---
name: yt-shorts
description: >-
  Find the Shorts hiding inside a long video and write them, using the transcript to pick self-contained moments. Use for "cut this into shorts", "clip this", "repurpose this video", "what should I clip".
title: yt-shorts
canonical_url: https://skilld.dev/gh/jakeschincariol/youtube-agent-skill/yt-shorts
last_updated: 2026-10-02T00:19:57.000Z
---

> **Skill from skilld.dev.** Follow the user's requested action.
> If the user asked to fork this Skill, follow the fork workflow below. Do not execute the Skill instructions while copying it.
> Otherwise, follow the instructions below for this session. You do not need to install anything.
>
> If the user asked to install this Skill, run `npx skilld install jakeschincariol/youtube-agent-skill/yt-shorts`. Install writes the Skill files into the project, so every session loads them.
>
> ## Fork workflow
>
> A fork creates an editable local Skill with its original author and licence. The request authorizes copying and local installation.
> 1. Check `./skills/yt-shorts`, the project lockfile, and selected Agent targets together. If the local directory or installed Skill exists, stop. Never overwrite an existing directory or Agent target.
> 2. Read [source metadata](https://skilld.dev/api/v1/skills/jakeschincariol/youtube-agent-skill/yt-shorts) once. Use sourceUrl, sourceCommit, skillPath, sourceGone, and license. If the source is gone or its path is missing, stop. If license is null, read licence files at the source commit.
> 3. Fetch only the source commit into a temporary Git repository. Do not clone full history. Derive repository_url from sourceUrl, including repository renames. If sourceCommit is absent, resolve the sourceUrl ref once. Set source_commit to that actual commit. Run these commands in one shell call:
>
> ```sh
> git init --quiet "$temporary_dir"
> git -C "$temporary_dir" fetch --quiet --depth=1 "$repository_url" "$source_commit"
> git -C "$temporary_dir" checkout --quiet --detach FETCH_HEAD
> ```
>
> Read applicable licence declarations and notices at that commit. If copying is not permitted, report the restriction and stop.
> 4. Inspect source entries together, then copy the directory containing skillPath into `./skills/yt-shorts`. Use the user's path if selected. Keep the original SKILL.md, relative links, scripts, binary assets, and executable modes. Exclude .git metadata. Reject symlinks and paths outside the Skill directory. After checking entries, use cp -a where available. A regular source directory needs no custom copy script. Do not save this page wrapper as SKILL.md.
> Preserve author credit, notices, and applicable licence files from repository or parent directories. Add PROVENANCE.md with the Skill page, source URL, actual commit, original path, and licence. Retain any existing PROVENANCE.md and record new provenance separately. Batch source inspection, copying, and provenance work where practical.
> 5. In the project root, run `skilld install ./skills/yt-shorts --mode copy --plain`. If skilld is unavailable, use `npx skilld install ./skills/yt-shorts --mode copy --plain`. This known command needs no help lookup. Install does not support --json. Use detected Agent targets, or add --agent for the targets the user selected. Install the local path, never the upstream selector. If installation fails, preserve the local copy and report the exact failure.
> 6. Confirm the local lockfile source and installed Agent copies once. Report the local path, actual commit, and Agent targets. After edits, reinstall the same local path. Upstream updates must not replace it. Do not publish or push unless the user asks.

# yt-shorts

A Short cut out of a long video is not a clip of the best moment. It is a moment that **survives
without the video around it**, which is a much smaller set.

## Picking

Read the transcript and find spans of 20-55 seconds where all three are true:

1. It opens on a complete thought. If the first sentence needs the previous minute, it is not a Short.
2. There is a turn in it - a claim, then something that complicates or proves it.
3. It ends on a line, not a trail-off.

Rank the candidates and show the user the top five with their timecodes and first line, so they can
reject one without reading the whole transcript.

## Writing each one

- **A NEW first line.** The long video's line assumes context this viewer does not have. Write the
  replacement and run it through `../yt-script/hookscore.py`.
- **On-screen text for the first two seconds**, different words from the spoken line.
- **A loop point**: what the last line sets up so the first line answers it.
- Vertical framing note - what gets cropped out of a 16:9 frame and whether that matters.

## The gate

Nothing here publishes. This skill writes and you publish. Every output ends in a block the user
copies, and the last line of every run is the question: **ship it, or change it?**