Cliptude

Cliptude CLI + MCP

Generate videos from a saved template. Same account and credits as cliptude.com.

Also from Cliptude: Awesome Faceless YouTube Automation, a curated list of tools, footage sources and YouTube policies for faceless channels.

Claude plugin

The plugin/ folder is the Claude plugin: the Cliptude connector plus the cliptude, cliptude-script and cliptude-plan skills. See plugin/README.md for what it sends.

Set up

1. Install the CLI: run npm i -g @cliptude/cli.
2. Authenticate: run cliptude auth login and complete the sign-in in the browser it opens.
3. Install the companion skills: run npx skills add cliptude/cliptude (includes cliptude, cliptude-script and cliptude-plan).

From this repo without npm:

pip install -e .

cliptude auth login

Commands

cliptude templates

cliptude template-options --format faceless_documentary cliptude voices --provider elevenlabs cliptude template-create --name "TSMC doc" --format faceless_documentary --set voice_id= --set voice_name=George --set generation_model=pro --set faceless_documentary_style=investigative cliptude template-create --name "TSMC doc" --format faceless_documentary --settings-file settings.json cliptude generate --template "Finance vector weekly" --title "Why index funds win" --prompt "why most retail traders underperform the S&P over 10 years, keep it for beginners" --duration 3-4 cliptude estimate --template "Finance vector weekly" --script-file script.txt cliptude avatars --section mine cliptude generate --template "My avatar weekly" --title "Episode one" --script-file script.txt --avatar 42 cliptude generate --template "Finance vector weekly" --title "Why index funds win" --script-file script.txt cliptude generate --template "Finance vector weekly" --title "Why index funds win" --voiceover narration.mp3 cliptude generate --template "My talking head" --title "Weekly recap" --talking-head clip.mp4 cliptude generate --template "My avatar weekly" --title "Grandma egg trick" --script-file script.txt --avatar-ai-footage --avatar-intro-only cliptude script --template "Finance vector weekly" --title "Why index funds win" --prompt "why most retail traders underperform the S&P" --duration 3-4 cliptude voiceover --template "Finance vector weekly" --title "Why index funds win" --script-file script.txt cliptude download-voiceover --out narration.mp3 cliptude editor # editor project id, revision, timeline item ids cliptude edit --ops '-' <<< '[{"op": "delete", "item_id": "anim-agent_g10"}, {"op": "retime", "item_id": "anim-agent_g11", "start_s": 109.3}]' cliptude agent --prompt "Replace this shot with real footage of a TSMC fab" --items clip-1 --tier smart --wait cliptude render --wait # new MP4 of the edited timeline cliptude continue cliptude status

No template yet? template-create makes one without the create wizard: pick a voice_id from voices, and see template-options for every other field, its choices and its default (unset fields take the wizard default). Values are validated like the wizard; uploads (custom music, avatars, characters) still need the wizard. MCP tools: get_template_options, list_voices, create_template. For Avatar Video, avatars (MCP list_avatars) lists your avatars; set one with --set avatar_profile_id= on template-create, or override it per video with --avatar (and --avatar-engine iv|v) on generate, plan-job and estimate. The avatar's gender must match the voice. For Vector Explainer, vector-characters lists the built-in cast and your uploads, vector-character-upload --name "Dr. Maya" --file maya.png (or --url) adds your own, and --set vector_character_id= on template-create (or --vector-character on generate / plan-job) uses it. Motion: --set vector_reveal_mode=none|video on the template, or --vector-motion none|video on generate, plan-job and estimate (none = stills with camera moves, video = AI clips). Thumbnails: --thumbnail-reference or --thumbnail-prompt " " on template-create sets the template's look; the same flags on generate and plan-job set one video's. With neither, each video picks a style reference for its own title.

To check the price first, estimate (MCP estimate_credits, REST POST /api/v1/jobs/estimate) takes the same template and prompt/script as generate (an upload as --voiceover-seconds / --talking-head-seconds) and returns the credits the job would need and whether the account has them. It creates and charges nothing.

To revise a finished video, editor opens its timeline (item ids, times, text). edit --ops ops.json applies exact edits on those ids, free and in one revision: delete, retime, trim, set opacity/volume, set a graphic's props, design or picture (an uploaded keep id or https link), mute a graphic's sound, add a graphic, clip or catalog sound effect, set a transition, restyle captions, set library music, its volume or remove it, set the background. versions and restore undo. agent asks Cliptude Agent for open-ended edits that need sourcing or generation (it charges agent credits; reference item ids with --items), and render exports a new MP4. MCP tools: open_editor_project, get_editor_project, edit_timeline, list_editor_versions, restore_editor_version, run_agent, get_agent_run, cancel_agent_run, render_project, get_render.

To answer a copyright claim or credit Creative Commons footage, MCP get_video_sources lists where every visual in a finished video came from (times on screen, provider, author, license, link) plus the description credits, and find_media_source finds every video that used a link, YouTube channel or author.

