Environment Variables

Set these variables in the env block of your MCP client configuration file (.vscode/mcp.json, .mcp.json, etc.).

Core — Video Providers

Variable	Description	Default
GEMINI_API_KEY	Google API key for Gemini (video and audio)	—
Z_AI_API_KEY	Z.AI API key for GLM-4.6V	—
DASHSCOPE_API_KEY	Alibaba Cloud API key for Qwen3.6	—
MOONSHOT_API_KEY	Moonshot AI API key for Kimi K2.6	—
MIMO_API_KEY	Xiaomi MiMo API key for MiMo-V2 Omni	—
VIDEO_MCP_DEFAULT_PROVIDER	Default video provider: gemini, glm, qwen, kimi, or mimo	gemini

See Video Providers for details on each provider, pricing, and where to get API keys.

S3 Relay

Variable	Description	Default
AWS_S3_BUCKET	S3 bucket name for automatic video relay. Enables GLM/Qwen/MiMo to bypass the 10–12 MB local file limit.	—
AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID	AWS access key ID. Not needed if using ~/.aws/credentials or an IAM role.	—
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY	AWS secret access key. Required alongside AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID.	—
AWS_REGION	AWS region for the S3 bucket (e.g. us-east-1).	—
AWS_S3_RELAY_CLEANUP	Set to false to keep relayed objects across sessions. Default: deleted at session end + orphans swept at startup.	true

See S3 Relay for the full setup guide.

Audio Providers

Variable	Description	Default
DEEPGRAM_API_KEY	Deepgram API key	—
ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY	AssemblyAI API key	—
GROQ_API_KEY	Groq API key for Whisper transcription	—
AUDIO_MCP_DEFAULT_PROVIDER	Default audio provider: deepgram, assemblyai, groq, or gemini	deepgram
AUDIO_ENHANCE_VIDEO_ANALYSIS	Inject audio transcripts into analyze_video/summarize_video prompts (GLM/Kimi/Qwen/MiMo). auto = when audio detected; true = always; false = disabled.	auto

See Audio Providers for provider comparison and diarization/translation support.

Caching

Variable	Description	Default
VIDEO_MCP_CACHE_TTL_MINUTES	How long video artifacts (video file, frames, audio, transcripts) are cached. Set 0 to disable caching.	43200 (30 days)
VIDEO_MCP_CACHE_MAX_ENTRIES	Maximum number of entries in the artifact cache. LRU eviction at the video level. Set 0 for unbounded.	100
VIDEO_MCP_CACHE_MAX_MB	Maximum total disk usage for the cache (MB). LRU eviction when exceeded. Set 0 to disable the limit.	5120 (5 GB)

See Caching & CLI for cache location details and management commands.

Video Summarization

Variable	Description	Default
VIDEO_MCP_MAX_FRAMES	Maximum keyframes for summarize_video (GLM/Qwen/MiMo when S3 relay is not configured; Kimi only when video > 100 MB; Gemini always uploads full video). Free: clamped 5–50. Pro: default 100; set 0 for uncapped. Bypassed entirely for GLM/Qwen/MiMo when S3 relay is configured.	50 free / 100 pro

Qwen

Variable	Description	Default
QWEN_BASE_URL	Override the DashScope API endpoint for regional routing. Singapore (default) / Virginia (https://dashscope-us.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1/chat/completions) / Beijing (https://dashscope.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1/chat/completions).	https://dashscope-intl.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1/chat/completions
QWEN_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS	Client-side timeout in ms for Qwen API requests. DashScope’s server-side limit is ~5 minutes, so values above ~285 000 are unlikely to help.	240000 (4 min)

GLM

Variable	Description	Default
GLM_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS	Client-side timeout (ms) for GLM API requests. Z.AI has no hard server-side streaming timeout, so raising this value (e.g. 480000 for 8 minutes) can help when analysing long videos with many frames.	240000 (4 min)

MiMo

Variable	Description	Default
MIMO_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS	Client-side timeout (ms) for MiMo API requests.	240000 (4 min)

yt-dlp (Platform Downloads)

