io.github.daedalus/mcp-manimgl

Official

by daedalus · Python

MCP server exposing manimgl mathematical animation functionality as tools for LLMs

Mathematical animation tools via manimgl for creating visual demonstrations.

Topics

manimmanim-animationsmanimglmcpmcp-server3blue1brown

README.md6 KBView on GitHub

mcp-manimgl — MCP server exposing manimgl (Manim OpenGL) mathematical animation functionality as tools for LLMs.

mcp-name: io.github.daedalus/mcp-manimgl

Install

bash

pip install mcp-manimgl

Optional extras:

bash

# For rendering (requires manimgl + system deps)
pip install "mcp-manimgl[render]"

# For audio narration + MIDI music support
pip install "mcp-manimgl[audio]"

System Dependencies

Dependency	Required for	Install
`ffmpeg` + `ffprobe`	Audio mixing, narration sync, music ducking	`apt install ffmpeg`
`libfluidsynth3`	MIDI file rendering to audio	`apt install libfluidsynth3`
SoundFont (`.sf2`/`.sf3`)	MIDI instrument sounds	`apt install fluidr3mono-gm-soundfont`
pangocairo, OpenGL	Manim rendering engine	See manimgl docs

The server checks for non-Python dependencies at startup and reports any missing ones to stderr and via the mcp-manimgl://info resource.

Usage

MCP Server

bash

# Run with stdio transport (default for MCP)
mcp-manimgl

In Claude Desktop / Cursor / MCP clients

Add to your mcp.json:

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-manimgl": {
      "command": "mcp-manimgl"
    }
  }
}

Tools

The server exposes these tool categories:

Scene Management

create_scene — Create/configure a new scene
clear_scene — Remove all elements
add_wait — Add wait/pause
set_camera — Configure camera
set_config — Set global rendering config
save_state / restore_state — State management
generate_scene_script — Get the generated Python script

Mobject Creation

add_circle, add_square, add_rectangle, add_polygon
add_line, add_arrow, add_dot
add_text, add_tex (LaTeX)
add_function_graph, add_parametric_curve
add_coordinate_system, add_vector
add_labeled_point, add_brace, add_number_line
add_decimal_number, add_matrix
add_3d_object (sphere, cube, torus, cone, cylinder)

Mobject Manipulation

move_to, shift, scale, rotate
set_color, set_opacity
next_to, align_to

Animations

animate_transform, animate_fade_in/out, animate_grow
animate_rotate, animate_scale, animate_shift
animate_indicate, animate_write, animate_set_color
animate_move_along_path, animate_group

Audio

add_narration — Generate TTS (gTTS) narration that plays at the current timeline position
add_background_music — Add background music from audio files or MIDI files (auto-rendered via FluidSynth). Supports volume control, looping, and sidechain ducking during narration.

Rendering

render_scene — Render to video (auto-mixes background music + narration with ducking)
save_frame — Save single frame
get_render_status — Check environment

Audio Features

Narration

python

# TTS narration at current timeline position
add_narration("Shor's algorithm factors large numbers in polynomial time.")

Background Music

Accepts audio files (.mp3, .wav, .ogg) or MIDI files (.mid, .midi). MIDI files are rendered to audio using FluidSynth and the system SoundFont.

python

# From an audio file
add_background_music("/path/to/music.mp3", volume=0.3, loop=True)

# From a MIDI file (auto-rendered)
add_background_music("/path/to/classical.mid", volume=0.2)

# With ducking configuration
add_background_music(
    "bach_chorale.mid",
    volume=0.25,
    loop=True,
    duck_threshold="-20dB",
    duck_ratio=6,
    duck_attack=0.05,
    duck_release=0.3,
)

When both background music and narration are present, render_scene automatically:

Renders the video without audio via manimgl
Places the music track (looped if needed) at the configured volume
Places each narration track at its timeline position
Applies sidechain compression so music volume ducks during narration
Composites everything into the final MP4 via ffmpeg

Example: Shor's Algorithm

A narrated animation explaining Shor's algorithm with LaTeX, 5 TTS narration tracks, and classical MIDI background music.

Watch:

MCP tool call sequence:

code

# 1. Configure scene
create_scene(background_color="#0a0a2e", resolution="1920x1080", fps=30)

# 2. Background music (auto-loops to fill video duration)
add_background_music("classical.mid", volume=0.25, loop=True)

# 3. Create mobjects + animate (5 sections)
add_tex("Shor's Algorithm", font_size=72, color="#FFD700")
add_tex("Integer Factorization on Quantum Computers", font_size=36, color="#88CCFF")
animate_fade_in("m_...", run_time=1.5)
# ... more shapes, LaTeX formulas, fade-ins, fade-outs ...

# 4. Narration at specific timeline positions
add_narration("Shor's algorithm factors large numbers...")   # ~3.5s
add_narration("The factoring problem...")                     # ~18.5s
add_narration("Key insight: reduce factoring to period...")   # ~36.1s
add_narration("Quantum period finding uses superposition...") # ~55.4s
add_narration("Summary of Shor's algorithm...")               # ~76.3s

# 5. Render (auto-mixes video + narrations + ducked BGM)
render_scene(output_path="data/Shors_Algorithm.mp4")

See the full scene script at shor_mcp.py in the repository root.

MIDI Rendering

MIDI files are rendered using pyfluidsynth with a system SoundFont. On Debian/Ubuntu:

bash

sudo apt install fluidr3mono-gm-soundfont libfluidsynth3
pip install "mcp-manimgl[audio]"

Auto-discovered SoundFont paths:

/usr/share/sounds/sf3/ (.sf3)
/usr/share/sounds/sf2/ (.sf2)
/usr/share/fluidr3mono-gm-soundfont/

Development

bash

git clone https://github.com/dclavijo/mcp-manimgl.git
cd mcp-manimgl
pip install -e ".[test]"

# run tests
pytest

# format
ruff format src/ tests/

# lint + type check
prospector --with-tool ruff --with-tool mypy src/

# security scan
semgrep --config=auto --severity=ERROR src/

# find unused code
vulture --min-confidence 90 src/

MCP

mcp-name: io.github.dclavijo/mcp-manimgl

Install

claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "mcp-manimgl": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-manimgl"
      ]
    }
  }
}