Brand kits and media: list_brand_kits lists the user's brand kits (one per channel: logo, colours, fonts; one is the default); create_template and update_template take brand_kit_id and show_logo (the logo is off by default). list_media lists the user's own images, clips and audio (their media library, shared with the editor's uploads), with a url to use in a plan or edit_timeline.

Agent-planned videos

On Faceless Documentary, Faceless Top 10, Avatar Video and Vector Explainer templates an agent can plan every visual and leave Cliptude only the voicing, sourcing and rendering:

1. cliptude plan-job (stops at plan_ready), cliptude narration . Like every job, it answers first with a review of its settings; music, sound effects, transitions, animations and web sources are on by default, and any the template turns off (no_music, no_sound_effects, no_transitions, no_motion_graphics, ...) need the user's approval in --acknowledge. Your own footage: cliptude upload-media trailer.mp4 --split-shots cuts a whole source into checked 3-12 s clips on its cuts and prints their keep ids; each upload's notes say what the build review would report (a watermark, an end screen, captions). A render-only job (--render-only) takes only uploaded files: download each picture or clip and send it with upload-media (MCP upload_plan_media, or start_media_upload + finish_media_upload on a remote host), then use its keep id. plan-check refuses a media url there (render_only_upload_required): a link to another site can be throttled or expire before the render, and one failed download fails the whole job.
2. cliptude catalog --compact, then --types a,b for full entries (--premium lists only the premium boards).
3. cliptude plan-check plan.json until valid, cliptude plan-lock plan.json, cliptude continue . The job stops at ready_for_edit: built and charged, not rendered.
4. cliptude plan-review : every picture or clip (asked vs used, link to the file) and every graphic (the props it will be drawn with, or why it is missing). cliptude plan-report adds each fallback.
5. To revise, plan-check / plan-lock a new plan on the same job and continue again: same narration, unchanged media reused, nothing more charged.
6. Render once: cliptude editor , cliptude render --wait.

Aim for two builds: one to review, one to ship. The skill's "One pass" section has the order of work (footage budget, sources split by shot, people's photos first, picture assignment by script, person-card caps).

MCP tools: create_plan_job, get_narration, get_kind_catalog, check_plan, lock_plan, get_plan, continue_job, get_plan_review, get_plan_report, then open_editor_project and render_project. The plan sets the look (theme, style, colours, music), every graphic with its own data, colours and sound, the footage under every beat, the transition on each cut, two-image reveals, and free sound effects; get_kind_catalog lists the graphics, transitions, reveal_styles, clip_effects and sounds (with previews). The plan schema and rules are in skills/cliptude-plan/SKILL.md. The job costs the same as the website price.

Product videos from a store

Turn a store product into a 6 to 60 minute educational YouTube video: about 80% teaching, then the product, with its real photos composited into the closing boards (never regenerated) and a scan-to-shop QR code in the corner. Any Shopify product URL works with no setup; other stores work through the page's structured data; a store connected at cliptude.com/integrations/stores/ (or that installed the Cliptude Shopify app) can also be searched.

cliptude product fetch https://store.com/products/handle        # product_id + 3 educational angles

cliptude product script --angle 1 --duration 10-12 --discount-code YOUTUBE15 \ --review "Best pan I own|Sam K.|5" # real customer reviews only cliptude product status # until script_ready; review the script cliptude product render --aspect-ratio 16:9 # returns at once cliptude product status # until ready_for_review; open editor_url

MCP tools: fetch_product_context, draft_product_script, render_product_video, get_product_video_status. None of them waits for a render; poll the status tool. Nothing is published to a store or YouTube unless you ask.

Every video needs a thumbnail reference or brief: --thumbnail-reference (a video whose thumbnail style fits; ask the user or search YouTube) or --thumbnail-prompt, on the template, the job or continue. Cliptude no longer guesses one from the title; without one the job is refused (thumbnail_required).

--title is required. Provide one of --prompt, --script / --script-file, --voiceover, or --talking-head. Never copy the title into --prompt. If you only have a topic, follow cliptude-script (web search → spoken narration → --script-file), or ask Cliptude to write it with cliptude script. After a completed script or voiceover job, cliptude continue turns that same job into a full video (reuses the script; voiceover jobs reuse the TTS file). --voiceover is a local audio file (same as create.html); it is transcribed and skips TTS — do not combine it with prompt/script. --talking-head is a presenter video on a Talking Head template (MP4, MOV, WEBM, AVI); it is transcribed and skips TTS. Optional --duration is a wizard bucket (3-4, 6-8, 10-12, …). Omit it to use the template duration, or the word-count estimate when you pass --script. Uploaded audio or talking-head video sets duration from the file. Avatar Video templates can override Avatar Intro Only and **AI Image