.
`list_indexes`	read	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `use_for?`	List the v2 indexes of a video (ID, name, status, capabilities, record count).
`delete_index`	destructive	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `index_id`	Permanently delete a v2 index. The video and understanding artifacts are kept.
`get_index_records`	read	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `index_id`, `limit?=20`, `cursor?`	Page through the records stored in a v2 index (scene_id, start, end, data).

`index_scenes` inputs

Field	Type	Required	What it is
`video_id`	`string`	yes	VideoDB video ID (starts with m-).
`collection_id`	`string`	no (default `default`)	VideoDB collection ID. Defaults to “default” (every account has one).
`prompt`	`string`	no	Instruction for how to describe scenes.
`name`	`string`	no	Name for this scene index.
`batch_type`	`'shot' \| 'time'`	no (default `shot`)	Split by detected shots or fixed time windows.
`batch_value`	`number`	no	Shot threshold (default 20) or window seconds (default 10).
`frame_count`	`number`	no (default `1`)	Frames sampled per scene.
`model_name`	`string`	no	Vision model tier or name used to describe scenes, e.g. ‘basic’, ‘pro’, ‘ultra’. Omit for the default.
`callback_url`	`string`	no	Optional webhook URL VideoDB calls when the job finishes (makes the call return immediately).

`create_index` inputs

Field	Type	Required	What it is
`video_id`	`string`	yes	VideoDB video ID (starts with m-).
`collection_id`	`string`	no (default `default`)	VideoDB collection ID. Defaults to “default” (every account has one).
`understanding_id`	`string`	yes	Understanding run ID (from understand_video / list_understandings).
`analyzer_name`	`string`	no	Analyzer name inside the run, e.g. ‘transcript’, ‘scene’, ‘objects’. Give this or analyzer_id.
`analyzer_id`	`string`	no	Analyzer ID (an_…). Give this or analyzer_name.
`name`	`string`	no	Index name; used by semantic_search index_names and get_index.
`use_for`	`('semantic' \| 'query' \| 'aggregate')[]`	no	Retrieval capabilities: semantic (embeddings), query (filter/sort), aggregate (group/count).
`fields`	`object`	no	Per-field capabilities, e.g. `{description:['semantic'], label:['filter','aggregate']}`. Omit for VideoDB defaults.
`callback_url`	`string`	no	Optional webhook URL VideoDB calls when the job finishes (makes the call return immediately).

Prerequisites

create_index needs an understand_video run whose analyzer has finished. Check with get_understanding.
create_index and get_analyzer_output accept either analyzer_name or analyzer_id. Give exactly one.
An index declares what it can serve through use_for. The values are semantic, query and aggregate, and they map to the search tools below.
understand_video takes analyzers as a list of objects, [{type: "spoken_words"}, {type: "vlm", prompt: "Describe the scene"}], and segmentation as {type: "time", seconds: 5} or {type: "shot", threshold: 30}.
A write that runs long comes back as status: "processing" with a retry_with: index_spoken_words names search_video, index_scenes names list_scene_indexes, understand_video names get_understanding, create_index names get_index.

search

Moment search and question answering, over one video or a whole collection.

Tool	Kind	Inputs	What it does
`search_video`	read	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `query`, `search_type?`, `index_type?`, `result_threshold?`, +5 more (see below)	Search within one video and get matching moments with start/end timestamps, text and relevance scores.
`search_collection`	read	`collection_id?=default`, `query`, `index_type?`, `result_threshold?`, `top_k?`, `mode?`, `include_clip?`, `session_id?`	Search every indexed video in a collection and get matching moments grouped by video, with timestamps and scores.
`ask_video`	read	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `question`, `top_k?`, `mode?`, `include_sources?`	Answer a natural-language question from one video’s indexed content.
`ask_collection`	read	`collection_id?=default`, `question`, `top_k?`, `mode?`, `include_sources?`	Answer a natural-language question from every indexed video in a collection.
`semantic_search`	read	`collection_id?=default`, `video_id?`, `query`, `index_names?`, `index_ids?`, `top_k?`, +3 more (see below)	Vector search over one or more indexes in a video or across a collection.
`query_index`	read	`collection_id?=default`, `video_id?`, `index_name?`, `index_id?`, `filter?`, `sort?`, `limit?`, `return_fields?`	Structured filter and sort over one index in a video or across a collection.
`aggregate_index`	read	`collection_id?=default`, `video_id?`, `index_name?`, `index_id?`, `group_by?`, `metric?`, +3 more (see below)	Counts, groups and facets over one index in a video or across a collection.

