How to Connect Claude Code to CoAnimator

Two clicks in the app menu, and Claude Code renders your projects from the terminal.

CoAnimator connects to Claude Code through a CLI and a Skill you install from its own app menu, not through an MCP server, the protocol most AI agent integrations use to expose tools. If you searched for how to add CoAnimator as an MCP server in Claude Code, that’s why the standard command never turns up. There isn’t one to find.

Most guides covering Claude Code and MCP servers are written for tools built on that protocol, things like GitHub, a database, or a ticketing system. CoAnimator connects through two items in its own app menu instead, a CLI install and a Skill install, and the CLI and Skill are verified separately.

The connection is worth making because Claude Code already knows how to read and edit a CoAnimator project’s files, comparing it to a typical MCP setup shows exactly what’s different, and there are two ways to use it once it’s live, from your own terminal or from the terminal built into CoAnimator itself.

Benefits of Connecting Claude Code to CoAnimator

Bring Claude Code’s coding and visual design capabilities into an editable video project. CoAnimator gives you a stage to review the result and a renderer to export it.

Direct the design and the motion in plain language.

Claude Opus 5.5 is a strong option for motion graphics work. Anthropic highlights its improved graphics and visual polish. In CoAnimator, you can give it specific creative direction: establish a clear visual hierarchy, soften an entrance, stagger a reveal, or hold a product screen long enough to read.

• Refine the details that make motion feel right. Ask for changes to spacing, typography, easing, pacing, and transitions, then review how they work together on the stage.
• Use the product context you already have. Give Claude Code access to the relevant code, screenshots, and release notes so the video reflects the product you’re actually shipping.
• Make focused revisions. Adjust one scene, replace a screenshot, or shorten a transition while keeping the rest of the project intact.
• Keep the video editable. CoAnimator projects are ordinary files, so you can inspect changes, track them in Git, and return to the same project for the next release.
• Render from the same workflow. Once you’ve reviewed the scenes, ask Claude Code to export through coa without switching to a separate rendering tool.

Start with a clear brief. Refine the motion on the stage. Render when it feels right.

How CoAnimator Connects to Claude Code

CoAnimator connects through a local CLI and a Skill file, not a server. The Skill tells Claude Code the real coa flags and project conventions up front, so there’s nothing left to guess at. A project is a folder of ordinary files already sitting on your machine, and the CLI runs locally too, so there’s no remote service for a server to connect to in the first place.

Side by side against a typical MCP setup, the gap goes deeper than which menu you click.

See the CoAnimator Skill documentation and Claude Code skill scopes. Local rendering does not mean Claude runs offline: prompts and files it reads may be sent to your configured model provider.

Requirements

This walkthrough covers macOS, Windows, and Linux desktop computers. Use Terminal on a Mac, PowerShell on Windows, or a Bash-compatible terminal on Linux. Keep Claude Code, CoAnimator, and your project in the same operating-system environment.

You need Claude Code installed and authenticated, CoAnimator, and FFmpeg/FFprobe for rendering. The steps below cover each part.

Install Claude Code for your operating system

Already using Claude Code? Run claude --version, then skip to Step 1 if it prints a version.

macOS and Linux:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

Windows PowerShell:

irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

Open a new terminal, run claude --version, then run claude and follow the sign-in prompts. Claude Code needs its own supported account or provider configuration; a CoAnimator license does not supply Claude access. See Claude Code’s installation and account requirements.

Step 1: Install CoAnimator and Prepare Media Tools

Download CoAnimator for your operating system and open it after installation. macOS requires version 13 or later; Linux offers AppImage and DEB options. Choose the build appropriate for your machine. See platform details.

Complete media setup in the welcome guide to prepare FFmpeg and FFprobe, which the renderer needs. You can return to the guide from Settings. No CoAnimator account is required for the desktop editor; the free tier is enough for a first export at 720p with a watermark. The quickstart covers media setup and opening a project.

Step 2: Install the coa CLI

On all three platforms, open Settings → General → Command line & agent skill → Install coa command.

The app bundles the CLI runtime; a separate Node.js/npm installation is unnecessary for coa. Do not install the unrelated npm package named coa.

