resolve-conform

name

resolve-conform

description

Conforming, relinking, and finishing prep in the DaVinci Resolve MCP. Apply when importing/relinking editorial, checking a conform against a reference, repairing reversed/retimed subclips, tracing grades across a re-conform, building relink plans, or QCing a conformed timeline frame-by-frame — live in a running Resolve OR offline against .drt/.drp files and the project DB. Routes to the live conform tools, the offline conform QC engine, and the online-editor craft skill.

Resolve Conform / Interchange — Claude Code Skill

Bridges online-editing / finishing craft to this repo's tools.

• Craft / finishing — the global online-editor skill (conform, relink, finishing philosophy in Resolve and Flame). Use for how a finishing editor thinks, not tool mechanics.
• Live tool mechanics — docs/kernels/timeline-conform-interchange-kernel.md (the timeline conform/interchange boundary).
• Offline conform engine — resolve-advanced/README.md → conform, color_trace, offline_ref, editorial, drt, project_db.

Two servers

Job	Server	Tools
Import / relink / compare a running conform	davinci-resolve (Python, live)	timeline (conform actions), media_pool (safe_relink, safe_import_sequence)
Conform QC math, reverse-clip repair, lineage, grade tracing, .drt/.drp/DB edits with no Resolve open	davinci-resolve-advanced (Node)	conform, color_trace, offline_ref, editorial, drt, project_db

What this build cannot do (check before you offer it)

The scripting API changes per patch release, so "Resolve 21" is not a usable label. Read resolve_control get_version → build.unavailable_on_this_build before offering a gated surface; check_version_support asks about one named symbol. Gated on the relink/media side this domain leans on:

Surface	Needs	If absent
MediaPoolItem.LinkProxyMedia	17.0	No script-side proxy attach
MediaPoolItem.LinkFullResolutionMedia	20.0	Cannot swap proxies back to full-res from a script
MediaPoolItem.ReplaceClipPreserveSubClip	20.0	Replacing a clip loses sub-clip boundaries; relink by path instead
MediaPoolItem.MonitorGrowingFile	20.0	No growing-file support during ingest
MediaPoolItem.GetTimeline	21.0.4	Cannot ask a clip which timelines use it; walk timelines and collect their items instead

An empty unavailable_on_this_build means nothing recorded is missing, not that everything exists — most of the API has never been version-bisected. A symbol with no gate returns unknown, which means probe it. Probe with name in dir(obj), never bare hasattr: on a Resolve object hasattr returns True for every name, real or invented, so it can only say yes.

The offline conform / drt / project_db routes are not gated this way — they operate on files, so a missing live surface is a reason to reach for them, not a dead end.

Live conform essentials

• Inspect before touching: probe_timeline_structure, detect_gaps_overlaps, source_range_report, conform_boundary_report.
• Interchange: export_timeline_checked / import_timeline_checked (temp-guarded). drt is the only lossless project-native round-trip; EDL/FCPXML drop Resolve-specific relationships.
• XML import via the scripting API goes offline (missing-media/generators abort the import). Use import_timeline_checked with media sanitize (FCP7/FCPXML) so the API imports with links intact, then exact-path relink. A running MCP server must be restarted to pick up the sanitize fix.
• Missing media: detect_missing_media → build_relink_plan (read-only, bounded; skips broad scans when the source volume is unmounted) → execute only via media_pool.safe_relink with approved paths.

Offline conform engine (conform actions)

The offline engine QCs a conform with frame-oracle math, not filename matching — it catches a clip that relinked to the wrong-but-similarly-named source. It also does:

• Reverse/retimed subclip repair — reversed source_start = masterFrames − 1 − endoffset (live-validated); DB-level repair.
• Sequence lineage store + diff — hashed timeline snapshots, diff, rollback.
• Per-cut frame QC — oracle-frame vs reference-render compare (scale-corrected; red/yellow/cyan verdicts), the standard finishing QC.
• Reference-render compare — build a REF_OFFLINE verdict when a burn-in-free reference exists.

Carrying grades across a re-conform

color_trace matches clips across projects → a trace plan for carrying grades through a re-conform (pairs with the resolve-color skill's drx grade_transfer). For "what changed between cuts," use editorial.turnover_changelist (see resolve-edit).

Offline-reference clips

Offline-ref clips have no scripting API but do live inside .drp/.drt as <OfflineClip> entries — patch via offline_ref (plain-XML/DB path), not the live server.

Gotchas that bite

• .drt version. For DaVinci Resolve 19.1.3, set DbPrjVer 17 → 16 when authoring a .drt or the import can fail.
• project_db patches require the project CLOSED in Resolve plus iConfirmProjectClosed:true; every write auto-backs-up and read-back verifies. Resolve caches open projects in memory — after patching, fully QUIT and relaunch Resolve or the change is invisible.
• AAF is an honest refuse in editorial.parse_interchange, not a silent empty result.
• Optional native deps gate some actions (better-sqlite3 for lineage/reverse/DB, sharp/ffmpeg for frame compare) — call the advanced capabilities tool.

Source-media safety (AGENTS.md)

Relink plans are read-only until you execute them; never relink, replace, or create derivatives of source media without explicit approval. Preserve the chain from camera original to final delivery.