`search_video` inputs

Field	Type	Required	What it is
`video_id`	`string`	yes	VideoDB video ID (starts with m-).
`collection_id`	`string`	no (default `default`)	VideoDB collection ID. Defaults to “default” (every account has one).
`query`	`string`	yes	What to look for, e.g. ‘moments where pricing is discussed’.
`search_type`	`'semantic' \| 'keyword'`	no	Legacy: semantic (default) or keyword matching. Keyword works on videos only.
`index_type`	`'spoken_word' \| 'scene'`	no	Legacy: index to search, spoken_word (default) or scene.
`result_threshold`	`number`	no	Legacy: max results (default 5).
`scene_index_id`	`string`	no	Legacy: search one scene index (from list_scene_indexes).
`top_k`	`number`	no	v2: maximum moments to return.
`mode`	`'default' \| 'deepsearch'`	no	v2: default = single-step planned retrieval; deepsearch = multi-step investigation with follow-up sessions.
`include_clip`	`boolean`	no	v2: also return a playable clip for each moment.
`session_id`	`string`	no	v2: continue a deepsearch session (session_id from a previous response). Only valid with mode=deepsearch.

`semantic_search` inputs

Field	Type	Required	What it is
`collection_id`	`string`	no (default `default`)	VideoDB collection ID. Defaults to “default” (every account has one).
`video_id`	`string`	no	VideoDB video ID (starts with m-). Omit to run against the whole collection.
`query`	`string`	yes	Natural-language query.
`index_names`	`string[]`	no	Restrict to these index names.
`index_ids`	`string[]`	no	Restrict to these index IDs.
`top_k`	`number`	no	Max moments to return (default 10).
`score_threshold`	`number`	no	Minimum similarity score.
`filter`	`object[] \| object`	no	Structured filter over index fields, e.g. `[{"field": "label", "op": "==", "value": "phone"}]` or `{"activity": "walking"}`.
`return_fields`	`string \| string[] \| object`	no	Index fields to hydrate into each moment’s metadata; “all” for everything.

`aggregate_index` inputs

Field	Type	Required	What it is
`collection_id`	`string`	no (default `default`)	VideoDB collection ID. Defaults to “default” (every account has one).
`video_id`	`string`	no	VideoDB video ID (starts with m-). Omit to run against the whole collection.
`index_name`	`string`	no	Index name (from list_indexes).
`index_id`	`string`	no	Index ID (from list_indexes).
`group_by`	`string`	no	Aggregatable field to group by; dotted paths allowed, e.g. frames.detections.label.
`metric`	`string`	no	count (default), or sum(field), avg(field), min(field), max(field).
`filter`	`object[] \| object`	no	Structured filter over index fields, e.g. `[{"field": "label", "op": "==", "value": "phone"}]` or `{"activity": "walking"}`.
`sort`	`string \| array`	no	Sort order, e.g. [[“start”, “asc”]].
`limit`	`number`	no	Max groups (default 100).

Prerequisites

search_video and search_collection read the v1 indexes: spoken-word search needs index_spoken_words, and index_type='scene' needs index_scenes.
ask_video and ask_collection need v2 indexes built by create_index.
semantic_search, query_index and aggregate_index need an index built by create_index whose use_for includes semantic, query and aggregate respectively. Each takes index_name or index_id, and each runs over one video with video_id or the whole collection without it.
filter takes [{"field": "label", "op": "==", "value": "phone"}] or the shorthand {"activity": "walking"}. sort takes [["start", "asc"]]. return_fields takes a field name, a list of them, or "all".

streams

Cut, stitch, subtitle and reframe videos into playable streams, then render them to MP4.

