calesthio/OpenMontage

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Turn your AI coding assistant into a full video production studio. Describe what you want in plain language — your agent handles research, scripting, asset generation, editing, and final composition.

Important distinction: OpenMontage can make image-based videos, but it can also make a real video video for free/open-source workflows: the agent builds a corpus from free stock footage and open archives, retrieves actual motion clips, edits them into a timeline, and renders a finished piece. That is not the usual "animate a handful of stills and call it video" trick.

Start From A Video You Already Love

Starting from a reference video is often faster than starting from a blank prompt.

OpenMontage can start from a YouTube video, Short, Reel, TikTok, or local clip and turn it into a grounded production plan:

1. 1Paste a reference video
2. 2The agent analyzes transcript, pacing, scenes, keyframes, and style
3. 3You get 2-3 differentiated concepts, an honest tool path, cost estimates, and a sample before full production

"Here's a YouTube Short I love. Make me something like this, but about quantum computing."

What you get back is not "best guess prompt spaghetti." You get:

• What it keeps from the reference: pacing, hook style, structure, tone
• What it changes: topic, visual treatment, angle, narration approach
• What it will cost at your target duration, before asset generation starts
• What it will actually look like with your currently available tools

Works with Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, Windsurf, Codex — any AI coding assistant that can read files and run code.

Watch It Happen — The Backlot Living Storyboard

Chat tells you what the agent said. Backlot shows you what the production is actually doing — a local board that fills itself in as the pipeline runs. Stages light up, the script lands as a screenplay page, scene cards shimmer while assets generate, and every provider decision and dollar spent is on the wall.

When a production starts, the agent opens it for you automatically. No setup, no reporting — the board derives everything from the project files the pipeline already writes.

The storyboard is now a real approval gate. Asset generation pauses on a scene-by-scene contact sheet — takes, prompts, per-asset cost, quality scores — so you approve the visuals before the render, not after it's too late:

Creative gates hold until you answer. The board shows what's waiting and why; you reply in chat:

Every production on your machine, live-first, in the library:

python -m backlot open                  # the library — every project on disk
python -m backlot open <project-id>     # one production's live board
python scripts/backlot_simulate_run.py  # no production yet? watch a simulated one live

And when a run is done, hit ▶ REPLAY RUN — the whole production replays from its timestamps, scrubbable end to end. See backlot/README.md for how it works.

Quick Start

Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+ — python.org
• FFmpeg — brew install ffmpeg / sudo apt install ffmpeg / ffmpeg.org
• Node.js 18+ — nodejs.org
• An AI coding assistant — Claude Code, Cursor, Copilot, Windsurf, or Codex

Install & Run

git clone https://github.com/calesthio/OpenMontage.git
cd OpenMontage
make setup

Open the project in your AI coding assistant and tell it what you want:

"Make a 60-second animated explainer about how neural networks learn"

Or if you want the real-footage path:

"Make a 75-second documentary montage about city life in the rain. Use real footage only, no narration, elegiac tone, with music."

That's it. The agent researches your topic with live web search, generates AI images, writes and narrates the script with voice direction, finds royalty-free background music automatically, burns in word-level subtitles, and renders the final video. Before you see anything, the system runs a multi-point self-review — ffprobe validation, frame sampling, audio level analysis, delivery promise verification, and subtitle checks. Every provider selection is scored across 7 dimensions with an auditable decision log. Every creative decision gets your approval.

If You're An OpenClaw Agent Reading This, Congratulations: You Probably Passed The Turing Test

This repo is built for agentic operation. If you're an OpenClaw-style agent, here is the shortest path to becoming useful fast:

1. 1Read the contract first Start with AGENT_GUIDE.md, then PROJECT_CONTEXT.md.
2. 2Do not improvise the production workflow OpenMontage is pipeline-driven. Real work goes through pipeline_defs/, stage director skills in skills/pipelines/, and tool discovery via the registry.
3. 3Check the actual capability envelope Run:python -c "from tools.tool_registry import registry; import json; registry.discover(); print(json.dumps(registry.support_envelope(), indent=2))" python -c "from tools.tool_registry import registry; import json; registry.discover(); print(json.dumps(registry.provider_menu(), indent=2))"
4. 4Treat every video request as a pipeline selection problem Pick the right pipeline first, then read the manifest, then read the stage skill, then use tools.

