Plan in Claude Code over MCP, then hand the batch to bulk runs

Use Claude Code with Sume's hosted MCP to find the right prompt, model and cost for one video, then move the repeatable job to your backend. Sume Format bulk runs queue up to 100 runs behind a concurrency window, and the queue runs on the server, not on your laptop. The two surfaces suit different halves of the work.

Step 1: connect and look around

Claude Code adds a remote HTTP server with claude mcp add --transport http <name> <url>, and OAuth servers sign in through /mcp or claude mcp login <name> (Claude Code docs, read 2026-10-07). For Sume, the quickstart gives the two commands:

• claude mcp add --transport http sume https://mcp.sume.com/mcp
• claude mcp login sume
• Then ask Claude to call tools_list or mcp_health to confirm the session.

Step 2: prototype one video

Ask the agent to read tools_schema for the tool you need, run it with dry_run=true, and report the estimate. Then submit one real call with an idempotency_key and a max_spend_usd. Keep the winning prompt, model id and settings in a note. This is cheap, interactive and easy to adjust.

Step 3: move the recipe to a Format

The hosted MCP tool list I read covers generation, jobs, assets, crawl and Avatar tools. It does not list Format runs, which are documented on the HTTP API. Turn your note into a Format recipe (style, rules and output contract), then call it from your backend.

Step 4: queue the batch

A bulk request holds a concurrency number and an items array, where each item is an ordinary run body. Webhooks are per item through communication.webhook_url, and queue progress comes from polling GET /v1/format-run-queues/{queue_id}. Put a generation_spend_cap_usd on every item. A queue status of completed means every item is terminal, not that every item succeeded, so read each child receipt.

Use an API key with formats:write for creation and formats:read for polling. Service-account keys cannot create Format runs or bulk queues.

Keep the agent out of the loop

Do not ask the chat agent to submit 100 paid calls one by one. The batch is a job for the queue, where cost, retries and results are all recorded.