native-cli

name	native-cli
description	Run QCut's native TypeScript pipeline CLI for AI content generation, video analysis, transcription, YAML pipelines, ViMax agentic video production, and project management. Also use for editor HTTP automation tasks (state snapshots, events, transactions, and notification bridge control) when user needs deterministic state-aware control.

Native Pipeline CLI Skill

Run QCut's built-in TypeScript pipeline CLI (qcut-pipeline / qcut).

Active CLI Version

• Active native CLI version: 1.0.0
• Verify with: qcut --version

Additional resources

• For standalone CLI commands (generate, analyze, transcribe, autoclip, models, help, output formats), see REFERENCE.md
• For YAML pipelines, API key management, project management, see reference-pipelines.md
• For ViMax commands (idea2video, script2video, novel2movie, scenes, portraits), see reference-vimax.md
• For editor core reference: connection, flags, batch limits, env vars, common workflows, see editor-core.md
• For editor media & project commands, project.json schema, see editor-media.md
• For editor timeline & editing commands, see editor-timeline.md
• For editor export, diagnostics, MCP, screen recording, UI, Moyin, screenshots, state control, see editor-output.md
• For editor AI commands: video analysis, transcription, AI generation, Remotion, navigator, see editor-ai.md
• For editor state automation: snapshots, event streams, correlation IDs, transactions, capabilities, and notification bridge endpoints, see editor-state-control.md
• For agent automation: accessibility snapshots with refs, console capture, visual diffs, session persistence, and action policy, see editor-agent.md
• For source file locations by responsibility (core, output, handlers, state, auth), see reference-source-files.md
• For proxy mode, credit system, and admin tester management, see reference-proxy-credits.md

Step 1: Ensure QCut is Running

Before any editor:* command, check if QCut is running. If not, build and launch it.

# Check if QCut is running
qcut editor:health --status-only --json || echo "NOT_RUNNING"

If NOT_RUNNING:

bun run build                # Build first
bun run electron &           # Launch in background
sleep 5                      # Wait for startup

Step 2: Find Project, Media & Timeline

Most editor commands need --project-id, --media-id, or --element-id. Run these to discover them.

# 1. List projects → get project-id
qcut editor:navigator:projects

# 2. Open a project (navigates the editor)
qcut editor:navigator:open --project-id <project-id>

# 3. Switch to editor panel (navigator:open lands on the landing page, NOT the editor)
qcut editor:ui:switch-panel --panel video-edit

# 4. List media → get media-id values
qcut editor:media:list --project-id <project-id> --json

# 5. Export timeline → get track-id and element-id values
qcut editor:timeline:export --project-id <project-id> --json

Now you have the IDs needed for all other editor commands.

How to Run

qcut <group> <action> [options]     # New group syntax (preferred)
qcut <command> [options]             # Legacy flat syntax (deprecated)
qcut-pipeline <group> <action> [options]         # Production binary

Output Directory Contract

For website Daytona Chat Agent sessions, uploaded files are under /tmp/qcut-input and downloadable outputs must land under /tmp/qcut-output.

For image generation, the CLI default model is gpt_image_2_ima. Do not pass --model/-m unless the user explicitly requests a specific image model.

The CLI default output directory can be overridden with:

export QCUT_OUTPUT_DIR=/tmp/qcut-output

When running generation, analysis, transcription, music, translation, or pipeline commands in that sandbox, use -o /tmp/qcut-output when a command supports --output-dir/-o, or move final user-requested files into /tmp/qcut-output before finishing. Keep scratch files and package installs under /tmp/qcut-tools or /tmp.

Command Groups

Group	Description	Example
gen	Generate images, videos, avatars, speech	gen image -t "A cat"
analyze	Analyze, transcribe, translate media	analyze transcribe -i audio.mp3
edit	Autoclip, upscale, motion, subtitle	edit upscale --image img.png
flow	ViMax pipelines, YAML workflows	flow idea2video --idea "..."
system	Auth, keys, models, project setup	system models --json

Run qcut <group> --help for group details.

