Connect an AI assistant (MCP)

Let Claude, Codex or another AI assistant run GeekLink for you: send one chat message and it imports videos, extracts or transcribes subtitles, checks them against the video and exports.

Who can use it Connect AI (MCP) is available in GeekLink for Mac with a Lifetime plan (OCR Lifetime or Pro Lifetime). Monthly, yearly, 5-day passes and the free trial don't include it yet. On Windows, use the same features directly in the app.

What is MCP

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is a standard way for AI assistants to use apps on your computer. Once connected, your assistant can use GeekLink's OCR, transcription, translation, subtitle editor and export. Everything still runs inside GeekLink, so you can watch what the assistant is doing on screen.

Watch it run

Real screen recordings: one message to the assistant, from setup to finished files.

Burned-in Chinese subtitles → English, for 3 episodes

3 videos with no subtitles → German subtitles, checked line by line

English narration with English captions.

Connect in four steps

Open Connect AI (MCP) In the GeekLink top bar, click “Connect AI (MCP)”.
Pick your AI app Click “Add to Claude Desktop” or “Add to Codex”. GeekLink writes the setup for you and first backs up your existing config file in the same folder.
Restart the AI app Quit and reopen Claude Desktop, or start a new Codex session. GeekLink then shows up in its connectors / tools.
Send your first message Keep GeekLink open, then tell the assistant which videos to process and what you want back.

Other AI apps

Cursor, Windsurf, VS Code, LM Studio, Cherry Studio and other apps with MCP support: click Copy config in the same dialog and paste it into the app's MCP settings. For Codex you can also expand Codex (config.toml) and add it by hand. If one-click setup says the app isn't installed or its config can't be read, GeekLink leaves the file untouched; use the manual config instead.

Example messages

"Import ~/Movies/demo.mp4 into GeekLink, extract the burned-in subtitles, check the flagged lines against the video, then export an SRT."
"Transcribe the three videos in ~/Movies/interviews, translate them into German and save each SRT next to its video."
"Extract the Chinese subtitles from episode 1, translate them into English and burn the English into the video."

What the assistant can do

OCR: it looks at screenshots of each candidate subtitle line, then confirms the lines and their language before extraction.
Transcribe: it asks how many people speak (to turn on speaker detection) and, for Chinese, whether you want precise timing or FunASR.
Translate: it uses the translation engine selected in GeekLink. Cloud AI translation uses your GeekLink AI credits.
Review and edit: it reads flagged lines, compares them with video frames and fixes them in the subtitle editor.
Export: SRT, TXT, toggleable subtitles or burned-in subtitles.

Good to know

Keep GeekLink open while the assistant works. One heavy task (OCR, transcription, translation, export) runs at a time.
MCP is not a separate plan: export allowances and AI credits work the same as when you click through the app yourself.
OCR and transcription run on your Mac. Tool text and any video frames the assistant asks to see are sent to your AI app and follow its data policy.
It doesn't work in virtual machines or cloud-hosted Macs.
Check the subtitles before you publish: the assistant can still misjudge a line.