> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kino.ai/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# 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](https://kino.ai/docs/features/luts.md#import-your-own-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](https://kino.ai/docs/mcp/guides/access-moods) 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](https://kino.ai/docs/mcp/guides/offload-a-camera-card) to an external drive with verified copies, then importing to Kino. |
| iPhone media ingest | [Reading a plugged-in iPhone's photo index](https://kino.ai/docs/mcp/guides/iphone-ingest) and importing selected media. |
| Composition editing | Best practices for editing Kino's React-based compositions. |


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