mcp-vfx-parsers

MCP server for VFX file format parsing. Parse and generate Nuke .nk, MaterialX .mtlx, and USD ASCII .usda files — all via the MCP stdio protocol. Round-trip stable.

Tools

Tool	Description
parse_nuke	Parse .nk script → JSON AST (nodes, properties, DAG wiring)
parse_mtlx	Parse .mtlx XML → JSON AST (node graphs, inputs, materials)
parse_usda	Parse .usda text → JSON AST (prims, attributes, variants, connections)
generate_nuke	JSON AST → .nk script (round-trip stable)
generate_mtlx	JSON AST → .mtlx XML (round-trip stable)
generate_usda	JSON AST → .usda text (semantic round-trip)

All tools are read-only — they transform text, never touch the filesystem.

Install

npx -y mcp-vfx-parsers

Usage with Claude Code

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vfx-parsers": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-vfx-parsers"]
    }
  }
}

Usage with Claude Desktop

Add to claude_desktop_config.json:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vfx-parsers": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "mcp-vfx-parsers"]
    }
  }
}

Supported Formats

Nuke .nk

Foundry Nuke compositing scripts. Parses the stack-based node graph format including:

• Node types, properties, positions
• Input wiring via set/push stack directives
• Root settings
• TCL expressions and UserKnob blocks (preserved as opaque text)

MaterialX .mtlx

MaterialX shading network definitions. Parses the XML-based format including:

• Node graphs with typed inputs/outputs
• Material assignments
• nodename connection references (DAG edge extraction)
• Attribute preservation (quote style, order)
• Comments and XML prolog

USD ASCII .usda

Pixar Universal Scene Description (ASCII layer format). Full grammar support:

• Prim hierarchy (def, over, class)
• Typed attributes with uniform/custom modifiers
• .connect connections (UsdShade node graphs)
• .timeSamples animation data
• Relationships (single + array targets)
• VariantSets with nested variant bodies
• Composition arcs: references, payloads, inherits, specializes
• Layer and prim metadata

Round-Trip Guarantee

All parsers maintain a strict round-trip invariant:

parse(generate(parse(input))) === parse(input)

Nuke and MaterialX produce byte-identical output. USDA produces semantically identical output in canonical pretty-print form (comments stripped — documented limitation).

Development

git clone https://github.com/MABAAM/mcp-vfx-parsers.git
cd mcp-vfx-parsers
npm install
npm test
node src/server.mjs

License

MIT