capcut-cli

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Create and edit real CapCut / JianYing projects from the terminal — or any LLM agent.

Open the result in CapCut with every track still editable. capcut-cli works directly on the local draft store: JSON in, JSON out, with no upload, API, MCP server, or HTTP daemon.

Also from the maintainer: 500 Years Frozen in Time: The Inca Children Mystery, a 14:49 documentary from Bronze Age Banter.

raw recording → silence-aware cuts + styled captions → editable CapCut / JianYing draft

▶ Captioned output example (60 seconds)

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/4e6ee99c-0745-4cfb-8e9b-ad873fb1259b

Install and open your first editable draft

Prerequisites: Node ≥ 18 (built-ins only — no native modules). Optional tools unlock specific commands: Whisper for caption, FFmpeg for render, ffprobe for automatic media metadata, and ANTHROPIC_API_KEY for translate.

npm install -g capcut-cli

From Python: pip install capcut wraps the same binary — capcut.run("quickstart", "my-short", video="clip.mp4", ratio="9:16") — see python/README.md.

capcut doctor
capcut quickstart my-first --video clip.mp4 --srt captions.srt
capcut info ./my-first/ -H

Result: a real local project with video and captions on editable tracks — not a flattened export. Open it in CapCut or JianYing to review, adjust, and render. The publish click stays human.

Useful? Star capcut-cli to help other editors and agent builders find it.

For more practical tools for AI agents, from video automation to checks before they ship, follow René on GitHub.

Build from source instead: git clone https://github.com/renezander030/capcut-cli && cd capcut-cli && npm install && npm run build (then npm link to expose capcut). Or run any command without installing: npx capcut-cli <command>.

[!IMPORTANT] Upgrade before using older versions. Fixture bundles made with versions up to 0.17.2 may contain stable device identifiers and must be treated as unsanitised (#59). Versions up to 0.17.0 also contain local command/filter injection paths and unsafe temporary-file or credential-output behaviour. These issues are fixed in 0.18.0 and 0.17.1 respectively. Run npm install -g capcut-cli@latest and see the changelog for full details.

Disclaimer: This is an independent, community-maintained project. It is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by CapCut, JianYing, or ByteDance Ltd. "CapCut" and "JianYing" (剪映) are trademarks of ByteDance Ltd. All product names, logos, and brands are the property of their respective owners and are used here only for identification (nominative) purposes.

An independent CLI for CapCut / JianYing that any LLM agent can drive — zero dependencies, no server, both namespaces in one binary.