name: "cli-anything-shotcut"

description: >-

Command-line interface for Shotcut - A stateful command-line interface for video editing, built on the MLT XML format. Designed for AI ag...

cli-anything-shotcut

A stateful command-line interface for video editing, built on the MLT XML format. Designed for AI agents and power users who need to create and edit Shotcut projects without a GUI.

Installation

This CLI is installed as part of the cli-anything-shotcut package:

pip install cli-anything-shotcut

Prerequisites:

• Python 3.10+
• melt (MLT CLI) — required for rendering and playback
• ffmpeg / ffprobe — required for media probing
• shotcut must be installed on your system

Usage

Basic Commands

# Show help
cli-anything-shotcut --help

# Start interactive REPL mode
cli-anything-shotcut

# Create a new project
cli-anything-shotcut project new -o project.json

# Run with JSON output (for agent consumption)
cli-anything-shotcut --json project info -p project.json

REPL Mode

When invoked without a subcommand, the CLI enters an interactive REPL session with undo/redo support:

cli-anything-shotcut
# or with a project:
cli-anything-shotcut --project my_project.mlt

#### REPL Commands

Workflow: Always media import first to get a clip_id, then use add-clip to place it on the timeline.

Project & Session:

• new [profile] — Create new project (default: hd1080p30)
• open <path> — Open .mlt file
• save [path] — Save project
• info — Show project info
• xml — Print raw MLT XML
• status — Show session status
• undo / redo — Navigate operation history

Media (two-step model):

• media import <file> [--caption name] — Import file into project bin, returns clip_id (e.g., clip0)
• media — List all imported media
• probe <file> — Analyze a media file

Timeline:

• add-track <video|audio> [name] — Add a track
• tracks — List all tracks
• show — Visual timeline overview
• add-clip <clip_id> <track> [in] [out] [--at time] — Place imported clip on track
• clips <track> — List clips on a track
• remove-clip <track> <clip> — Remove a clip
• trim <track> <clip> [--in tc] [--out tc] — Trim clip
• split <track> <clip> <at> — Split clip at timecode

Filters:

• list-filters [video|audio] — Browse available filters
• filter-info <name> — Show filter details
• add-filter <name> [--track n] [--clip n] [key=val ...] — Add filter to clip, track, or global
• filters [--track n] [--clip n] — List active filters
• remove-filter <idx> [--track n] [--clip n] — Remove filter by index
• set-filter <idx> <param> <value> [--track n] [--clip n] — Set filter parameter
• volume-envelope [--track n] [--clip n] TIME=LEVEL ... — Keyframed volume (e.g., 00:00:00.000=1.0 00:00:03.000=0.35)
• duck [--track n] [--clip n] START..END ... — Ducking envelope (e.g., 00:00:06.000..00:00:09.000)

Export:

• presets — List export presets
• render <output> [--preset name] — Render to video file

Command Groups

Project

Project management: new, open, save, info.

Timeline

Timeline operations: tracks, clips, trimming.

Filter Group

Filter operations: add, remove, configure effects.

Media

Media operations: probe, list, check files.