Yapwing

Edit a video with Claude Code

Checked against Yapwing’s documentation

Claude Code can edit a video on your Mac when the editor exposes its project as tools. Yapwing does. Add its MCP server with one command, open a project and ask Claude to cut the filler words, fix a caption or trim to length. Yapwing needs no API key and uploads nothing, and each request lands in the open project as one undo step. The same steps work for Codex.

What you need

  • An Apple Silicon Mac on macOS 26 or later, with Yapwing in the Applications folder.
  • Claude Code or Codex, signed in the way you normally use it.
  • A recording. Open it in Yapwing and let it transcribe; that happens on the Mac.

1. Connect the agent

In Yapwing, choose Help → Use with Coding Agents…. The sheet installs Yapwing’s skill for Claude Code or Codex, can link the yapwing command into ~/.local/bin, and has a Copy button for the MCP command. Or run it yourself:

claude mcp add yapwing -- '/Applications/Yapwing.app/Contents/Helpers/yapwing' mcp

For Codex:

codex mcp add yapwing -- '/Applications/Yapwing.app/Contents/Helpers/yapwing' mcp

The server speaks over standard input and output, so there is no port to open and no token to paste. It acts on the project open in Yapwing. If the app is closed, a tool call fails with app_not_open; open Yapwing and try again.

2. Ask for an edit

With a project open, type a request in Claude Code:

Cut the filler words in my open Yapwing project, and fix the caption
that says “flower” to “flour”. Do a dry run first and tell me what changes.

Claude calls inspect to read the project and its revision, then edit as a dry run, then edit again to apply. In Yapwing the cut words and the corrected caption are marked, and Edit → Undo Agent Edit reverses the whole request.

3. The same edit from the command line

The MCP tools mirror the yapwing command, which an agent, or you, can run directly. Paths are absolute.

yapwing inspect /absolute/My-video.yapwing

printf '%s\n' 'cut_fillers()' 'fix("s6", "flower", "flour")' > /absolute/ops.ts
yapwing edit /absolute/My-video.yapwing --ops --file /absolute/ops.ts --dry-run
yapwing edit /absolute/My-video.yapwing --ops --file /absolute/ops.ts

For a larger rewrite, the agent can take the project as text, edit the lines and send the file back:

yapwing view /absolute/My-video.yapwing > /absolute/edit.yapwing.ts
yapwing edit /absolute/My-video.yapwing --file /absolute/edit.yapwing.ts --dry-run
yapwing edit /absolute/My-video.yapwing --file /absolute/edit.yapwing.ts

The file uses TypeScript syntax with one say() line per sentence. Yapwing parses it as data and never executes it. A file made from an older revision is refused, so the agent cannot overwrite a change you made in the meantime.

4. Let the agent check its work

yapwing preview /absolute/My-video.yapwing --range s3-s5 --frames 4 --audio

This renders four stills and a short audio snippet of sentences 3 to 5 into a temporary folder, through the same composition as export. The agent can look at the stills to check framing and captions. Preview never changes the project.

5. Find footage and export

yapwing search /absolute/My-video.yapwing --query "bake bread"
yapwing search /absolute/My-video.yapwing --query "red car" --shows

yapwing export /absolute/My-video.yapwing --project-id PROJECT_ID \
  --expected-revision CURRENT_REVISION --output /absolute/new-export.mp4

Search looks through what was said; --shows also searches the picture, once the optional picture model is downloaded. Export takes the project id and revision from inspect and writes an MP4 with captions burned in. Your first export is free. After that, export needs a subscription, and without one the command returns subscription_required.

What leaves your Mac

From Yapwing, nothing: no video, no audio, no transcript, and no API key to create. Claude Code and Codex are a different matter. They send what they read to their own provider, under your settings there. In practice that is transcript text and project structure, plus stills or audio if the agent asks for a preview. Give the agent only the projects you are comfortable with it reading.

If you want the edit with no outside service at all, press ⌘K in Yapwing and ask its built-in chat. That model is downloaded once and runs on the Mac.

Questions

Can Claude Code edit video?

Yes, given tools to do it. With Yapwing’s MCP server or command line, Claude Code can cut by transcript, fix captions, change the format, preview the result and export.

Does this work with Codex?

Yes. Use codex mcp add with the same path, or let Codex run the yapwing command. The Help menu sheet installs the skill for Codex as well.

Do I need an API key?

Not for Yapwing. You need Claude Code or Codex working as you normally have them.

Does it cost extra per edit?

Yapwing charges nothing per edit and has no credits. Your agent’s usage counts against your plan with its provider as usual.

What if two edits collide?

Every change names the revision it was based on. If the project moved on, Yapwing answers stale_revision and the agent has to inspect again.

Go further

Use a coding agentCLI referenceWhat agentic video editing is

Try Yapwing

Download it, open a recording and cut it by its words. Editing needs no account, and your first export is free. After that, exporting is $9.99 a month or $79 a year.

Get Yapwing for Mac