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A free guide by Mariah Brunner ↗ INSTAGRAM ↗ TIKTOK

4 GitHub Repos
That Edit Your Videos

The setup guide for Herk Edit Kit, OpenFilm, OpenMontage and HyperFrames. What each one is for, what to install first, and the first prompt to run on your own footage.

These four free, open-source projects turn Claude Code or Codex into a video editor. You give it your own footage, describe the edit in plain English, and the AI does the cutting, captions and motion graphics right on your computer.

Together they have 158,581 stars on GitHub as of November 2, 2026. Want repos for the rest of your AI work? See 10 AI GitHub repos worth saving.

Which One First
  1. You film talking-head videos. Start with Herk Edit Kit.
  2. You want a visual timeline to fix things yourself. Go with OpenFilm.
  3. You have long recordings to cut into shorts. Use OpenMontage.
  4. You want titles, animations and motion graphics. Grab HyperFrames.
Before You Start

You need Claude Code (it needs a paid Claude plan) or Codex (included with ChatGPT plans, even Free, with tighter limits). New to Claude Code? Read my beginner walkthrough first.

All four also run on a few free tools: Node.js 22 or newer, FFmpeg (the engine that actually cuts the video), Git and Chrome. OpenMontage also needs Python. You don’t have to install these by hand. Open Claude Code or Codex in any folder and paste this.

Install The Basics
I'm a content creator, not a developer, and I want to edit my videos with AI on this computer. Check whether I have Node.js 22 or newer, FFmpeg with ffprobe, Git, Chrome and Python 3.10 or newer. Install anything that's missing, one step at a time, and tell me in plain words what each step does before you run it. When you're done, show me the version of each one so I know it worked.

The setup boxes below go in your terminal, the text window where you type commands (Terminal on a Mac, PowerShell on Windows). Paste one line at a time and press Enter. Nervous? Paste the whole box into Claude Code and say “install this for me.” To hand the AI a video, drag the file into the window and its location fills in.

The 4 Repos

01

Herk Edit Kit

github.com/nateherkai/herk-edit-kit · 2,494 stars · MIT · Mac, Windows, Linux

Best for: talking-head videos. It cuts your pauses, shows you the mistakes it wants to remove before it removes them, adds captions and builds the visuals. It’s Nate Herk’s own editing kit, built on HyperFrames.

You need: everything in the basics box above except Python. Free to install. To turn your voice into text it uses ElevenLabs by default (your own key, paid usage), or ask it to use free Whisper on your computer instead. Details are in its tools and keys guide.

Setup
git clone https://github.com/nateherkai/herk-edit-kit.git cd herk-edit-kit npm ci npm run setup npm test claude

The last line opens Claude Code inside the kit. Type codex instead if that’s what you use.

First Prompt
/edit-video Edit my recording at [drag your video file here]. Cut the dead air and long pauses, and show me every mistake cut you want to make before you make it. Keep my examples and main points, and add captions. If I don't have an ElevenLabs key, set up free local Whisper for the transcript instead. Give me a draft I can review.

In Codex, swap /edit-video for $edit-video.

02

OpenFilm

github.com/openfilm/openfilm · 4,171 stars · MIT · Mac, Windows, Linux

Best for: letting the AI assemble the edit, then changing it yourself. Your film opens in Studio, an editor in your browser with a real timeline where you can trim clips, move text and restyle anything by hand.

You need: Node 22.2+ and FFmpeg, plus Git to save versions. No account. The easiest route is the desktop app for Mac or Windows, which comes with everything and has a chat for Claude Code or Codex built in. Captions and AI voice or music need a service like ElevenLabs or OpenAI, added with your own key in Studio under Settings, then Providers.

Setup
mkdir my-videos cd my-videos npx skills add openfilm/openfilm claude

When it asks, choose Claude Code or Codex. The first run downloads a browser engine of about 100 MB, so give it a minute.

First Prompt
Use OpenFilm to make a 30-second vertical video from my clip at [drag your video file here]. Keep my strongest take, trim the pauses and add a simple title at the start. Open it in Studio so I can change things on the timeline myself. If captions need a service I haven't connected yet, tell me which one to add.

03

OpenMontage

github.com/calesthio/OpenMontage · 74,600 stars · AGPL-3.0 · Mac, Windows, Linux

Best for: turning one long recording into a batch of ranked short clips. That’s its Clip Factory workflow, one of about a dozen built in for bigger production jobs.

You need: Python 3.10+, FFmpeg and Node 18+. Every API key is optional. With none, it uses free local tools for transcripts, captions and cutting. If you add paid services later, it tells you the cost before it spends anything.

Setup
git clone https://github.com/calesthio/OpenMontage.git cd OpenMontage make setup claude

On Windows, make usually isn’t installed. Paste the repo link into Claude Code and ask it to run the Windows setup from the README instead.

First Prompt
Use the Clip Factory pipeline on my recording at [drag your video file here]. Find the 3 strongest moments that work as 30 to 60 second vertical clips and rank them. Add word-level captions to each one. Use free local tools only, and show me the plan before you render anything.

04

HyperFrames

github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes · 77,316 stars · Apache-2.0 · by HeyGen

Best for: custom animations, titles and motion graphics. It’s HeyGen’s open-source tool for turning web pages into video, and it’s the engine under kits like Herk. Browse the showcase for ideas.

You need: Node 22+ and FFmpeg. Free, and it renders on your computer.

Setup
cd my-videos npx skills add heygen-com/hyperframes claude

Skipped OpenFilm? Type mkdir my-videos first. When the picker opens, nothing is selected, so choose the Core Skills group, then Claude Code or Codex. Claude Code users can also install it as a plugin with the two commands in the README.

First Prompt
Using /hyperframes, make a 5-second animated title card that says [your video title] in [your brand colors]. Then make a lower third with my name and @[your handle] that slides in over my clip at [drag your video file here]. Show me a preview first, then render it as an MP4.

One Safety Line

Installing a repo means running someone else’s code on your computer. All four have thousands of stars and updates in the last few weeks, which is what I look for. Keep any API keys in the .env file the setup creates, never in a chat.