/showtime

name: showtime
description: "Use when the user wants a video made, edited or finished: a launch or promo, product demo, explainer, trailer or teaser, tutorial or walkthrough, screen-recording demo, social short, reel, TikTok, YouTube Short, slideshow, animated chart, data story, motion graphics, animated logo intro, outro or sting, lower thirds, audiogram, music video, Claude Design animation to MP4; an X-ray of a machine or instrument clip (its inside, in sync); captions or subtitles; voice-over or narration; music or sound effects; thumbnail or poster; footage edits: cutting ums, removing silences, tightening a talking head, podcast or interview clips; reframing to vertical; re-voicing or subtitling in another language; a video from a repo, site, PR or changelog; an interactive figure or living diagram for a web page, not only a video; or when they type /showtime. Load it before replying, even to push back (unsupported claims, impossible deadlines). Not for still-image edits, photo-post captions or code unrelated to a video or figure."
compatibility: Any Agent Skills client with a shell, on macOS, Linux or Windows. Needs Python 3.8+ (or uv) and Node.js 20+; a one-time `showtime setup` downloads the local tools and models into ~/.showtime (or $SHOWTIME_HOME) and needs the network for that step.

showtime

You direct; showtime makes the video on this machine.

**Running it.** Paths are relative to the folder holding this SKILL.md, `<folder>` (Claude Code: `${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}`; if that reads `${...}`, use the folder you read this from), never the plugin root (no `bin/`). `showtime` means `showtime` on PATH, else `"<folder>/bin/showtime" <cmd>` (no exec bit: prefix `sh`; Windows: `& "<folder>\bin\showtime.cmd"` in PowerShell, no `&` in cmd). Flags: `showtime <cmd> --help`, the guides. A command the host kills: rerun with `--background`, then `showtime status <id> --wait 240` (`references/harness-notes.md`).

**`<job>`**: the folder `showtime job init` prints, or its name. Renders never overwrite; a command given `<job>` uses its latest file.

Modes

• **Asking: quick (default).** Open with one line of assumptions ("Quick mode: 20 s, 16:9, upbeat; no

voice-over; full review, say 'lean' for a draft pass.") and start without waiting. Ask 1-2 questions, each with a recommended answer, only when there is nothing to work from or two readings make different videos. Wait for a yes only before destructive steps (dropping recorded content, touching their files) or costly ones (large install, render over ~10 min).

• **Asking: studio (opt-in)** when the user says studio, brainstorm, options or concepts first, storyboard

first, or wants control; offer it once for high-stakes open work (`references/studio.md`).

• **Review: quality (default)** reviews every finished video; **lean** only when the user says lean, cheap,

rough draft or don't review (critic only when publish-bound). Switching, cards, "full crew": `references/modes.md`; mid-job messages: sort first (`references/review.md` §5).

Pipeline

At each stage boundary, `showtime job note <job>` keeps the ledger (SHOWTIME.md).

0. **Start.** `showtime job init <slug> --request "<verbatim>"` checks setup. NOT READY: `showtime setup --estimate`, give size and time, then `showtime setup` (skip only if the user says so; `references/onboarding.md`). *Done when:* it says ready. 1. **Understand.** Inspect inputs (repo, URL, footage, brief) before asking; no path: look in the working folder (one candidate: use it). *Done when:* you can write the one-sentence contract (`references/story.md`) and SHOWTIME.md lists the assumptions. 2. **Plan.** Story, tone, structure, voice script, storyboard with scene durations. Voice-led: `showtime voice script --fit <seconds> --estimate`, then without `--estimate`; its `timeline.json` sets the scene lengths. *Done when:* durations sum to the target and every claim traces to a source. 3. **First look.** Project: `showtime new <template>`, `check`, `look`. Footage: `showtime edit render --preview`, `edit view`. Fix what images show; studio: the animatic is the gate. *Done when:* check has 0 errors and every WARN is read (footage: `edit check` passes, every view PNG read). 4. **Build.** Hook complete at t=0, then `showtime render <project> --job <job>` (footage: `edit render`; posters: `platforms` §4). Say the time if over 30 s. *Done when:* the render finished cleanly. 5. **Verify.** `showtime qa <job>` in the same turn, `look <job>`, then the critic round qa names (`showtime review-pack`, `references/review.md`). *Done when:* qa says PASS or WARN, you quoted the verdict with LUFS and true peak, FAILs are fixed, no "review pending" or open finding. 6. **Deliver.** `share.txt` and credits (`references/platforms.md`), `deliver exports` on request, then the delivery card (`references/modes.md` §5) with its `Look:` line. *Done when:* the card is sent and the job note says deliver.

Situation → workflow

`showtime guide <topic>` prints a guide's Essentials and sections. No shell: read `references/workflows/<topic>.md`, or `references/<topic>.md` for a topic marked † and every References topic. A guide opens with its route's first command: plan it and name it. Every route by family: `references/index.md`.

| The user wants a video from | `showtime guide` | |---|---| | **something that happened**: a PR (`showtime pr-video`), release or changelog; an agent session (`showtime recap`); a failing browser test (`showtime repro`) | `changelog-video`, `recap`, `repro` | | **a product, repo, site or paper**: a launch or promo; a codebase or paper explained; a tutorial or demo; a Claude Design export (`showtime adopt`) | `launch-video`, `repo-explainer`, `paper-explainer`, `tutorial`, `adopt`† | | **an idea or a system**: an explainer; how something works (a living diagram, a live figure people touch); math; another skill's storyboard; a video that stops and asks | `expl