/edit-timeline-studio

name: edit-timeline-studio
description: Analyze images, video, speech, motion, products, and websites; route local vision, audio, depth, tracking, matting, identity, and restoration models; auto-edit, replicate, enhance, caption, voice, assemble, annotate, validate, and export editable Timeline Studio projects and videos. Use for reference-video remakes, filter and repeated-shot reconstruction, subject-aware reframing, clip splitting, source-time speed curves, Color Wheels grading, ramps and holds, person or product cutout, person or object outline, authorized face swap, shot and timing reconstruction, timeline markers, chapters, beat cues, review notes and ranges, supplied or web-sourced footage, AI video platform selection, cleanup, highlights, product promotion, website walkthroughs, image-to-video assisted edits, optical-flow editing, depth-assisted relighting, grayscale depth-video conversion, depth/2.5D/transition finishing, AI voiceover, subtitles, short-form production, .timeline automation, or editor evaluation.

AI Video Editing with Timeline Studio

Turn the user's exact editorial request and media into reversible Timeline Studio edits. Keep the editable timeline as the source of truth; never replace it with an opaque one-shot render.

Choose the execution path

When the user is working in an already open Timeline Studio project, prefer its native browser WebMCP tools if the host exposes them. Read [references/webmcp-integration.md](references/webmcp-integration.md): inspect the live state, preview the complete supported edit, review its semantic diff, then apply the returned `previewId`. This route shares the visible editor and differs from the local project-file workflow below. It does not add a remote MCP server or grant permission to upload media.

1. On first local use after installation, read [references/host-environment.md](references/host-environment.md). If Node.js is unavailable, start with the zero-dependency Shell or PowerShell bootstrap; otherwise run `node scripts/setup-host.mjs --check`. Agent-driven Chinese and mixed Chinese/English voiceover uses Timeline Studio's owned browser-local Hojo TTS Light 80M two-voice bundle and does not require a separate Python voiceover capability. If language runtimes or dependencies are missing, show the exact installation plan and obtain explicit user approval before install mode; never treat Skill installation as permission to modify the host or download models. 2. Treat local project-file processing as the default for deterministic editing: inspect media locally, modify the portable `.timeline` through the command layer or local archive services, and render and verify decoded output when the task changes rendered media. Do not open a browser merely because the editor has a UI. 3. Treat `https://video-editor.ai-creator.top/` as the canonical hosted editor only when the user explicitly asks to use the website, provides no local repository or project path, or requires a hosted-only capability. 4. When this repository is available, prefer its Agent command layer and local media tools. Start the local server and browser only for a verified UI-only operation that the local project pipeline cannot express and the user has not required a local-only workflow. Read the actual server URL from process output; never assume port 5173. 5. Prefer the bundled Timeline Studio MCP tools when the host exposes them. Read [references/mcp-integration.md](references/mcp-integration.md), inspect the project, and always call `timeline_project_diff` before `timeline_project_apply` with the same revision and operations. The MCP server is a transport over the repository command runner, not a separate editing implementation. 6. When MCP is unavailable, inspect `package.json` for an Agent command script. Do not use `npm run ... --if-present` as capability detection because it can succeed silently. If the command runner exists, read [references/command-contract.md](references/command-contract.md), inspect the project, build a versioned plan, run the structural validator, and use `project.diff` as the authoritative semantic dry run before `project.run`. 7. If a required operation is missing from the local contract, state the exact gap. For repository-development work, implement the smallest shared local operation and renderer support before falling back to UI. Otherwise ask before switching to the browser workflow. 8. Do not claim deterministic or idempotent execution when only UI automation was available. State the limitation and preserve an editable project archive when the UI supports it.

Workflow

For a marker-only request, read [references/timeline-markers.md](references/timeline-markers.md) and follow its inspect → plan → validate → diff → apply → inspect workflow through annotation handoff. Markers, chapter cues, ranges, and notes are project annotations; adding them requires no narration, model download, browser session, or video render. The media-production steps below apply only when the user also requests a media edit.

1. Inspect before editing

• Preserve the user's prompt verbatim as the creative brief.
• Resolve every referenced asset to an explicit path or URL. Never sweep a directory without approval.
• Inspect duration, dimensions, audio presence, and media type.
• Read the current project summary before changing an existing project.
• Before planning long videos, chapters, musical beat cues, review notes, or edit ranges, read [references/timeline-markers.md](references/timeline-markers.md). Inspect existing annotations and use evidence-backed markers to preserve editorial anchors and decisions where useful. Preserve user annotations and distinguish Agent observations from supplied feedback.
• Ask only when an unresolved choice materially changes the edit, such as the desired output duration or aspect ratio.
• For an automatic-editing request, read [references/auto-edit-workflow.md](references/auto-edit-workflow.md). I