Palmier Releases Open-Source Palmier Pro Video Editor for macOS Apple Silicon

Palmier, Inc. has launched Palmier Pro, an open-source video editor built for native Apple Silicon performance and direct artificial intelligence integration. Developed by the Y Combinator Summer 2024 cohort startup, the software allows creators to co-edit projects alongside automated AI agents. While the core desktop application and local integration tools are free under the GPLv3 license, cloud-hosted generative features require a paid subscription.

Model Context Protocol and Agent Integration

The defining feature of Palmier Pro is its implementation of the open-source Model Context Protocol (MCP) to establish direct connections between the editing timeline and external developer or artificial intelligence tools. The software can host a local HTTP-based MCP server at port 19789 once the feature is manually enabled in the settings menu.

This setup allows creators to connect external AI workspaces—including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and Claude Desktop—directly to their active video project. Once connected, these external agents can inspect the project state, search media, generate inserts, edit captions, and modify the timeline in-place. Users can configure these integrations manually or install them using one-click shortcuts provided in the application’s help menu.

Generative AI Capabilities and System Architecture

Beyond connecting to external agents, Palmier Pro supports timeline-native video, image, and audio asset generation. Users can prompt state-of-the-art creative models—including Seedance, Kling, and Nano Banana Pro—directly inside the editor without moving assets between external web applications and the local timeline. Every generated clip preserves metadata such as the original prompt and model settings, allowing creators to modify assets directly from the project panel.

The application utilizes a split architecture between local open-source elements and proprietary cloud services. Built from scratch in Swift to optimize performance on Apple hardware, the interface uses Adobe Premiere Pro as its design benchmark. The local desktop editor, local agent chat interface, and local MCP server are fully open-source. Conversely, the backend processing pipelines that manage the generative AI requests remain closed-source and operate via cloud infrastructure.

For final production and cross-platform workflows, Palmier Pro exports standard video formats such as MP4 using H.264, H.265, and ProRes codecs. The application also supports non-linear editor (NLE) XML exports, enabling creators to migrate projects to professional platforms like Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve.

System Requirements, Licensing, and Pricing

Palmier Pro’s open-source codebase is published under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPLv3). The project’s public GitHub repository, palmier-io/palmier-pro, has received more than 3,500 stars since its release.

The software has narrow hardware and operating system requirements in its current iteration. It is designed exclusively for Apple Silicon computers and requires macOS 26 (Tahoe) to run.

The business model splits core offline functionality from cloud-based processing. The standalone video editor and local MCP server are entirely free and require no account registration or login. However, utilizing the integrated generative AI models requires users to register an account and purchase a paid subscription, with pricing starting at $29 per month to cover cloud generation credits.

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Source: View on GitHub