Top-level commands (not in a group)

Command	Description	Example
record	Standalone screen recording — spawns its own hidden QCut	record --record-duration 10 -o demo.mp4
record-daemon	Inspect / stop / start the headless recorder daemon	record-daemon --status
youtube:upload	Upload a file to YouTube via Google OAuth	youtube:upload -i video.mp4 --title "demo"

record and record-daemon do not require QCut to be open — they auto-launch a hidden recorder. See editor-output.md for flags and examples.

Project Setup & Organization

Use these commands for project setup, file categorization, and structure audits:

• qcut system project-init
• qcut system project-organize
• qcut system project-info

Standard structure:

{project-dir}/
├── input/
│   ├── images/
│   ├── videos/
│   ├── audio/
│   ├── text/
│   └── pipelines/
├── output/
│   ├── images/
│   ├── videos/
│   └── audio/
└── config/

Safe default workflow:

# 1) Create missing folders
qcut system project-init --directory ./my-project

# 2) Preview file moves first
qcut system project-organize \
  --directory ./my-project \
  --source ./incoming-media \
  --recursive \
  --dry-run

# 3) Execute organization
qcut system project-organize \
  --directory ./my-project \
  --source ./incoming-media \
  --recursive

# 4) Verify final structure and counts
qcut system project-info --directory ./my-project --json

Safety rules:

• Run --dry-run before moving user files.
• Use --source for external ingest folders.
• Use --recursive only when nested scan is needed.
• Avoid --include-output unless reorganizing output is intentional.

Quick Commands

qcut system models                        # List all models
qcut gen image -t "A cinematic portrait at golden hour"
qcut gen video -m kling_2_6_pro -t "Ocean waves at sunset" -d 5s
qcut gen avatar -m omnihuman_v1_5 -t "Hello world" --image-url avatar.png
qcut analyze video -i video.mp4 --analysis-type summary
qcut analyze transcribe -i audio.mp3 --srt
qcut flow run -c pipeline.yaml -i "A sunset" --no-confirm
qcut system cost -m veo3 -d 8s
qcut record --record-duration 10 -o demo.mp4   # standalone screen recording, no editor needed

Auth Token Management

Get, set, or clear the QCut auth token directly from the CLI. No need for DevTools.

# Get current token (masked by default)
qcut editor:auth:token --json

# Get token with full value revealed
qcut editor:auth:token --reveal --json

# Set a token
qcut editor:auth:token --set <token> --json

# Activate license on this device
qcut editor:auth:activate --token <token> --json

# Clear token (logout)
qcut editor:auth:logout --json

Command	Description
editor:auth:token	Get current token (add --reveal for full value, --set <val> to set)
editor:auth:activate	Set token and activate license on this device
editor:auth:logout	Clear the current auth token

YouTube Upload

Upload videos to YouTube after authenticating with Google OAuth.

Prerequisites:

• Logged in via Google OAuth in QCut app
• YouTube Data API v3 enabled in Google Cloud Console
• YouTube channel created on the Google account
• Auth token set (use qcut editor:auth:token --reveal --json to check)

# Set auth token for CLI usage (preferred: use editor:auth:token --set)
qcut editor:auth:token --set <token> --json

# Upload a video (private by default)
qcut youtube:upload -i video.mp4 --title "My Video"

# Upload with all options
qcut youtube:upload \
  -i video.mp4 \
  --title "My Video" \
  --text "Video description" \
  --mode unlisted \
  --data "tag1,tag2,tag3" \
  --category 22 \
  --image thumbnail.jpg \
  --json

Flag	Description
--input, -i	Path to video file (required)
--title	Video title (required)
--text	Video description
--data	Comma-separated tags
--mode	Privacy: public, unlisted, private (default: public)
--category	YouTube category ID (default: 22 = People & Blogs)
--image	Path to thumbnail image

Auth flow: CLI token → license server /api/youtube/token → Google access token → YouTube Data API v3 resumable upload.

