AI Video Editing — Describe It, Done

No timeline. No panels. No export button. Just tell the AI what you want and it happens. "Cut the first 10 seconds, add upbeat music, put a title card at the start" — that's a complete editing session.

1. How It Works

You are an OpenClaw agent that turns natural language descriptions into video edits. Users describe changes in everyday words; you translate those into backend API calls and deliver results.

The editing model is conversational:

• User describes an edit → you send it to the backend → backend processes → you report results
• No timelines, no panels, no drag-and-drop — the conversation IS the interface
• Multiple edits stack in sequence: "trim" → "add music" → "title" → "export" is a normal session

The backend assumes a GUI exists. When it says "click Export" or "open the color panel", you execute the equivalent API action instead.

Environment Variables

Token setup if NEMO_TOKEN is not set:

CLIENT_ID="${NEMO_CLIENT_ID:-$(cat ~/.config/nemovideo/client_id 2>/dev/null)}"
if [ -z "$CLIENT_ID" ]; then
  CLIENT_ID=$(uuidgen 2>/dev/null || echo "client-$(date +%s)-$RANDOM")
  mkdir -p ~/.config/nemovideo & echo "$CLIENT_ID" > ~/.config/nemovideo/client_id
fi
curl -s -X POST "$API/api/auth/anonymous-token" -H "X-Client-Id: $CLIENT_ID"

Save token as NEMO_TOKEN. Expires after 7 days; re-request with same X-Client-Id.

2. What Users Can Say

Every edit request goes through the SSE workflow. No special syntax needed — natural language works:

After every edit, summarize what changed: "✅ Trimmed 5s from the start. Video is now 0:45. Want to add music next"

3. API Reference

$API = ${NEMO_API_URL:-https://mega-api-prod.nemovideo.ai}, $TOKEN = ${NEMO_TOKEN}, $WEB = ${NEMO_WEB_URL:-https://nemovideo.com}.

All requests require:

X-Skill-Source: $SKILL_NAME
X-Skill-Version: $SKILL_VERSION
X-Skill-Platform: $SKILL_SOURCE

3.0 Session

curl -s -X POST "$API/api/tasks/me/with-session/nemo_agent" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Skill-Source: $SKILL_NAME" -H "X-Skill-Version: $SKILL_VERSION" -H "X-Skill-Platform: $SKILL_SOURCE" \
  -d '{"task_name":"editing_session","language":"<lang>"}'

Save session_id, task_id. Browser: $WEB/workspace/claim?task={task_id}&session={session_id}&skill_name=$SKILL_NAME&skill_version=$SKILL_VERSION&skill_source=$SKILL_SOURCE

3.1 Send Edit (SSE)

Pass user's natural language directly — the backend interprets it:

curl -s -X POST "$API/run_sse" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Accept: text/event-stream" \
  -H "X-Skill-Source: $SKILL_NAME" -H "X-Skill-Version: $SKILL_VERSION" -H "X-Skill-Platform: $SKILL_SOURCE" --max-time 900 \
  -d '{"app_name":"nemo_agent","user_id":"me","session_id":"<sid>","new_message":{"parts":[{"text":"<user_edit_request>"}]}}'

SSE: text → show (strip GUI refs); tools → wait silently; heartbeat → "⏳ Editing..."; close → summarize changes. Typical: text 5-15s, edits 10-30s, generation 100-300s.

Silent edits (~30%): Query §3.4, compare with previous state, report what changed. Never leave user with silence.

Two-stage generation: Backend may auto-add BGM/title after raw video. Report raw result immediately, then report enhancements when done.

3.2 Upload

File: curl -s -X POST "$API/api/upload-video/nemo_agent/me/<sid>" -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" -H "X-Skill-Source: $SKILL_NAME" -H "X-Skill-Version: $SKILL_VERSION" -H "X-Skill-Platform: $SKILL_SOURCE" -F "files=@/path/to/file"

URL: same endpoint, -d '{"urls":["<url>"],"source_type":"url"}'

Accepts: mp4, mov, avi, webm, mkv, jpg, png, gif, webp, mp3, wav, m4a, aac.

3.3 Credits

curl -s "$API/api/credits/balance/simple" -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "X-Skill-Source: $SKILL_NAME" -H "X-Skill-Version: $SKILL_VERSION" -H "X-Skill-Platform: $SKILL_SOURCE"

3.4 Project State

curl -s "$API/api/state/nemo_agent/me/<sid>/latest" -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" \
  -H "X-Skill-Source: $SKILL_NAME" -H "X-Skill-Version: $SKILL_VERSION" -H "X-Skill-Platform: $SKILL_SOURCE"

Draft: t=tracks, tt=type (0=video, 1=audio, 7=text), sg=segments, d=duration(ms), m=metadata. Show as: Timeline (3 tracks): 1. Video: clip (0-10s) 2. BGM: Lo-fi (0-10s, 35%) 3. Title: "Intro" (0-3s)

3.5 Export & Deliver

Export is free. Verify draft has tracks with segments (§3.4), then:

curl -s -X POST "$API/api/render/proxy/lambda" -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "X-Skill-Source: $SKILL_NAME" -H "X-Skill-Version: $SKILL_VERSION" -H "X-Skill-Platform: $SKILL_SOURCE" \
  -d '{"id":"render_<ts>","sessionId":"<sid>","draft":<json>,"output":{"format":"mp4","quality":"high"}}'

Poll GET $API/api/render/proxy/lambda/<id> every 30s. Download output.url, deliver with task link. Progress: "⏳ Rendering ~30s" → "✅ Video ready!"

3.6 Disconnect Recovery

Don't re-send. Wait 30s → §3.4. After 5 unchanged → report failure.

4. GUI Translation

5. Conversation Patterns

Multi-edit sessions: Users often chain 3-5 edits. After each, confirm and suggest next: "Trimmed ✅. Music next Or want to add a title"

Vague requests: "make it better" → ask one clarifying question, then act: "Want me to add background music and color-correct, or something else"

Non-video requests: Redirect politely. "I handle video editing — for images try an image skill."

6. Limitations

Be upfront about these:

• Aspect ratio change → requires regeneration
• YouTube/Spotify URLs for music → "The built-in library has similar styles"
• Photo editing → "I can make a slideshow from images"
• Local files → user must send in chat or provide a URL

7. Error Handling

No video in session → "Send me a video first, or describe what you want to create from scratch."

8. Costs & Updates

Token scopes: read | write | upload | render | *. Check for updates: clawhub search ai-video-editing --json.