AI video tools
Most AI video products promise a finished video from a prompt. The open-source tools are more practical. They cut long recordings into shorts, write captions, edit talking-head footage by its transcript, and give a coding agent the commands to trim, join and render video on your own machine. This list covers those, ranked by GitHub stars.
Editing by transcript and by agent
Transcript editing is the most useful idea in AI video so far: the tool transcribes the footage, you delete words in the text, and the video cuts to match. It turns an hour of trimming into minutes for interviews, podcasts and tutorials.
Captions are the quiet win. Speech-to-text models are accurate enough that most of the work is checking names and terms, and burned-in captions matter for the many people who watch with the sound off.
Agent skills built on FFmpeg or on code-based video frameworks let Claude or another agent assemble clips, add titles and render, which suits repeatable formats such as weekly shorts or product clips.
Shorts from long videos
Clip makers find the strongest moments in a long video, reframe them to vertical and caption them. They save time, but the picks are guesses. Watch every clip before it goes out, and check that captions spell names right.
Rendering is heavy. Local tools need a capable machine, and long renders are where hosted services earn their fee.
The list
From SkillScout's catalogue, counted on 27 October 2026: 62 entries matched this topic, and these are the 12 with the most GitHub stars, one per project, after a review for false matches. Descriptions are each project's own. Stars show popularity, not fit.
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hyperframes
Write HTML. Render video. Built for agents.
Get the code, then follow its README:
git clone https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes -
palmier-pro
macOS video editor built for AI
Get the code, then follow its README:
git clone https://github.com/palmier-io/palmier-pro -
openshorts
Open source AI clip generator: turns long videos into viral 9:16 shorts with AI moment detection, face tracking, subtitles and dubbing. Self-host free with Docker (MIT
Get the code, then follow its README:
git clone https://github.com/mutonby/openshorts -
AI-Youtube-Shorts-Generator
Open-source alternative to Opus Clip, Vidyo.ai, Klap & SubMagic. Turn long-form YouTube videos into viral 9:16 shorts using LLM highlight detection, Whisper...
Get the code, then follow its README:
git clone https://github.com/Anil-matcha/AI-Youtube-Shorts-Generator -
youtube-shorts-pipeline
Automated YouTube Shorts pipeline: news → script → AI visuals → voiceover → captions → upload
Get the code, then follow its README:
git clone https://github.com/rushindrasinha/youtube-shorts-pipeline -
videoeditor
Your Creative Copilot for Video Editing
Get the code, then follow its README:
git clone https://github.com/trykimu/videoeditor -
ffmpeg-skill
Local video editor for coding agents: 42 FFmpeg tools with a machine-readable contract and an MCP server, for Claude Code, Cursor and Codex. Cut, captions, reframe...
Get the code, then follow its README to add the skill:
git clone https://github.com/kajisho5/ffmpeg-skill -
video-podcast-maker
Topic → 4K narrated video for coding agents. v3.0 Asset Engine: manifest-based asset layer (user files / stock / AI images / AI B-roll / Hyperframes overlays), 11 TTS...
Get the code, then follow its README to add the skill:
git clone https://github.com/Agents365-ai/video-podcast-maker -
herk-edit-kit
Herk Edit Kit by Nate Herk: edit videos, reels, and YouTube Shorts with Codex or Claude Code. 15 skills, transcript-driven cuts, storytelling, 406 motion-graphics cards...
Get the code, then follow its README:
git clone https://github.com/nateherkai/herk-edit-kit -
short-video-generator-AI
Free open-source project designed for turning youtube-viedos into viral short videos. Highlight detection, subtitles, translation, voiceover, all in one for your content.
Get the code, then follow its README:
git clone https://github.com/OStudi/short-video-generator-AI -
yt-short-clipper
Windows desktop app that turns long-form YouTube videos into 9:16 short-form clips, AI highlight detection, face-tracking portrait reframe, and word-by-word captions.
Get the code, then follow its README:
git clone https://github.com/jipraks/yt-short-clipper -
app.yumcut.com
YumCut - free AI video generator to turn a prompt into ready vertical videos for TikTok, Reels and YouTube Shorts. Auto script, scenes, voiceover, subtitles and...
Get the code, then follow its README:
git clone https://github.com/IgorShadurin/app.yumcut.com
Questions
Can Claude edit videos?
Not by itself, but with a video skill or MCP server it can run tools such as FFmpeg to cut, join, caption and render footage on your machine.
What is the best AI tool for YouTube Shorts?
For open-source options, the clip makers and shorts pipelines in this list are the starting points. Compare how they pick moments and how much control they give you over captions.
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Your own list
This page ranks by popularity. SkillScout's scan ranks by fit: the AI you already use writes a short profile of how you work, and SkillScout scores about 22,000 AI tools against your gaps and hands back a short list with install steps. It is free, and the server never saves your profile.