# Video Editing Best Practices — guide skill for editing services

> **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.

Best practices for editing video with agents: which service for each edit, and the rules that keep cuts clean.

- **Type:** [Guide](https://varg.ai/how-to/guides.md) · [Editing services](https://varg.ai/how-to/browse/skills/edit-services.md)
- **Slug:** `varg-video-editing`
- **Status:** live
- **Publisher:** varg (varg, verified)
- **License:** MIT
- **Source:** https://github.com/vargHQ/skills/tree/main/varg-video-editing
- **Works in:** Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, OpenClaw, Any MCP client
- **Requires:** ffmpeg + ffprobe for local edits, varg API key or MCP for the paid edits it recommends (optional)
- **Cost:** The guide is free; paid edits are billed by the service it picks (on varg, in credits after estimate_cost)
- **Runtime:** read before each edit

## What it does

A routing guide your agent reads before it edits footage you already have. For ten editing jobs it names the default service and when to switch: FFmpeg or the varg ffmpeg tool for cuts, word timestamps for talking-head cleanup, OpusClip or a transcript + Gemini pipeline for Shorts, ASS captions through FFmpeg, HyperFrames or Remotion for timelines, varg Recast, Relight and ID-V2V, Runway Aleph or Luma Ray for AI edits, HeyGen, ElevenLabs and Sync Labs for dubbing, Topaz for upscaling, Gemini for QA, and OTIO or the DaVinci Resolve Studio MCP for handing off to an editing app. It also carries the rules that save a re-render: write the edit list before you spend, re-encode for frame-accurate cuts, convert to one frame rate before joining, never overwrite the source, and check frame grabs after every render. The full table, with access, pricing, gotchas and links for 30+ services, is in [references/services.md](https://github.com/vargHQ/skills/blob/main/varg-video-editing/references/services.md).

## Use when

- Editing, cutting, trimming, clipping or reframing footage the person already has
- Asked which tool, API or service to edit video with
- Captions, subtitles, dubbing, lip sync, upscaling or AI restyle on an existing video
- Handing a cut to DaVinci Resolve, Premiere or Final Cut

## Not for

- Making a new video from a brief (use varg-ai or a format skill)

## Install

- Claude Code: `claude plugin marketplace add vargHQ/skills && claude plugin install varg@varg`
- Codex: `npx skills add vargHQ/skills --skill varg-video-editing -a codex -y`
- Cursor: `npx skills add vargHQ/skills --skill varg-video-editing -a cursor -y`

## How-to tutorials that use it

- [How to edit your own video footage with AI](https://varg.ai/how-to/edit-your-own-video-footage.md): Cut silences and flubs, reframe 16:9 to 9:16, add captions and b-roll to footage you shot.
- [How to change something inside a video with AI](https://varg.ai/how-to/change-something-inside-a-video.md): Swap a product, restyle a scene, change lighting or the look of an existing clip while keeping the motion.

## More editing services skills

- [Video editing skills for Claude Code and AI agents](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/varg-video-edit-library.md): 206 named edits with recipes for FFmpeg, HyperFrames, Remotion and CapCut: cuts, transitions, titles, UI, numbers.
- [FFmpeg Skill](https://varg.ai/how-to/skills/ffmpeg-skill.md): Local video editor for agents: 42 FFmpeg tools with a machine-readable contract and an MCP server; no cloud, no keys.