Video Providers

Video Context MCP supports five AI providers for video analysis. You can configure all of them and the server will fall back automatically when one is unavailable or rate-limited.

Provider Comparison

Feature	Gemini 3 Flash Preview	GLM-4.6V	Qwen3.6	Kimi K2.6	MiMo-V2 Omni
Price	Free tier	Free tier (GLM-4.6V-Flash)	Free credits (promotional)	$0.60 / $3.00 per 1M tokens	$0.40 / $2.00 per 1M tokens
Context window	1M tokens	128K tokens	1M tokens	256K tokens	256K tokens
Max local file	2 GB	~12 MB (base64)	~10 MB (base64)	100 MB	~10 MB (base64)
Large file fallback	—	S3 relay or frame-based	S3 relay or frame-based	—	S3 relay or frame-based
Video formats	mp4, mpeg, mov, avi, flv, mpg, webm, wmv, 3gpp	mp4, avi, mov, wmv, webm, m4v	mp4, avi, mov, wmv, webm, m4v	mp4, mpeg, mov, avi, flv, mpg, webm, wmv, 3gpp	mp4, mov, avi, wmv
Card required	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Best for	Default — free, no card	Free, no card	Free credits	Paid, broadest format support	Paid, thinking mode

Gemini 3 Flash Preview — Default

The default provider. Free with no credit card required. Accepts files up to 2 GB natively. An excellent all-round provider with the largest context window.

Environment variable: GEMINI_API_KEY
Get API key →

GLM-4.6V

Free tier available with no credit card required. Uses base64 video encoding for local files (cap: ~12 MB); falls back to S3 relay or frame-based analysis for larger files.

Environment variable: Z_AI_API_KEY
Get API key →

Qwen3.6

Currently FREE (promotional) — credit card required to sign up. Context window of 1M tokens. Regional endpoint configuration available via QWEN_BASE_URL.

Environment variable: DASHSCOPE_API_KEY
Get API key →

Kimi K2.6

Paid provider with the broadest video format support. Accepts files up to 100 MB natively without S3 relay.

Environment variable: MOONSHOT_API_KEY
Get API key →

MiMo-V2 Omni

Paid provider with thinking mode support from Xiaomi. Uses base64 for local files (~10 MB cap) with S3 relay or frame-based fallback for larger files.

Environment variable: MIMO_API_KEY
Get API key →

Fallback Chains

When a provider fails or its key is missing, the server automatically tries the next provider in priority order:

Default Provider	Fallback Order
Gemini (default)	Gemini → GLM → Qwen → Kimi → MiMo
GLM	GLM → Gemini → Qwen → Kimi → MiMo
Qwen	Qwen → Gemini → GLM → Kimi → MiMo
Kimi	Kimi → Gemini → GLM → Qwen → MiMo
MiMo	MiMo → Gemini → GLM → Qwen → Kimi

Change the Default Provider

Set the VIDEO_MCP_DEFAULT_PROVIDER environment variable in your MCP config:

"VIDEO_MCP_DEFAULT_PROVIDER": "glm"

Valid values: gemini (default), glm, qwen, kimi, mimo

Tip

To ensure the LLM respects your configured default provider, add the following to your Copilot instructions (.github/copilot-instructions.md) or AGENTS.md:

If VIDEO_MCP_DEFAULT_PROVIDER is set in the MCP config, respect that value as the default provider for video tools. Do not specify a provider parameter unless the user explicitly requests one. :::

Large Local Files

GLM, Qwen, and MiMo all have a ~10–12 MB base64 encoding limit for local files. When a file exceeds this:

1. The server first tries to fall back to an upload-capable provider (Gemini or Kimi) if available in the chain.
2. If that fails too, the server falls back to frame-based analysis (evenly-spaced keyframes) as a last resort.
3. For the best quality with large local files, configure the S3 Relay — GLM, Qwen, and MiMo will receive a presigned URL to the full video, bypassing the limit entirely.