Cutler 🪓

Edit videos like code.

Cutler is a local-first AI video editing agent for developers. Turn raw screen recordings and talking videos into clean, watchable, high-retention YouTube edits using prompts and presets — no timelines, no Premiere, no uploads.

If you can use git, you can use Cutler.

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Why Cutler?

Developers record videos all the time:

• YouTube tutorials
• Client update videos
• Demo walkthroughs
• Screen recordings

Editing those videos is slow, repetitive, and annoying.

Cutler automates video editing the same way Copilot automates code.

You describe intent. Cutler plans the edits. Cutler executes them — locally.

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What Cutler Does (MVP)

Cutler converts intent → plan → execution.

cutler edit demo.mp4 --preset youtube

Cutler can:

• ✂️ Remove silences and dead air
• 🎯 Apply jump cuts for better pacing
• 📝 Generate captions (Whisper)
• 🔊 Normalize audio
• 📦 Export a clean, YouTube-ready video

All locally. Your files never leave your machine.

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Key Features

🪄 Prompt-based editing

Describe what you want. Cutler plans and executes the edits.

cutler edit demo.mp4 --prompt "Remove silences, add captions, fast pacing"

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🧠 Agent-driven workflow

Editing is broken into explicit, reproducible steps — not magic.

You can inspect, debug, and replay edits.

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🧩 Presets for common workflows

Built-in presets for typical developer use cases:

• youtube
• tutorial
• update

Presets provide sensible defaults. Prompts refine behavior.

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🗂️ Timeline as JSON

Every edit produces a transparent timeline:

• Human-readable
• Replayable
• Diff-friendly

cutler replay timeline.json --change "increase pacing"

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🔒 Local-first & private

• No uploads
• No cloud rendering
• No vendor lock-in

Cutler runs entirely on your machine.

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Example Commands

# Basic YouTube edit (default preset)
cutler edit input.mp4

# Explicit preset
cutler edit input.mp4 --preset youtube

# Custom prompt
cutler edit demo.mp4 --prompt "Remove silences, add captions, fast pacing"

# Replay and tweak an existing edit
cutler replay timeline.json --change "increase pacing"

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Installation (MVP)

⚠️ Cutler is under active development. APIs may change.

Requirements

• macOS (initially)
• Python 3.10+
• FFmpeg

Install FFmpeg

brew install ffmpeg

Install Cutler (from source)

git clone https://github.com/rahijamil/cutler.git
cd cutler
pip install -e .

Homebrew install is planned once the CLI stabilizes.

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Project Structure

cutler/
├─ cli/                # Python CLI (cutler edit ...)
├─ engine/             # Video processing (FFmpeg, audio)
├─ agent/              # Planner + decision logic
├─ presets/            # youtube, update, tutorial
├─ timeline/           # JSON schemas
├─ extensions/
│   └─ vscode/         # VS Code extension (planned)
├─ docs/
├─ scripts/
└─ README.md

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How It Works

Cutler follows an agent-style pipeline:

1. Understand intent (preset + prompt)
2. Generate an edit plan
3. Execute steps locally via FFmpeg
4. Export video + timeline

Example plan:

{
  "intent": "youtube tutorial",
  "steps": [
    "remove_silence",
    "jump_cuts",
    "generate_captions",
    "normalize_audio",
    "export"
  ]
}

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Roadmap

• Local CLI MVP scaffolding
• Silence detection & removal
• Auto captions (Whisper)
• YouTube pacing preset
• Timeline replay & diff
• VS Code extension
• Licensing & Pro features

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Philosophy

Cutler is not a traditional video editor.

There is:

• No timeline dragging
• No keyframes
• No UI-heavy workflows

Instead:

Videos are edited like code — declarative, automated, reproducible.

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Who Is This For?

• Developers
• Indie hackers
• Founders
• Technical creators
• Anyone who hates video editing

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Status

🚧 Early-stage MVP

Expect rapid iteration and breaking changes.

Feedback is welcome.

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License

MIT (core CLI)

Commercial licensing planned for advanced features.

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⭐ Star the repo

If Cutler saves you time, consider starring the repo — it helps a lot.

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Author

Built by @rahijamil