---
title: MCP overview
description: Hosted Sume MCP for Cursor, Claude, and other MCP clients.
---

Sume exposes a hosted [Model Context Protocol](https://modelcontextprotocol.io/)
(MCP) endpoint so agents can call Sume account, catalog, job, asset, generation,
crawl, and Avatar tools without wrapping the HTTP API yourself.

## Production endpoint

```text
https://mcp.sume.com/mcp
```

Use that URL in Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, and other remote MCP clients.

Internal/dev note: `https://mcp.dev.sume.com/mcp` exists for Sume development
environments. Public docs and customer configs should use `mcp.sume.com`.

## Choose the right surface

| Surface | What it is | When to use |
|---|---|---|
| Hosted MCP | Remote HTTP MCP at `https://mcp.sume.com/mcp` | Connect Cursor/Claude/Codex to Sume over OAuth or an API key. **Preferred MCP path today.** |
| Local `sume mcp` | CLI MCP command (stdio client setup) | **Not launched** in current `sumelabs/cli` releases (`sume mcp doctor` → `coming_soon`). Use hosted MCP or direct CLI commands instead. |
| Developer API / CLI | `https://api.sume.com/v1` and `sume` binary | Backend integrations, scripts, and HTTP submits. Hosted MCP covers most generation families; Image 1.0 / Video 1.0 (`images_create` / `videos_create`) stay REST-only. |
| Studio Agent | Product agent experience in the Sume app | In-product agent workflows. Not a public MCP connector, and not documented here. |

Hosted MCP is the supported remote connector today. Local `sume mcp` remains a
future CLI surface — do not document or configure it as a working stdio server
yet. Neither is the Studio Agent product surface. See also the
[CLI overview](/cli).

## Auth at a glance

| Auth | Hosted MCP capability today |
|---|---|
| OAuth | `mcp:read` (required) sees read-only tools. Opt in to `mcp:write` on the MCP-host consent page to expose mutating and paid tools. There is **no** `mcp:paid` scope. |
| API key | Full hosted tool set. Paid/write calls still need `idempotency_key`; wallet/admission is the spend gate. |

OAuth is the preferred path for interactive clients like Cursor and Claude.
API-key remote MCP remains available for existing automation.

Details: [OAuth and API keys](/mcp/oauth).

## What hosted MCP can do today

Hosted MCP is **not** full parity with the HTTP API. Live tool ids are the
underscore names in `tools_list` (`packages/mcp-server/src/mcp.ts`
`remoteMcpTools`). Dotted aliases (`tools.list`) canonicalize to underscore.

Shipped paid generation tools include more than Avatar:

- `generate_image` / `generate_video` (omit `payload.model` to route to
  `sume/auto`; catalog ids from `image-models_list` / `video-router_models`)
- `music_create`, `tts_create`, `stt_create`
- `avatars_create`, `avatar-videos_create`, Stage P preview tools
- `kling-motion-control_create`, `image_upscale_create`, `rmbg_create`,
  `video_upscale_create`, `timeline_create` / `timeline_audio` /
  `timeline_compose` / `timeline_get`

Web and social reads use the `crawl_*` family (`crawl_scrape` / `crawl_map` /
`crawl_search` / `crawl_site` / `crawl_get`, plus `crawl_profile` /
`crawl_feed` / `crawl_media` / `crawl_find`).

**REST-only (not in `tools_list`):** Sume Image 1.0 and Video 1.0
(`images_create` / `videos_create`). Use the [Developer API](/public-api) for
those two products.

Discovery tools such as `catalog_list`, `tools_list`, and `tools_schema` tell
the client exactly which MCP tools are available in the current session.

## Next pages

1. [Quickstart](/mcp/quickstart) — connect Cursor or Claude in a few minutes.
2. [Tools and gates](/mcp/tools-and-gates) — tool inventory, safety flags, and playbooks.
3. [OAuth and API keys](/mcp/oauth) — auth matrix and `mcp:read` / `mcp:write`.
4. [Agents](/agents) · [Safe automation](/agents/safe-automation) — how agents
   should treat API / CLI / MCP boundaries.