Livepeer Agent · Video editing in Claude Cowork

Turn a 15-minute video into social-ready clips — just by chatting

You have a long recording (a talk, a podcast, a webinar, a YouTube upload). You want short, captioned, vertical clips for TikTok / Reels / Shorts — with the highlights found for you, framed on the speaker, and cleaned up. This guide gets you there by typing plain English to Claude Cowork. No timeline. No menus.

What you'll do: connect the agent once → paste your video link → say what you want. Cowork does the finding, cutting, captioning, reframing, and re-encoding, and hands you finished files.

1 · Get started 2 · What it can do 3 · Example: one line, three clips 4 · Example: pick your highlights 5 · Example: one polished hero clip 6 · The repeatable recipe

The one thing to know first

Cowork edits a video file at a link (an .mp4 / .mov URL). A plain youtube.com/watch?… page link isn't a file, so give Cowork the video itself:

→ Easiest: drag the video into the Livepeer Agent web app (or say "here's my video" and attach it) — Cowork turns it into a link automatically.
→ Or paste a direct video URL you already host.
→ YouTube: download the file first, then attach it. (Only use videos you have the rights to edit.)

Everything below assumes Cowork has your video as a link. That's the only setup wrinkle — the rest is just talking.

In a hurry? Use the fill-in playbook — answer a few questions (video, platform, how many clips) and it hands you a ready-to-paste prompt. The rest of this page explains what's happening and shows worked examples.

StartGet started in three steps

  1. Add the Livepeer Agent tool to Claude Cowork. In Cowork, connect the Livepeer Agent MCP (the Livepeer creative agent). You'll see it appear in your tools. There's a keyless demo to try it immediately; add your Livepeer key when you want to run real jobs.
  2. Give it your video. Attach the file or paste the video link in the chat. One line is enough: "Here's a 15-minute talk — I want social clips."
  3. Say what you want, in plain English. Cowork picks the right editing tools for you, shows you a short plan and the cost before anything billable runs, and returns finished clips you can download. If a job takes a few minutes, it streams progress — you don't babysit it.
Good habit: Cowork will echo a one-line summary and the price before it spends anything. Skim it, say "go", and let it run. You can always ask "just the plan first, don't render."

Best atWhat the agent can do for your workflow

Your exact checklist — highlights, captions, reformat, zoom, re-encode, cleanup — maps one-to-one to things Cowork does. You never name a tool; you just describe the outcome.

What you wantSay something like…What Cowork does
Find the highlights"What are the best moments in this?"Transcribes the whole video and scans the scenes, then lists the strong moments with timestamps — so you're not scrubbing a 15-min timeline.
Long video → several clips"Cut this into 3 vertical clips for TikTok."Finds the moments, trims each one, reframes to 9:16, and burns in captions — in one go. This is the headline move.
Captions / subtitles"Add captions."Auto-transcribes and burns readable captions onto the video (or gives you an .srt if you'd rather).
Reformat to vertical"Make it 9:16."Crops to the target shape and keeps the speaker's face in frame (face-aware, not a dumb center-crop). Also does 1:1 and back to 16:9.
Zoom / emphasis"Punch in on the key line."Frames tighter on the subject when reframing, and can add a slow zoom (Ken-Burns) push to emphasize a beat.
Clean up the audio"Cut the ums and long pauses."Removes filler words (um / uh) and dead air so the clip is tight and fast.
Brand it"Drop my logo bottom-right."Overlays a logo / watermark, or a name-and-title lower-third.
Re-encode / export"Export for Instagram."Re-encodes to platform-friendly specs — handled automatically as part of producing the clip.
Mix in your own footage or B-roll"Splice my intro clip in front."Brings your other files into the same project and stitches them together with the generated/edited pieces.
Honest limits. This is fast, natural-language finishing — not a frame-by-frame pro editor. It won't do multi-track timeline scrubbing, color grading, or a Premiere export. For "find the good bits, make them vertical, caption them, ship them," it's built exactly for that.

Example 1The whole job in one line

The fastest path. You give the video and the goal; Cowork does the rest.

You

Here's a 15-minute conference talk (link attached). Pull the 3 best moments and give me vertical clips with captions for TikTok.

Claude Cowork

Got it. Here's the plan before I run anything:

  • ① Transcribe + scan the talk to rank the strongest moments
  • ② Take the top 3, trim each to ~30–45s
  • ③ Reframe each to 9:16, keeping the speaker in frame
  • ④ Burn in captions + re-encode for TikTok

Est. a few minutes, ~$ small. Reply go and I'll stream progress.

You

go

Claude Cowork

Done. 3 vertical clips ready:

  • clip 1 — "the counter-intuitive part" · 0:38 · 9:16 · captioned
  • clip 2 — "the live demo moment" · 0:41 · 9:16 · captioned
  • clip 3 — "the closing line" · 0:29 · 9:16 · captioned

Download all three, or tell me to tweak any one — "make clip 2 longer", "bigger captions", "add my logo".

That single request covered five of your checklist items — highlights, trimming, reformatting, captioning, and re-encoding — in one pass.

Example 2See the highlights first, then pick

When you want a say in which moments become clips, do it in two beats: look, then choose.

You

Before cutting anything — what are the best moments in this video?

Claude Cowork

Here's what stood out, with timestamps:

  • 2:14 — the surprising stat about retention
  • 5:47 — the story about the first customer
  • 9:02 — the live demo
  • 12:30 — the one-sentence takeaway

Want clips from any of these? Tell me which.

You

Clips from 5:47 and 12:30. Vertical, captioned, and cut the ums so they're punchy.

Claude Cowork

2 clips ready, filler + dead air removed, 9:16, captions burned in:

  • "first customer" · 0:44 → tightened to 0:36
  • "the takeaway" · 0:22

Say the word to add a logo or export a 1:1 version too.

You stayed in control of the creative call; Cowork did the scrubbing, cutting, cleanup, and formatting.

Example 3One polished hero clip, step by step

Sometimes you want to hand-craft a single standout clip. You can layer instructions one at a time and watch it improve.

You

Take 9:02 to 9:40 (the demo). Make it vertical, framed on the screen share.

Claude Cowork

Clip ready — 0:38, reframed to 9:16 on the demo area. Want captions or a zoom next?

You

Add captions, punch in on the moment the result appears, and cut any dead air.

Claude Cowork

Updated — captions burned in, a slow push-in on the reveal, pauses trimmed. Now 0:31 and tighter.

You

Perfect. Drop my logo bottom-right and export for Instagram Reels.

Claude Cowork

Final clip ready — logo added, encoded for Reels. Here's the download.

Each line is one edit. You never leave the chat, and every version is a real file you can grab.

The repeatable recipe

Once it clicks, this is the whole loop — copy it for every long video:

  1. Attach the video (or paste its link).
  2. "What are the best moments?" — let Cowork find the highlights.
  3. "Cut the top N into vertical, captioned clips." — the one-line workhorse.
  4. Refine any clip in plain English: longer/shorter, bigger captions, cut the ums, punch in, add logo.
  5. "Export for [platform]." — grab the finished files.
Two phrases worth memorizing: "just the plan first, don't render" to preview before spending, and "cut the ums and pauses" to instantly tighten any talking clip.