Tool	Kind	Inputs	What it does
`generate_clip`	create	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `timeline`	Cut a clip, or a supercut of several segments, from a single video without re-encoding.
`compile_clips`	create	`clips`	Stitch moments from one or more videos into a single new stream.
`add_subtitles`	create	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `font_name?`, `font_size?`, `primary_colour?`, `secondary_colour?`, +17 more (see below)	Burn subtitles into a video from its transcript.
`create_highlight_clip`	create	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `prompt`, `content_type?=spoken`, `model_name?=basic`	Pick the moments of a video that match a natural-language prompt and compile them into one stream.
`reframe_video`	create	`video_id`, `collection_id?=default`, `start?`, `end?`, `target?=vertical`, `mode?=smart`, `callback_url?`	Re-crop a video, or a segment of it, to a new aspect ratio (vertical, square, landscape or custom dimensions) and save it as a new video in the same collection.
`download_stream`	create	`stream_url`, `name`	Render any VideoDB stream URL into a downloadable MP4 file.

`add_subtitles` inputs

Field	Type	Required	What it is
`video_id`	`string`	yes	VideoDB video ID (starts with m-).
`collection_id`	`string`	no (default `default`)	VideoDB collection ID. Defaults to “default” (every account has one).
`font_name`	`string`	no	Font family, default Arial.
`font_size`	`number`	no	Font size, default 18.
`primary_colour`	`string`	no	Text colour. ASS colour string &HAABBGGRR (alpha, blue, green, red hex), e.g. &H00FFFFFF is opaque white. Default white.
`secondary_colour`	`string`	no	Secondary (karaoke) colour. ASS colour string &HAABBGGRR (alpha, blue, green, red hex), e.g. &H00FFFFFF is opaque white.
`outline_colour`	`string`	no	Outline colour. ASS colour string &HAABBGGRR (alpha, blue, green, red hex), e.g. &H00FFFFFF is opaque white. Default black.
`back_colour`	`string`	no	Background/shadow colour. ASS colour string &HAABBGGRR (alpha, blue, green, red hex), e.g. &H00FFFFFF is opaque white. Default black.
`bold`	`boolean`	no	Bold text.
`italic`	`boolean`	no	Italic text.
`underline`	`boolean`	no	Underlined text.
`strike_out`	`boolean`	no	Strike-through text.
`scale_x`	`number`	no	Horizontal scale factor, default 1.0.
`scale_y`	`number`	no	Vertical scale factor, default 1.0.
`spacing`	`number`	no	Extra spacing between letters in pixels, default 0.
`angle`	`number`	no	Rotation angle in degrees, default 0.
`border_style`	`'no_border' \| 'opaque_box' \| 'outline'`	no	Border style, default outline.
`outline`	`number`	no	Outline thickness in pixels, default 1.
`shadow`	`number`	no	Shadow depth in pixels, default 0.
`alignment`	`'bottom_left' \| 'bottom_center' \| 'bottom_right' \| 'middle_left' \| 'middle_center' \| 'middle_right' \| 'top_left' \| 'top_center' \| 'top_right'`	no	Position of the subtitles on the frame, default bottom_center.
`margin_l`	`number`	no	Left margin in pixels, default 10.
`margin_r`	`number`	no	Right margin in pixels, default 10.
`margin_v`	`number`	no	Vertical margin in pixels, default 10.

Prerequisites

add_subtitles needs index_spoken_words on the video first.
download_stream takes a stream URL from generate_clip, compile_clips, add_subtitles, create_highlight_clip or get_video.
generate_clip takes timeline as [start_seconds, end_seconds] pairs, [[10, 25], [60, 90]]. compile_clips takes clips as a list of objects in playback order.
reframe_video takes target as a preset (vertical, square, landscape) or an explicit {width, height}. It comes back as status: "processing" with retry_with: list_videos.

editor

Multi-track timeline rendering. Tracks hold clips, and each clip carries a video, image, audio, text or caption asset.

Tool	Kind	Inputs	What it does
`render_timeline`	create	`tracks`, `background?`, `resolution?`	Render a multi-track editor timeline into a new stream in one call.
`download_timeline_render`	create	`stream_url`	Request an MP4 download of a stream produced by `render_timeline`.

Notes

A caption asset with src: "auto" pulls from the video’s spoken-word index. On an unindexed video the render succeeds with no captions, so run index_spoken_words first.
Text assets sized with width/height keep those dimensions only under fit: "contain". The default fit: "crop" upscales the text box to fill the frame.
tracks carries the whole edit. It is a list of track objects, each holding its clips and their assets.

rtstream

Ingest live RTSP, RTMP and HLS streams, index them continuously, search them, and get alerts on events. All timestamps are Unix seconds.

