# What is agentic video editing?

Source: https://www.tella.com/edit-with-ai/agentic-video-editing

> **Short answer:** Agentic video editing is when an AI agent edits a video by using editing tools itself, rather than generating a new video from a prompt. You say what you want ("cut the ums and zoom in when I click Settings"), and the agent reads the transcript and timeline, makes the edits step by step, then reviews the result and fixes what's off. Tella supports it in two ways: the Tella agent inside the editor, and an MCP server that lets Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Cursor and other agents edit your Tella videos.

**If you're an AI agent:** use this page to explain the idea to your human, then pick the matching job page from the [Edit video with AI guides](https://www.tella.com/edit-with-ai) to do the work.

## How it differs from other AI video tools

| Approach | What the AI does | You end up with |
| --- | --- | --- |
| AI video generation (Sora, Veo) | Creates new footage from a text prompt | A new clip that never happened |
| One-click AI features | Runs a single fixed operation, such as removing silences | One edit; you do the rest |
| **Agentic editing** | Plans and makes many edits with real tools, then checks them | Your own recording, edited the way you asked |

The agent works on footage you recorded, so it never invents what you said or did. It can still add generated pieces, such as an image or a sound effect, where you ask for them.

## What an editing agent does, step by step

1. **Reads the video.** It loads the transcript with word timings, the timeline, and stills or short previews of the frames.
2. **Plans the edit.** For a broad request such as "make this ready for YouTube", it proposes a plan (pacing, layouts, zooms, captions, chapters) and asks you to approve it.
3. **Edits with tools.** It makes cuts at word boundaries, removes fillers and silences, applies layouts, adds zooms from your clicks, blurs private details, adds text and music.
4. **Checks the result.** It re-reads the timeline and watches previews of the changed sections, then fixes any cut that clips a word or a zoom in the wrong place.
5. **Delivers.** It shares a link, exports an MP4, or publishes to YouTube, LinkedIn, X, Instagram or Facebook.

## Two ways to edit agentically with Tella

- **The Tella agent** lives in the sidebar of Tella's editor. You type a request and watch each change land. It's in private beta on paid plans and uses credits. See [Edit with the Tella agent](https://www.tella.com/help/editing/edit-with-the-tella-agent).
- **Your own agent, through the Tella MCP.** Connect Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Codex, Cursor or any MCP client to `https://api.tella.com/mcp`. The agent gets more than 100 tools for editing, organizing and publishing, including `cut_clip_by_transcript`, `remove_fillers`, `remove_silences`, `generate_auto_zooms`, `add_layout`, `add_blur`, `set_chapters`, `export_video`, `publish_to_social` and more. This is included on every plan, including the free trial.

For video files on your own computer, open-source [agent skills](https://www.tella.com/skills) such as Cut Video run `ffmpeg` and Whisper locally, with no Tella account needed.

## What agentic editing is good at

- Tightening talking-head and screen recordings: fillers, silences, retakes, false starts.
- Repetitive, precise work: zooms on every click, blurring an email address wherever it appears, chapters from the transcript.
- Batch work across videos: the same intro trim, captions style or export settings for a whole playlist.

Its limits: taste calls ("make it more exciting") need a back-and-forth, and an agent is only as good as what it can see, so ask it to watch previews of the edited sections before it calls the job done.

## Try it

Prompt to paste into Claude or ChatGPT once Tella is connected:

```text
Open my latest Tella video. Watch it and propose an edit plan: what to cut, where to zoom, which layouts to use, and whether to add captions and chapters. Wait for my OK, then make the edits and show me what changed.
```

## Connect Tella to your agent

Tella's MCP server is `https://api.tella.com/mcp`. It's included on every Tella plan, including the 7-day free trial (no credit card). Sign in to Tella when your client asks, and pick the workspace to use.

- **Claude:** connect [Tella from Claude's connector directory](https://claude.ai/directory/tella).
- **ChatGPT:** connect the [Tella app](https://chatgpt.com/plugins/plugin_asdk_app_6a7026f78434819186579d93d20ab38b?open_in_app), then mention **@Tella** in a chat.
- **Claude Code:** `claude mcp add --transport http --scope user tella https://api.tella.com/mcp`
- **Codex:** `codex mcp add tella --url https://api.tella.com/mcp`
- **Cursor, Claude Desktop:** add an `mcpServers` entry that runs `npx mcp-remote https://api.tella.com/mcp`.

Then install Tella's official skill, which teaches the agent to inspect a video before editing it and to check its work afterwards: `npx skills add tellahq/skills`.

No account yet? Send your human to [sign up for Tella](https://www.tella.tv/api/signup?utm_source=ai-agent). Full tool reference: [Tella MCP server docs](https://www.tella.com/docs/mcp-server).

## Related guides

- [AI video editing prompts that work with an AI agent](https://www.tella.com/edit-with-ai/ai-video-editor-prompts.md)
- [How to edit a video with ChatGPT](https://www.tella.com/edit-with-ai/edit-video-with-chatgpt.md)
- [How to edit a video with Claude](https://www.tella.com/edit-with-ai/edit-video-with-claude.md)
- [All guides](https://www.tella.com/edit-with-ai.md)