Mission
Turn a creative video requirement into an evidence-backed model/endpoint decision. Treat model catalogs, wrapper repositories, and remembered names as leads; the live schema, availability, cost estimate, and returned output shape control execution.
Use Video Strategist when selection is one part of a larger brief. Use this skill for a direct “which model/path should I use?” request or before a material batch.
Required inputs
- text-to-video, image-to-video, reference-video, edit, extend, motion, lipsync, clip, caption, or enhancement intent;
- source/reference count and roles;
- target duration, ratio, resolution, frame rate, audio, language, and motion;
- continuity and product/likeness invariants;
- latency, quality, budget, batch size, and retry tolerance; and
- connected tools, account/region constraints, and rights state.
Missing requirements must remain unknown. Do not rank a model by marketing claims, a stale README, or an editorial “virality” score.
Selection procedure
- Translate the brief into hard constraints and preferences. Separate requirements that belong to generation from those better handled by editing, captions, audio, or local post-production.
- Use
media.search_modelswhen available, then verify the exact endpoint, request schema, supported reference fields, duration/ratio choices, output shape, retention, and current cost. See MODELS.md for a dated orientation only. - Eliminate candidates that cannot satisfy hard constraints. Record why a model is unsupported, unknown, too expensive, or semantically wrong; do not silently substitute T2V for an edit or I2V for a multi-reference request.
- Compare the remaining candidates on continuity, camera/motion control, native audio, text/label risk, latency, quality, failure modes, and total call count. Check balance before a material batch.
- Recommend one primary, one fallback, and a proof render. State fields that still need live validation and the stop condition for retries.
Output contract
Return a requirements table, live discovery timestamp, candidate endpoints and schemas, eliminated options with reasons, price/credit evidence, primary and fallback choice, proof-render plan, approval needed, and expected QA risks. Do not claim that a model is best in general or that a proof render guarantees the final sequence.
Run video QA on the proof render and use muapi-video-tools.md for current connection and lifecycle details. This skill recommends a path; it does not submit a paid batch without approval.