reelclaw

DansUGC ReelClaw for coding agents

Make short-form UGC ads (TikTok, Reels, Shorts) for the product you're building — from inside Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, or any agent that speaks MCP.

Your agent reads your repo to understand the product, finds your demo video, writes TikTok-native hooks, and pairs them with real human creator reactions from the DansUGC library. Then it edits and renders every reel on your machine with the ReelClaw HyperFrames templates (TikTok Sans, safe-zone captions), looks at the rendered frames against a QA checklist, and fixes what's off before handing you the file. You can ask for any edit in plain words: "move the caption up", "cut on her reaction", "snapchat-style text", "5 more hook variants".

ReelClaw 2.0: one skill, local editing. The DansUGC MCP server no longer renders videos (the hosted batch/render tools are gone). It supplies the clip library, viral-format suggestions, trending music, research and posting; your agent does the editing. The old do-it-yourself skill (root SKILL.md, README-diy.md, references/, assets/) is retired too: there is only one ReelClaw skill now, reelclaw. If you installed reelclaw-ads before, reinstall (below).

No Gemini key, no API keys: you log in once with your DansUGC account (OAuth). Any DansUGC account works, no plan needed; you pay per clip from your credits. Editing and rendering are local and free. Needs Node 22+ and ffmpeg.

Every reaction is a real human creator. Never AI.

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60-second quickstart

You need two things: the dansugc MCP server (https://dansugc.com/mcp, OAuth) and the reelclaw skill. The Claude Code and Codex plugins bundle both.

Claude Code

/plugin marketplace add dansugc/reelclaw
/plugin install reelclaw@dansugc

Then run /mcp, select plugin:reelclaw:dansugc, and choose Authenticate (browser login to your DansUGC account). Now ask:

Make 3 UGC ads for this app with DansUGC ReelClaw. Use the demo in ./demo.mp4.

Or use the slash command: /reelclaw:new 3 ./demo.mp4 gen-z, deadpan, snapchat-style captions. The skill itself is /reelclaw:reelclaw (Claude also picks it up automatically).

Shell equivalents: claude plugin marketplace add dansugc/reelclaw and claude plugin install reelclaw@dansugc.

Updating from 1.x (terminal): claude plugin marketplace update dansugc, then claude plugin update reelclaw@dansugc, then restart Claude Code.

OpenAI Codex

Option A — plugin (skill + MCP server in one, updates with codex plugin marketplace upgrade):

codex plugin marketplace add dansugc/reelclaw
codex plugin add reelclaw@dansugc
codex mcp login dansugc

Option B — MCP server + skill via script:

codex mcp add dansugc --url https://dansugc.com/mcp
codex mcp login dansugc
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/dansugc/reelclaw/main/codex/install.sh | sh

install.sh is POSIX sh, idempotent, needs no sudo: it copies the skill into ~/.agents/skills/reelclaw (Codex's user skills directory: SKILL.md, all references/, and the scripts/), removes a retired ~/.agents/skills/reelclaw-ads, and adds the dansugc MCP server if it isn't configured yet. Start a new Codex session, then ask:

$reelclaw Make 3 UGC ads for this app. Use the demo in ./demo.mp4.

Optional: paste codex/AGENTS.md into your project's AGENTS.md, and see codex/config.toml for the manual ~/.codex/config.toml block.

Any other agent (Cursor, OpenCode, Gemini CLI, Kimi Code, VS Code, Zed, …)

1. Add a remote (streamable HTTP) MCP server named dansugc with the URL https://dansugc.com/mcp (no headers) and log in when prompted (OAuth).

2. Install the skill with the open skills CLI:

   npx skills add dansugc/reelclaw/plugins/reelclaw/skills/reelclaw -a <agent> -y
   

   (<agent> is the skills CLI id, e.g. cursor, opencode, gemini-cli; add -g for every project.) Clients that upload skills by hand (claude.ai, Claude Desktop): upload the plugins/reelclaw/skills/reelclaw folder.

Signing in

The DansUGC MCP server uses OAuth only: you log in with your DansUGC account in the browser once and your agent stays connected. Any DansUGC account can connect, with or without a plan. DansUGC API keys (dsk_…) don't work on MCP; they're for the REST API (/api/v1) only. If you added the server earlier with an Authorization header or bearer_token_env_var, remove it and log in with OAuth (see Troubleshooting).

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How a run goes

1. Brief: the agent reads your README, package.json, store listing, and landing copy, and shows you a 5-line brief (what it is, who it's for, the painful problem, the aha moment, real proof). It never invents claims, prices, or results.
2. Demo: it finds .mp4/.mov screen recordings in the repo or asks you for one.
3. Formats (free): unsure what to make? It asks DansUGC which formats went viral in your niche (with example TikToks and views) and you pick.
4. Research (optional): real viral examples via TikTok/Instagram search, 0.02 credits per query; the agent says how many it plans to run first.
5. Hooks: lowercase, under 80 characters, specific to the pain or the aha; reviewed with you.
6. Footage: it shortlists library reactions → quotes the clip price → nothing is bought until you say yes (clips you already own are free).
7. Edit + render + QA: one template per concept in ./reelclaw-studio/, rendered locally, then a frame-by-frame QA loop (font, safe zone, hook timing, the cut, audio; max 3 passes).
8. Deliver: finals in ./reelclaw-output/. Ask for more hook variants, another template, any edit, or publishing through DansUGC Posting.

