Part 1 of 7What it can do
A short guide

Edit your reels with Claude Code

Turn a raw talking head clip into a polished reel by talking to Claude Code. No editing software, no coding.

10 minute readNo coding needed
Part 1

What Claude Code can do for your reels

On its own, Claude Code cannot edit a video. What it can do is use free tools, and run them for you, to do all of this:

Cuts the silencesDead air gone, tightly.
Finds fillers and repeatsUms, stutters and double takes.
Keep or remove what you likeYou choose which takes stay.
CaptionsMade from your own words.
Text overlaysAnimated headlines and titles.
Image overlaysPictures on screen, or behind you.
Sound effectsAdded right where they fit.
Animated effectsZooms, motion and polish that bring it to life.

Teach it your style and your rules

Every creator edits differently, so Claude Code can learn how you do it. Teach it once, and it can repeat that on every new clip. That is how your editing gets automated.

Your styleFonts, colors, and how your captions and text look.
Your rulesWhat to cut, how tight, and where effects go.
AutomatedThe next clip gets edited the same way.
Part 2

The toolbox

Eight tools, one job each. Claude Code installs and runs them for you, and you decide how much it checks in with you along the way.

Your editorClaude CodeYou talk to it. It edits and runs the rest.
The earsWhisperWrites down every word, with its time.Free
The scissorsFFmpegCuts, joins, mixes sound, exports.Free
The designerHyperframesAnimated text, captions and images.Free
The fontsFontsSet up your own, for example with Google Fonts, a free library.Free
The enginesPython and Node.jsRun quietly behind the scenes.Free
The undo buttonGitSaves snapshots, so you can go back.Free
The screensYour browserWhere you look and choose.Free

What it costs

Claude Code

Needs a Claude subscription. Check the current plans on the Anthropic website.

FreeEverything else

The other seven tools cost nothing to use.

Good to knowTime and space

Whisper downloads its model the first time, which takes a few minutes. Videos are big, so keep plenty of free disk space.

Part 3

So, what is the catch?

You might think this sounds too good to be true: editing your reels by talking to an AI, in your own style, with no editing software. So what is the catch?

Edit with Claude Code

  • Exactly your style
  • Completely unique to you
  • You understand and own your process
  • It grows with you

Use a ready-made editing app

  • Ready today
  • Someone supports it when it breaks
  • Made for everyone, so it feels generic
  • You work within its limits
The catch of doing it with Claude Code (click each one)

The good news: you do not have to start from zero

That is exactly why I am building Y.E.S., the Yap Editing Studio. It is a proper app you click around in, outside Claude Code, so you start from a ready base instead of a blank page. Ready like an app, and yours like a custom edit.

1

The base is ready

A real app on your computer, and no Claude Code needed to edit. Cuts silences and filler words, keep or remove takes in a few clicks, captions, text and image overlays and sound effects, all animated with Hyperframes.

Takes away: time and trial and error
2

Put your brand in

Configuration options take your own fonts, colors and styles from day one.

Takes away: the generic feel
3

Then make it fully yours

The real value: I show you how to customize everything with Claude Code, so it looks like your style and never like a generic, AI-made look.

Keeps: the freedom of Claude Code

Start from a ready base. Make it completely yours. Join the waitlist below.

Join the waitlist

Want the studio I built?

Y.E.S., the Yap Editing Studio, is a proper piece of software that runs on your computer, outside Claude Code. You click around to edit your reels, so you do not need Claude Code to use it. You get it as your base. The real value is the course: I show you how to make it completely yours.

  • The base studio: a real app you click around in. It cuts silences and filler words, lets you keep or remove takes in a few clicks, and adds captions, text and image overlays and sound effects, all animated with Hyperframes.
  • The real value: I show you how to customize everything with Claude Code, so it looks like your style and never like a generic, AI-made look. Your fonts, images, brand colors, sound effects and more.
  • This is a waitlist. Join to be first to know when it opens.
Getting started
Part 4

Getting started

Three steps. Then it is a conversation.

1

Install Claude Code

Download it from Anthropic and sign in. It needs a Claude subscription.

2

Make a project folder

A short name, no spaces. Open it in Claude Code.

3

Send your first message

Say what you want to edit, in your own words. Example below.

Where to put the folderKeep it out of cloud sync. OneDrive, Dropbox, iCloud and Google Drive can break things while files are being written. Desktop and Documents are often synced without you knowing. Pick a plain folder on your main drive, with plenty of free space.

