<h1 align="center">rough-cut-axi</h1>
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<h3 align="center">Cut by transcript, collaborate in the browser, render without leaving your shell.</h3>
Rough-cut editing should not force you to choose between a heavyweight NLE and a pile of brittle scripts.
You want transcript-aware cuts, human review, and agent help that can operate on real project state instead of guessing from screenshots.
`rough-cut-axi` is a local-first, transcript-based video editor for agent-assisted rough cuts.
It opens footage in a browser editor, keeps footage files untouched, exposes compact project snapshots to agents, and renders deterministic cuts with `ffmpeg`.
- **Manuscript-first cuts** - Read the transcript as prose, then mark passages to keep or skip.
- **Human-agent loop** - Queue browser feedback, long-poll it from the CLI, and apply structured edits only when they are safe or approved.
- **Local render contract** - Store projects under `~/.rough-cut-axi`, export `timeline.json`, and render preview or final MP4 files from kept passages with `ffmpeg`.
## Quick Start
```sh
$ rough-cut-axi auth elevenlabs --api-key "$ELEVENLABS_API_KEY"
auth: elevenlabs
status: stored
$ rough-cut-axi open ./footage-a.mp4 ./footage-b.mp4
project: 20260515-153012-footage
footages: 2 footages
session:
status: open
url: http://127.0.0.1:4388/?project=...
$ rough-cut-axi transcribe ~/.rough-cut-axi/projects/20260515-153012-footage
transcripts: 2 written
transcript_index: ~/.rough-cut-axi/projects/20260515-153012-footage/transcript_index.md
```
## Install
`rough-cut-axi` currently installs from this repository.
You need Node.js 20 or newer, pnpm, `ffmpeg`, `ffprobe`, and an ElevenLabs API key for transcription.
**From repository**
```sh
git clone https://github.com/kunchenguid/rough-cut-axi.git
cd rough-cut-axi
corepack enable
pnpm install
pnpm link --global
rough-cut-axi --help
```
## How It Works
```
┌────────────────────┐
│ Footage files │
└─────────┬──────────┘
▼
┌────────────────────┐
│ open creates local │
│ project directory │
└─────────┬──────────┘
▼
┌────────────────────┐
│ browser editor │
│ manuscript + video │
└──────┬────────┬────┘
│ │
▼ ▼
┌───────────┐ ┌────────────────┐
│ passages │ │ queued prompts │
└─────┬─────┘ └───────┬────────┘
▼ ▼
┌──────────────┐ ┌───────────────┐
│ project.json │ │ agent poll │
│ timeline.json│ │ snapshot/apply│
└──────┬───────┘ └──────┬────────┘
└────────┬────────┘
▼
┌───────────────┐
│ ffmpeg render │
│ preview/final │
└───────────────┘
```
- **Project state is plain files** - `project.json` is the editor truth and `timeline.json` is the render contract.
- **Footage stays put** - Projects reference original files by absolute path instead of copying or mutating them.
- **Agent commands are bounded** - Agents read snapshots, wait for queued prompts, and apply JSON edit operations through validation.
- **Rendering is explicit** - Preview and final outputs are built from timeline segments, short audio fades, and duration verification.
## CLI Reference
| Command | Description |
| ---------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `rough-cut-axi` | Show local home state, active sessions, and known projects. |
| `rough-cut-axi open <video-file...>` | Create a project from one or more footages and open the browser editor. |
| `rough-cut-axi open <project-dir>` | Reopen an existing project directory. |
| `rough-cut-axi auth elevenlabs` | Store an ElevenLabs API key in the local home directory. |
| `rough-cut-axi transcribe <project-dir>` | Transcribe footages and write passages into `project.json`. |
| `rough-cut-axi poll <project-dir>` | Wait for queued browser feedback and return an agent-friendly project snapshot. |
| `rough-cut-axi snapshot <project-dir>` | Print passages, nearby transcript, and render status. |
| `rough-cut-axi apply <project-dir>` | Apply structured edit operations from a JSON file. |
| `rough-cut-axi render <project-dir>` | Render `renders/preview.mp4` or `renders/final.mp4`. |
| `rough-cut-axi end <project-dir>` | Remove the active editor session for a project. |
| `rough-cut-axi server` | Run the local browser editor server. |
### Flags
| Command | Flag | Description |
| ----------------- | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `rough-cut-axi` | `--json` | Emit raw structured home state. |
| `open` | `--json` | Emit project metadata without launching the browser session output. |
| `auth elevenlabs` | `--api-key <key>` | Store the ElevenLabs API key. |
| `auth elevenlabs` | `--json` | Emit raw structured auth status. |
| `transcribe` | `--json` | Emit written and cached transcript metadata. |
| `poll` | `--wait` | Compatibility flag because polling waits by default. |
| `poll` | `--timeout-ms <ms>` | Stop waiting after a bounded time for tests or debugging. |
| `poll` | `--agent-reply <text>` | Record an agent reply and clear queued prompts. |
| `poll` | `--json` | Emit pending prompts and snapshot JSON. |
| `snapshot` | `--range <start:end>` | Filter timeline context by output time. |
| `snapshot` | `--json` | Emit the project snapshot as JSON. |
| `apply` | `--ops <ops-json-file>` | Read a JSON array of edit operations. |
| `apply` | `--approved` | Allow broad edit plans with more than three operations. |
| `apply` | `--json` | Emit apply results as JSON. |
| `render` | `--preview` | Render `renders/preview.mp4`. |
| `render` | `--final` | Render `renders/final.mp4`. |
| `render` | `--json` | Emit render metadata as JSON. |
| `end` | `--json` | Emit session end status as JSON. |
| `server` | `--port <port>` | Run the local editor server on a specific port. |
## Configuration
Generated state lives under `~/.rough-cut-axi` by default.
Use `ROUGH_CUT_AXI_HOME` to move all auth, project, and session files somewhere else.
```sh
# Local state root.
export ROUGH_CUT_AXI_HOME="$HOME/.rough-cut-axi"
# Optional direct auth override.
export ELEVENLABS_API_KEY="sk_..."
# Browser editor server port.
export ROUGH_CUT_AXI_PORT="4388"
# Custom ffmpeg binaries.
export ROUGH_CUT_AXI_FFMPEG_BIN="/opt/homebrew/bin/ffmpeg"
export ROUGH_CUT_AXI_FFPROBE_BIN="/opt/homebrew/bin/ffprobe"
# Test and fixture hooks.
export ROUGH_CUT_AXI_NO_BROWSER_OPEN="1"
export ROUGH_CUT_AXI_ELEVENLABS_FIXTURE_DIR="./test/fixtures/transcripts"
```
`ELEVENLABS_API_KEY` takes precedence over `~/.rough-cut-axi/auth.json`.
Other `ROUGH_CUT_AXI_*` environment variables override built-in defaults for the current process.
Project directories use this layout:
```text
~/.rough-cut-axi/projects/<project-id>/
├── project.json
├── project.md
├── timeline.json
├── transcript_index.md
├── transcripts/
├── renders/
│ ├── preview.mp4
│ └── final.mp4
├── segments/
└── verify/
```
## Development
```sh
pnpm install # Install dependencies
pnpm run check # Run formatting and lint checks
pnpm test # Run Node unit tests
pnpm run test:e2e # Run Playwright end-to-end tests
pnpm run format # Format the repository
```