Variable	Description	Default
YT_DLP_MAX_RESOLUTION	Max video height (px) for yt-dlp downloads. Free users are capped at 720.	720
YT_DLP_PATH	Path to a custom yt-dlp binary. If unset, auto-detects common installation paths (WinGet, Homebrew, pip, etc.) then falls back to the bundled binary.	—
YT_DLP_COOKIES_FILE	Path to a Netscape-format cookies file for authenticated downloads (age-restricted, private videos).	—
YT_DLP_IMPERSONATE	Browser to impersonate (e.g. chrome, firefox). Needed for sites like Udemy that block non-browser user-agents; requires a yt-dlp build with curl_cffi support.	—

Pro Tier

Variable	Description	Default
VIDEO_MCP_LICENSE_KEY	Pro license key. Unlocks extended frames, platform downloads beyond YouTube, resolution above 720p, and all media generation tools. Valid 1 year.	—

See Pro Tier for details on what the Pro tier unlocks.

MiniMax (Media Generation)

Required for all media generation tools (text_to_speech, generate_image, generate_video, generate_music, query_generation_task). All generation tools also require a Pro license.

Get your MiniMax API key

Sign in to the MiniMax platform and copy your key from the Interface Key page.

Top up your MiniMax balance

Media generation tools consume MiniMax account balance. Recharge your balance at MiniMax Balance before using image, video, music, or speech generation.

Variable	Description	Default
MINIMAX_API_KEY	MiniMax API key. Obtain from the MiniMax Interface Key page.	—
MINIMAX_BASE_URL	Override the MiniMax API base URL (e.g. for regional routing or a proxy)	https://api.minimax.io
MINIMAX_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS	Client-side timeout (ms) for MiniMax API requests. Increase if initial API calls time out on slow networks.	240000 (4 min)

Note

The MINIMAX_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS timeout applies to the initial API call, not the total video generation time. Video generation itself is async and polled via query_generation_task.

Example: full configuration

{
  "servers": {
    "videoMcp": {
      "type": "stdio",
      "command": "video-context-mcp",
      "env": {
        "GEMINI_API_KEY": "your-gemini-key",
        "Z_AI_API_KEY": "your-zai-key",
        "DASHSCOPE_API_KEY": "your-dashscope-key",
        "MOONSHOT_API_KEY": "your-moonshot-key",
        "MIMO_API_KEY": "your-mimo-key",
        "VIDEO_MCP_DEFAULT_PROVIDER": "gemini",
        "DEEPGRAM_API_KEY": "your-deepgram-key",
        "ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY": "your-assemblyai-key",
        "GROQ_API_KEY": "your-groq-key",
        "AUDIO_MCP_DEFAULT_PROVIDER": "deepgram",
        "AUDIO_ENHANCE_VIDEO_ANALYSIS": "auto",
        "AWS_S3_BUCKET": "my-video-analysis",
        "AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID": "your-aws-access-key",
        "AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY": "your-aws-secret-key",
        "AWS_REGION": "us-east-1",
        "AWS_S3_RELAY_CLEANUP": "true",
        "VIDEO_MCP_CACHE_TTL_MINUTES": "43200",
        "VIDEO_MCP_CACHE_MAX_ENTRIES": "100",
        "VIDEO_MCP_CACHE_MAX_MB": "5120",
        "VIDEO_MCP_MAX_FRAMES": "50",
        "QWEN_BASE_URL": "https://dashscope-intl.aliyuncs.com/compatible-mode/v1/chat/completions",
        "QWEN_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS": "240000",
        "GLM_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS": "240000",
        "MIMO_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS": "240000",
        "YT_DLP_MAX_RESOLUTION": "720",
        "YT_DLP_PATH": "/usr/local/bin/yt-dlp",
        "YT_DLP_COOKIES_FILE": "/path/to/cookies.txt",
        "YT_DLP_IMPERSONATE": "chrome",
        "VIDEO_MCP_LICENSE_KEY": "your-license-key",
        "MINIMAX_API_KEY": "your-minimax-key",
        "MINIMAX_BASE_URL": "https://api.minimax.io",
        "MINIMAX_REQUEST_TIMEOUT_MS": "240000"
      }
    }
  }
}

Remove or omit any variables you don’t need — unset optional vars fall back to their defaults.