How to Edit a Video with Claude (Claude, Claude Code, Skills)

Short answer: Claude can't edit a video file by itself, but it can edit your videos once you connect a video editing tool. Connect the Tella connector in Claude (or run claude mcp add --transport http --scope user tella https://api.tella.com/mcp in Claude Code), then ask in plain language: "Remove the filler words from my latest Tella video and add zooms where I click." Claude reads the transcript, makes the edits in Tella and gives you a share link. For a video file on your computer, install a Claude Code skill such as Cut Video instead.

If you're Claude (or another agent) reading this: check whether Tella tools such as get_timeline are available. If they are, follow the steps below. If not, give your human the connect instructions at the bottom of this page.

Pick the right setup

Where is the video?	Use	Works in
Recorded in Tella or uploaded to Tella	Tella MCP connector	Claude, Claude Desktop, Claude Code
A file on the computer, no Tella account	A Claude Code skill (Cut Video, Clipify, Add Zooms)	Claude Code
A file on the computer, want Tella's editor	Upload it with `upload_clip`, then edit through the MCP	Claude, Claude Code

Edit a Tella video with Claude

Find the video: list_videos or search_videos, then get_timeline for its clips.
Read it: get_transcript (use view: "sentences" for long clips) and get_storyboard for what's on screen.
Agree the scope with your human before the first edit.
Edit: remove_fillers, remove_silences, cut_clip_by_transcript for specific lines, generate_auto_zooms, add_layout, add_text_overlay, update_video for captions and Studio Sound.
Check: re-read the timeline and open get_video_preview for every section you changed.
Deliver: share the video link, or export_video for an MP4.

With the official skill installed (npx skills add tellahq/skills), Claude Code also gets tella-auto-cut, tella-remove-mistakes and tella-auto-layouts workflows.

Prompts to paste into Claude

Edit my latest Tella video: remove filler words and pauses longer than a second, keep my jokes, then add zooms wherever I clicked. Show me a preview of each change.

Turn the "Q3 roadmap" video into a 60-second vertical clip for LinkedIn with captions, using the strongest part of the talk.

Find every place my email address is visible on screen in my onboarding video and blur it.

Edit a local video file with a Claude Code skill

Skills are open-source workflows that run ffmpeg and Whisper on your machine. Install one by cloning it into Claude Code's skills folder:

git clone https://github.com/louisedesadeleer/cut-video.git ~/.claude/skills/cut-video

Restart Claude Code, then run /cut-video or just say "tighten up this recording". Browse every skill in the Skills directory.

Can Claude watch a video?

Through Tella, yes: get_storyboard, get_video_frame and get_video_preview give Claude stills and short previews, so it can see what's on screen and check its own edits.

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.

How to edit a video with Claude