/kinocut-repurpose

name: kinocut-repurpose
description: Use when turning one local video into a platform-ready short. Kinocut builds clip packages with manifests, review artifacts, and human approval gates.

Kinocut Repurpose

This is a pre-kernel, path-based v1 skill. It guides an agent to produce a good short clip from one local video using only shipped Kinocut tools. Do not invent commands, providers, kernels, schedulers, uploaders, or publishing steps.

Install

From a checkout of this repository, install the skill into a Claude Code-compatible host that discovers local path skills:

mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -R skills/kinocut-repurpose .claude/skills/kinocut-repurpose

Configure the Kinocut MCP server separately when MCP tools are available:

claude mcp add kinocut -- uvx --from kinocut kino

For CLI-only hosts, install and verify Kinocut:

pip install kinocut
kino doctor

Current Tools

Use these shipped surfaces only:

• MCP: `video_repurpose_plan`, then `video_repurpose`.
• CLI: `repurpose-plan`, then `repurpose`.
• Optional support tools when needed: `info`, `video-ai-transcribe`, `generate-subtitles`,

`subtitles`, `resize`, `normalize-audio`, `thumbnail`, `storyboard`, `video-quality-check`.

Useful CLI shape:

kino --format json info input.mp4
kino repurpose-plan input.mp4 --platforms youtube-shorts instagram-reel tiktok -o repurpose-out
kino repurpose input.mp4 --platforms youtube-shorts instagram-reel tiktok -o repurpose-out --min-score 0
kino video-quality-check repurpose-out/youtube_shorts.mp4

Required Flow

1. Inspect the source path first with `info` or `video_info`. Confirm duration, resolution, aspect, and audio presence. 2. Choose one short-clip intent and two or three platforms. Prefer `youtube-shorts`, `instagram-reel`, and `tiktok` for vertical clips unless the user explicitly asks for horizontal or square. 3. Run `repurpose-plan` / `video_repurpose_plan` before rendering. Review the `repurpose_manifest.json` for platform outputs, aspect ratios, target LUFS, max duration, and planned review artifacts. 4. Render with `repurpose` / `video_repurpose` only after the plan is plausible. 5. Inspect the rendered manifest, thumbnails, storyboards, and release checkpoint output. 6. Stop at human review. Do not publish, schedule, upload, or claim final approval.

Guardrails

• Captions: if speech matters and captions are missing, create or request an SRT before

final review. Use `video-ai-transcribe` only when the host has the optional dependency; otherwise ask for a transcript or use `generate-subtitles` from provided text. Burn captions with `subtitles` only when the user wants burned-in captions.

• Audio: preserve voice intelligibility. Use `normalize-audio` or the repurpose tool's

target LUFS defaults. Re-check clips that sound clipped, silent, or out of sync.

• Aspect: respect each platform manifest. Vertical short clips are `9:16`; square posts

are `1:1`; YouTube landscape is `16:9`. Do not crop important faces or text blindly.

• Pacing: keep the clip short and legible. If the source is too long for the selected

platform, trim first with the existing `trim` command, then repurpose the trimmed path.

• Output review: require a manifest, thumbnail, storyboard, quality check, and release

checkpoint artifact before handoff. Human review is mandatory before public use.

• Local-only: keep paths explicit and local. Do not download, upload, post, publish, or

call cloud services unless the user separately asks and approves that external step.

Deterministic Demo

Run the bundled demo recipe from the repository root:

python examples/repurpose_current_tools_demo.py --output-dir /tmp/kinocut-repurpose-demo

Dry-run the exact recipe without rendering:

python examples/repurpose_current_tools_demo.py --dry-run

The script creates a deterministic FFmpeg fixture, runs `repurpose-plan`, renders `youtube-shorts` and `instagram-reel` variants with current Kinocut CLI commands, then checks the manifest and review artifacts.