Edit Videos With Claude Code: My 5-Step System

I used Claude Code to edit a YouTube video from 20 minutes of raw footage, and a 5-step system turned it into an 8-minute video. I'm GKV, and I edited this video with this exact system.

This is the written version of the video. If you want to watch me do it, press play below. If you would rather read and copy the prompts, everything is below the video.

If you have no time for editing, or no skill for it, this is for you. It is not a clever prompt, and it is not a random skill I found on Instagram. It is five steps that work every time I use them.

How do you edit a video with Claude Code?

To edit a video with Claude Code, install Claude Desktop and lock a video template, record your video twice, put every file in one folder for Claude, build long videos one minute at a time, then review the draft on localhost and ask for exact changes by second. Adobe Podcast cleans the audio for free.

How long did it take?

For this video, Claude spent about an hour building the full first draft. I spent about another hour reviewing it and asking for changes. The draft plays in your browser with no render, so it was ready to watch as soon as Claude finished. The final 1080p render, which you only do once at the end, took 42 minutes on my computer.

I recorded twice: one full video take, and one audio-only take that I used to patch fillers and missing or fumbled words. That is step 2 below.

Quick summary: the 5 steps

What you need before you start

• A computer where you can install the Claude Desktop app. This is different from the Claude website, because the desktop app can work with the files you already have on your computer. New to it? Start with How to Get Started with Claude Code.
• A paid Claude plan (Pro or Max). Anthropic's setup page says the free claude.ai plan does not include Claude Code.
• Your raw recordings: talking-head video, screen recordings, and any B-roll you want to use.
• HyperFrames, the open-source tool that turns web pages into video (github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes). The template prompt in step 1c builds your template for it. If it is not on your computer yet, ask Claude to check it and set it up before you begin.

You do not need to know how to code. Everything below is plain English that you paste into Claude.

Step 1: Set up Claude Desktop and lock your video template

The template is your taste, saved once. Every future video starts from a copy of it, so your videos always look the same.

1a. Download Claude Desktop and open Code mode

1. Download the app: claude.com/download.
2. Open it and go to Code mode.
3. Set up a folder for yourself. This is where your video work will live.

1b. Ask Claude for five looks

Paste this into the Code tab:

I make long YouTube videos where I talk to the camera, and I am not a coder.
Please build me one web page that I can open in my browser. On it, show me
FIVE different look-and-feel options for my videos, side by side.
For each option, show: the colours, the fonts, how the captions look, and how
my face appears on screen (for example full screen, in a small circle, or in a
rounded window).
Give each option a simple name and a number, so I can tell you "I pick number 3".
Save the page in my folder and tell me how to open it.

Claude builds a small template website with five options. If you do not know code, that is fine. It is only a page you open and look at.

1c. Pick one and lock it

Choose the option you like, then tell Claude which one with this prompt:

I pick option [number or name from the page]. Please turn it into my video
template.
Make a template folder called [template folder name, for example my-video-template]
that is built to work with HyperFrames, the tool that turns web pages into video.
This template is LOCKED: the colours, fonts, caption style and the way my face
appears must never change from one video to the next.
I will never edit this folder. For every new video, you copy it and work only in
the copy.
When it is done, tell me in plain words what is inside and how you will use it.

Result of step 1: you downloaded Claude, you finalized the look and feel of your videos, and you saved it in a template. Write down the folder name. You will need it in step 3.

Step 2: Record your video twice

This is the tip that means you never re-record.

1. Take 1: read your script straight off the screen.
2. Take 2: say it again naturally, in your own words.

When you fumble a line in the natural take, Claude picks the clean line from the read-through and puts it back where it belongs. You get your natural voice and none of the stumbles.

Step 3: Hand it to Claude

This is the step most people ignore, or do not know about. It is where Claude learns where everything is and where to put everything.

1. Create one folder.
2. Put in it all your audio recordings, all your videos, and any B-roll. Anything you think Claude would need to edit your video.
3. Give Claude this prompt:

All my files for this video are in this folder: [path to your video folder].
It has my read-through recording, my natural recording, my videos and my B-roll.
First, copy my locked template [template folder name] into a new project folder
called [new video name]. Never change the original template.
Then start designing my video in the copy, in this order:
1. Transcribe all the audio, with the time of every word.
2. Find the cuts and the silences.
3. Remove what I do not want: mistakes, long pauses, repeated lines.
4. Where I fumbled a line in the natural take, use the same line from the clean
   read-through take instead.
5. Bring me back a first draft that I can play and watch.

