# DaVinci Resolve control (MCP) — research + setup kit Goal: drive DaVinci Resolve from Claude/our stack — first **locally on this Mac** to test, then **remotely on a client's Mac**. Status as of 2026-06-19: prep only; Resolve is not installed on this machine yet. ## What's already out there (don't rebuild) - **Resolve ships an official scripting API** (Python + Lua). The relevant toggle is `Preferences → System → General → External scripting using`: `None` / `Local` (same machine) / **`Network`** (remote host). Python + Network mode require **Resolve Studio** (the free version is Lua-only, local-only). - **A mature MCP already wraps the API:** [`samuelgursky/davinci-resolve-mcp`](https://github.com/samuelgursky/davinci-resolve-mcp) — ~1.3k★, actively maintained (shipped a release 2026-06-19), Python, **stdio** transport, macOS/Win/Linux, Studio 18.5+. 32 compound tools by default (341 granular), ~100% API coverage. Covers project/timeline/media-pool/render/color/Fusion/Fairlight plus `execute_python` / `execute_lua`. - Alt: [`apvlv/davinci-resolve-mcp`](https://github.com/apvlv/davinci-resolve-mcp), Tooflex. - **Gap:** every existing MCP is a *local stdio process* — assumes Claude and Resolve on the same Mac. None do remote / fleet / telemetry. That's our value-add (Tier 2). ## Tier 1 — local (this Mac), to test 1. Install DaVinci Resolve (Studio for the full API). 2. Resolve → Preferences → System → General → External scripting using → **Local**. 3. `./toolchain/resolve/setup.fish` (preflight, then runs `npx davinci-resolve-mcp setup`, which auto-writes the Claude Code MCP config). 4. Restart Claude Code → `davinci-resolve` tools appear. The upstream installer manages its own Python copy + env vars (`RESOLVE_SCRIPT_API`, `RESOLVE_SCRIPT_LIB`, `PYTHONPATH`), so we don't hand-maintain a `.mcp.json` entry. ## Tier 2 — remote (client's Mac) — to build Existing MCPs can't do remote. Two transports, both leaning on code we already have: - **(a) Resolve Network mode** — set scripting to…