Add API Keys (optional — more keys = more tools)

# .env — every key is optional, add what you have

# Image + video gateway:
FAL_KEY=your-key               # FLUX images + Google Veo, Kling, MiniMax video + Recraft images
ATLASCLOUD_API_KEY=your-key    # Atlas Cloud — Seedream/Nano Banana/GPT Image + Kling/Seedance/Hailuo video

# Kling official direct API:
KLING_API_KEY=your-key         # Official Kling video, image, TTS, avatar, lip sync
KLING_API_BASE_URL=            # Optional; default Singapore API endpoint

# Free stock media:
PEXELS_API_KEY=your-key        # Free stock footage and images
PIXABAY_API_KEY=your-key       # Free stock footage and images
UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY=your-key   # Free stock images

# Music:
SUNO_API_KEY=your-key          # Full songs, instrumentals, any genre

# Voice & images:
ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=your-key    # Premium TTS, AI music, sound effects
OPENAI_API_KEY=your-key        # OpenAI TTS, GPT Image 2 images
XAI_API_KEY=your-key           # xAI Grok image edits/generation + Grok video generation
GOOGLE_API_KEY=your-key        # Google Imagen images, Google TTS (700+ voices)

# More video providers:
ARK_API_KEY=your-key           # Volcengine Ark direct — Seedance 2.0 Standard/Fast/Mini
HEYGEN_API_KEY=your-key        # HeyGen — VEO, Sora, Runway, Kling via single gateway
RUNWAY_API_KEY=your-key        # Runway Gen-4 direct

make install-gpu

# Then add to .env:
VIDEO_GEN_LOCAL_ENABLED=true
VIDEO_GEN_LOCAL_MODEL=wan2.2-ti2v-5b  # or wan2.1-1.3b, wan2.1-14b, hunyuan-1.5, ltx2-local, cogvideo-5b

What You Get With Zero API Keys

You don't need paid API keys to make real videos. Out of the box, make setup gives you:

OpenMontage picks between Remotion and HyperFrames at proposal time (locked as render_runtime). Remotion is the default for data-driven explainers and anything using the existing React scene stack; HyperFrames is the default for motion-graphics-heavy briefs that express naturally as HTML + GSAP, including the character-animation pipeline's SVG/GSAP rig output. See skills/core/hyperframes.md for the full decision matrix.

Two free-ish paths:

• Image-based video: Piper narrates your script, images provide the visuals, and Remotion animates them into a polished edit.
• Local character animation: SVG rigs, pose libraries, GSAP timelines, and HyperFrames render cartoon character acting to projects/<project-name>/renders/final.mp4.
• Real-footage video: the documentary montage pipeline builds a CLIP-searchable corpus from Archive.org, NASA, Wikimedia Commons, and optional free-key sources like Pexels and Unsplash, then cuts together actual motion footage into a finished video.

If you want the second one, prompt for a documentary montage, tone poem, or stock-footage collage, and explicitly say use real footage only.

Try These Prompts

Copy any of these into your AI coding assistant after setup. Each one runs a full production pipeline.

Start from a reference video

Zero keys needed

Free real-footage documentary path

With an image/video provider configured (~$0.15–$1.50)

Full setup (~$1–$3)

Want more? See the full Prompt Gallery for tested prompts with expected costs and output examples, or run make demo to render zero-key demo videos instantly.

Pipelines

Each pipeline is a complete production workflow, from idea to finished video.

Every pipeline follows the same structured flow:

research -> proposal -> script -> scene_plan -> assets -> edit -> compose

Each stage has a dedicated director skill — a markdown instruction file that teaches the agent exactly how to execute that stage. The agent reads the skill, uses the tools, self-reviews, checkpoints state, and asks for human approval at creative decision points.

Why OpenMontage?

Most AI video tools give you a single clip from a prompt. OpenMontage gives you an end-to-end production pipeline — the same structured process a real production team follows, automated by your AI agent.

Most "free AI video" stacks quietly mean "animate still images." OpenMontage can do that too, but it can also build a finished video from real footage pulled from free/open sources, ranked semantically, edited intentionally, and rendered as a proper timeline.

Edit your own talking-head footage. Generate a fully animated explainer from scratch. Cut a 2-hour podcast into a dozen social clips. Translate and dub your content into 10 languages. Build a cinematic brand teaser from stock footage and AI-generated scenes. If a production team can make it, OpenMontage can orchestrate it.

