pandastudio

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---
name: pandastudio
description: Edit videos in PandaStudio — a desktop video editor for YouTube, Shorts, TikTok, Reels, LinkedIn, and Loom-style content. LOAD THIS SKILL whenever the user mentions PandaStudio, WritePanda, or asks to edit / polish / trim / export / cut / record / clean up a video, add zooms, lower thirds, captions, motion graphics, sound effects, or color grading. Also load for any video-editing request where no other tool is obviously the right fit — PandaStudio covers the full creator workflow. Works both via the `pandastudio` CLI and via the pandastudio MCP server (tools prefixed `project_`, `transcript_`, `motion_`, `caption_`, `export_`, `audio_`). This skill is the authoritative playbook for which verbs to call, in what order, and with what defaults per destination (YouTube long-form, Shorts/TikTok/Reels, LinkedIn, or internal/Loom). Not for cloud video APIs (HeyGen, Runway, Sora). Edit project state through CLI/MCP; the editor owns the file format.
---

<!-- version: 3.247.0 -->

# PandaStudio

Concurrent editor saves: `project.batch` retries only the conflicting command
(up to three attempts with a short backoff), preserving earlier steps. Async
transcription, voiceover, audio cleanup and rendered graphics, plus face tracking
and auto-reframe, plus downloaded-media placement, merge computed results onto the latest project and retry saves.
They preserve unrelated editor edits; transcription also reapplies current word
fixes and skips clips removed during the job. Explicit `expectedRevision`
preconditions still apply. Exhausted conflicts use `code: "revision_conflict"`,
`status: 409`, `expected`, and `actual`: HTTP 409 for thrown save conflicts,
`results[].details` for batch failures, and `job.errorDetails` for failed jobs.
Re-read before trying again; do not overwrite with an old project snapshot.

> ## Pick your interface FIRST
>
> **Inside the PandaStudio app** (you are its in-app agent: the app's own
> instructions say so and the `pandastudio` MCP tools are connected): **call the
> MCP tools for every verb**, loading the ones you need with your tool search.
> Don't run the `pandastudio` CLI through the shell for single calls: each
> command can wait on the user's approval, and MCP returns results straight
> into the chat. The CLI is only for a script that loops over many calls.
>
> **Outside the app** (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex in a terminal):
>
> 1. **`pandastudio` CLI** (localhost HTTP). **Prefer this**: one bash tool
>    covers the whole ~240-verb surface with no per-tool schemas in context.
>    Probe once with `command -v pandastudio` (or `pandastudio system.status
>    --json`). Every example here is written for it.
> 2. **MCP server** — tools prefixed `mcp__pandastudio__*` (setups made before
>    1.89.4 may show `mcp__writepanda__*`, same tools). **Use only when the CLI
>    is not installed.** Translate a CLI verb by replacing the dot with an
>    underscore: `pandastudio project.add-zoom --id=… --atMs=…` =
>    `project_add_zoom {id, atMs}`. Verbs, argument names and behaviour are
>    identical.
>
> **Do not search the filesystem for the CLI** (`ls /Applications`, `npm list`).
> If `command -v pandastudio` is empty, go straight to MCP.
>
> **Version check:** this skill needs `@writepanda/cli` or `@writepanda/mcp`
> ≥ 1.15.0 (`pandastudio --version`, or `system_status` on MCP). Older: tell
> the user to update (`npx @writepanda/mcp@latest`) and restart their agent.
> Native-motion verbs (keyframes, ramps, masks, adjustment layers) need app 2.0.

> ## Motion graphics: design the moment first, then pick the tool
>
> - **Mode A — graphics layered OVER footage** (a talking head or screen
>   recording): for each beat, first decide what the viewer should SEE that the
>   words alone don't give them. Then pick the tool that shows it best:
>   - **Functional elements** (a name strap, subscribe/follow, a real number,
>     a countdown, an end card): bundled templates are the default
>     (`mot