mcp

Plainly's MCP server exposes a set of tools that let you interact with Plainly APIs through LLM clients. Once running, clients can connect to the MCP server and invoke the available tools to list renderable items, fetch details for a specific renderable item, submit a render request, and poll for render status. The server is implemented in Node.js and is designed to be used with the MCP protocol and compatible clients via the provided tools. To start using it, ensure you provide your Plainly API key as an environment variable so the server can authenticate with the Plainly API.

Available tools include:

• list_renderable_items: Retrieve a list of renderable items (designs or custom projects) accessible to the authenticated user.
• get_renderable_items_details: Get detailed information for a single item, including required/optional parameters, previews, and aspect ratios.
• render_item: Submit a render task with the necessary parameters to start a render job.
• check_render_status: Check the current status of a render and obtain errors or preview links when available.

These tools enable automated workflows where an LLM or client can discover what can be rendered, understand how to configure a render, and monitor progress until completion.

Prerequisites:

• Node.js v18 or newer
• NPM or Yarn
• Access to a Plainly account with an API key

Installation steps:

1. Install Node.js (v18+) if you haven’t already. Visit https://nodejs.org/ to download and install.
2. Install the MCP server via npx (from any project directory):

npx -y @plainly-videos/mcp-server@latest

This will bootstrap and run the MCP server using the default configuration, assuming you provide the required environment variable when prompted or via configuration.

3. Set up your API key in the environment configuration:

export PLAINLY_API_KEY="<YOUR_PLAINLY_API_KEY>"

4. If you are using a local editor integration, you can embed the configuration snippet in your editor's MCP.json or equivalent configuration, as shown in the README example. For development workflows, you can clone the repository, install dependencies, and run the development build:

git clone https://github.com/plainly-videos/mcp-server.git
cd mcp-server
yarn install
yarn build

5. Start the server using the recommended startup method for your environment (e.g., via npx as shown above, or using your editor's Smithery integration).

Environment variables:

• PLAINLY_API_KEY: Your Plainly API key used to authenticate requests to the Plainly API.

Configuration tips:

• When running via Smithery or editor integrations, you may need to provide the full path to the built dist/cli.js for the server in your MCP.json configuration.
• If you encounter authentication errors, verify that your API key is correctly set in the environment and that it has the necessary permissions in your Plainly account.
• The MCP server supports the standard MCP tools outlined in the README; ensure your client is compatible with these tool names and input schemas.

Troubleshooting:

• Check network access to Plainly API endpoints and ensure there are no firewall blocks.
• Verify that the environment variables are loaded in the same process where the MCP server runs.
• If the server fails to start, ensure you’re using Node.js v18+ and that the npm package is correctly resolved from npm or your chosen registry.