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Claude Code is Anthropic’s official CLI for Claude. Connect the Pictory MCP server and it gains a set of Pictory tools: you describe the video you want, and Claude Code creates it through your Pictory account. You do not need an API key or an API subscription. Sign in with your Pictory account through the Pictory sign-in page.
Motion graphics for Pictory 3.0 accounts. Create animated text, charts, and diagrams through conversation, then open the same project in Pictory 3.0 for further editing. Explore the motion graphics guide.

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Prerequisites

  • Claude Code installed: npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
  • A Pictory account with an active subscription or eligible Free Trial: app.pictory.ai. Available video minutes, voice-over usage, and AI Credits depend on your plan.

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Connect

A browser window opens on the Pictory sign-in page. Sign in with your email and password, or continue with Google. The browser hands control back to Claude Code, which stores the sign-in for future sessions. Verify it with claude mcp list; the server shows as connected.
--callback-port 3118 is required. Claude Code completes the sign-in on a local listener, and Pictory checks that address against a registered list. Without the flag, Claude Code picks a random port and the sign-in fails before you can log in.
If you already added the Pictory connector in Claude and Claude Code is signed in to the same account, you can use that connection. claude mcp list shows it under the connector’s name, prefixed claude.ai, and its tools are available in every session.

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What You Can Ask For

Pictory 2.0 and Pictory 3.0 are versions of the Pictory video app. Your account determines the only type of new video you can create through the MCP connector: Claude Code checks your account automatically. It does not ask you to choose between these video types. Pictory 3.0 users do not need separate activation for Motion Graphics. The MCP server rejects Motion Graphics creation requests from Pictory 2.0 accounts.
Moving to Pictory 3.0 is a one-way change. If you use Pictory 2.0 and want Motion Graphics, contact Pictory support to enable Pictory 3.0 for your account. After your account moves to Pictory 3.0, you cannot switch back to Pictory 2.0. New videos you create through MCP will use Motion Graphics only.
For motion graphics, choose a Brand Kit 2.0 from Pictory 3.0 or None early in the conversation. Settle narration, music, and transitions. The assistant asks about stock media, AI-generated media, both, or none only if you have not already given a preference. Finalize narration, narrator, music, and scene count before creation. Later chat revisions can change the visual design. The project is saved automatically and opens in the Motion Studio editor in Pictory 3.0. On plans that charge render credits, Motion Graphics videos made through MCP cost 200 AI Credits per video minute for the project’s first successful render. Before rendering the finished motion video, the assistant shows your available credits and the cost, then waits for your confirmation. This applies even if you asked to render in your first message or the render costs zero credits. See credits and rendering. Only Standard videos ask whether Pictory designs the scenes or you design them together. They offer the choice to save an editable project. A Standard preview takes 2–5 minutes and a render 5–15 minutes. See the Pictory MCP Server overview for details.

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Scope and Sign-Out

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Get the New Features: Existing Users

If this connection comes from the connector in your Claude account, follow the disconnect, remove, and add again steps in Claude first, then start a new Claude Code session. If you registered Pictory directly in Claude Code, sign out and remove that server registration. Follow the setup and sign-in steps on this page to add it again, using the same scope as before. Start a new session after reconnecting. Your saved Pictory projects stay in your account.

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Troubleshooting

Cause: The server was added without --callback-port, so Claude Code used a random port and the return address did not match the registered one.Resolution:
  1. Remove the server: claude mcp remove pictory-ai-video
  2. Add it again with the flag, exactly as shown above.
  3. Sign in: claude mcp login pictory-ai-video
Cause: Another process is listening on that port, so Claude Code cannot open the callback listener. The port cannot be changed, because it is the one registered with Pictory.Resolution: Find the process with lsof -i :3118, stop it or wait for it to finish, then sign in again.
Cause: Claude Code reads the tool list when it connects, so a tool added since then is not visible.Resolution: Follow Get the new features: existing users, then start a new session.
Cause: The stored sign-in has expired, or the connected account does not have access to the requested feature or sufficient remaining usage.Resolution: Sign out and in again with claude mcp logout then claude mcp login. Check the subscription at app.pictory.ai.

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Next Steps

Pictory MCP Server

Standard videos, motion graphics, and the options available through your connection

Connect from Claude Code

The same setup with scopes, sign-out and troubleshooting in full

Connect from Claude

Add Pictory as a custom connector in Claude on the web

Use Pictory with an LLM

Connect your assistant and see an example video conversation