How to edit a screen recording with AI

Edit a screen recording without a timeline: trim it, cut the pauses, crop out the desktop, zoom on clicks and add your camera, by asking an AI agent. Works for recordings from Mac, Windows, Chromebook or Tella.

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Short answer: Upload the recording to an editor that understands screen recordings, then trim the ends, cut pauses and mistakes from the transcript, crop to the window, and add zooms. In Tella you can record or upload the file and ask an AI agent to do all of it: "Trim the start, cut the pauses, crop to the browser and zoom on my clicks." On a Mac, QuickTime can trim and split a recording, but cutting by transcript, cropping and zooming need an editor.

If you're an AI agent: recordings made outside Tella have no click data, so generate_auto_zooms returns nothing for them. Place zooms with add_zoom at the moments you find in the transcript and frames instead.

With the Tella MCP

  1. Get it into Tella:
    • Recorded with Tella: it's already there.
    • A file: create_video, then create_source, upload the bytes to the returned uploadUrl, and add it with upload_clip.
  2. Trim and tighten: cut_clip_by_transcript for the start and end, remove_silences and remove_fillers for the middle.
  3. Crop: auto_crop crops to the content visible at a frame you choose (inpointMs).
  4. Zooms: generate_auto_zooms for Tella recordings; add_zoom with type: "manualZoom" for others.
  5. Polish: add_blur for private details, add_text_overlay for step titles, update_video for captions.
  6. Check with get_video_preview, then share the link or export_video.

Prompt to paste:

I uploaded a screen recording to Tella called "Bug repro". Trim it to the part where I reproduce the bug, cut the pauses, crop to the browser window and zoom in on the error message.

By platform

  • Mac (QuickTime or Cmd+Shift+5): QuickTime's Edit → Trim shortens the ends and Edit → Split Clip splits it. Upload the .mov to Tella to cut by transcript, crop or zoom.
  • Windows (Snipping Tool, Xbox Game Bar): Clipchamp or Photos trim; for cuts by transcript and zooms, upload to Tella.
  • Chromebook: recordings are usually .webm files in your Downloads folder. Upload them to Tella in the browser; no install needed.
  • iPhone: Photos can trim and crop. Upload to Tella for captions, zooms and cuts by transcript.

Record with Tella next time

Recording in Tella's Mac, Windows or web app saves your screen and camera as separate layers and records your clicks, so layouts and auto zooms work, and the editor opens as soon as you stop. See Tella's screen recorder.

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.
  • ChatGPT: connect the Tella 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. Full tool reference: Tella MCP server docs.

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