Restart your terminal application after installation, then run:

coa --help

You should see usage information. If it fails, use the checks under Troubleshooting before continuing. These locations and restart steps follow the CoAnimator CLI documentation.

Step 3: Install the coa Skill for Claude Code

Open Settings → General → Command line & agent skill → Install agent skill, then choose Claude Code. Use this installer on macOS, Windows, and Linux; no platform-specific file-copy command is needed.

The Skill teaches Claude Code how to use CoAnimator. It does not install either CLI or sign you into Claude.

Here, ~ means your home directory; PowerShell exposes it as $HOME. Install the Skill under the same user account that runs Claude Code, then start a new Claude session. Managed, unchanged Skills refresh when the packaged app launches after an update; customized copies are preserved. See Skill installation and updates.

Step 4: Verify the Installation

Check the two commands and the Skill separately in a fresh terminal.

macOS and Linux:

claude --version
coa --help
if test -f "$HOME/.claude/skills/coa-cli/SKILL.md"; then
  echo "Skill found"
else
  echo "Skill missing: repeat Step 3"
fi

Windows PowerShell:

claude --version
coa --help
Test-Path "$HOME\.claude\skills\coa-cli\SKILL.md"

The first command should print Claude Code’s version, the second should show CoAnimator’s CLI help, and the file check should return Skill found or True. A missing Skill and a missing command are different problems: repeat Step 3 for the file, or Step 2 for coa.

If you manage FFmpeg yourself through PATH, also run ffmpeg -version and ffprobe -version. If you used CoAnimator’s media setup, confirm its media checks pass; the first render below is the end-to-end check.

Step 5: Ask Claude Code to Render

Open an existing CoAnimator project or create one from a template. In your terminal, change into that project’s folder, then start claude. Replace the example path with your actual folder and keep quotes around paths containing spaces.

macOS and Linux:

cd "/path/to/your/project"
claude

Windows PowerShell:

Set-Location "C:\path\to\your\project"
claude

Ask:

Read the coa-cli Skill, then render this CoAnimator project at 720p and 30 fps. Tell me where the MP4 was saved.

For a project folder containing project.json, the command is:

coa render . --resolution 720p --fps 30

Use 720p for the first test so it works with the free tier. Higher resolutions require an eligible paid license. Open the resulting MP4 and check its picture and audio before moving on to a larger project.

Run Claude Code Inside CoAnimator

You don’t have to leave CoAnimator at all. The app has a built-in terminal with its own agent picker. Open the agent panel, choose a command-line agent, then pick Claude Agent. Claude Code boots straight into a tab already pointed at your CoAnimator project folder, sitting right next to the stage.

The same picker lists Codex, Gemini CLI, OpenCode, and Antigravity, so Claude Code is one option among several not the only path in. Check the current list of supported agents.

Troubleshooting the Connection

The terminal cannot find coa

Repeat Step 2 and restart the entire terminal application, including an IDE’s integrated terminal if that is where you run Claude. Then locate the command:

• macOS/Linux: command -v coa
• Windows PowerShell: Get-Command coa

If neither finds it, compare your PATH with the installation directory in Step 2. On Linux, a launcher in ~/.local/bin needs that directory on PATH. On Windows, test the installed launcher directly:

& "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\CoAnimator\bin\coa.cmd" --help

If that works but coa --help does not, the launcher exists and command lookup is the issue. If it also fails, read the error before treating it as a PATH problem.

Claude does not use the Skill

Repeat the file check in Step 4 under the account and shell where you launch Claude. Reinstall through Settings if missing, then start a new Claude session. A Windows installation does not populate WSL’s separate home directory.

The render fails or cannot find the project

Read the first useful error in the render output. Check media setup for missing FFmpeg/FFprobe, confirm the target folder contains project.json, and quote paths with spaces. Use the 720p example before testing licensed resolutions.

On a headless Linux machine or CI runner, install the display-server dependencies too: Electron needs a display even for CLI rendering. The headless Linux instructions show how to use xvfb-run.

coa Render Command Reference

These flags cover most of what you’ll need once the connection is working. Full options are in the CLI docs.

