cli-anything-premierepro

name	cli-anything-premierepro
description	Use when driving Adobe Premiere Pro 2025 from scripts or agents — opening projects, inspecting sequences and timelines, managing markers, queuing AME exports, capturing timeline frames, or reading media metadata. Most commands require Premiere Pro running with the cli-anything CEP bridge. Use `project parse` or `media` for offline operations without Premiere open.
agent_guidance	Most commands require Premiere Pro 2025 running with the cli-anything CEP extension loaded (bridge on localhost:7788). Always use --json for parseable output. Use absolute file paths. Call `ping` first to verify the bridge is up. Set an active sequence with `sequence activate` before marker or timeline commands that don't accept --sequence. Only `project parse` and `media` work without Premiere running.

cli-anything-premierepro

Adobe Premiere Pro 2025 CLI. Drives Premiere via a CEP extension HTTP bridge; project parse and media run headless.

Installation

pip install -e /path/to/premiere-pro/agent-harness

Requirements:

• macOS (Ventura / Sonoma tested)
• Adobe Premiere Pro 2025 (version 25.x)
• Python 3.10+
• CEP debug mode enabled, extension symlinked (see README.md)

Quick Start

# Verify bridge is up
cli-anything-premierepro ping

# JSON output for agents
cli-anything-premierepro --json ping

# Start REPL
cli-anything-premierepro

Commands

ping — Health check

cli-anything-premierepro ping
cli-anything-premierepro --json ping

Returns: {"ok": true, "version": "1.0.0", "app": "premierepro"}. Fails with exit 1 if bridge is not running.

---

project — Project commands

# Active project info (name, path, sequence count)
cli-anything-premierepro project info
cli-anything-premierepro --json project info

# Open a .prproj file
cli-anything-premierepro project open /path/to/cut.prproj

# List all items in project bin
cli-anything-premierepro project items
cli-anything-premierepro --json project items

# Parse a .prproj offline (no Premiere required — reads gzip XML)
cli-anything-premierepro project parse /path/to/cut.prproj
cli-anything-premierepro --json project parse /path/to/cut.prproj

---

sequence — Sequence commands

# List all sequences
cli-anything-premierepro sequence list
cli-anything-premierepro --json sequence list

# Detailed info for a named sequence
cli-anything-premierepro sequence info "Main Cut"
cli-anything-premierepro --json sequence info "Main Cut"

# Set active sequence (required before marker/timeline commands that omit --sequence)
cli-anything-premierepro sequence activate "Main Cut"

sequence info returns: name, width, height, fps, duration, track_count.

---

timeline — Timeline inspection

# List clips in the active sequence
cli-anything-premierepro timeline clips
cli-anything-premierepro --json timeline clips

# List clips in a named sequence
cli-anything-premierepro timeline clips --sequence "B-Roll"
cli-anything-premierepro --json timeline clips --sequence "B-Roll"

Each clip: name, track, start (seconds), end (seconds), duration (seconds).

---

markers — Sequence markers

# List markers on active sequence
cli-anything-premierepro markers list
cli-anything-premierepro --json markers list

# List markers on a named sequence
cli-anything-premierepro markers list --sequence "Main Cut"

# Add a marker at 30.5 seconds on the active sequence
cli-anything-premierepro markers add 30.5
cli-anything-premierepro markers add 30.5 --name "Chapter 2" --comment "scene change"
cli-anything-premierepro --json markers add 30.5 --name "Chapter 2"

Each marker: name, comment, time (seconds), duration (seconds), type.

---

export — Export via Adobe Media Encoder

# Queue active sequence for export
cli-anything-premierepro export render /tmp/output.mp4
cli-anything-premierepro export render /tmp/output.mp4 --sequence "Main Cut"
cli-anything-premierepro export render /tmp/output.mp4 --preset h264-720p
cli-anything-premierepro --json export render /tmp/output.mp4 --preset h264-1080p

# List available export presets
cli-anything-premierepro export presets
cli-anything-premierepro --json export presets

# Check AME queue status
cli-anything-premierepro export status
cli-anything-premierepro --json export status

Built-in presets: h264-1080p (default), h264-720p, h264-4k, prores-422, hevc-1080p. Requires Adobe Media Encoder installed.

---

media — Media file metadata (no Premiere required)

cli-anything-premierepro media /path/to/clip.mp4
cli-anything-premierepro --json media /path/to/clip.mp4

Returns: name, path, width, height, fps, frame_count, duration (seconds), codec, file_size.

---

Scrub (bridge only — no CLI command)

Move the active sequence playhead. Use the HTTP bridge directly:

curl -s -X POST http://localhost:7788/scrub -d '{"seconds": 30.5}'

---

REPL Mode

Run without a subcommand for an interactive session with tab-completion:

cli-anything-premierepro
# premierepro> ping
# premierepro> --json sequence list
# premierepro> markers add 30.5 --name "Chapter 2"
# premierepro> exit

REPL accepts the same flags and arguments as the CLI. Use help for command list.

---

Output Format

All commands support --json for machine-readable output:

cli-anything-premierepro --json ping
# {"ok": true, "version": "1.0.0", "app": "premierepro"}

cli-anything-premierepro --json sequence list
# [{"name": "Main Cut", "width": 1920, "height": 1080, "fps": 23.976, "duration": 245.3}]

cli-anything-premierepro --json markers add 30.5 --name "Act 2"
# {"ok": true, "time": 30.5, "name": "Act 2"}

Exit codes: 0 = success, 1 = error (message on stderr).

---

Architecture Notes

• Bridge: A CEP panel (CEPHtmlEngine) runs a Node.js HTTP server on localhost:7788. All Premiere-aware commands route through POST /eval → csInterface.evalScript() → ExtendScript (ES3).
• Headless commands: project parse (reads gzip-XML .prproj) and media (OpenCV + mdls) run without Premiere.
• ExtendScript: Runs ES3 in PPro's UI thread. The bridge prepends a JSON polyfill to every script. All scripts are wrapped in IIFEs. Results are always strings.
• Active sequence: Many operations act on app.project.activeSequence. Call sequence activate first, or pass --sequence where supported.

Common Mistakes

Mistake	Fix
Commands fail with "Cannot reach bridge"	Premiere Pro must be open and the CEP extension loaded. Run ping to verify.
markers list / timeline clips returns empty	No active sequence. Call sequence activate "<name>" first, or pass --sequence.
markers add returns {"error": "No active sequence"}	Same — activate a sequence before adding markers.
cli-anything-premierepro scrub 30.5 → "No such command"	scrub is bridge-only. Use curl -X POST http://localhost:7788/scrub -d '{"seconds":30.5}'.
No parseable output	Add --json before the subcommand: cli-anything-premierepro --json sequence list.
project parse fails	Ensure the .prproj file is readable; it is a gzip-compressed XML file.
vision frame captures wrong window	Premiere Pro must be visible (not minimized). The screencapture tool captures the frontmost matching window.

Version

1.0.0