Edit videos with Claude Code

A complete-newbie walkthrough — install, connect, and have Claude edit your first video in about five minutes. No prior coding required.

Fastest path: open PandaStudio and go to Settings → Local automation → Connect agents for one-click setup. The steps below are the manual route if you prefer to wire it up yourself.

Why Claude Code?

Claude Code is Anthropic's official terminal agent. PandaStudio has an official Skill for it — a set of instructions that teaches Claude the full command surface so it can transcribe, caption, add motion graphics, and export without you having to explain the API. This is the recommended setup.

Install PandaStudio

Download PandaStudio from writepanda.ai and run the installer for your OS (macOS or Windows). Open it once so it finishes setting up the recordings folder.

Install Node.js (if you don't already have it)

Claude Code and the PandaStudio CLI both need Node 18+. Check:

bash

node --version

If that prints v18.x.x or higher you're set. Otherwise grab the LTS installer from nodejs.org.

Install Claude Code

bash

npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code

Then run claude once — it walks you through signing in with your Anthropic account.

Install the CLI + Skill from PandaStudio Settings

Open PandaStudio, go to Settings → Local automation, and click both buttons:

Install to PATH — makes the pandastudio command available in any terminal (the binary ships inside the app — no separate npm install needed).
Install Skill — copies the Skill into Claude Code, Codex, OpenClaw, and Hermes in one click. For Claude Code it lands at ~/.claude/skills/pandastudio/SKILL.md and Claude picks it up automatically — no restart needed.

Prefer the terminal? Same two installs are reachable as npm install -g @writepanda/cli and npx skills add kamskans/pandastudio-skills (the latter also covers Cursor, Cline, Continue, and 40+ other agents).

Turn on PandaStudio's automation server

Open PandaStudio.
Go to Settings → Automation.
Toggle Enable automation server on.

The server binds to 127.0.0.1 only and requires a bearer token in your OS keychain. Nothing outside your machine can reach it.

Try your first prompt

Open any terminal, run claude, and try:

"Open my latest recording, transcribe it, remove filler words and silences, then export an MP4."
"Create a new 9:16 project, import the file at ~/Recordings/launch.mov, add bold captions, and preview it."
"List all my projects from this week and tell me which one is longest."

Claude will call pandastudio system.status to confirm the license, then chain commands like transcript.transcribe, transcript.remove-fillers, caption.set-template, and export.start — narrating each step as it goes.

Troubleshooting

"License gate engaged" — open PandaStudio and start a free trial export, or paste in your license key from the pricing page.
"Connection refused" — the automation server toggle in Settings is off, or PandaStudio isn't running.
Skill not loading — run npx skills add kamskans/pandastudio-skills again. The tool re-copies to the correct path idempotently.

Reference

CLI & MCP commands

Browse all 60+ verb-noun commands the agent can call.