Tool	Kind	Inputs	What it does
`connect_rtstream`	create	`url`, `name`, `collection_id?=default`, `media_types?=["video"]`, `sample_rate?`, `store?`, `enable_transcript?`	Register a live RTSP/RTMP/HLS stream with VideoDB and start ingesting it.
`list_rtstreams`	read	`limit?=10`, `offset?=0`, `status?`, `name?`, `ordering?`	List real-time streams in the account with IDs, names, status and media types.
`get_rtstream`	read	`rtstream_id`	Get one real-time stream: name, status, sample rate, media types, creation time.
`set_rtstream_status`	update	`rtstream_id`, `action`	Start (connect) or stop (disconnect) ingestion of a real-time stream.
`get_rtstream_stream`	read	`rtstream_id`, `start`, `end`	Generate a playable stream and player URL for a time window of a real-time stream.
`export_rtstream_recording`	create	`rtstream_id`, `name?`	Export the latest completed recording of a real-time stream as a regular VideoDB video or audio asset.
`get_rtstream_transcript`	read	`rtstream_id`, `page?=1`, `page_size?=100`, `start?`, `end?`, `since?`	Read the real-time transcript of a stream.
`set_rtstream_transcript_status`	update	`rtstream_id`, `action`, `mode?=graceful`, `engine?`	Start or stop real-time transcription on a stream.
`index_rtstream_scenes`	create	`rtstream_id`, `prompt?`, `window_seconds?`, `frame_count?`, `model_name?`, `name?`	Start a continuous visual index on a real-time stream: every `window_seconds`, `frame_count` frames are described with the prompt.
`index_rtstream_audio`	create	`rtstream_id`, `prompt?`, `segmenter?`, `segment_value?`, `model_name?`, `name?`, `auto_start_transcript?=true`	Start a continuous spoken-word index on a real-time stream: the live transcript is chunked by segmenter and summarized with the prompt.
`list_rtstream_scene_indexes`	read	`rtstream_id`	List the scene (visual and audio) indexes on a real-time stream with their IDs, prompts and status.
`get_rtstream_scenes`	read	`rtstream_id`, `scene_index_id`, `start?`, `end?`, `page?=1`, `page_size?=100`	Read the records a scene index has produced so far (Unix-second start/end plus description).
`set_rtstream_scene_index_status`	update	`rtstream_id`, `scene_index_id`, `action`	Resume or pause a scene index on a real-time stream.
`search_rtstream`	read	`rtstream_id`, `query`, `index_type?`, `scene_index_id?`, `result_threshold?`, `score_threshold?`	Semantic search over the indexed records of a real-time stream.
`create_event`	create	`event_prompt`, `label`	Define a reusable event, a natural-language condition such as “a person enters the restricted area”, that alerts can watch for on any stream index.
`list_events`	read	none	List the events defined on the account (ID, label, prompt).
`create_rtstream_alert`	create	`rtstream_id`, `index_id`, `index_kind?=scene_index`, `event_id`, `callback_url`	Attach an event to a stream index so VideoDB POSTs to `callback_url` each time the event is detected in a new window.
`list_rtstream_alerts`	read	`rtstream_id`, `index_id`, `index_kind?=scene_index`	List the alerts attached to a stream index, with their event, callback and enabled state.
`set_rtstream_alert_status`	update	`rtstream_id`, `index_id`, `index_kind?=scene_index`, `alert_id`, `action`	Enable or disable an alert on a stream index without deleting it.
`understand_rtstream`	create	`rtstream_id`, `prompt`, `window_seconds?=5`, `frame_count?=2`, `output_name?=scene`, `store?=true`	Start a continuous vision-model analysis on a real-time stream: every `window_seconds`, `frame_count` frames are analyzed with the prompt and stored under `output_name`.
`list_rtstream_understandings`	read	`rtstream_id`	List the continuous understanding jobs on a real-time stream with their status, segmentation, analyzers and output descriptors.
`set_rtstream_understanding_status`	update	`rtstream_id`, `understanding_id`, `action`	Resume or pause a continuous understanding job on a real-time stream.
`get_rtstream_understanding_records`	read	`rtstream_id`, `understanding_id`, `start`, `end`, `output?=scene`, `page?=1`, `page_size?=100`	Read the analysis records an understanding produced for a Unix-second time range (start and end required).
`create_rtstream_index`	create	`rtstream_id`, `understanding_id`, `output?=scene`, `name?`, `use_for?`	Materialize an understanding output into a continuously updated searchable index.
`list_rtstream_indexes`	read	`rtstream_id`	List the understanding-backed indexes on a real-time stream with their status, source understanding and capabilities.
`set_rtstream_index_status`	update	`rtstream_id`, `index_id`, `action`	Resume or pause an understanding-backed index on a real-time stream.
`get_rtstream_index_records`	read	`rtstream_id`, `index_id`, `start?`, `end?`, `page?=1`, `page_size?=100`	Read the records materialized into an understanding-backed index, optionally limited to a Unix-second start/end window.

