Shortform Kit MCP Server

by diegobruegger-prog Your server? Claim it

answering

Shortform Kit is answering right now. Last checked 2 min ago. It exposes 9 tools. Last commit 20 Oct 2026.

Transcribe, read and download public Reels, TikToks and YouTube videos, plus sourced creator data

Uptime history 14 days of history · worst day 99%

14 days agonow

100.0%

Uptime 24h

92 of 92 checks

Tools

read from the server

185 ms

Response time

average over 24h

Stars

last commit 20 Oct 2026

What changed 21

Every tool that appeared, vanished or quietly changed what it asks for. Recorded since 16 October 2026. No other catalogue keeps this.

22 Oct a tool description was rewritten download_media

21 Oct the owner changed

16 Oct 9 tool descriptions were rewritten10 times that day creator_monetization, download_media, estimate_youtube_earnings and 6 more

16 Oct 9 tools changed the parameters they ask for creator_monetization, download_media, estimate_youtube_earnings and 6 more

and 1 more, back to 16 October 2026

Shortform Kit missed one check this week

Everything else answered, so this is steady rather than shaky. We check every 15 minutes, which is how a one-off gets told apart from the start of a pattern, and how you hear about the next one within the hour instead of from your users.

Connect this server

Endpoint below is the one we actually reach during checks — not the one copied from a README. Last verified 2 min ago.

Claude Code Claude Desktop Codex Cursor VS Code

run in your terminal

claude mcp add shortformkit --transport http https://shortformkit.com/mcp

Settings → Connectors → Add custom connector, then paste this address

https://shortformkit.com/mcp

~/.codex/config.toml

[mcp_servers.shortformkit]
url = "https://shortformkit.com/mcp"

.cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "shortformkit": {
      "url": "https://shortformkit.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

.vscode/mcp.json

{
  "servers": {
    "shortformkit": {
      "type": "http",
      "url": "https://shortformkit.com/mcp"
    }
  }
}

Available tools 9

Read directly from the server with tools/list, grouped by what they act on. If a tool disappears, we record the date.

youtube

youtube_channel_id

Resolve a YouTube channel to its permanent channel ID (UC...). Returns channel ID, name, handle, channel URL and the RSS feed URL. Use it when an API, embed, RSS reader or analytics tool needs the UC ID; any video link of the channel works too. Not for statistics like subscriber counts.

youtube_thumbnail_trends

Get this week's measured thumbnail trends of the most-viewed new YouTube videos in 10 niches: share of thumbnails with faces, text and big text, brightness, dominant colours, title length, plus top example videos. Without a niche it returns the overall stats and the list of niches. Use it when designing or reviewing a thumbnail; the data refreshes weekly.

creator

creator_monetization

Look up sourced 2026 creator-income data. topic=programs lists monetization programs with eligibility (subscribers, watch hours, views) and status; rpm_by_niche and rpm_by_country give earnings per 1,000 views as low, high and median; engagement_benchmarks gives typical engagement rates; sponsorship_rates gives price ranges per post. Every row carries its sources. Use it to answer 'how much does X pay' or 'what do I need to monetize'; for a concrete earnings estimate from a view count use estimate_youtube_earnings instead. Offline data, max 40 rows.

download

download_media

Create a temporary download of a public post. Returns a job object with status and, when done, download_url (valid 15 minutes) plus job_status_url to poll if it is still running after about 100 seconds. Use kind=video for MP4, audio for MP3, image for photo posts and carousels, thumbnail for the cover, frame for a still at one timestamp. For the spoken text use transcribe_video instead. Videos up to 12 hours. Only for content the user made, has permission to use, or that is freely licensed. Music is refused: songs, music videos, YouTube Music and copyrighted sounds return an error, do not try to work around it.

estimate

estimate_youtube_earnings

Estimate YouTube ad revenue for a channel from its monthly views. Returns the RPM range in USD, monthly and yearly USD ranges, the model used and a link to the interactive calculator. Ads only, no sponsorships or memberships. Use creator_monetization for the underlying RPM tables and program requirements.

loudness

loudness_and_subtitles

Look up delivery standards for audio and captions. topic=loudness_targets gives integrated loudness (LUFS) and true-peak limits for Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Netflix, Prime Video, EBU R128, ATSC A/85, podcasts and social video; subtitle_standards gives characters per line, lines, reading speed and timing rules (Netflix, BBC and others); frame_rates_timecode explains frame rates and drop-frame timecode. Every value sourced. Use it when mixing, exporting or captioning for a platform. Offline data, max 40 rows.

social

social_video_specs

Look up 2026 upload specs for Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Snapchat and Threads: aspect ratio, resolution, max length, file size, caption and hashtag limits, each row with official source links, plus recent spec changes. Use it before exporting or cropping a video for a platform. Offline data, no network calls; empty filters return every row.

transcribe

transcribe_video

Transcribe the speech of a public video, Reel, TikTok or Short with Whisper on the server. Returns the plain text plus segments with start and end times; waits up to 4 minutes, otherwise returns job_status_url to poll. Use it for captions, quotes, summaries or hooks; use get_video_info if you only need the written caption. Up to 20 minutes of audio per run, one transcription at a time server-wide, so cut long videos with start/end.

video

get_video_info

Read the metadata of a public Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, X, Facebook or Pinterest post without downloading it. Returns platform, title, uploader, duration in seconds, available video heights, whether it has video/audio, gallery size, caption, hashtags and thumbnail URL. Use it first to check a link or pick a quality; use download_media to get the file and transcribe_video for the spoken words. Shares the website's limit of 30 requests per minute.

Endpoints

URL	Transport	State	Latency	Checked
https://shortformkit.com/mcp	streamable-http	answering	194 ms	2 min ago

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Shortform Kit — questions

Answers built from our own checks of this server.

What can Shortform Kit do?

It exposes 9 tools, read directly from the server on our last check. Among them: creator_monetization, download_media, estimate_youtube_earnings, get_video_info, loudness_and_subtitles, social_video_specs and 3 more. The full list with descriptions is on this page — we take it from the server itself via tools/list, not from a README. How MCP servers expose tools in the first place →

Is Shortform Kit working right now?

We send a real MCP handshake every 15 minutes. Over the last 24 hours 92 of 92 checks got a reply (100.0%), average response time 185 ms. The bar chart above shows every period we have measured.

How do I connect Shortform Kit?

Copy the ready config from this page. We generate it for Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex, Cursor and VS Code, each in the form that client actually reads. It is a remote server, so there is nothing to install — the client connects to the address.

Does Shortform Kit need an API key?

No. Shortform Kit completed a full MCP handshake with us as an anonymous client and listed its tools without asking for anything. All 9 of them are readable on this page. This is what we observed, not what the docs claim.

How fast is Shortform Kit?

It answers our handshake in 185 ms on average, which is faster than 82% of all working MCP servers we measure. That puts it in the quick quarter of the ecosystem. The comparison comes from our own checks across the whole registry, every 15 minutes.

Is Shortform Kit open source?

The code is open source: it is published under the MIT licence and 0 stars on GitHub. The licence covers the code in the repository, not the hosted service at shortformkit.com, which runs on its operator's own terms.