One source video in → a clean YouTube cut out: silence + disfluency cuts, burned corrected captions, SRT + chapters, and optional vertical shorts. Free and local — ffmpeg + faster-whisper, no API key.
Every gate below is MANDATORY, in order. Skipping a gate or a self-test is a failure, not a shortcut. Violating the letter of these rules is violating their spirit. Each rule exists because an agent already broke it in production.
Gates (run in order)
digraph gates {
"G0 Setup check" -> "G1 Transcribe + read" -> "G2 Strategy confirm" -> "G3 Cut + render" -> "G4 Captions" -> "G5 Shorts (optional)" -> "G6 Self-review";
"G0 Setup check" -> "STOP: give user references/SETUP.md installs, wait" [label="tool missing"];
"G2 Strategy confirm" -> "WAIT for user OK" [label="no approval"];
}
G0 — Setup. Verify EVERY tool in references/SETUP.md with its verify command. Missing → hand the user that file's install instructions and wait. Never substitute a "similar" tool.
G1 — Transcribe. references/EDIT.md §1: word-level verbatim, cached per source, then READ the entire packed transcript. Cut decisions come from reading.
G2 — Strategy confirm. Present cut approach + estimated length (+ shorts count and hook list if applicable) and WAIT for the user's OK. Rendering before approval is a violation, not initiative.
G3 — Cut. references/EDIT.md §3–5: EDL (silence + disfluency) → per-segment render → lossless concat.
G4 — Captions. references/CAPTIONS.md — read it before writing any cue. Term review first (scan_terms.py + reading; YOU are the AI reviewer for proper nouns/jargon/onomatopoeia — ask the user what you can't verify), then corrections dictionary, output-timeline mapping, burn LAST.
G5 — Shorts. references/SHORTS.md — moment selection, hook titles, first-frame rule, blocking self-tests.
G6 — Self-review. references/EDIT.md §7: look at frames, check duration, spot-check sync. If you wouldn't ship it, don't present it.
Hard rules (production correctness — non-negotiable)
- Never cut inside a word — snap every edge to a word boundary, then pad it.
- Never re-transcribe an edited file for captions — map original timestamps through the piece table (CAPTIONS.md §2).
- Captions burn LAST, after every overlay, with
-c:a copy. - Per-segment extract → lossless
-c copyconcat; identical codec params on every clip; 30ms afades at every boundary. - Cache transcripts per source; never re-transcribe an unchanged file.
- No render before the user approves the strategy; no publish without an explicit per-destination "go".
- Verify by LOOKING at extracted frames, never by exit code alone.
- Captions never burn without a REVIEWED corrections.json — scan_terms.py +
full transcript read; empty
[]only after the review actually happened.
Quick reference
| Task | Where |
|---|---|
| Tool installs + verify commands | references/SETUP.md |
| Full pipeline: EDL, fillers, render, burn | references/EDIT.md |
| Caption correctness: mapping math, corrections, styles | references/CAPTIONS.md |
| Shorts: selection, layout, hooks, first-frame rule | references/SHORTS.md |
| Runnable CLIs (transcribe → EDL → fillers → cut → terms → SRT → shorts) | scripts/ |
Red flags — STOP, you are rationalizing
| Thought | Reality |
|---|---|
| "I'll re-transcribe the edit for captions" | ~1s drift per cut, compounds. Map through the piece table. |
| "Burn captions first, overlay after" | Overlays hide captions. Silent failure. Captions LAST. |
| "One-pass filtergraph is simpler" | Double-encodes when anything is added. Per-segment + concat. |
| "The cut sounds fine without fades" | Pops at boundaries on headphones. 30ms afades, every edge. |
| "User is offline, I'll just render" | Strategy confirm is blocking. Wait. |
| "Exit code 0, ship it" | Look at the frames. Every self-test is visual. |
| "The transcript looks clean, skip the term review" | ASR errors are systematic, not obvious. Run scan_terms.py and READ. |
Upgrade path (optional richer skills, if installed)
- longform-to-content — webinars/lectures at scale: relayout + PIP, cold open, CTR thumbnails, scheduled publishing.
- embedded-captions — designed caption identities with subject occlusion.
- talking-head-recut — kinetic graphic overlay cards (lower-thirds, callouts).