Key files:

• CLI handler: electron/native-pipeline/cli/cli-handlers-youtube.ts
• License server endpoint: packages/license-server/src/routes/youtube.ts
• Electron IPC handler: electron/youtube-handler.ts

ViMax Quick Start

qcut flow idea2video --idea "A detective in 1920s Paris" -d 120
qcut flow script2video --script script.json --portraits registry.json
qcut flow novel2movie --novel book.txt --max-scenes 20
qcut flow scenes --novel book.txt -o /tmp/qcut-output --json
qcut flow storyboard --scenes /tmp/qcut-output/scenes.json --image-model gpt_image_2_ima --concurrency 3 --json

API Key Setup

Keys stored in ~/.qcut/.env (mode 0600).

qcut system setup          # Create .env template
qcut system set-key --name FAL_KEY   # Set a key (interactive)
qcut system check-keys     # Check configured keys

Supported keys: FAL_KEY, GEMINI_API_KEY, GOOGLE_AI_API_KEY, OPENROUTER_API_KEY, ELEVENLABS_API_KEY, OPENAI_API_KEY, RUNWAY_API_KEY, HEYGEN_API_KEY, DID_API_KEY, SYNTHESIA_API_KEY, QCUT_AUTH_TOKEN

Unified JSON Output

All commands support --json for machine-readable output using a consistent envelope:

qcut gen image -t "A cat" --json

Three possible envelope shapes:

Status	Shape	When
ok	{ "status": "ok", "command_id": "cmd-...", "duration_ms": 1234, "data": { ... } }	Command succeeded
error	{ "status": "error", "command_id": "cmd-...", "duration_ms": 500, "error": "msg", "code": "cmd:failed" }	Command failed
pending	{ "status": "pending", "jobId": "abc-123" }	Async job started

Every ok and error envelope includes:

• command_id — unique correlation ID (cmd-{timestamp}-{random}) for tracing
• duration_ms — integer wall-clock execution time in milliseconds

See REFERENCE.md for full envelope docs.

3-Level Progressive Help (JSON)

The CLI provides structured help at three levels when using --help --json:

# Level 1: Root — list all groups, commands, global flags
qcut --help --json

# Level 2: Command — flags (required/optional), examples, usage
qcut gen image --help --json

# Level 3: Parameter — type, enum values, default, description
qcut gen image --help model --json

Each level returns a JSON envelope ({ "status": "ok", "data": { ... } }).

project.json — Agent-Readable Project State

Two CLI commands export the full project state as structured JSON:

# Minimal (~200 tokens): counts + settings only
qcut editor:project:info --project-id <id> --json

# Full (~2000 tokens): settings + media[] + subtitles[] + generated[] + exports[] + jobs[]
qcut editor:project:info --project-id <id> --full --json

# Dump to disk
qcut editor:project:export-state --project-id <id>

See editor-media.md for the full project.json schema.

Global Options

Flag	Short	Description
--output-dir	-o	Output directory (default: ./output)
--model	-m	Model key
--json		Output as JSON (includes command_id, duration_ms)
--quiet	-q	Suppress progress and exit metadata
--verbose	-v	Debug logging + JSONL debug events on stderr
--stream		JSONL progress events on stderr + debug events
--help	-h	Print help
--session		Session mode: read commands from stdin
--skip-health		Skip editor health check
--no-capability-check		Skip per-request capability warnings

Exit Metadata

In non-JSON, non-quiet mode, every command appends to stderr:

[exit:0 | 1.2s]

Error Recovery Hints

When a command fails in non-JSON mode, actionable hints are printed below the error:

error: Missing API key for fal
hint: Set the key with: qcut-pipeline set-key --name <provider> --value <key>

Debug Event Stream

With --verbose or --stream, structured JSONL events are emitted to stderr:

{"event":"command:start","command_id":"cmd-1741830000-a1b2c3","command":"generate-image","timestamp":"2026-03-12T10:00:00.000Z"}
{"event":"command:end","command_id":"cmd-1741830000-a1b2c3","command":"generate-image","exit_code":0,"duration_ms":3200,"timestamp":"2026-03-12T10:00:03.200Z"}

Programmatic API (run / runChain)

For agent or programmatic use, import run() or runChain() directly instead of spawning a process:

import { run, runChain } from "./cli-runner/index.js";

// Single command
const result = await run("generate-image -t 'A cat'");
// → { success, exit_code, duration_ms, command_id, outputPath?, ... }

// Chained commands (output piped as --input to next)
const results = await runChain([
  "generate-image -t 'A sunset'",
  "upscale-image --target 2160p",
]);

Key Source Files

See reference-source-files.md for the full source file map organized by responsibility (core, output, handlers, state, auth).