How to Make UGC Ads with Claude Using an MCP Server

This guide shows how to make UGC-style ads with Claude using the UGC Pilot MCP server. It covers setup, a working prompt flow, and how to review the output before you use it in an ad.

What you need

• A UGC Pilot account. The seven-day free trial needs no credit card; paid plans start at $19 a month.
• Claude on the web or desktop (or Claude Code).
• The hosted server URL: https://mcp.getugcpilot.com/mcp

The server uses Streamable HTTP and signs in with OAuth (PKCE). You approve access in your browser, so you never paste an API key or token into the chat. Generation uses your account's plan and credits.

Step 1: Add UGC Pilot as a custom connector in Claude

1. In Claude, open Customize → Connectors → Add custom connector.
2. Name it UGC Pilot and paste https://mcp.getugcpilot.com/mcp.
3. Finish the OAuth sign-in and approve the requested scopes.
4. Enable the connector in the conversation before you send a prompt.

In organizations that require it, an administrator adds the custom connector first. Each person still signs in with their own UGC Pilot account.

Using Claude Code instead? Add the server with one command:

claude mcp add --transport http ugc-pilot https://mcp.getugcpilot.com/mcp

Full details are on the Claude setup page. If your team uses Codex, the Codex setup page covers the ~/.codex/config.toml route.

Step 2: Run a connection check before generating

Before you spend credits, ask Claude to confirm everything is wired up:

Use UGC Pilot to check my connection, plan, credits, and available generation options. Do not generate anything yet.

Claude will call tools such as get_profile, get_entitlements and get_capabilities, then tell you what your plan allows. If a tool is missing, start a new conversation, since an open chat can keep the tool list it saw at the start.

Step 3: Write the ad brief with Claude

This is where Claude shines. Give it the product, the audience and the one message. Ask for options:

I sell a tool that turns a website into short marketing videos. The audience is solo SaaS founders who don't want to be on camera. Write 5 UGC-style hooks under 10 words, then a 15-second script for the strongest one. Don't claim results we can't prove.

Pick a hook. Keep the claim honest: no invented numbers, customers or outcomes. UGC Pilot can also pull your saved brand profile with get_saas_brand, so Claude can keep the tone consistent with your brand.

Need hook formats to start from? Ask Claude to browse UGC Pilot's reference catalogue (list_references) for hook, wall-of-text and slideshow formats, then remix the text for your product with remix_reference_text.

Step 4: Generate the video

Now ask Claude to make it:

Use UGC Pilot to generate a vertical UGC-style video for this script. Show a person talking to a phone camera in a home office. Tell me the credit cost before you start.

Claude calls generate_video, then checks progress with get_job until the file is ready. If you have a product photo or clip you're allowed to use, upload it first (create_upload, then confirm_upload) and ask Claude to use it as a reference.

Showing real product screens? Register a real screen recording as a demo clip (register_demo) instead of asking the model to invent UI. The product demo to short video guide explains why.

Step 5: Add a voiceover and finish the edit

UGC ads usually need a voice. Through the same connector, Claude can:

• List available voices (list_audio_voices) and generate speech from your script (generate_audio).
• Attach that audio to the video (import_audio_for_video).
• Open and change an edit draft (list_edit_drafts, update_edit_draft), then export it (export_edit_draft).
• Run finishing on a video (finish_video).

Every tool, with its description and permission scope, is listed in the MCP tools reference.

Step 6: Review before you run it as an ad

Treat the export as a draft. Before you put money behind it:

• Watch it on a phone. Check that text is readable at small sizes (see readable video text).
• Reject invented details. Fake product screens, logos, reviews or results don't belong in an ad.
• Check platform rules. Follow each ad platform's policy on AI-generated or synthetic media, and label it where required.
• Make variants. Ask Claude for two or three alternate hooks and generate each one so you can test them.

Then download the approved file and upload it to your ad account or channel yourself. UGC Pilot doesn't post or run ads for you.

A full example prompt flow

Here's a condensed version you can paste and adapt:

1. "Check my UGC Pilot connection, plan and credits. Don't generate yet."
2. "Read my brand profile and write 5 hooks for [audience] about [one message]."
3. "Generate a 15-second vertical UGC-style video for hook #2. Tell me the credit cost first."
4. "Generate a voiceover in a friendly, casual voice and attach it to the video."
5. "Export the edit and give me the download."

For more on the general workflow, see How to create UGC videos with AI. For finished output from UGC Pilot's own channel, see UGC video generator examples.

Instagram example accounts made with UGC Pilot are @mira_handles, @juliarose.daily, and @clara_iamm.

Why use Claude instead of a web editor?

Both work. The AI UGC video generator in the browser is faster for a single clip. Claude plus MCP helps when you want to:

• Write, generate and revise in one conversation.
• Produce several hook variants in a row without clicking through screens.
• Keep brief, script and output together for your team to review.