How to add Crisp's free video tools to Claude
In Claude, open Customize, then
Connectors. Click + Add, then Add custom connector. Name it Crisp,
paste https://mcp.crispvideo.app/mcp as the server URL, click Continue, pick No sign in
under Authentication, and click Add. In a chat, switch it on from the + button under
Connectors. That is the path Claude's own help page gave on 9 November 2026 for the Free, Pro and Max
plans; the Free plan allows one custom connector. After that you can ask Claude how to get a two-minute video under
20 MB for Discord, or what to set before you capture a VHS tape, and it works the answer out with Crisp's tools.
I built this connector because the questions people ask before they ever open a video app are mostly arithmetic and vocabulary. Will this fit in an email? What is a Hi8 tape and what plays it? Which capture setting is the one that matters? Claude is good at the conversation and less reliable at the sums and the dated limits, so the connector does those parts and says where each number came from.
What the connector can answer
It has twelve tools. You never call them by name: you ask Claude in plain words and it picks the tool.
| You ask about | The tools | What comes back |
|---|---|---|
| Sending or posting a video | share_settings, fit_to_size | The size limit for Gmail, Outlook.com, Mail Drop, WhatsApp, iMessage, YouTube or Facebook (each dated), the bitrate that fits, and two ffmpeg passes that write a separate copy |
| Old tapes | identify_tape, plan_transfer, capture_settings, storage_needed | Which format a cassette is, the equipment and steps, the capture settings, and how much disk the files will take |
| A file you can't open or don't recognise | identify_file, convert_plan, ffmpeg_command, date_fix_command | What the file probably is, what to convert it to and what is lost, and one ffmpeg command that writes a new file |
| Something that looks or sounds wrong | diagnose_video, fix_steps | The likely faults behind the symptom, how to tell them apart, and the order to fix them in with free tools |
Two real answers, from 9 November 2026
A two-minute clip for Discord. Discord's own help page says the free upload limit has been 20 MB since August 2026, up from 10 MB, and that it checks the size before any compression. I asked the connector's fit_to_size tool for a two-minute video under 20 MB. It counted 20 MB as 20,000,000 bytes, held back 4% for the container and for the encoder overshooting, and came to 1,280 kbit/s in total. Take 128 kbit/s for stereo AAC sound and 1,152 kbit/s is left for the picture, so it chose 480p rather than starve a 1080p frame, then wrote the two ffmpeg passes. It also said which of its own floors it hasn't checked yet, so you know which number is a planning figure.
A VHS tape on a Mac. For an NTSC VHS tape, capture_settings answered: 720×480 at 29.97 frames a second, interlaced; keep the interlacing at capture and don't force a field order; ProRes 422 or a lossless codec such as FFV1; audio at 48 kHz; S-Video if the VCR has it, composite if not. It also says that the capture size is not the detail on the tape, which is the line most guides leave out. Then storage_needed put ten hours of FFV1 at about 187 to 457 GB. The range is wide on purpose: FFV1 is lossless, so tape noise decides the size, and the tool labels its 40 to 100 Mbit/s rate as a planning figure rather than a measured one.
The whole transfer, from the VCR and the capture box to the cleaned-up file, is in how to convert VHS to digital on a Mac.
What it never does
It never sees your video. Claude sends it text: a running time, the words on a cassette label, a symptom. It answers with numbers, steps and commands, and every answer ends by saying it is advice and that the server has not opened a file or run anything. The commands it writes save a separate copy and leave the original alone.
Claude's help page also explains where the connection comes from: Anthropic's servers reach the connector over the internet, not your computer. That's why it works the same in the browser, the desktop app and the phone app, and why it can't touch your files. The server answers up to 20,000 calls a day in total, shared by everyone, which keeps it free without an account.
On a Team or Enterprise plan, an Owner adds it first, under Organization settings, then Connectors, and everyone else connects to it from their own Connectors list.
When you need the app instead
The connector can tell you a tape is a Hi8, that the stripes on moving edges are interlacing, or that the hiss is tape noise. It can't take them out. That's what the Crisp app is for: it deinterlaces, denoises, steadies and upscales the video on your own Mac or Windows PC, offline, and nothing is uploaded. It's free to use, with upscaling, restoring and colour exports stopping at 15 seconds until you buy Pro.
Questions people ask
Is the Crisp connector free?
Yes. There is no account, no sign-in and no key. Pick "No sign in" when Claude asks about authentication.
Can it see or upload my videos?
No. It only gets the text Claude sends it, and it says so at the end of every answer. Your files stay on your computer.
Does it work on the free Claude plan?
Claude's help page says custom connectors work on the Free plan, limited to one custom connector, and on Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise. Read on 9 November 2026.
Why does an answer say a figure is "not yet checked"?
Because some numbers are planning floors rather than limits read on a company's own page. The connector labels each one, so you can tell a dated limit (Gmail's 25 MB) from an estimate (the bitrate a 480p picture needs).