JSON to video that stays editable

A recipe is a plain JSON file. The "schema" line names the format, clips play in the order you list them, and each clip can carry a trim, a camera move, the transition into the next clip, and on-screen text. Add a voiceover, captions, music, and sound effects, and the file describes the whole video. Local file paths in clips[].asset are uploaded for you.

Field names are checked strictly, which works in your favour: a typo fails loudly and names the bad field instead of quietly making the wrong video. Names for transitions, effects, camera moves, caption presets, and voices come from live catalogs the CLI prints, so neither you nor an AI agent ever has to guess.

{
  "schema": "framecompose.recipe/v1",
  "title": "Product update in 30 seconds",
  "aspectRatio": "9:16",
  "transitions": { "type": "CROSSFADE", "duration": 0.3 },
  "clips": [
    { "asset": "./clips/opening.mp4", "trimEnd": 5, "motion": "ken_burns" },
    { "asset": "./clips/demo.mp4", "trimStart": 2, "trimEnd": 14,
      "transition": { "type": "HORIZONTAL_WIPE", "duration": 0.4 } },
    { "asset": "./clips/close.mp4", "trimEnd": 6 }
  ],
  "voiceover": {
    "source": "tts",
    "voiceId": "<voiceId from framecompose voices>",
    "lines": [
      { "clip": 0, "text": "Here is what shipped this week." },
      { "clip": 1, "text": "Captions now stay in sync while you drag scenes around." },
      { "clip": 2, "text": "Try it free and tell us what to build next." }
    ]
  },
  "captions": { "mode": "synced", "preset": "hormozi", "maxWords": 3 },
  "titles": [{ "text": "What shipped this week", "startSec": 0, "durationSec": 2.5, "position": "top" }],
  "music": { "query": "upbeat tech", "volume": 0.35, "duck": true, "fadeOutSec": 2 },
  "sfx": [{ "query": "whoosh", "atSec": 4.8, "volume": 0.8 }],
  "endCard": { "text": "Made with FrameCompose", "durationSec": 3 }
}

framecompose validate checks the recipe and your local files on your own computer, without signing in. The dry run goes further: it uploads your clips, checks trims, transition names, fonts, and caption presets against the live catalogs, and returns the plan, warnings, and the credit estimate for generated narration, spending nothing.

That estimate is the moment to decide. Cap the real build with --max-credits so the spend cannot drift. Re-running the build carries on in the same project, so nothing uploads twice.

framecompose validate recipe.json --json
framecompose build recipe.json --dry-run --json
framecompose build recipe.json --max-credits 20 --json

• Install the CLI and get a free API key

JSON is how the video starts, not a cage it lives in. Once the project is built, edit it directly: trim a scene, change its transition or camera move, restyle every caption, move a sound effect, split a scene, reorder the story, or lay B-roll over the top. Each edit takes about a second, costs no credits, and is one undo step.

Keep the project open in the browser editor and it follows your terminal edits within about two seconds. That makes batch work simple: build variants from recipes, inspect the timelines, adjust the ones that need it, and keep a named checkpoint of every version.

framecompose inspect <projectId> --json
framecompose edit <projectId> --scene 1 --trim-end 4.5 --motion ken_burns --json
framecompose checkpoint save <projectId> variant-a --json

When the timeline is right, render on the server and download the MP4 from the same terminal. The render uses the saved project, so what you approved in the editor is what lands in the file. Server renders currently cost no credits with Pro or any credit pack.

Or skip the server render and export free from the browser editor, on every plan, with no watermark. Credits only come in for AI narration, starting at $5.99 for 500 credits that never expire.

framecompose render <projectId> --resolution 1080 --wait --out final.mp4 --json

• Compare plans and credit packs