Build with Hookova

What you can build on

Six surfaces, in the order most people meet them. The MCP server is the supported one; the command line is that server run differently; the API is what both stand on.

The Hookova MCP server

A local server over stdio that turns your account into 17 tools: the save library, the inspiration boards and their hook guides, and publishing to your connected accounts. It runs from one TypeScript file under Bun and talks to the same routes the apps do. Setup, every tool with its arguments, other clients, environment variables and troubleshooting are all on the setup guide; this is the shape of it.

The install is three steps and lives in one place: the setup guide for a person, the runbook for an agent. The commands are the same on both, and they are not repeated here so they cannot drift.

CLI guide

Use hookova from your terminal to sign in, browse saved references, export a project guide or publish finished media. hokovaworks too — both names run the same commands. No AI client is required.

Install once

Download and unpack the Hookova zip, then run these commands inside its folder. Existing users: unpack the latest zip over your installed folder first. The CLI shortcuts require v1.7.0 or later.

bun install
bun link
hookova --help

If your terminal says command not found, add the directory printed by bun pm bin -gto your PATH. On macOS or Linux, run export PATH="$(bun pm bin -g):$PATH"and add that line to your shell profile for future terminals. On Windows, add that directory to your user Path and open a new terminal. Keep the unzipped folder: the commands link to it. Run hookova update whenever you want the latest release. Your next command uses the update; restart any running MCP client to load it.

Some real calls, in the order a first session tends to make them:

# who am I, what plan, what's left today
hookova status

# the boards, then one board's hook guide written to a folder with its stills
hookova projects
hookova guide '{"projectId":"<id>","dir":"./hook"}'

# save a link, then search for it
hookova save '{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/shorts/…"}'
hookova saves '{"q":"sourdough","limit":5}'

# what a post can go to, then a draft
hookova accounts
hookova publish '{"files":["./final.mp4"],"caption":"…","draft":true}'

hookova login
# Open this URL to approve (Chrome or Edge): https://www.hookova.com/connect/mcp?port=…&state=…
# …waits, up to five minutes, then prints {"connected":true, …account, "savedTo":…} and exits 0

Let an agent install it

www.hookova.com/install/mcp is the entire install as text/plain, written for whatever is holding the shell rather than for a reader: the zip to fetch, where to put it, the registration line with the path already absolute, the JSON block for other clients, and the shell-mode commands to use until the client restarts. An assistant told “install www.hookova.com/install/mcp” fetches it and follows it, and hands browser sign-in to you at the end. It is deliberately outside /api/ so a fetcher that honours robots.txt may read it.

curl -s https://www.hookova.com/install/mcp

The board pages use the same route: AI prompton any inspiration project is a one-paste block that installs the server, signs in, exports that board’s hook guide and keeps going in the same session.

Sound effects and music

Two more servers, each its own zip, neither needing an account. They exist so the agent building a video can fetch its own audio: “find me a boom and put it in./sfx,” “calm piano under a minute in ./music.” Both answer with the absolute path of the MP3 they wrote, which is what ffmpeg or an editor wants next.

Each is one claude mcp add line with no token; the setup pages linked above carry the exact commands and the JSON block for other clients.

The HTTP API

One backend serves the web app, the iOS and macOS apps, the Chrome extension and the MCP server, and they all authenticate the same way: a NextAuth session cookie in the browser, or an Authorization: Bearer header carrying the JWE that POST /api/auth/token mints. A bearer says who, never what— there is no per-client scope. The MCP server is the supported client and the shape every route is designed around; these are the routes it wraps, for when you are writing your own.

# mint a bearer (30 days)
curl -s https://www.hookova.com/api/auth/token \
  -H 'content-type: application/json' \
  -d '{"email":"you@example.com","password":"…"}'
# → {"token":"…", …}

# use it
curl -s https://www.hookova.com/api/saves -H "authorization: Bearer $TOKEN"

Versions and downloads

Each server is a zip of plain TypeScript with two dependencies fetched by bun install. The number on the zip is the number in its package.json, and a rebuilt zip is not shipped until the two agree.

The apps — iOS, macOS and the Chrome extension — are on Downloads.

Frequently asked questions