Your first message

“I want to edit my talking head videos into Instagram reels by talking to you. For each clip, I want you to listen to it and write down every word, find the silences, filler words and repeats, let me choose what to keep, cut it, and add captions, animated text, image overlays and sound effects. Use free tools: Whisper to write down my speech, FFmpeg to cut the video and mix the sound, Hyperframes for animated text, captions and effects, Google Fonts for my brand fonts, and Git to save snapshots. Show me things in my browser when they need my eyes. Explain each step in plain words before you do it, ask me before installing anything, and set up whatever else is needed (like Python and Node.js).”

Claude explains a plan and, because you asked it to, checks with you before installing anything. Part 5 then gives you the exact messages for your first edit, one at a time.

Five habits that make it work

Keep a project noteSo Claude never loses track.
Set your rules oncePlain words, small steps, test first.
Ask for one thingSmall asks beat “edit everything”.
Say what you sawYou never need to know the fix.
Save oftenSnapshots let you go back.
Vague“Make it better.”
Specific“Add a slow zoom on the second sentence, and keep the captions away from my face.”

Would you rather start from a ready base, in a real app you click around in? That is what Y.E.S. is for. See Part 3.

Part 5

Your first edit

Nine messages, in order. Copy one, paste it, read what comes back, check it, then move on.

Before you startOpen your project folder in Claude Code. After step 1, put one short clip (about a minute) in the input folder. Your results will look a bit different from mine, and that is normal.
1Tell Claude how you work

Stage: SetupTool: Claude Code

This is the memory of the project. Do it first, so Claude never loses track.

Create a short project note: I edit talking head clips into finished Instagram reels with you. You suggest and I decide. Make two folders: input for my raw clips, which are never changed, and output for everything you make. Anything I remove must be restorable. Then write my working rules in a rules file: explain in plain words, one small step at a time, test before moving on, and show short errors with a plan.

You should see: two small files, a project note and a rules file, and the two folders. Read the files and ask Claude to change anything that is wrong.

2Check that every tool works

Stage: SetupTool: All of them

Your first message in Part 4 may already have installed the tools from Part 2. This step proves each one works, and installs anything that is missing.

Check that every tool for editing my reels is installed and working: Python and Node.js as the engines, Whisper to write down speech, FFmpeg to cut video and mix sound, Hyperframes for animated text, captions, effects and cutting me out of the background, Git to save snapshots, and Google Fonts for my fonts. Ask me before installing anything that is missing. Explain each tool in one sentence, then prove each one works with a tiny test.

You should see: a short list of tools, a question asking for your yes if something is missing, and then a confirmation that each one works. The first Whisper run downloads its model, which takes a few minutes.

3Listen to your first clip

Stage: ListenTool: Whisper

Put one short raw clip (about a minute) in your input folder. This is your first real test.

Using Whisper, take the clip in my input folder and write down every word with its exact time. Show me the first ten lines. Then find the pauses, filler words, stutters and repeated takes, and list them with their times. Do not change the video yet.

You should see: your own words with times, and a list of the things that could be cut. If a name is spelled wrong, tell Claude and it will fix it.

4Decide what stays

Stage: ReviewTool: Claude Code

This is where you decide. Claude never decides for you. Prefer clicking? Ask Claude to build a small page with Keep and Remove buttons, or start from Y.E.S., which has it built in.

Show me my clip as numbered sentences, with the pauses, filler words, stutters and repeated takes marked. Put repeated takes next to each other so I can pick the best. I will tell you which numbers to keep or remove. Keep a list of what I removed, so I can bring anything back.

You should see: a numbered list. Answer in plain words, like “remove 4 and 7, keep the second take of 9”.

5Cut the clip

Stage: CutTool: FFmpeg

Always make a short preview first. It is much faster, and shows problems early.

Using FFmpeg, cut my clip using only what I kept. First make a 30 second preview. Save results in my output folder and never touch the original. Tell me the old length and the new length.

You should see: a preview video that plays with sound in sync. Watch the joins, where one sentence meets the next.

6Plan the scenes

Stage: StyleTool: Hyperframes and FFmpeg

Scenes are where the creative choices happen: one zoom, one headline or one picture per scene.

Group what I kept into scenes. For each scene, suggest a zoom, an animated text overlay, an image overlay or a sound effect, and let me choose which to use. If I add a picture, let me place it behind me.

