Why won't Claude Code edit my video? Because on day one it has nothing to edit with. Ask it to "edit this video" and you get a plan, not an MP4. Claude Code needs real tools on your machine to cut and render, and one prompt that spells out how you like your edits. This post walks through the seven installs and each section of the video edit prompt I use. The full prompt, ready to copy, is on the free resource page.
The 7 installs: Claude Code, Homebrew, ffmpeg, Node, Whisper, OpenCV, Remotion
All of them are free apart from your Claude plan. Claude Code runs the edit and installs with one line from Anthropic. Homebrew, from brew.sh, is the installer for everything else. ffmpeg and Node do the cutting, encoding and render scripts (brew install ffmpeg node). Whisper turns your voice into word-timed text (pip3 install openai-whisper). OpenCV keeps your face in frame (pip3 install opencv-python). Remotion builds every graphic as code, timed to your words (npx create-video@latest). The seventh is not a program: it is a skill file, the prompt saved as .claude/skills/edit-reel/SKILL.md so you paste it once, not every time.
How the prompt is built
The prompt is split into tagged sections so Claude can't skip one. The goal comes first and is strict: edit the raw take into a finished reel of a set length for a set audience, one take in and one MP4 out, and a plan or storyboard alone does not count as done. Three placeholders, {{RAW_TAKE}}, {{SECONDS}} and {{AUDIENCE}}, are the only things you change. The install section tells Claude to check each tool and install only what is missing, and to open a new Terminal tab if it sees "command not found".
The folder section sets the layout every video uses: the raw take, a refs folder of three to five reels that beat your average, best.mp4 as the edit to beat, and style.md, beats.md and rules.md, which Claude reads first. The references section keeps the style honest: only use reels that clearly beat your usual views, sample a frame a second, read the transcript, and keep a move only if it shows up in two or more of them.
The workflow: Whisper timings, a storyboard gate and Remotion graphics
The workflow has eight numbered steps. Whisper runs with word timestamps on. Silences are trimmed to 0.22 seconds after a sentence and 0.12 seconds inside one, never into a word, and Claude shows you the cut list. Then comes a storyboard with one still per beat, and nothing renders until you approve it. The layout puts a new graphic in the top half every two to three seconds with your face in the bottom half, and each graphic lands on its word and eases out. Logos and screens must be real; if a page needs your login, Claude has to ask you. The reel opens on a two-line text hook from frame 0, and a music bed sits 12 dB under your voice to the end.
Checks, notes and export
ONE TACTIC A WEEK
The checks section starts with "Run them. Do not just say they passed." Claude makes a contact sheet every 0.25 seconds and fixes overlaps and crops, keeps text out of the top 220 pixels, below y 1500 and from under the like and share buttons, and counts graphic changes against best.mp4, adding beats if it has fewer. The notes section asks for one note at a time, each saved as a rule in rules.md. The export is H.264, 1080x1920, 30 fps at -14 LUFS. A last section covers the usual breakages: install Python with brew if pip3 is missing, switch Whisper to the base model if it is slow, and run npx remotion browser ensure if Remotion has no browser to render with.
Why the skill file matters most
Most people skip install number seven, and it is the one that compounds. Save the prompt as a Claude Code skill and every edit starts from the same rules. Every note you give gets added to rules.md, so each video needs fewer notes than the last.
Honest catches
Claude Code needs a paid Claude plan. Remotion is free for individuals and small teams, but bigger companies need a licence. The prompt's own numbers (the trim caps and the safe zones) come from the pipeline that edits my reels, so adjust them if your platform or style is different.
Copy the prompt
The full prompt is at withhammad.com/resources/claude-code-video-edit-prompt with a copy button and the seven install commands. For the step-by-step version of the same setup, see how to edit videos with Claude Code in 10 steps. On Instagram, comment PROMPT on the reel and the link arrives by DM (follow @withhammad.ai first so the DM reaches you).
Related reading
Next, read the 10-step setup to edit videos with Claude Code and the free AI motion starter kit.