Video Tool CLI
AI-powered video processing toolkit with ffmpeg operations, Whisper transcription, and content generation.
Installation Status
video-tool: !which video-tool > /dev/null && echo "INSTALLED" || echo "NOT INSTALLED - run installation below" uv: !which uv > /dev/null && echo "INSTALLED" || echo "NOT INSTALLED"
If video-tool is not installed, run the installation commands below before proceeding.
Installation
Install uv first (if not installed)
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh
Install video-tool
uv tool install git+https://github.com/alejandro-ao/video-tool-cli.git
Dependencies ffmpeg: Required for all video operations (brew install ffmpeg on macOS) yt-dlp: Required for video downloads (brew install yt-dlp on macOS) API Keys Setup
Configure API keys (choose one method):
Option 1: Non-interactive (recommended for Claude Code)
video-tool config keys --set groq_api_key=YOUR_KEY video-tool config keys --set openai_api_key=YOUR_KEY
Multiple at once:
video-tool config keys --set groq_api_key=xxx --set openai_api_key=yyy
Option 2: Edit credentials file directly If users prefer not to share keys with Claude Code, they can edit directly:
File: ~/.config/video-tool/credentials.yaml
openai_api_key: sk-xxx groq_api_key: gsk_xxx bunny_library_id: xxx bunny_access_key: xxx replicate_api_token: xxx
Option 3: Interactive setup
video-tool config keys
Required keys:
groq_api_key - Transcription (Whisper) openai_api_key - Content generation (descriptions, timestamps)
Optional keys:
bunny_library_id, bunny_access_key - Bunny.net CDN uploads replicate_api_token - Audio enhancement video-tool config keys --show # View configured keys (masked) video-tool config keys --reset # Clear all credentials
IMPORTANT: Handling Authentication Errors
When a command fails with "AUTHENTICATION REQUIRED" or "API key not configured":
DO NOT try to work around the issue by writing custom scripts DO NOT try to call APIs directly INSTEAD, offer the user two options using AskUserQuestion:
Option A: Provide key to Claude (convenient)
User gives you the API key directly You run: video-tool config keys --set KEY_NAME=VALUE Faster, but the key is visible in the conversation
Option B: User configures privately (more secure)
User runs the command themselves or edits the file directly Key never appears in the conversation with Claude Tell user to run: video-tool config keys (interactive) Or edit: ~/.config/video-tool/credentials.yaml
Example AskUserQuestion prompt: "This command requires a [Groq/OpenAI] API key. How would you like to configure it?"
Option 1: "I'll provide the key" - convenient but key visible to Claude Option 2: "I'll configure it myself" - more private, key stays hidden from Claude
After user configures (either way), retry the original command.
Commands that require API keys:
video-tool generate transcript → Requires Groq API key video-tool video timestamps -m transcript → Requires OpenAI API key (structured output) video-tool upload bunny-* → Requires Bunny.net credentials video-tool video enhance-audio → Requires Replicate API token Content Generation: CLI Commands vs Direct Generation
Some CLI commands use OpenAI to generate content. When Claude runs this skill, it's often better for Claude to generate content directly instead of calling another LLM.
Use CLI command (requires OpenAI API key): video timestamps -m transcript - Uses structured output for precise JSON Generate directly as Claude (no OpenAI needed):
For these tasks, read the transcript/timestamps and generate content using the linked templates:
Description: See templates/description.md SEO Keywords: See templates/seo-keywords.md LinkedIn/Twitter Posts: See templates/social-posts.md Context Cards: See templates/context-cards.md Note on CLI commands
The CLI has commands like generate description, generate context-cards that use OpenAI. These exist for manual CLI usage. If user explicitly requests a CLI command, honor the request (it may require OpenAI key). Otherwise, generate content directly.
Output Location
Before generating files (transcripts, descriptions, timestamps, etc.), if not especified before, ask the user where to save them using AskUserQuestion.
Example prompt: "Where should I save the output files?"
Option 1: "Current directory" - save in . or ./output/ Option 2: "Same folder as video" - save alongside the source video Option 3: "I'll specify a path" - user provides custom location
Default behavior if user doesn't specify: Ask rather than assuming temp directory.
YouTube Authentication
For YouTube uploads, run OAuth2 setup:
video-tool config youtube-auth
Command Reference Video Processing Download Video
Download from YouTube or other supported sites.
video-tool video download -u "URL" -o ./output -n "filename"
Option Description -u, --url Video URL -o, --output-dir Output directory -n, --name Output filename (without extension) Get Video Info
Get metadata: duration, resolution, codec, bitrate.
video-tool video info -i video.mp4
Remove Silence
Remove silent segments from video.
video-tool video silence-removal -i input.mp4 -o output.mp4 -t 1.0
Option Description -i, --input Input video -o, --output-path Output path -t, --threshold Min silence duration to remove (default: 1.0s) Trim Video
Cut from start and/or end of video.
