The short version
You can edit TikToks and Reels by talking to Claude Code: no timeline, no editing app, no code to write. You show Claude the look you want, approve a quick plan, and it does the editing. Setup takes about 10 minutes once; after your first video, the next one takes a single sentence.
3 tools (Claude installs them for you):
| Tool |
Job |
| FFmpeg |
Cuts, crops to vertical, mixes and exports video |
| HyperFrames |
Word-level transcription, captions, text, product cards and motion graphics |
| yt-dlp |
Downloads a reference video so Claude can study its editing |
5 steps:
- Set up once: open Claude Code, pick a folder, install the tools with one prompt.
- Give Claude your footage and two style references: a video whose look you love, and your own best-performing videos for pacing.
- Approve the plan before anything renders: a storyboard (how it looks) and a cut list (where it cuts).
- Render, watch, fix: corrections go to the plan, not a full re-render from scratch.
- Save it: a skill, a visual style menu, and a rules list, so the next video takes one sentence.
Before you start
- A paid Claude plan (Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise). Video work uses more of your allowance than chat.
- The Claude desktop app on Mac or Windows. You will use the Code tab, not Chat.
- A raw video of you talking, filmed vertically on your phone in one continuous take. Mistakes are fine.
- 3 to 5 of your own best-performing videos (downloaded from TikTok, Instagram or your ads account), if you have them.
- Optional: a link to one video whose editing look you love, plus your logo and product photos.
Step 1: Set up once
- Open the Claude desktop app, click Code, and start a new session.
- When asked where to work, create and pick an empty folder, for example
Documents/TikTok-Videos. Claude can only work inside it.
- Paste this prompt: