Use Zornov from Claude, Codex and other AI assistants

Zornov serves its tools over the Model Context Protocol (MCP), so Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex and other MCP clients can open a project, edit it, look at frames, check the work and export.

Before you start

Install Zornov first (see Install Zornov). Every setup below starts the Zornov you installed.

Most assistants run Zornov by the name zornov, so it needs to be on your PATH:

On Windows, point assistants at zornov-cli.exe, the console program, rather than zornov.exe.

Claude Code

Zornov's repository is a Claude Code plugin marketplace. In Claude Code, run:

/plugin marketplace add zornov/zornov
/plugin install zornov@zornov

The plugin starts Zornov with no project of its own. Ask Claude to open or start a project, or open one in the Zornov window first: Claude then works in the window you opened most recently.

To tie Claude to one project instead, skip the plugin and add the server yourself:

claude mcp add zornov -- zornov mcp --project /path/to/my-video

Claude Desktop

1. Download Zornov.mcpb, the Claude Desktop extension, from the latest release: https://github.com/zornov/zornov/releases/latest/download/Zornov.mcpb
2. Open the file. Claude Desktop installs the extension.
3. When it asks for the Project folder, choose your project's folder. An empty folder becomes a new project.

The extension doesn't contain a copy of Zornov. It starts the one installed in the usual place: Zornov.app in Applications on macOS, the MSI install in C:\Program Files\Zornov on Windows, or zornov on your PATH on Linux.

If Zornov is installed somewhere else, add it to Claude Desktop's claude_desktop_config.json (in Claude Desktop, Settings > Developer > Edit Config) as shown under Any MCP client, using the full path to Zornov.

Codex

Add Zornov from a terminal:

codex mcp add zornov -- zornov mcp --project /path/to/my-video

Or add the entry to ~/.codex/config.toml yourself:

[mcp_servers.zornov]
command = "zornov"
args = ["mcp", "--project", "/path/to/my-video"]

On Windows, use command = 'C:\Program Files\Zornov\zornov-cli.exe' (single quotes keep the backslashes as they are).

Leave --project and its folder out of args to let Codex open or start a project itself.

Any MCP client

Any client that starts a local (stdio) MCP server can run Zornov with the same command. Most read a JSON entry like this:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "zornov": { "command": "zornov", "args": ["mcp", "--project", "/path/to/my-video"] }
  }
}

On Windows, use "command": "C:\\Program Files\\Zornov\\zornov-cli.exe".

With or without a project folder

• With --project: the assistant works in that folder. An empty or new folder becomes a new project.
• Without it: if a Zornov window is open, the assistant works in the project open there. Otherwise it opens or starts a project when you ask.

Watch it work in the window

When the assistant's project is open in a Zornov window, its edits happen in that window. You see clips appear, move and change on the timeline as it works, and the AI editor panel shows An agent outside the app is working on this project.

You can keep working while it does. Your Undo takes back only your own edits; to take back the assistant's, ask it to undo. See Tips for working with AI.

Check that it's connected

Ask your assistant something simple, such as "What's in my Zornov project?" It should answer with a summary of the timeline. If it can't find Zornov, check that zornov runs from a terminal, or use the full path in the setup.

Related pages

• What AI assistants can do in Zornov
• Tips for working with AI
• What stays on your computer
• The command line