video-tool video trim -i input.mp4 -o output.mp4 -s 00:00:10 -e 00:05:00
Option Description -s, --start Start timestamp (HH:MM:SS, MM:SS, or seconds) -e, --end End timestamp -g, --gpu Use GPU acceleration Extract Segment
Keep only a specific portion of video.
video-tool video extract-segment -i input.mp4 -o output.mp4 -s 00:01:00 -e 00:02:30
Cut Segment
Remove a middle portion from video.
video-tool video cut -i input.mp4 -o output.mp4 -f 00:01:00 -t 00:02:00
Option Description -f, --from Start of segment to remove -t, --to End of segment to remove Change Speed
Speed up or slow down video.
video-tool video speed -i input.mp4 -o output.mp4 -f 1.5
Option Description -f, --factor Speed factor (0.25-4.0). 2.0=double, 0.5=half -p, --preserve-pitch Keep original audio pitch (default: yes) Concatenate Videos
Join multiple videos into one.
video-tool video concat -i ./clips/ -o ./output/final.mp4 -f
Option Description -i, --input-dir Directory containing videos -o, --output-path Output file path -f, --fast-concat Skip re-encoding (faster, requires same codec) Audio Operations Extract Audio
Extract audio track to MP3.
video-tool video extract-audio -i video.mp4 -o audio.mp3
Enhance Audio
Improve audio quality using Resemble AI (requires Replicate API token).
video-tool video enhance-audio -i input.mp4 -o enhanced.mp4 video-tool video enhance-audio -i input.mp4 -o denoised.mp4 -d # denoise only
Replace Audio
Swap audio track in a video.
video-tool video replace-audio -v video.mp4 -a new_audio.mp3 -o output.mp4
Transcription & Timestamps Generate Transcript
Create VTT captions using Groq Whisper (requires Groq API key).
video-tool generate transcript -i video.mp4 -o transcript.vtt
Generate Timestamps
Create chapter markers (requires OpenAI API key for transcript mode).
From video clips directory
video-tool video timestamps -m clips -i ./clips/ -o timestamps.json
From transcript
video-tool video timestamps -m transcript -i transcript.vtt -o timestamps.json -g medium
Option Description -m, --mode clips or transcript -g, --granularity low, medium, high (transcript mode) -n, --notes Additional instructions for LLM Uploads YouTube Upload
Upload video as draft (requires OAuth2 auth via video-tool config youtube-auth).
video-tool upload youtube-video -i video.mp4 -t "Title" -d "Description" -p private video-tool upload youtube-video -i video.mp4 --metadata-path metadata.json
Option Description -t, --title Video title -d, --description Description text --description-file Read description from file --tags Comma-separated tags --tags-file Tags from file (one per line) -c, --category YouTube category ID (default: 27 Education) -p, --privacy private (draft) or unlisted only --thumbnail Thumbnail image path YouTube Metadata Update
Update existing video metadata.
video-tool upload youtube-metadata -v VIDEO_ID --description-file description.md
YouTube Transcript Upload
Add captions to YouTube video.
video-tool upload youtube-transcript -v VIDEO_ID -t transcript.vtt -l en
Bunny.net Uploads
Upload to Bunny.net CDN (requires Bunny credentials via config keys).
video-tool upload bunny-video -v video.mp4 video-tool upload bunny-transcript -v VIDEO_ID -t transcript.vtt video-tool upload bunny-chapters -v VIDEO_ID -c timestamps.json
Full Pipeline
Run complete workflow: concat → timestamps → transcript → content → optional upload.
video-tool pipeline -i ./clips/ -o ./output/ -t "Video Title" -y
Option Description -f, --fast-concat Fast concatenation --timestamps-from-clips Generate timestamps from clip names -g, --granularity Timestamp detail level --upload-bunny Upload to Bunny.net after processing -y, --yes Non-interactive mode Configuration video-tool config keys # Configure API keys (interactive) video-tool config keys --set KEY=VALUE # Set key non-interactively video-tool config keys --show # View configured keys video-tool config llm # Configure LLM settings and persistent links video-tool config youtube-auth # Set up YouTube OAuth2 video-tool config youtube-status # Check YouTube credentials
Command Templates for Skills
Common tasks that other skills can reference by name.
Transcribe Video
Generate VTT transcript from video/audio file.
video-tool generate transcript -i
Inputs:
Requirements: Groq API key
Concatenate Videos
Join multiple video clips into single file.
video-tool video concat -i
Inputs:
Note: Clips must be named with numeric prefixes for correct ordering.
Generate Timestamps from Clips
Create chapter timestamps from clip filenames.
video-tool video timestamps --mode clips -i
Inputs:
Output Format:
{ "timestamps": [ {"time": "00:00:00", "title": "Introduction"}, {"time": "00:05:30", "title": "Main Content"} ] }
Upload to YouTube
Upload video with metadata to YouTube.
video-tool upload youtube-video \
-i
Inputs:
Requirements: YouTube OAuth2 authentication (video-tool config youtube-auth)
Output: JSON with video_id and url (save to youtube-upload.json for publish skill)
Common Workflows
See workflows.md for detailed examples.