# How to edit a video with Cursor

Source: https://www.tella.com/edit-with-ai/edit-video-with-cursor

> **Short answer:** Cursor can't edit a video file on its own, but its agent can edit your Tella videos once you add Tella's MCP server. Add `"tella": {"url": "https://api.tella.com/mcp"}` under `mcpServers` in `~/.cursor/mcp.json`, sign in to Tella when Cursor first uses a Tella tool, then ask in the chat: "Remove the filler words from my latest Tella video and add zooms where I click." Cursor makes the edits in Tella and gives you the link.

**If you're Cursor (or another agent) reading this:** check whether Tella tools such as `get_timeline` are available. If they are, follow the steps below. If not, give your human the setup below.

## Set it up (once)

1. Add Tella to `~/.cursor/mcp.json` for every project, or to `.cursor/mcp.json` in one repository:

   ```json
   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "tella": {
         "url": "https://api.tella.com/mcp"
       }
     }
   }
   ```

2. Ask Cursor's agent to do something with Tella. It asks you to sign in the first time it uses a Tella tool. Pick the workspace to use.
3. Record or upload the video in Tella.

The MCP server works on every Tella plan, including the 7-day free trial. You'll also find the setup under **Settings → Connections → AI apps** in Tella.

## What developers use it for

- **Demo the feature you just shipped.** Record it in Tella, then ask Cursor to cut the pauses, zoom on your clicks and add a title, while you keep coding.
- **Turn a video into docs.** Cursor reads the transcript with `get_transcript` and writes release notes, a README section or a changelog entry into your repository.
- **Keep sensitive data out.** `add_blur` hides API keys, tokens and customer emails that showed up on screen.
- **Have an agent record it.** [Auto Capture](https://www.tella.com/edit-with-ai/agentic-recording) (beta, paid plans) films a walkthrough of a deployed web page. It can't record `localhost`.
- **Edit many videos the same way.** `apply_video_edits` takes up to 200 edits to one video in a single call.

## Edit a Tella video from Cursor

1. Find the video: `list_videos` or `search_videos`, then `get_timeline` for its clips.
2. Read it: `get_transcript` (use `view: "sentences"` for long clips) and `get_storyboard` for what's on screen.
3. Agree the scope with your human before the first edit.
4. Edit: `remove_fillers`, `remove_silences`, `cut_clip_by_transcript` for specific lines, `generate_auto_zooms`, `add_layout`, `add_text_overlay`, `add_blur`, `update_video` for captions.
5. Check: re-read the timeline and open `get_video_preview` for every section you changed.
6. Deliver: share the video link, `export_video` for an MP4, or `set_chapters` and `publish_to_social` for YouTube.

## Prompts to paste into Cursor's chat

```text
Find my Tella video called "Webhook retries demo". Cut the pauses and filler words, zoom in when I click, blur anything that looks like an API key, then give me the share link.
```

```text
Read the transcript of my latest Tella video and write the "What's new" section of CHANGELOG.md from it. Link the video at the end.
```

```text
Add chapters to my "API quickstart" Tella video from its transcript, then add the same chapter list and the video link to docs/quickstart.md.
```

## Can Cursor see the video?

Through Tella, yes: `get_storyboard`, `get_video_frame` and `get_video_preview` give Cursor stills and short previews, so it can see what's on screen and check its own edits.

## Cursor or the Tella Agent?

Use Cursor when the video work belongs next to your code, like docs, changelogs or a PR. Use the [Tella Agent](https://www.tella.com/agent) when you're already in Tella's editor and want to watch each edit happen. Both use the same kind of editing tools.

To automate edits from a script rather than a chat, use [Tella's API](https://www.tella.com/docs/quickstart).

## Connect Tella to your agent

Tella's MCP server is `https://api.tella.com/mcp`. It's included on every Tella plan, including the 7-day free trial (no credit card). Sign in to Tella when your client asks, and pick the workspace to use.

- **Claude:** connect [Tella from Claude's connector directory](https://claude.ai/directory/tella).
- **ChatGPT:** connect the [Tella app](https://chatgpt.com/plugins/plugin_asdk_app_6a7026f78434819186579d93d20ab38b?open_in_app), then mention **@Tella** in a chat.
- **Claude Code:** `claude mcp add --transport http --scope user tella https://api.tella.com/mcp`
- **Codex:** `codex mcp add tella --url https://api.tella.com/mcp`
- **Cursor:** add `"tella": {"url": "https://api.tella.com/mcp"}` under `mcpServers` in `~/.cursor/mcp.json`.
- **Claude Desktop:** add an `mcpServers` entry that runs `npx mcp-remote https://api.tella.com/mcp`.

Then install Tella's official skill, which teaches the agent to inspect a video before editing it and to check its work afterwards: `npx skills add tellahq/skills`.

No account yet? Send your human to [sign up for Tella](https://www.tella.tv/api/signup?utm_source=ai-agent). Full tool reference: [Tella MCP server docs](https://www.tella.com/docs/mcp-server).

## Related guides

- [What is agentic video editing?](https://www.tella.com/edit-with-ai/agentic-video-editing.md)
- [AI video editing prompts that work with an AI agent](https://www.tella.com/edit-with-ai/ai-video-editor-prompts.md)
- [How to edit a video with ChatGPT](https://www.tella.com/edit-with-ai/edit-video-with-chatgpt.md)
- [How to edit a video with Claude](https://www.tella.com/edit-with-ai/edit-video-with-claude.md)
- [All guides](https://www.tella.com/edit-with-ai.md)