video-editing

Video editing runtime

Use the runtime as the project authority. Do not edit its JSON files, construct FFmpeg commands, or bypass validation.

Start with state and evidence

1. Call project_status.
2. Call system_status before choosing a real provider path; unavailable optional alignment or TTS is not permission to pretend it ran.
3. Read the active transcript, transcript_quality, and timeline before proposing changes. Prefer transcript_search, transcript_inspect_range, and timeline_inspect_range over re-reading large artifacts.
4. Call visual_inspect_range only when the decision genuinely needs visual evidence. Do not inspect every frame or send the whole video to a vision model by default.
5. Surface low-confidence words, failed alignment, speaker overlap, or other transcript-quality warnings when they affect an editing decision.

Approval-gated edit loop

For a new edit direction:

1. Understand the requested outcome and constraints.
2. Call strategy_propose and explain its structure, target duration, selection policy, pace, captions, and rationale.
3. Wait for explicit user approval. Then call strategy_approve.
4. Call edit_plan_create, edit_plan_validate, and edit_plan_diff in that order.
5. If validation fails, fix the structured plan; never work around it in the renderer.
6. Show the meaningful diff and apply only after it is consistent with the approved strategy.
7. Call edit_plan_apply, then preview_render.
8. Review the self-check result and ask the user to assess the preview.
9. Call final_approve and export_video only after explicit final approval.

Never treat self-evaluation as user approval.

Feedback and replanning

• Submit the user's original words with feedback_submit; include category and range when known.
• For a local complaint such as “20–35 seconds is slow,” prefer the smallest plan change affecting that range. Preserve unrelated clips.
• Call workflow_diagnose before repeated retries.
• Use PATCH for a localized execution problem. Use REPLAN when feedback indicates the EditingStrategy is wrong.
• For PATCH, call edit_patch_plan, edit_patch_validate, and edit_patch_diff; reject out-of-scope/global mutations before edit_patch_apply.
• When diagnosis returns REPLAN, call workflow_replan, present the replacement strategy, and wait for a fresh approval.
• Repeated “flat,” “not interesting,” or “weak opening” feedback is evidence of a possible story-structure mismatch, not permission to randomly move cuts again.
• Explain what changed, why it changed, and which feedback caused it. Use version comparison when that is clearer.