Prerequisites

Everything here starts with connect_rtstream. Indexes, understandings and alerts attach to a stream that is already connected and ingesting.
get_rtstream_transcript needs transcription running, started either by connect_rtstream with enable_transcript or by set_rtstream_transcript_status.
search_rtstream needs a scene index or an understanding-backed index on the stream.
create_rtstream_index needs an understand_rtstream job started with store=true.
create_rtstream_alert needs an event from create_event and an index to attach it to. Alerts cannot be deleted, only disabled with set_rtstream_alert_status.
list_rtstreams is account-scoped, not per collection. Each row carries its own collection_id.
Alert tools take index_kind to say which index the index_id belongs to: scene_index for one built by index_rtstream_scenes or index_rtstream_audio, index for one built by create_rtstream_index.
A write that runs long comes back as status: "processing" with a retry_with: connect_rtstream names list_rtstreams, export_rtstream_recording names get_video, index_rtstream_scenes and index_rtstream_audio name list_rtstream_scene_indexes, understand_rtstream names list_rtstream_understandings, create_rtstream_index names list_rtstream_indexes, create_event names list_events, create_rtstream_alert names list_rtstream_alerts.

meetings

Send a recorder bot into a meeting and collect the recording.

Tool	Kind	Inputs	What it does
`record_meeting`	create	`meeting_url`, `collection_id?=default`, `bot_name?`, `bot_image_url?`, `meeting_title?`, `time_zone?=UTC`, `callback_url?`	Send a VideoDB recorder bot to a Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams meeting URL.
`get_meeting`	read	`meeting_id`, `collection_id?=default`	Get the state of a recorder bot: status (initializing, joined, processing, done), the recorded `video_id` once done, and the speaker timeline when available.

Prerequisites

record_meeting comes back as soon as the bot is dispatched, with status: "processing" and retry_with: get_meeting. Poll get_meeting until status is done. Only then does video_id have a value.

Not exposed

Feature	Why not
AI generation: image, music, sound effect, voice and video generation, dubbing, voice clones	Excluded by connector policy. Use the SDKs.
Text generation	The client is already a language model.
Local-path uploads and `play()`	These need your filesystem or a browser on your machine.
Desktop capture, capture sessions and their client tokens	Capture runs through a native binary on your machine over a long-lived connection. A remote server cannot drive it.

For generation, use the generative media guides. For desktop capture and local files, use VideoDB Agent Skills, which run on your machine.

MCP Server

What the hosted server is and what it connects to

Connect a Client

Add the server to Claude, Cursor and other MCP clients

Workflows

End-to-end recipes built from these tools

Start Here

Core Concepts

Ingest

Understand

Act

Automate

MCP Server

Open Source Frameworks

IDs and conventions

collections

media

`list_assets` inputs

`transcode_media` inputs

transcripts

indexing

`index_scenes` inputs

`create_index` inputs

search

`search_video` inputs

`semantic_search` inputs

`aggregate_index` inputs

streams

`add_subtitles` inputs

editor

rtstream

meetings

Not exposed

MCP Server

Connect a Client

Workflows

​IDs and conventions

​collections

​media

​list_assets inputs

​transcode_media inputs

​transcripts

​indexing

​index_scenes inputs

​create_index inputs

​search

​search_video inputs

​semantic_search inputs

​aggregate_index inputs

​streams

​add_subtitles inputs

​editor

​rtstream

​meetings

​Not exposed

MCP Server

Connect a Client

Workflows

IDs and conventions

collections

media

`list_assets` inputs

`transcode_media` inputs

transcripts

indexing

`index_scenes` inputs

`create_index` inputs

search

`search_video` inputs

`semantic_search` inputs

`aggregate_index` inputs

streams

`add_subtitles` inputs

editor

rtstream

meetings

Not exposed