Tools Reference

Every tool the Kino MCP server exposes

The server tells agents to call getKinoInstructions before anything else; it returns the full workflow guide.

Projects and context

Tool	What it does
getKinoInstructions	Returns the full Kino workflow guide. Call before using other tools.
getCurrentKinoContext	Returns the open project’s identity and composition width/height/fps.
getSelectedItems	Returns timeline items and media-library clip moments in independent pages of 25, including totals and next offsets.
listProjects	Lists recent projects that can be opened in the editor.
openProject	Opens a project in the editor by ID.
createProject	Creates a new project and opens it in the editor, optionally with an explicit width, height, and frame rate.

Reading and editing compositions

Compositions are React code, so agents work with project files the same way they work with a codebase.

Tool	What it does
projectRead	Reads a file from the open project, with line numbers and paging for large files.
projectGlob	Finds files by name pattern in the open project.
projectGrep	Searches file contents with regex, with content, file-list, and count output modes.
projectPatch	Applies ordered edits to project files: replace, create, or delete.
setCompositionSettings	Reformats the open project’s frame with an explicit width and height. Frame rate is fixed at creation.

Verifying edits

Tool	What it does
projectScreenshot	Renders a screenshot of the composition at a specific timestamp, optionally cropped.
projectProfile	Profiles render performance frame by frame and flags ranges that miss the frame budget.

Timeline state

Tool	What it does
getCurrentPlayheadPosition	Returns the user’s current playhead position in the editor.
setPlayheadPosition	Moves the playhead. Set unit to seconds or frames and pass value, then pauses there.

Export

Tool	What it does
exportVideo	Starts rendering the open project to a video file and returns a render task ID.
getVideoExportTask	Polls an export for pending, in-progress, done, error, or cancelled status.

Importing media

Tool	What it does
addMediaToKino	Imports media from local file paths or URLs and kicks off AI analysis. .cube and .zip LUT files are imported as custom LUTs instead and returned in luts with a lutId.
getMediaAnalysisStatus	Immediately reports each analysis step’s status and elapsed time. Agents can use ready transcripts or descriptions, continue other work, and check again later.

Media library

Tool	What it does
findMedia	Searches media by glob pattern, text content, person, bin, media type, date range, and more.
readVideo	Returns full video context: metadata, AI title and description, named people, and a timeline of transcripts and highlights.
getMediaDescription	Returns the detailed visual annotation for a specific 10-second segment.

Search

Tool	What it does
transcriptSemanticSearch	Semantic search over transcripts: quotes, topics, and spoken content.
visualSemanticSearch	Semantic search over visuals: objects, people, actions, settings, and mood.

Moods

Tool	What it does
browseMoods	Discovers source catalogs, collections, channels, people, and styles; paginates complete records or your personal saved moodboard.
readMoodsAsset	Reads a scoped asset with all catalog metadata and available shots, transcripts, original media, previews, and thumbnails.
searchMoods	Searches catalog text literally, or searches Are.na and archive embeddings semantically, with explicit coverage. Requires research entitlement.
searchArenaCorpus	Returns an Are.na contact sheet and media links; supports visual neighbors via similarToBlockId.
listArenaStyles	Lists the visual taxonomy or renders a style’s exemplar sheet.

See Access Moods with your agent for pagination, downloads, and a copyable agent prompt.

People and bins

Tool	What it does
getPeople	Lists all people detected in the organization’s library.
getPersonInfo	Returns details about a specific person.
getBins	Lists compact summaries of all media bins, or full membership details for specified bin IDs.

Agent skills

The desktop app also ships skills: playbooks for workflows that combine Kino tools with the file system, like offloading a camera card. They’re advertised through the MCP server, so any connected agent can discover and follow them.

Skill	What it covers
External drive ingest	Offloading camera cards to an external drive with verified copies, then importing to Kino.
iPhone media ingest	Reading a plugged-in iPhone’s photo index and importing selected media.
Composition editing	Best practices for editing Kino’s React-based compositions.