BlitzReels Video Editing

Edit videos via the BlitzReels API: upload media, transcribe, edit timeline, apply captions, add overlays and backgrounds, then export.

If the task is specifically long-form to shorts, podcast-to-shorts, suggestion-backed clipping, or public automatic-layout reframe planning, prefer the blitzreels-clipping skill first and come back here for lower-level timeline work.

Important: project preview and visual QA endpoints now exist. Use them when an agent needs to verify framing, caption placement, or layout visually before export.

Quick Start

# Upload a video from URL
bash scripts/editor.sh upload-url PROJECT_ID "https://example.com/video.mp4"

# Add to timeline and transcribe
bash scripts/editor.sh add-media PROJECT_ID MEDIA_ID
bash scripts/editor.sh transcribe PROJECT_ID MEDIA_ID

# Trim, caption, export
bash scripts/editor.sh trim PROJECT_ID ITEM_ID 1.0 -2.0
bash scripts/editor.sh captions PROJECT_ID viral-center
bash scripts/editor.sh export PROJECT_ID --resolution 1080p

Primary Workflow

1. Create project — POST /projects {"name":"...", "aspect_ratio":"9:16"}
2. Upload media — editor.sh upload-url (URL import) or 2-step presigned upload
3. Add to timeline — editor.sh add-media places media on the timeline
4. Transcribe — editor.sh transcribe generates word-level captions
5. Get context — editor.sh context to see timeline state
6. Edit timeline — trim, split, delete, reorder, auto-remove silences
7. Apply captions — editor.sh captions <presetId> for styled subtitles
8. Add overlays — text overlays, motion code, motion graphics
9. Add background — fill layers (gradients, cinematic, patterns)
10. Export — editor.sh export renders final video with download URL

Scripts

scripts/editor.sh

Subcommand wrapper for common editing operations.

Run bash scripts/editor.sh --help for full usage.

scripts/blitzreels.sh

Generic API helper for direct endpoint calls. Use for overlays, effects, and advanced operations where editor.sh doesn't have a shortcut.

bash scripts/blitzreels.sh METHOD /path [JSON_BODY]

Environment Variables

API Endpoint Index

Projects

Media

Transcription

Captions

Timeline Editing

Overlays — Text, Motion Code, Motion Graphics

Backgrounds

Context & State

Media View Repair

Clipping / Reframe Preview

Export & Jobs

Effects & Keyframes

Context Modes

Use ?mode= to control what data the context endpoint returns:

Default: timeline

bash scripts/editor.sh context PROJECT_ID timeline
bash scripts/editor.sh context PROJECT_ID full

Upload Modes

URL Import (Simpler)

bash scripts/editor.sh upload-url PROJECT_ID "https://example.com/video.mp4"

Presigned 2-Step (For Local Files)

# Step 1: Get presigned URL
PRESIGNED=$(bash scripts/blitzreels.sh POST /projects/PROJECT_ID/upload/presigned \
  '{"fileName":"video.mp4","contentType":"video/mp4"}')

# Step 2: Upload to presigned URL
curl -X PUT "$(echo $PRESIGNED | jq -r '.url')" \
  -H "Content-Type: video/mp4" \
  --data-binary @video.mp4

# Step 3: Finalize
bash scripts/blitzreels.sh POST /projects/PROJECT_ID/upload/finalize \
  "{\"storageKey\":\"$(echo $PRESIGNED | jq -r '.key')\"}"

Quick Reference

• Caption presets: 30+ presets across 6 categories — see references/caption-styles.md
• Active word animations: highlight, scale, glow, lift, bounce, punch, slam, elastic, shake, none
• Motion code themes: github-dark, one-dark, dracula, nord, monokai, tokyo-night
• Fill layer presets: 38+ across 7 categories — see references/fill-layers.md
• Timeline layer order: caption(0) → effect(1) → image(2) → video(3) → audio(4) → background(5)

References

• references/clipping.md — Long-form to short workflow, podcast QA loop, preview/repair endpoints
• references/caption-styles.md — All 30+ presets, CaptionStyleSettings schema, animations
• references/overlays.md — Text overlays, motion code, motion graphics schemas
• references/fill-layers.md — 38+ background presets, FillLayerSettings schema
• references/timeline-ops.md — Timeline endpoints, AI features, keyframes, effects
• references/export-settings.md — Export params, codecs, polling pattern
• examples/edit-uploaded-video.md — Full upload→edit→export walkthrough
• examples/enhance-with-overlays.md — Adding graphics to existing project

Safety & Notes

• Use https://www.blitzreels.com/api/v1 as base URL (avoid redirect from non-www)
• Export and B-roll generation are expensive — require BLITZREELS_ALLOW_EXPENSIVE=1
• editor.sh export sets this automatically; blitzreels.sh requires explicit opt-in
• Download URLs are temporary (24h TTL)
• Full OpenAPI spec: https://www.blitzreels.com/api/openapi.json

Rate Limits