Claude Code for TikTok slideshows: skill or MCP server, and how to set it up

What is the difference between a skill and an MCP server?

A skill changes how Claude Code works. An MCP server changes what it can reach. They solve different problems, and a slideshow workflow usually needs both.

• A skill is a folder with a SKILL.md file: a name, a short description and written instructions, sometimes with scripts or reference files. It carries a recipe: steps, house style, checks.
• An MCP server is a separate program that exposes named tools with defined inputs, using the Model Context Protocol. Claude Code connects to it, sees the tool list and calls the tools. It carries reach: an app's data and actions.

A skill alone cannot render a slide. Without a tool or a script that draws images, Claude Code produces text, and you still have to turn it into pictures. An MCP server alone can render, but it has no opinion about your tone or slide count unless you say it every time.

Which two ways can Claude Code work with a slideshow app?

People mix these up, and the timing numbers belong to only one of them.

Route 1: Claude Code as the writer. You press Create in the app with Claude Code CLI chosen as the AI, and the app asks it for the slide texts. In Fyslide's own test on 4 November 2026, ten six-slide slideshows from one topic took 259.2 and 207.4 seconds, about 3.5 to 4.5 minutes (speed page). That was one Mac, local sample images and other agents running, so read it as typical, not best case.

Route 2: Claude Code as the agent. You describe the job in plain language, and Claude Code calls the app's MCP tools. The slide text then comes from one of two places: the agent passes the exact text to the create tool, or it leaves the text out and the AI selected in the app writes it (tool reference). Either way the agent can rewrite single text boxes afterwards. We have not timed this route, so no speed claim is made for it.

Claude Code CLI uses your own plan. The slideshow app charges nothing for AI.

How do you connect Claude Code to Fyslide?

The MCP tools work only while the app is running and licensed.

1. Install the app from the download page and enter your license key. It runs on macOS; the Windows 10/11 version is a Beta.
2. Connect Claude Code to the local server by following Claude Code via MCP. The MCP docs list the tools.
3. Start a new Claude Code session so it loads the server.
4. Ask for something harmless first, such as listing your designs.
5. Ask for one slideshow, open it in the app and read every slide.
6. Only after that, ask for more, and export when you are happy.

Which prompts work well?

Fill the {braces}. Each prompt says what to do and where to stop, so the agent does not export before you read.

List my designs. Use the one called {design name}.
Write the text for a six-slide slideshow about {topic} yourself: slide 1 is a hook of at most {number} words, slides 2 to 5 carry one point each, slide 6 is a call to action. Then create the slideshow with exactly that text.
Use the pictures in my collection {collection name}. Do not export. Tell me when it is ready so I can read it.

Open the slideshow called {title}. Rewrite slide {number} so it fits in {number} words and keeps the figure. Replace the picture on slide {number} with the image file {file path}. Then export the slideshow as PNG.

Write five versions of a slideshow about {topic}, each with a different hook angle: {angle 1}, {angle 2}, {angle 3}, {angle 4}, {angle 5}. Show me one line per hook first. After I choose, create the slideshow from that exact text. Export nothing until I say so.

What goes into a skill for slideshows?

Put what you would otherwise repeat in every prompt: house rules. A minimal example follows. Check Claude Code's documentation for the current folder and format, because both change.

---
name: slideshow-rules
description: Use when asked for TikTok slideshows. Applies our slide count, word limits and review steps.
---
Six slides unless told otherwise. Slide 1 states the payoff in under {number} words.
One idea per slide. No names, handles or invented statistics.
After creating, stop and ask me to review before exporting.

The rules themselves come from your own experience. For starting points, see slideshow hooks and how to make AI slide text sound human.

What can go wrong?

• The agent changes the wrong slideshow. Name the slideshow by title and read it after each step.
• Plain text, not good text. Claude Code's slide copy still needs your edit. Treat its output as a first draft.
• Posting. Nothing here posts to TikTok or Instagram. Posting from Fyslide is marked Coming soon, included in your lifetime access as an update, so today you upload the exported PNG or JPG files and the caption yourself.
• Privacy. The app, library and exported files stay on your computer.

How does a local MCP server differ from the ones vendors list?

Some vendors' MCP servers can post for you. Blotato's MCP server publishes TikTok photo slideshows with scheduling, and its trial excludes the API and MCP (pricing (opens in a new tab)). PostNitro's API, MCP and CLI cost $10 a month extra on its non-Plus plans (plans (opens in a new tab)). SlideStorm lists an MCP server too (site (opens in a new tab)). All three are web tools with monthly plans (SlideStorm also sells one-time credit packs). The local server described here is started by your agent on your computer and works on files you own, and posting is a manual step today.

For the batching routine that ties these routes together, read batch-creating slideshows.