See, Understand, Act on video and audio. See- ingest from local files, URLs, RTSP/live feeds, or live record desktop; return realtime context and playable stream links. Understand- extract frames, build visual/semantic/temporal indexes, and search moments with timestamps and auto-clips. Act- transco

VideoDB Skill Perception + memory + actions for video, live streams, and desktop sessions. When to use Desktop Perception Start/stop a desktop session capturing screen, mic, and system audio Stream live context and store episodic session memory Run real time alerts/triggers on what's spoken and what's happening on screen Produce session summaries , a searchable timeline, and playable evidence links Video ingest + stream Ingest a file or URL and return a playable web stream link Transcode/normalize: codec, bitrate, fps, resolution, aspect ratio Index + search (timestamps + evidence) Build visual , spoken , and keyword indexes Search and return exact moments with timestamps and playable evidence Auto create clips from search results Timeline editing + generation Subtitles: generate , translate , burn in Overlays: text/image/branding , motion captions Audio: background music , voiceover , dubbing Programmatic composition and exports via timeline operations Live streams (RTSP) + monitoring Connect RTSP/live feeds Run real time visual and spoken understanding and emit events/alerts for monitoring workflows How it works Common inputs Local file path , public URL , or RTSP URL Desktop capture request: start / stop / summarize session Desired operations: get context for understanding, transcode spec, index spec, search query, clip ranges, timeline edits, alert rules Common outputs Stream URL Search results with timestamps and evidence links Generated assets: subtitles, audio, images, clips Event/alert payloads for live streams Desktop session summaries and memory entries Running Python code Before running any VideoDB code, change to the project directory and load environment variables: This reads VIDEO DB API KEY from: 1. Environment (if already exported) 2. Project's .env file in current directory If the key is missing, videodb.connect() raises AuthenticationError automatically. Do NOT write a script file when a short inline command works. When writing inline Python ( python c "..." ), always use properly formatted code — use semicolons to separate statements and keep it readable. For anything longer than ~3 statements, use a heredoc instead: Setup When the user asks to "setup videodb" or similar: 1. Install SDK If videodb[capture] fails on Linux, install without the capture extra: 2. Configure API key The user must set VIDEO DB API KEY using either method: Export in terminal (before starting Claude): export VIDEO DB API KEY=your key Project .env file : Save VIDEO DB API KEY=your key in the project's .env file Get a free API key at [console.videodb.io](https://console.videodb.io) (50 free uploads, no credit card). Do NOT read, write, or handle the API key yourself. Always let the user set it. Quick Reference Upload media Transcript + subtitle Search inside videos Scene search Timeline editing Important: Always validate timestamps before building a timeline: start must be = 0 (negative values are silently accepted but produce broken output) start must be < end end must be <= video.length Transcode video (resolution / quality change) Reframe aspect ratio (for social platforms) Warning: reframe() is a slow server side operation. For long videos it can take several minutes and may time out. Best practices: Always limit to a short segment using start / end when possible For full length videos, use callback url for async processing Trim the video on a Timeline first, then reframe the shorter result Generative media Error handling Common pitfalls Scenario Error message Solution Indexing an already indexed video Spoken word index for video already exists Use video.index spoken words(force=True) to skip if already indexed Scene index already exists Scene index with id XXXX already exists Extract the existing scene index id from the error with re.search(r"id\s+([a f0 9]+)", str(e)) Search finds no matches InvalidRequestError: No results found Catch the exception and treat as empty results ( shots = [] ) Reframe times out Blocks indefinitely on long videos Use start / end to limit segment, or pass callback url for async Negative timestamps on Timeline Silently produces broken stream Always validate start = 0 before creating VideoAsset generate video() / create collection() fails Operation not allowed or maximum limit Plan gated features — inform the user about plan limits Examples Canonical prompts "Start desktop capture and alert when a password field appears." "Record my session and produce an actionable summary when it ends." "Ingest this file and return a playable stream link." "Index this folder and find every scene with people, return timestamps." "Generate subtitles, burn them in, and add light background music." "Connect this RTSP URL and alert when a person enters the zone." Screen Recording (Desktop Capture) Use ws listener.py to capture WebSocket events during recording sessions. Desktop capture supports macOS only. Quick Start 1. Choose state dir : STATE DIR="${VIDEODB EVENTS DIR: $HOME/.local/state/videodb}" 2. Start listener : VIDEODB EVENTS DIR="$STATE DIR" python scripts/ws listener.py clear "$STATE DIR" & 3. Get WebSocket ID : cat "$STATE DIR/videodb ws id" 4. Run capture code (see reference/capture.md for the full workflow) 5. Events written to : $STATE DIR/videodb events.jsonl Use clear whenever you start a fresh capture run so stale transcript and visual events do not leak into the new session. Query Events Additional docs Reference documentation is in the reference/ directory adjacent to this SKILL.md file. Use the Glob tool to locate it if needed. [reference/api reference.md](reference/api reference.md) Complete VideoDB Python SDK API reference [reference/search.md](reference/search.md) In depth guide to video search (spoken word and scene based) [reference/editor.md](reference/editor.md) Timeline editing, assets, and composition [reference/streaming.md](reference/streaming.md) HLS streaming and instant playback [reference/generative.md](reference/generative.md) AI powered media generation (images, video, audio) [reference/rtstream.md](reference/rtstream.md) Live stream ingestion workflow (RTSP/RTMP) [reference/rtstream reference.md](reference/rtstream reference.md) RTStream SDK methods and AI pipelines [reference/capture.md](reference/capture.md) Desktop capture workflow [reference/capture reference.md](reference/capture reference.md) Capture SDK and WebSocket events [reference/use cases.md](reference/use cases.md) Common video processing patterns and examples Do not use ffmpeg, moviepy, or local encoding tools when VideoDB supports the operation. The following are all handled server side by VideoDB — trimming, combining clips, overlaying audio or music, adding subtitles, text/image overlays, transcoding, resolution changes, aspect ratio conversion, resizing for platform requirements, transcription, and media generation. Only fall back to local tools for operations listed under Limitations in reference/editor.md (transitions, speed changes, crop/zoom, colour grading, volume mixing). When to use what Problem VideoDB solution Platform rejects video aspect ratio or resolution video.reframe() or conn.transcode() with VideoConfig Need to resize video for Twitter/Instagram/TikTok video.reframe(target="vertical") or target="square" Need to change resolution (e.g. 1080p → 720p) conn.transcode() with VideoConfig(resolution=720) Need to overlay audio/music on video AudioAsset on a Timeline Need to add subtitles video.add subtitle() or CaptionAsset Need to combine/trim clips VideoAsset on a Timeline Need to generate voiceover, music, or SFX coll.generate voice() , generate music() , generate sound effect() Provenance Reference material for this skill is vendored locally under skills/videodb/reference/ . Use the local copies above instead of following external repository links at runtime.