You should see: a list of scenes with suggestions. Pick a zoom for one scene and leave the others plain.

7Set your brand look

Stage: StyleTool: Fonts

Your fonts, colors and logo are set once, in one settings file. Everything reads from it. Not sure what to put in the brackets? Part 6 shows you how to gather your brand and teach it to Claude, even if you have no color codes yet.

Create a settings file for my brand look: a heading font and a body font from Google Fonts, a main color, an accent color, a text color and my logo if I have one. Use these: [your fonts and colors]. Every text and effect must read from this file. Never write fonts or colors into the code.

You should see: a small settings file. Change a color in it later and ask Claude to redo a preview. The look should follow.

8Add captions, text and images

Stage: StyleTool: Hyperframes

This is where your reel starts to look like a reel. Keep it to one scene for now.

Using Hyperframes, add animated captions from my own words, an animated headline, an image overlay and a slow zoom to one scene of my preview. Use the fonts and colors from my brand settings. Make sure the text is easy to read against the picture. Warn me if it is not.

You should see: captions that match your words, a headline typing in, your image and a gentle zoom, all in your fonts and colors.

9Add sound and export the reel

Stage: Check and FinishTool: FFmpeg

The last polish, and then your first finished reel.

Using FFmpeg, add soft sound effects at the zooms with a gentle duck of them under my voice. Make the loudness right for Instagram and tell me the loudness before and after. Then make the full reel as an MP4 with three cover images.

You should see: your finished reel and cover images in the output folder. Watch it on your phone, with the Instagram app, before you post it.

When you get stuck

Copy one of these, with your own words in the brackets.

It does not look like I imagined
This is not what I pictured. Here is what I see: [describe it]. Here is what I wanted: [describe it]. Fix it in small steps.
I do not understand what happened
Explain what just happened in plain words, as if I have never seen code. Then tell me what you plan to do next.
Something broke
That did not work. Show me the short version of the error, tell me what you think caused it, and what you plan to do. Wait for my yes.
I want to go back
Undo the last change and put things back exactly as they were. Tell me what you restored.
I want to save my work
Save a snapshot of everything that works now, and update the project note with what we finished and what comes next.
I am coming back tomorrow
Read my project note and tell me in three sentences where we stopped and what the next small step is.
Part 6

Make it yours: your brand

Gather a few choices once, teach them to Claude once, and every reel you edit follows.

1. Gather what makes it yours

Start with fonts and colors. The rest can wait.

Two fontsOne for headlines, one for text. Pick them at fonts.google.com and note the exact names.
Three to five colorsEach has a code like #F6E58D. No codes yet? Claude can read them from your logo.
Your logoA PNG with a see-through background works best.
Images and soundsPictures and sound effects you have the right to use.

2. Teach it to Claude

Put your files in a folder called brand inside your project folder, then pick the way that fits you. Each one ends with a preview.

AI already know my fonts and colors
Create my brand kit in one settings file. Heading font: [name]. Body font: [name]. Colors: main [code], accent [code], text [code], background [code]. My logo is in the brand folder. Every headline, caption and effect must read from this file. Never write fonts or colors into the code. Then make a preview so I can see it.
BI have a logo or a look, but no codes
Look at the pictures in my brand folder: my logo and screenshots of my Instagram or pages I like. Suggest two Google Fonts and four colors with their codes that match, and explain why. Show me the options as a small preview and wait for me to choose. Then save my choice in one brand settings file.
CI am starting from nothing
Help me find a brand look for my reels. My style is [for example calm, bold or playful] and my audience is [who]. Suggest three looks, each with two Google Fonts and four colors with their codes, and show them as small previews. I will pick one. Then save it in one brand settings file.
Changing it later is one sentence“Change my accent color to [code] and redo the preview.” It only lives in one place.

3. Add your own images and sounds

Let me add my own images and sound effects. Make a folder for each, list them in my settings, and let me pick them for any scene. Show me a preview of the image and play the sound before I choose.

Need inspiration? Try an example look

New reel
Why I stopped editing by hand
Headline, caption and effects all use your look.

Examples only. Click a color to copy its code.

Part 7

Your checklist

Tick things off as you go. Your progress is saved on this device.

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    Y.E.S. waitlist

    Would you rather start from a ready base?

    Y.E.S. is a real app you click around in, so you do not need Claude Code to edit. It comes with a course on making it completely yours with Claude Code: your fonts, images, brand colors, sound effects and more.

    Join the waitlist →