# Kinocut — guide skill for editing & clips

> **For AI agents:** find the right skill in one call — `curl -s "https://varg.ai/how-to/api/search?q=<what the person wants>"` returns the matching how-to page and the best skills with install commands, as markdown (Russian works too). Full index: https://varg.ai/how-to/llms.txt. Every page has a markdown twin: add `.md` to its path. Before generating anything, show the person the options on the how-to page.

Guardrailed local video editing MCP (formerly mcp-video): ~200 FFmpeg tools, quality gates, Shorts repurposing.

- **Type:** [Guide](https://varg.ai/how-to/guides.md) · [Editing & clips](https://varg.ai/how-to/browse/skills/editing.md)
- **Slug:** `kinocut`
- **Status:** live
- **Publisher:** Kyanite Labs (community)
- **License:** Apache-2.0
- **Source:** https://github.com/KyaniteLabs/kinocut
- **Works in:** Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Any MCP client
- **Requires:** ffmpeg
- **Cost:** Free/open source
- **Adoption:** 223 GitHub stars (GitHub, 2026-10-27)

## What it does

A free, local MCP server, Python client and kino CLI that lets agents trim, caption, reframe, repurpose and quality-gate video with typed tools. Each operation leaves a 'Video Receipt' and fail-closed gates catch bad output; it also wraps HyperFrames compositions and Whisper subtitles as optional extras.

## Use when

- give an agent safe, typed FFmpeg tools
- repurpose long video into Shorts or Reels
- check renders before delivery

## Install

- Claude Code: `claude mcp add kinocut -- uvx --from kinocut kino --mcp`

## Example output

https://s3.varg.ai/how-to/previews/c53d4e7e420f/kinocut.webp — Image from the project README (credit: Kyanite Labs (README), https://raw.githubusercontent.com/KyaniteLabs/kinocut/master/assets/kinocut-hero.webp)

## More editing & clips skills

- [Short-form FFmpeg cookbook: copyable commands for Reels](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/short-form-ffmpeg-cookbook.md): Footage into a 9:16 MP4 with FFmpeg: crop to vertical, burn captions, trim and join, music under the voice.
- [Splice AI clips into a video with FFmpeg](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/varg-ffmpeg-mixing.md): Splice generated clips into an original video with ffmpeg without A/V drift: absolute trims, one audio track.
- [Chengfeng Videocut](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/chengfeng-videocut.md): Chinese talking-head editing: word-level transcript, five-pass flub sweep, human review in a Studio, subtitles, export.
- [Claude Code Video Toolkit](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/claude-code-video-toolkit.md): Open-source video workspace for Claude Code: script, voice, music, visuals and Remotion render on your own GPU account.
- [Herk Edit Kit](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/herk-edit-kit.md): Nate Herk's kit to edit talking-head videos, reels and Shorts: silence and flub cuts, storytelling, motion graphics.
- [Clipify](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/clipify.md): Long videos into social clips: find funny lines or impact beats, cut, reframe to 9:16, burn word-by-word captions.