youtube-shorts

A long video often holds a few moments that work alone: a clear tip, a strong opinion, a short story with a point. This skill finds them in the transcript, so the founder does not have to rewatch an hour of footage, and says exactly where to cut.

What this skill reads and writes

• Reads: a timestamped transcript (media/transcripts/<name>.json or .srt from the transcribe skill, or a YouTube Studio transcript the user exported). The founder-context business file for audience, tone and off-limits topics. Optional: the video file.
• Writes: media/shorts/<name>-shorts.md, and cut clips in media/shorts/ only if asked.
• Next: talking-head-cards to add cards to a clip, the linked edit skill for captions and tightening, youtube-seo for the long video itself.

If there is only a YouTube link, do not download it. Ask for their own file or an export, and run transcribe on it.

1. Read the whole transcript first

Skim it end to end before picking anything. Note who the business file says the audience is and what they care about. Clips that serve that buyer beat clips that are merely lively.

2. Pick moments that stand alone

A good Short candidate:

• Makes one point a stranger understands with no setup. If it needs "as I said earlier", it does not stand alone.
• Starts strong. The first sentence states the point, a surprise, or a problem. If the best line is in the middle, note a "cold open": start the clip on that line, then the rest.
• Ends on a finished thought, not a trailing "so yeah".
• Fits Shorts length: up to 3 minutes for square or vertical video (YouTube's limit since October 2024; see references/youtube-facts.md). Most good clips run 20 to 60 seconds. Shorter is usually better. A Short over one minute with a copyright claim (music in the background, for example) gets blocked, so flag any music.

A worked example, with patterns that do and do not stand alone and how to note a cold open, is in references/picking-clips.md.

Rank them by how clearly they stand alone and how well they serve the audience. Say why for each. Do not predict views: nobody can, and a guess dressed as a number misleads.

3. Write each clip card

For each clip, in media/shorts/<name>-shorts.md:

• Rank, start and end time (on sentence edges, from the transcript's own timestamps), length.
• Why it stands alone, in one line.
• Opening line, exactly as spoken. Cold open note if needed.
• On-screen text for the first 2 seconds: the point in a few words, from what is said.
• Title: plain, specific, under 100 characters, no bait.
• Reframe note for vertical: where the speaker sits in a wide frame, any slide or screen that must stay visible, two-speaker clips that need a split.
• Anything to check: names, numbers, claims, music, off-limits topics, other people who appear and may need to agree to the clip.

Everything quoted is the speaker's words. Titles and on-screen text frame the clip; they do not add claims, numbers or results the speaker did not say.

4. Cut the clips (only if asked)

If the user wants the files, and has the video and ffmpeg, cut each clip from their file:

ffmpeg -ss 00:12:04.200 -to 00:12:41.900 -i media/raw/episode.mp4 -c:v libx264 -c:a aac media/shorts/episode-clip1.mp4

Re-encoding (not -c copy) keeps the cut on the exact frame. This leaves the clip wide; the vertical reframe is a job for an editor or the linked edit skill. Never overwrite the source.

5. Hand back

Show the ranked list (rank, time, length, opening line, title) and the file path. End with one line naming the next step. The founder uploads the Shorts; this skill never posts.

Rules

• Their own file or transcript only. No downloading.
• Quotes are exact. No invented claims, stats or results in titles or text.
• No view predictions.
• Respect the business file's off-limits list, and flag other people who appear in a clip.