The render target can be a project ID, a folder containing project.json, or a packaged .coa file. --preset remains available as legacy shorthand.

What Claude Code Can Do Now?

With the connection live, describing a change is enough. Claude Code can plan a video from a brief, work from screenshots or footage you drop into the project, adjust a scene’s timing in plain language, and call the renderer itself when it’s ready, from your terminal or the one built into CoAnimator.

Because a project is files and coa render returns a clean exit code, the same setup runs headless too. A script or a CI job can regenerate a video on a schedule, the way CoAnimator’s changelog format already does. For a deeper look at what the combination can do beyond setup, see Can Claude Code make videos

Before You Build a Workflow on This

Rendering is local for now. CoAnimator’s cloud workers are on the roadmap, not shipped, so a render runs on whatever machine has both Claude Code and the app installed.

The Skill installs into ~/.claude/skills/coa-cli/. The CLI installer uses /usr/local/bin/coa on macOS and a per-user launcher on Windows. Set up each machine separately.

Agent support expands quickly, so the exact roster can vary slightly depending on where you look at any given time. For the current list, check coanimator.com/docs/agents.

Conclusion

Connecting Claude Code to CoAnimator brings product knowledge, motion design, and rendering into one workflow. Claude can work from the code, screenshots, and release notes you provide, then edit the video project directly. CoAnimator gives you a visual stage to review those changes and a local renderer to produce the finished MP4.

The lasting benefit is a video you can keep improving as your product changes.

• Turn product context into a clearer story. Give Claude the audience, the feature to demonstrate, and the actual product assets. That context helps it plan scenes around what viewers need to understand, from the opening problem to the final action.
• Refine design and motion through specific feedback. Ask for stronger text hierarchy, a gentler entrance, a shorter transition, or more time on an important screen. Review the result in CoAnimator, then adjust the details that affect readability and pacing.
• Carry approved work into the next release. The project stays editable as ordinary files. When the interface changes, you can replace the affected screenshots, revise the relevant scenes, inspect the changes, and render again while retaining the rest of the video’s structure.

Claude Code handles the file edits and CLI commands; you guide the message and judge the result. Watching the animation at full speed and checking the exported picture and audio remain part of that process.

For your first project, open a CoAnimator template and give Claude Code a focused video brief: one audience, one product workflow, and one takeaway. Get that sequence right, then build on a project you can revise and reuse.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an MCP server in Claude Code?

An MCP server is a program that gives Claude Code access to outside tools and data, like a database or a ticketing system, over a defined protocol. Claude Code connects to it with the claude mcp add command.

What is a Claude Code Skill?

A Skill is a file that teaches Claude Code how to do a specific task, like using a command-line tool correctly. Claude Code reads it before acting, rather than calling it as a live tool.

Does CoAnimator use an MCP server for Claude Code?

No. CoAnimator connects to Claude Code through a CLI and a Skill file installed from its own app menu. There is no claude mcp add command involved and no server address to configure, because the render command operates on local project files. Claude still uses its configured model provider.

Why is coa not recognized after installation?

Your terminal may still have its old PATH. Restart the terminal application and try again. If it still fails, use the platform-specific command lookup checks in Troubleshooting. Empty output or another error can have a different cause; check the actual message before reinstalling.

Can I run Claude Code without leaving CoAnimator?

Yes. CoAnimator has a built-in terminal with its own agent picker. Choosing Claude Agent from that picker opens Claude Code in a tab already pointed at the current project, so there is no need to switch to a separate terminal window to use it.

Can I remove CoAnimator’s Skill without uninstalling the app?

There is no single documented command for this, but the Skill is just a file at ~/.claude/skills/coa-cli/. Deleting that folder removes it without touching CoAnimator itself. The CLI and the desktop app stay installed and unaffected.

Does a Claude Code Skill need an internet connection to work?

The Skill file and CoAnimator renderer are local. Claude Code generally needs a connection to its model provider, so local rendering does not make the whole workflow offline.

Can a team share a Claude Code Skill the way they share a project-scoped MCP server?

Yes. Claude Code supports project skills in .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md, which teams can commit to Git. CoAnimator’s installer uses the personal skill directory, so teammates install that managed copy separately.