Set up OfflineCreator as a local stdio MCP server

Current status: local bridge, cloud generation

The current public package is `@offlinecreator/mcp` version 0.1.2, published August 8, 2026. OfflineCreator recommends its remote OAuth endpoint for most supported clients and documents local stdio as the API-key fallback. Choose stdio when your MCP client can launch a local process and you deliberately want to manage a scoped key in that client's secret configuration.

The word local describes the MCP transport, not media processing. Your client starts the package on your machine and exchanges MCP messages over the child process's standard streams, but the package remains an interface to OfflineCreator Studio. The published product documentation says MCP and CLI generation uses the cloud Studio service; use LocalForge instead when the requirement is on-device generation.

Package checked

@offlinecreator/mcp@0.1.2The npm registry marked this as the latest public release during this research pass.

Transport

Local stdio subprocessThe client launches `npx`; JSON-RPC travels over stdin and stdout.

Processing boundary

OfflineCreator Studio cloud serviceA local stdio connection does not make generation offline.

Launch the package with an explicit environment

In a client that uses the common `mcpServers` shape, set `command` to `npx`, pass `-y` and `@offlinecreator/mcp` as separate arguments, and provide only the variables this server needs. The key is required. Set `OFFLINECREATOR_UPLOAD_ROOT` to an absolute directory you have created for approved source images; leaving it unset makes the process working directory the upload root, and client-launched working directories can be surprising.

Adapt the outer object to your client's documented schema instead of assuming every client accepts `mcpServers`. The command, arguments, and package environment remain the stdio-specific part. Save the configuration, restart or reload the MCP server according to that client, and inspect the client's stderr-backed server log if startup fails. Do not add prose logging to stdout because stdout is reserved for valid MCP messages.

Example entry

{ "mcpServers": { "offlinecreator": { "command": "npx", "args": ["-y", "@offlinecreator/mcp"], "env": { "OFFLINECREATOR_API_KEY": "oc_live_REPLACE_IN_SECRET_CONFIG", "OFFLINECREATOR_UPLOAD_ROOT": "/absolute/path/to/approved-inputs" } } } }Replace the placeholder locally. Never commit a real key or paste it into a chat.

Give the key only the scopes the workflow needs

The published server maps each MCP tool to one of three API-key scopes. A model-discovery-only connection needs `models`; account and job inspection uses `read`; starting, uploading, or cancelling generation uses `generate`. Create the narrowest key that supports the intended task, then verify the tools your client actually discovers rather than assuming all nine will appear.

Scope filtering is a tool-registration boundary, not a promise that every client shows the registry identically. If a tool is missing, compare the key's scopes with the mapping below before replacing the transport or broadening the key.

models

list_modelsUse for catalog and published credit-cost discovery.

read

get_credits, list_generations, get_generation, wait_generation, download_outputUse for balance, status, history, waiting, and completed-output retrieval.

generate

generate, upload_input, cancel_generationUse only when the client should start, submit, or cancel generation work.

Keep the default API origin unless you are testing locally

For production use, omit `OFFLINECREATOR_API_BASE`; the package defaults to `https://offlinecreatorstudio.com`. Its current configuration code accepts that production host and loopback development addresses, rejects credentials embedded in the base URL, and requires HTTPS unless the destination is localhost.

The current package rejects arbitrary non-loopback hosts rather than offering an insecure-host override. A changed API base can redirect the bearer key and generation requests, so treat it as a security-sensitive setting and review it alongside the key.

Normal production setting

Leave OFFLINECREATOR_API_BASE unsetThe package uses the current Studio origin.

Local development

http://localhost:<port>Loopback is the documented HTTP exception.

Stdio replaces browser OAuth with a key lifecycle

Local stdio does not use the recommended remote browser-consent sequence. Create a scoped personal key in Studio Settings, place it only in the MCP client's local secret or environment configuration, and let the client pass it to the spawned package. Never place the key in the server URL, project source, screenshots, logs, or a shared configuration file.

If a real key appears in a chat, repository, terminal transcript, or diagnostic bundle, revoke it and replace the local secret before reconnecting. When your client supports the recommended remote OAuth endpoint, use that path instead if avoiding a long-lived key in client configuration is more important than running the MCP bridge locally.

Credential source

Scoped key from Studio SettingsCopy the secret into local secret configuration once.

Leak response

Revoke, replace, restartDo not merely delete the visible copy and continue using the exposed key.

Choose the next action by transport

Use the client directory to find the exact configuration schema for your host. Switch to the remote OAuth guide if your client supports browser authorization and you do not need a locally spawned bridge. After either setup, use the connection checklist to record configuration parsing, tool discovery, and a safe first call as separate checkpoints.

Page boundary and evidence limits

This page owns the transport-specific task of launching OfflineCreator through local stdio with a scoped key and a constrained upload directory. It does not replace each client's configuration guide, claim that generation runs on-device, or promise compatibility, latency, reliability, output quality, or customer outcomes.

Recent community coverage remains insufficient. This required last30days attempt failed closed during preflight because its research runtime secret was unavailable, so no source ran and no raw report or telemetry artifact was produced. No prior community item is carried forward because no raw artifact is available for independent review. The setup above therefore rests on current first-party package code, product documentation, and the official MCP stdio specification, not community adoption claims.