ClipKit is an open-source video runtime and open protocol for AI agents and developers. Its core idea is to describe video as structured data: express video content with a JSON timeline (that is, a ClipKit Protocol document), then render it into an MP4 file, thereby eliminating the traditional editor interface and timeline UI operations.
Main capabilities
- Convert a JSON timeline into a rendered video, which the official documentation calls "video infrastructure for agents."
- Support creation, validation, and frame preview.
- Support adding subtitles and promotional templates.
- Can output MP4; local rendering uses an installed Google Chrome (based on WebCodecs). If GPU acceleration and professional formats (ProRes / AV1 / alpha channel) output are needed, a hosted service can be used, with the command clipkit render --cloud.
- Provides an MCP server, allowing AI agents to build, validate, preview, and render ClipKit videos.
- Every frame of the officially showcased promotional video is rendered from ClipKit Protocol documents, with no editor or timeline UI required, relying solely on structured data.
How to use
- The project is a monorepo, with each package published to npm under the @clipkit scope.
- You can learn about integration through its official website clipkit.dev, documentation, protocol description, and agent quick start (covering Claude, Cursor, etc.).
- Agents can connect to the MCP server to perform video-related build, validation, preview, and rendering operations.
Use cases
- For AI agents and the developers who develop and deliver these agents, used to generate motion graphics videos in a programmatic, data-driven way.
- Scenarios that need to embed the video production process into automation or agent workflows.
Limitations and licensing
- Local rendering depends on an installed Google Chrome (for WebCodecs).
- GPU acceleration and professional format output must be done through a hosted service.
- License: Except for @clipkit/runtime, which uses the Business Source License 1.1 (automatically converting to Apache-2.0 four years after each release), the rest is Apache-2.0. Use, embedding, building your own products on top of it, and rendering for your own clients are permitted; the only prohibition is providing a competing hosted ClipKit rendering service. See LICENSING.md and TRADEMARK.md for details.
