AutoClipper

Description

Automatically create clips and videos from media files in a specified folder. Uses Agent Swarm for intelligent task delegation and supports cron-based scheduling.

AutoClipper

Automatic Video Clip & Highlight Generator for OpenClaw.

v1.0.0 — Design draft. Automatically scan a folder for media files, create clips/highlights using ffmpeg, and organize output. Cron-ready for scheduled automation.

Installation

# Add to crontab (crontab -e)
# Run every hour at minute 0
0 * * * * /Users/ghost/.openclaw/workspace/skills/auto-clipper/scripts/run.sh

# Or run daily at 9 AM
0 9 * * * /Users/ghost/.openclaw/workspace/skills/auto-clipper/scripts/run.sh --output daily

Usage

• Screen recording highlights: Auto-clip moments from Loom/obsidian recordings
• Meeting recaps: Extract key segments from meeting recordings
• Content creation: Batch-process raw footage into short clips
• Security camera clips: Pull motion-triggered segments from camera feeds
• Gaming highlights: Auto-clip "best of" moments from recordings

# Run once (scan and process)
python3 scripts/auto_clipper.py run

# Dry run (show what would be processed)
python3 scripts/auto_clipper.py run --dry-run

# Force reprocess all files
python3 scripts/auto_clipper.py run --force

# Start continuous watcher (not cron-based)
python3 scripts/auto_clipper.py watch

# Show status
python3 scripts/auto_clipper.py status

Purpose

AutoClipper enables OpenClaw agents to automatically:

• Monitor a watch folder for new media files (videos, screen recordings, camera clips)
• Analyze media to understand what's worth clipping (via Agent Swarm delegation)
• Generate clips using ffmpeg (highlights, segments, trimmed videos)
• Produce compilations by stitching multiple clips together
• Schedule runs via cron for fully automated workflows

Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                      AutoClipper Skill                       │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  1. Watch Folder (configurable input path)                  │
│         ↓                                                   │
│  2. Media Scanner (find new files, filter by extension)    │
│         ↓                                                   │
│  3. Agent Swarm delegation (analyze → clip strategy)             │
│         ↓                                                   │
│  4. Clip Engine (ffmpeg operations)                         │
│         ↓                                                   │
│  5. Output Organizer (save to output folder, optional SNS)  │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Components

1. Watch Folder Scanner

• Monitors a configured input directory
• Filters by file extensions:

  .mp4

  ,

  .mov

  ,

  .mkv

  ,

  .avi

  ,

  .webm

• Tracks processed files (to avoid re-processing)
• Configurable:

  watchFolder

  ,

  fileExtensions

  ,

  processedLog

2. Media Analyzer (via Agent Swarm)

• Delegates analysis to appropriate model (MiniMax for code/technical, Kimi for creative)
• Determines:
  • Which segments to clip (timestamp ranges)
  • Clip duration targets
  • Output format preferences
• Returns structured clip plan:

  [{start, end, label, priority}]

3. Clip Engine (ffmpeg)

• Trim: Extract segments without re-encoding (fast)
• Transcode: Convert to target format/codec
• Highlight: Auto-detect "interesting" segments (via scene detection)
• Compile: Stitch multiple clips into single video
• Overlay: Add watermarks, timestamps, captions

4. Output Manager

• Organized output folder structure:

  output/YYYY-MM-DD/

• Configurable naming:

  {original}-{timestamp}-{index}.mp4

• Optional: Notify via OpenClaw message (Discord, WhatsApp, etc.)

5. Cron Scheduler

• Standalone script for cron integration
• Configurable schedule:

  0 * * * *

  (hourly),

  0 9 * * *

  (daily at 9am)
• Dry-run mode for testing
• Lock file to prevent overlapping runs

Configuration (config.json)

{
  "watchFolder": "~/Downloads/Recordings",
  "outputFolder": "~/Videos/Clips",
  "fileExtensions": [".mp4", ".mov", ".mkv"],
  "processedLog": "logs/processed.json",
  "clipSettings": {
    "defaultDuration": 60,
    "minClipDuration": 10,
    "maxClipDuration": 300,
    "outputCodec": "h264",
    "outputFormat": "mp4"
  },
  "intentRouter": {
    "enabled": true,
    "model": "openrouter/minimax/minimax-m2.5"
  },
  "cron": {
    "schedule": "0 * * * *",
    "enabled": false
  },
  "notifications": {
    "enabled": false,
    "channel": "discord"
  }
}

Tools Needed

Tool	Purpose	Required
ffmpeg	Video transcoding, trimming, clipping	Yes
ffprobe	Media metadata extraction (duration, codec)	Yes
Agent Swarm	Analyze media and determine clip strategy	Yes
OpenClaw message	Send notifications when clips are ready	Optional
OpenClaw nodes	Screen recording capture (live input)	Optional
file system	Watch folder, output management	Yes

Agent Swarm integration

When AutoClipper finds new media, it delegates analysis:

User task: "Analyze video and suggest clip timestamps for meeting highlights"
→ router.spawn() → sessions_spawn(task, model)
← Returns: [{start: "00:05:30", end: "00:07:45", label: "action item discussion"}, ...]

Prompt template for media analysis:

Analyze this video file: {filename}
Duration: {duration_seconds} seconds
Extract: Key moments worth clipping as short highlights (30-90 seconds each)
Output: JSON array of {start_timestamp, end_timestamp, description}

Directory Structure

auto-clipper/
├── SKILL.md              # This file
├── _meta.json            # Skill metadata
├── config.json           # Configuration
├── README.md             # Setup instructions
├── scripts/
│   ├── auto_clipper.py   # Main entry point
│   ├── scanner.py        # Watch folder scanner
│   ├── clipper.py        # ffmpeg wrapper
│   ├── analyzer.py       # Agent Swarm integration
│   └── run.sh            # Cron launcher
└── logs/
    └── processed.json    # Track processed files

Keywords

• video, clip, clips, highlight, highlights
• trim, cut, extract, segment
• ffmpeg, transcode, encode, convert
• folder, watch, monitor, automation
• cron, schedule, batch, process
• screen recording, meeting, recording

Skill Name Ideas

1. AutoClipper ✓ (chosen)
2. ClipForge
3. MediaMason
4. VideoHarvest
5. HighlightHub
6. ClipStream
7. MediaSnip
8. AutoTrim

Implementation Phases

Phase 1: Core (MVP)

• Folder scanner with extension filtering
• Basic ffmpeg trim operation
• Simple processed file tracking
• CLI entry point

Phase 2: Intelligence

• Agent Swarm integration for clip planning
• Scene detection for auto-highlighting
• Metadata extraction with ffprobe

Phase 3: Automation

• Cron launcher script
• Continuous watcher mode
• Notification system
• Output organization

Phase 4: Advanced

• Multi-clip compilation
• Overlay/watermark support
• Custom clip templates
• Node camera integration

Notes

• Performance: Use

  -c copy

  for fast trimming (no re-encode)
• Storage: Auto-cleanup processed files or move to archive
• Error handling: Skip corrupted files gracefully, log failures
• Idempotency: Same input file should not produce duplicate output