--- title: 'Troubleshoot Video Editing MCP Workflows - OpenClip' description: 'Fix failed MCP video jobs fast: what instant failures, pending_credits, and download_failed actually mean, plus connection and polling fixes.' canonical: 'https://openclip.app/guides/troubleshoot-video-editing-mcp-workflows' markdown: 'https://openclip.app/guides/troubleshoot-video-editing-mcp-workflows.md' --- Part of OpenClip's video editing MCP resource hub Explore setup guides, assistant workflows, examples, and prompt templates for controlling OpenClip from MCP-compatible AI assistants. [Open MCP hub](/mcp)MCP Guide # Troubleshoot Video Editing MCP Workflows Most MCP video failures are one of six known problems, and each has a specific status and a specific fix. This guide covers OpenClip's real failure modes, from a video that fails the moment you submit it to an assistant that suddenly cannot see the tools, so you diagnose in seconds instead of re-running jobs blind. Beginner 10 minutes Diagnosing failed assistant-led video jobs ## Prerequisites - OpenClip connected to an MCP client (any of Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Perplexity, or an agent) ## Steps 1 ### Video fails immediately after submit: check the subscription If get\_video\_status (or submit\_video itself) reports failed almost instantly, the cause is almost always that the team has no active subscription. Processing requires a paid plan; ask the account owner to subscribe at OpenClip, then resubmit. Nothing about the video or the assistant is wrong. 2 ### Status stuck at pending\_credits: top up processing minutes pending\_credits means the team is out of credits, which are counted in minutes of processing. The job is not lost; it waits. Check the balance with get\_usage, top up or wait for the monthly refresh (150 minutes on Starter, 300 on Pro), and the job continues without resubmission. 3 ### download\_failed: fix the source, not the workflow download\_failed means OpenClip could not fetch the source URL. Verify the link opens in a private browser window, confirm the platform is accepted with list\_supported\_providers, and watch for private or region-locked videos and expiring signed URLs. For stubborn sources, download locally and use create\_upload plus complete\_upload instead. 4 ### Assistant cannot reach OpenClip: re-authorize, do not change the URL There is exactly one server URL, [https://openclip.app/mcp](/mcp), so connection problems are never fixed by finding a different URL. Re-authorize the OAuth connection in your client (remove and re-add the connector, or re-run the sign-in), and confirm you approved access with the account that owns the videos. Header-only agents using a personal access token should mint a fresh token and use the [https://openclip.app/mcp/key](/mcp/key) endpoint. 5 ### Tools missing from the assistant: reload the client If the assistant says it has no video tools, the client has stale server state. Reload the client (or in Claude Code re-run /mcp), which re-fetches the tool list from the server. Tool discovery is client-side; the server publishes the same tools to everyone. 6 ### Polling that never ends: know when to stop Healthy jobs move through downloading and processing to completed, with the assistant polling every 10 to 15 seconds. If a status has not changed in about 15 minutes, stop polling and retry later rather than looping forever. If a rerun shows the same stall, capture the video id from list\_videos and contact support with it. ## What You'll Achieve You can read any OpenClip MCP failure status and apply the right fix immediately ## Features ### Failures are named OpenClip returns distinct statuses (failed, pending\_credits, download\_failed) instead of a generic error, so the assistant can tell you the actual fix. ### Money problems look like job problems The two most common failures are account-side: no subscription and no credits. Check get\_account and get\_usage before debugging anything technical. ### Sources fail more than servers Private videos, dead links, and unsupported platforms cause download\_failed far more often than infrastructure does. list\_supported\_providers settles it fast. ### One URL, per-user auth Since every client uses [https://openclip.app/mcp](/mcp), auth issues are always about the OAuth grant or token, never about finding the right address. ### Stale clients, fresh server Missing tools and phantom errors usually clear with a client reload, because tool lists are cached client-side between sessions. ### Bounded patience Fifteen minutes without a status change is the signal to stop polling and retry later, not to keep burning the session. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### My video failed instantly. Is the file broken? Probably not. An immediate failed status after submit\_video almost always means the team has no active subscription. Fix the account first; only investigate the file if failures continue afterward. ### Does pending\_credits lose my job? No. The job waits in that state. Credits are minutes of processing; once topped up (or refreshed monthly), processing continues where it left off, without resubmitting. ### The assistant says it copied the wrong server URL. Is that possible? No. There is one public URL for everyone, [https://openclip.app/mcp](/mcp). What varies per user is the OAuth sign-in, so "wrong URL" symptoms are really authorization problems: re-authorize the connection with the right account. ### Renders complete but the clip looks wrong. Is that an MCP problem? No, at that point MCP did its job. Open the clip in OpenClip and adjust captions or framing there, or re-render the moment with a different preset from list\_caption\_presets. ## Get unstuck and back to clipping Most fixes here take under a minute. Reconnect, top up, or fix the source, and your assistant picks the job right back up. [Get Started Free](https://openclip.app/register) ## Related Pages ### Guides [How to Automate Video Editing with MCP](/guides/automate-video-editing-with-mcp) [Secure Video Editing MCP Workflows](/guides/secure-video-editing-mcp-workflows) ### Glossary [Video Editing MCP Server: What It Is and How to Connect](/learn/video-editing-mcp-server) ### Integrations [OpenClip + Claude MCP Integration | Video Editing from Claude](/integrations/claude-mcp) [OpenClip + ChatGPT MCP Integration | Video Editing from ChatGPT](/integrations/chatgpt-mcp) ### Use Cases [Control Video Editing from AI Assistants](/use-cases/control-video-editing-from-ai-assistants)