Docs · Reference

Agent access (MCP)

Connect Claude or another MCP client to Sift, and what an agent can read and change.

Sift has a built-in Model Context Protocol server. An agent such as Claude Desktop or Claude Code can do what the UI does: list events, search transcripts, look at frames, resolve review items, plan a rough cut and export. Your edits and the agent’s share one undo history.

Turn it on

Agent access is off by default. Open Settings → Agent access and switch on Allow agents over MCP. Sift then shows the client config with Copy config.

Runs and exports started by an agent still need confirmation, and they respect the budget caps.

Connect a client

The recommended way is stdio: the client starts sift mcp, which talks to the running app. If Sift isn’t running, sift mcp starts it in the background without opening a browser.

Claude Desktop (claude_desktop_config.json):

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "sift": {
      "command": "/Applications/sift-0.1.0-darwin-arm64/sift",
      "args": ["mcp"]
    }
  }
}

Claude Code:

claude mcp add sift -- "/Applications/sift-0.1.0-darwin-arm64/sift" mcp

Use the path to your own copy of sift. Copy config in Settings fills it in for you.

Sift also serves MCP over HTTP at http://127.0.0.1:<port>/mcp with a bearer token. The port and token change every time Sift starts, so use stdio for anything you keep.

What an agent can do

Sift exposes 39 tools. Read tools answer questions; write tools change the event, and each change is undoable.

Group	Tools
Discovery	`list_genres`, `list_profiles`, `get_profile`, `list_events`, `get_event_summary`
Events	`create_event`, `scan_event`, `get_devices`, `update_devices`, `run_event`, `delete_event`
Content	`search_transcript`, `list_moments`, `list_candidates`, `list_take_groups`, `update_moment`, `update_candidate`, `set_best_take`
Looking	`get_frames`, `get_audio_clip`
Timeline	`get_timeline`, `set_file_placement`, `update_scene`
Review	`list_needs_review`, `get_review_summary`, `resolve_review_item`
Rough cut	`list_rough_cuts`, `get_rough_cut`, `plan_rough_cut`, `update_rough_cut`
Profiles	`create_profile`, `estimate_profile`, `run_profile`, `update_profile`
Music	`get_music_map`
Jobs	`get_job_status`, `cancel_job`
Output	`preview_export`, `export_event`

run_event, export_event and delete_event ask for confirmation. run_event shows the estimate and the cap first.

There are also three prompts (review_needs_review, tighten_selects, find_moments) and resources for an event’s summary and transcript (event://{id}/summary, event://{id}/transcript) and a profile (profile://{id}).

See and undo what an agent did

Every change an agent makes appears in the Activity panel with an Agent tag and an Undo button, next to your own changes. ⌘Z undoes the most recent one, whoever made it.

Example requests

“In the Corey & Amanda wedding, list the review items that are must-fix and resolve the ones where the clip is a duplicate.”
“Search the transcript for the toast and put the best candidate in Selects.”
“Re-plan the rough cut at four minutes and lock the vows.”

Coming soon An editor agent that reviews and refines the rough cut on its own is in development. Today, agents work through the tools above.