Template	What it is
reaction_demo	reaction + hook → hard cut → your demo (the default for app ads)
no_yapping	silent split-screen tutorial
greenscreen_reaction	the creator cut out over a screenshot, post, or clip

Anything the template flags don't cover (caption style, exact position, a second caption, a pop-in) the agent edits directly in the generated HyperFrames HTML.

What to expect

Measured end to end on an Apple M1 Max (Node 26, ffmpeg 7.1, hyperframes@0.7.76, headless Chrome already cached), with 1080×1920 source clips and a 2160×2880 screen recording:

Step	Time
Install a template (npx --yes reelclaw-templates@latest reaction_demo …, ~25 MB download)	8-11 s
First npx hyperframes@0.7.76 fetch (npm deps, one-time)	~11 s here; longer on a cold npm cache (~380 MB)
First render ever on a machine (headless Chrome download, launch, GPU probe)	one-time extra: ~35 s on the DansUGC render bench (not re-measured here; Chrome was cached)
Stage media (re-encode clips with sparse keyframes; 22 s 1080p clip)	~3 s per clip
Generate composition	< 1 s
Render a 13 s reaction_demo reel (390 frames)	24-28 s
Render a 10.9 s edited reel (extra blurred video layer)	30 s
Render a 10.9 s no_yapping reel	23-26 s
QA frames + contact sheet + measurements	~3.5 s
greenscreen_reaction background removal (first time per reaction)	~6.5 s per second of reaction (+ ~168 MB model once)

A 3-pass QA loop on one reel is about 2 minutes of machine time. Hook variants of an already staged reel cost one render each.

What it costs

The DansUGC MCP works on any DansUGC account, no plan needed. You pay as you go from your DansUGC credit balance:

• Editing and rendering: free. They run on your machine.
• UGC clips you buy. Library clips are 11 credits each (images 8), less your plan's discount (no volume discounts; always current rates). Clips you already own are reused for free.
• Research queries (TikTok/Instagram search, trending music): 0.02 credits per query, charged only when the query succeeds. Viral-format suggestions and library search are free.
• Prices, quotes, and balances are in DansUGC credits; the agent talks in credits and only converts to dollars if you ask.
• The agent always shows the exact clip price first and waits for an explicit yes (purchase_videos is two-step: a free quote, then the buy). Team members can charge a team's credits instead of their own; the agent always names which account pays. Top up at https://dansugc.com/dashboard/credits.

Privacy

• DansUGC never receives your code, your demo, or your renders. The agent sends DansUGC only search queries, the short product description used for format suggestions, and the purchases you approve. Everything else stays on your machine (./reelclaw-studio/, ./reelclaw-output/).
• Publishing through DansUGC Posting uploads only the video you choose to post.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
Agent says no dansugc tools	The MCP server isn't connected. Claude Code: /mcp → authenticate plugin:reelclaw:dansugc. Codex: codex mcp list, then codex mcp login dansugc.
Agent tries reelclaw_create_batch / reelclaw_render and gets "tool not found"	An old (1.x) plugin or skill is installed. Those hosted tools were removed in 2.0. Reinstall (see the quickstart) and delete any old reelclaw-ads skill folder.
"Needs authentication" / 401	Log in again (same commands).
reelclaw_login_required, or "no longer accepts API keys — reconnect with OAuth"	The server was added with an API key. MCP is OAuth-only. Claude Code: claude mcp remove dansugc, re-add it without --header (or use the plugin), then /mcp → Authenticate. Codex: delete bearer_token_env_var from [mcp_servers.dansugc] in ~/.codex/config.toml, then codex mcp login dansugc.
insufficient_credits	Top up at https://dansugc.com/dashboard/credits, then ask the agent to re-quote.
Codex doesn't see the skill	Start a new session. Check ~/.agents/skills/reelclaw/SKILL.md exists (Option B) or codex plugin list shows reelclaw@dansugc (Option A).
HyperFrames requires Node.js >= 22	Install Node 22+ (brew install node or nvm install 22). The template installer's "Node 18+" check is stale.
Render "succeeded" but animations / music fade / font are wrong	The agent's wrapper prints RENDER WARNINGS for these silent failures (GSAP or font didn't load, sparse keyframes). It vendors GSAP locally so a CDN hiccup can't drop animations.
First render is slow	One-time HyperFrames + headless Chrome download via npx.
Something else	Support: https://dansugc.com

What's in this repo