What this does: Claude copies your template so the original stays untouched, transcribes everything you said, finds where you cut, finds the silences, decides what goes where, and brings back a first draft you can play and watch.

Want Claude to follow your plan even more closely? Write the ask as a one-page spec first. Spec-Driven Development for Claude Code shows how.

Step 4: Build long videos one minute at a time (the sliding window)

This is the rule that matters most.

If you are making a short or a reel, the draft is basically done. You can stop at step 3.

For a long video (four minutes, fifteen minutes, even an hour), do not hand Claude the whole thing in one go. It will most certainly make things up.

Instead, ask it to build one minute at a time:

• It works on 60 seconds.
• It also looks at the end of the previous minute, so everything stays consistent.
• At the end it stitches all the minutes together into one coherent video.

That is the sliding window. Use this prompt:

This video is long, so do not build it all in one go.
Build it one minute (60 seconds) at a time.
For each minute, first look at the last few seconds of the previous minute, so
the new part continues smoothly and everything stays consistent: same look,
same captions, same style.
When every minute is done, stitch them all together into one video.
Tell me when each minute is finished, and keep your progress saved as you go.

Step 5: Review the draft on localhost and ask for exact changes

Once the draft is ready, ask Claude to open a localhost server. Do not worry, it is nothing technical. You click a link and play your draft video right there in your browser.

Please open a local preview of my draft video and give me the link.
I will click the link and watch the draft in my browser.

Now watch it and give Claude exact changes, using the second on the video clock. For example, "at 34 seconds, put this icon here." Be specific:

At [34] seconds, put the [Claude icon] on the screen.
Delete from [15] to [18] seconds.
Show me the updated draft in the same preview link.

This is where you bring your taste and make the video yours.

Bonus: studio-quality audio for free

Nobody tells you this. Apart from your beautiful video, audio is the very important part. I record with earphones and I have no fancy setup. This is how I still get clean audio.

1. Once you have a draft you like, and it is ready to export to YouTube, Instagram or wherever you post, ask Claude for only the audio:

Give me only the audio of my latest draft video, as a single audio file.
Save it in [folder for the audio] and tell me the exact path of the file, so
I can find it on my computer.

2. Open Adobe Podcast (Enhance Speech) and sign in. It is free.
3. Upload the audio file, let it enhance it, and download the enhanced version. Note where it downloads.

4. Give the new file to Claude:

Here is the new, enhanced audio file: [full path to the downloaded file].
Replace the old audio in my video with this one.
Do not change anything else in the video.
Then show me the updated draft in the preview link.

You now have studio-like audio for free. If you can afford a studio setup, nothing beats it. If you cannot, this is a hack, and it is a lifesaver.

So, did Claude really edit my video?

Yes. But it did not decide what is good and what is not. I did that, because it is my template, my audio and my taste. Claude helps me edit and polish faster and better, so I do not spend time on something that can be automated and is mundane.

Now you have the same system.

FAQ

Can I edit videos with Claude Code if I cannot code?

Yes. Every step is plain English that you paste into Claude. The "code" part is something Claude handles for you.

Does editing a video with Claude Code cost anything?

Claude Code needs a paid Claude plan (Pro or Max). Adobe Podcast Enhance Speech, used for the audio bonus, is free.

Why record twice?

The read-through gives you clean lines. The natural take gives you your real voice. Claude swaps in the clean line wherever you fumbled, so you never re-record.

What is the sliding window?

Building a long video one minute at a time, with each minute looking at the end of the previous one, then stitching them together. It stops Claude from losing the thread on long videos.

Do I have to use all five steps for a short?

No. For a short or a reel you can stop at step 3 and review the draft in step 5.

Watch the video

How Claude Edited My Video (My 5-Step System for People With No Time)

All the prompts are also in the pinned comment. If you try this, tell me in the comments which part of your editing you would hand to Claude first.