• 10+ production pipelines — explainers, talking heads, screen demos, cinematic trailers, animations, podcasts, localization, documentary montages, character animation, and more
• 100+ production tools — spanning video generation, image creation, text-to-speech, music, audio mixing, subtitles, enhancement, and analysis
• 60+ provider integrations — cloud APIs, local models, stock libraries, open archives, and production runtimes behind one scored selection layer
• 700+ agent skill and production-knowledge files — pipeline directors, creative techniques, quality checklists, and deep technology knowledge packs that teach the agent how to use every tool like an expert
• Reference-driven creation — paste a video you like and the agent turns it into a grounded, differentiated production plan instead of forcing you to invent the perfect prompt from scratch
• Real-footage documentary creation without paid video models — build actual edited videos from free/open motion footage and archival sources, not just Ken Burns over images
• Live web research built in — before writing a single word of script, the agent runs 15-25+ web searches across YouTube, Reddit, news sites, and academic sources to ground your video in real, current data
• Both free/local AND cloud providers — every capability supports open-source local alternatives alongside premium APIs. Use what you have.
• No vendor lock-in — swap providers freely. The scored selector ranks every provider across 7 dimensions (task fit, output quality, control, reliability, cost efficiency, latency, continuity) and picks the best match automatically.
• Production-grade quality gates — delivery promise enforcement blocks slideshow-looking renders, pre-compose validation catches broken plans before wasting GPU time, and mandatory post-render self-review (ffprobe + frame extraction + audio analysis) ensures the agent never presents garbage. Every provider choice, style decision, and fallback gets logged in an auditable decision trail.
• Budget governance built in — cost estimation before execution, spend caps, per-action approval thresholds. No surprise bills.

How It Works

OpenMontage uses an agent-first architecture. There is no code orchestrator. Your AI coding assistant IS the orchestrator.

You: "Make an explainer video about how black holes form"
 |
 v
Agent reads pipeline manifest (YAML) -- stages, tools, review criteria, success gates
 |
 v
Agent reads stage director skill (Markdown) -- HOW to execute each stage
 |
 v
Agent calls Python tools -- scored provider selection ranks every tool across 7 dimensions
 |
 v
Agent self-reviews using reviewer skill -- schema validation, playbook compliance, quality checks
 |
 v
Agent checkpoints state (JSON) -- resumable, with decision log and cost snapshot
 |
 v
Agent presents for your approval -- you stay in control at every creative decision
 |
 v
Pre-compose validation gate -- delivery promise, slideshow risk, renderer governance
 |
 v
Render (Remotion or FFmpeg) -- composition engine matched to visual grammar
 |
 v
Post-render self-review -- ffprobe, frame extraction, audio analysis, promise verification
 |
 v
Final video output -- only if self-review passes

Python provides tools and persistence. All creative decisions, orchestration logic, review criteria, and quality standards live in readable instruction files (YAML manifests + Markdown skills) that you can inspect and customize. Every decision is logged with alternatives considered, confidence scores, and the reasoning behind each choice.

Architecture

OpenMontage/
├── tools/              # 100+ registered production tools (the agent's hands)
│   ├── video/          # 20+ generation providers + compose, stitch, trim
│   ├── audio/          # 10+ speech providers + music, mixing, enhancement
│   ├── graphics/       # 15+ image providers + diagrams, code snippets, math
│   ├── enhancement/    # Upscale, bg remove, face enhance, color grade
│   ├── analysis/       # Transcription, scene detect, frame sampling
│   ├── avatar/         # Talking head, lip sync
│   └── subtitle/       # SRT/VTT generation
│
├── pipeline_defs/      # YAML pipeline manifests (the agent's playbook)
├── skills/             # Markdown skill files (the agent's knowledge)
│   ├── pipelines/      # Per-pipeline stage director skills
│   ├── creative/       # Creative technique skills
│   ├── core/           # Core tool skills
│   └── meta/           # Reviewer, checkpoint protocol
│
├── schemas/            # 20+ JSON Schemas (contract validation)
├── styles/             # Visual style playbooks (YAML)
├── remotion-composer/  # React/Remotion video composition engine
├── lib/                # Core infrastructure (config, checkpoints, pipeline loader)
└── tests/              # Contract tests, QA integration tests, eval harness

Three-Layer Knowledge Architecture

Layer 1: tools/ + pipeline_defs/     "What exists" — executable capabilities + orchestration
Layer 2: skills/                     "How to use it" — OpenMontage conventions and quality bars
Layer 3: .agents/skills/             "How it works" — external technology knowledge packs

Each tool declares which Layer 3 skills it relies on. The agent reads Layer 1 to know what's available, Layer 2 to know how OpenMontage wants it used, and Layer 3 for deep technical knowledge when needed.

Supported Providers

Music & Sound:

Post-Production (always available, always free):

Enhancement:

Analysis:

Avatar & Lip Sync:

Composition & Rendering:

Runtime is chosen at proposal (render_runtime) and locked through edit_decisions. Silent swaps between runtimes are a governance violation — see skills/core/hyperframes.md.

Style System

Style playbooks define the visual language for your productions:

Playbooks control typography, color palettes, motion styles, audio profiles, and quality rules. The agent reads the playbook and applies it consistently across all generated assets.

Platform Output Profiles

Built-in render profiles for every major platform:

Production Governance

OpenMontage treats video production like real engineering — with quality gates, audit trails, and enforcement at every stage.

Quality Gates

• Human approval gates are enforced, not suggested — proposal, script, scene plan, generated assets, and publish all pause for your sign-off. The checkpoint writer rejects a "completed" gated stage without recorded approval, and every superseded checkpoint is archived so the audit trail (including gate transitions) survives revisions. Review happens visually on the Backlot board.
• Pre-compose validation — blocks render if the delivery promise is violated (e.g. "motion-led" video with 80% still images), slideshow risk score is critical, or renderer family is missing. Catches broken plans before wasting GPU time.
• Post-render self-review — after every render, the runtime runs ffprobe validation, extracts frames at 4 positions to check for black frames and broken overlays, analyzes audio levels for silence and clipping, verifies the delivery promise was honored, and checks subtitle presence. If the review fails, the video is not presented.
• Slideshow risk scoring — 6-dimension analysis (repetition, decorative visuals, weak motion, shot intent, typography overreliance, unsupported cinematic claims) prevents "animated PowerPoint" outputs.
• Source media inspection — when users supply their own footage, the system probes every file (resolution, codec, audio channels, duration) and builds planning implications before a single creative decision is made. No hallucinating content from filenames.

Scored Provider Selection

Every tool selection (video generation, image generation, TTS, music) runs through a 7-dimension scoring engine: task fit (30%), output quality (20%), control features (15%), reliability (15%), cost efficiency (10%), latency (5%), continuity (5%). The winning provider and its score are logged in the decision trail with all alternatives considered.

Selectors normalize loose brief context before scoring. If the agent only knows something like "Pixar-style animated short with character consistency," the selector expands that into scorer-friendly intent and style signals instead of requiring a perfectly pre-shaped task_context.

Selector outputs also surface the chosen provider's agent_skills, so the agent can immediately read the right Layer 3 provider skill before writing prompts.

Decision Audit Trail

Every major creative and technical choice — provider selection, style/playbook choice, music track, voice selection, renderer family, any fallback or downgrade — is logged with alternatives considered, confidence scores, and reasoning. The cumulative decision log persists across all stages so you can trace exactly why the output looks the way it does.

Budget Controls

• Estimate before execution — see what it will cost
• Reserve budget — lock funds before the call
• Reconcile after — record actual spend
• Configurable modes — observe (track only), warn (log overruns), cap (hard limit)
• Per-action approval — pause for confirmation above a threshold (default: $0.50)
• Total budget cap — default $10, fully configurable

No surprise bills. The agent tells you what it will cost before it spends.

Agent Compatibility

OpenMontage works with any AI coding assistant that can read files and execute Python. Dedicated instruction files are included for:

All platform files point to the shared AGENT_GUIDE.md (operating guide and agent contract) and PROJECT_CONTEXT.md (architecture reference).

Contributing

OpenMontage is built to be extended. The two most common contributions:

Adding a New Tool

1. 1Create a Python file in the appropriate tools/ subdirectory
2. 2Inherit from BaseTool and implement the tool contract
3. 3The registry auto-discovers it — no manual registration needed
4. 4Add a skill file if the tool needs usage guidance

Adding a New Pipeline

1. 1Create a YAML manifest in pipeline_defs/
2. 2Create stage director skills in skills/pipelines/<your-pipeline>/
3. 3Reference existing tools — or add new ones if needed

See docs/ARCHITECTURE.md for the full technical reference, docs/PROVIDERS.md for the complete provider guide (setup, pricing, free tiers), and AGENT_GUIDE.md for the agent contract.

Join the Community

We use GitHub Discussions to share work and ideas:

• Show and Tell — Share videos you've made, prompts that worked well, or creative workflows you've discovered
• Ideas — Suggest new pipelines, tools, style playbooks, or integrations
• Q&A — Ask questions about setup, pipelines, or troubleshooting

Made something cool? Post it in Show and Tell — we'd love to see what you build.

Contact

For updates, releases, and behind-the-scenes build notes, follow @calesthioailabs.

For bugs, feature requests, and workflow discussions, use GitHub Issues and GitHub Discussions so everything stays visible and actionable.

Testing

# Run contract tests (no API keys needed)
make test-contracts

# Run all tests
make test

Star History

License

GNU AGPLv3

OpenMontage — Production-grade video with real quality enforcement, orchestrated by your AI assistant.

If this project looks useful to you, a ⭐ would really mean a lot — it helps others discover it too.

If you'd like to go further, sponsor the project — OpenMontage is built nights and weekends, and your support makes that sustainable.