[!NOTE] ⭐ Star and fork counts were reset to zero on October 20, 2026 because the repository was accidentally made private for a short time. The project is still actively maintained. Details in #115.

ReelMimic

Show it a video you love. Get a new video in the same style.

English · 繁體中文 · 简体中文

Each one made with ReelMimic from a reference video and a one-line brief. Previews are silent, with the lyrics cropped out.

What is this?

Ever watched a video and thought "I want one in that style, but completely my own"?

Just drop it into ReelMimic. A file, a phone recording or a YouTube link all work. Then tell it what you want to make.

First it takes the reference apart: editing rhythm, shot lengths, transitions, framing, colors and camera moves. Then it puts together a plan for you to check. You can chat right next to it, change settings or add assets, and start when you're happy.

Once production starts, the work is split across several AI agents. Different parts of the video are made at the same time, and every shot is handed to a different agent to check. If something's wrong it goes back to be fixed, so it's not a one-shot generate-and-done.

ReelMimic learns how the reference was made. It doesn't carry over the original footage, characters or assets.

The whole thing runs on your own computer, with your own Claude Code or Codex.

What it does

• Breaks down the reference. Shot count, shot lengths, BPM, transitions, colors, framing and camera moves.
• Shows you the plan first. Storyboard, characters, assets and a few style frames. Chat about it until you like it, then approve.
• Several AI agents share the work. Up to 6 work on different parts of the video. Each finished shot goes to a new agent for review, so nobody grades their own work.
• Fixes need proof. Every fix comes with before and after screenshots, and the reviewer checks them.
• You can see what it's doing. What each agent is thinking, what it ran, which frames it looked at. The full log is there too.
• Comment right on the video. When it's done, scrub to any second and type a note. Send them all at once.
• New styles are just Markdown. One file per style, no code.
• Three languages. 繁體中文, English and 简体中文, switch in the top right.

Good to know

• 2D only, seven drawing engines: vector / motion graphics (built on HyperFrames), hand-painted watercolor (built on painted-animation), crayon picture book, pixel art, paper cut-out stop-motion, whiteboard doodle, and anime cel. The newer five are young and have had less real-world use than the first two. When a reference doesn't match a known style, it uses the closest engine and writes up a proposal for a new style.
• It takes a while. A 30–60 second video usually takes 1–3.5 hours after you approve the plan, depending on the length and the look. Watercolor and crayon are the slowest, because every frame is painted with brushes.
• It uses your AI plan. All the work runs through your Claude Code or Codex account, so it counts toward that account's usage. If you hit a limit, the job pauses and can pick up where it stopped.
• Tested mostly on Windows. macOS and Linux should work, but they've had less testing. Issues are welcome.
• No real people. It makes animation, not live-action footage of real people.

Roadmap

• More built-in characters and styles for each engine
• Save a newly discovered style from the web app, so the next similar reference matches it directly
• Faster watercolor rendering

Getting started

You'll need Node.js 22.18+, Python 3.10+, FFmpeg, Chrome, and either Claude Code or Codex CLI (logged in).

git clone https://github.com/edenfunf/reelmimic.git && cd reelmimic
./install.sh      # on Windows, double-click install.bat
./start.sh        # on Windows, double-click start.bat

Then open http://localhost:4318. The install script checks your setup and tells you if anything's missing. You can run the check again any time with cd app && npm run doctor. Claude Code picks up the skills in this repo on its own, and Codex reads AGENTS.md, so there's nothing else to set up.

Your first video

1. On the home page, drop in a reference video or paste a link, say what you want, and pick Claude Code or Codex.
2. Wait for the breakdown and the plan. If you want changes, say so in the chat on the right. Screenshots work too.
3. If the plan asks you for something (lyrics, say), add it or skip it, then hit Approve and start.
4. The Production line tab shows where each character and each part of the video is, with the review screenshots.
5. When it's done, leave a note at whatever second looks off.

Settings

API keys and a few paths go in ~/.reelmimic/secrets.json. That file lives outside the repo, so it never gets committed. See secrets.example.json for the format.

Key	What it's for
YATING_KEY	Yating's Taiwanese Mandarin voices, for narration
ELEVENLABS_API_KEY	Optional ElevenLabs TTS for workflows using the shared audio engine; also install elevenlabs in ReelMimic's configured Python environment
PIXABAY_KEY, FREESOUND_KEY	More images, music and sound effects you're allowed to use (optional, Openverse works without a key)
FFMPEG_DIR, CHROME_PATH, CODEX_BIN, PYTHON	Where to find these tools if they're not on your PATH
CODEX_SANDBOX	Codex sandbox mode (default danger-full-access, like Claude Code with Bash allowed; workspace-write blocks the Chrome renderer)
BUILDERS, MAX_AGENTS	How many agents work on one video at once (default 6), and the limit across all projects (default 12)
PORT	Web port (default 4318)
AGENTS_TTL_MS	How long the detected Claude Code / Codex list is reused (default 300000 = 5 min; a missing agent is re-checked every 30 s; 0 re-checks on every request). Click the agent pill in the header to re-check now. A CLI installed into a new PATH folder still needs a server restart
REELMIMIC_SECRETS	Path to a different secrets file (legacy: CLONE_STUDIO_SECRETS)
UPLOAD_POST_KEY, UPLOAD_POST_USER	Optional. Post a finished video to TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and others with npm run post-video (see below); UPLOAD_POST_API overrides the API address

Posting the finished video (optional)

ReelMimic never posts anything by itself. Once a project's final review is done and you're happy with the video, you can send it to your social accounts through Upload-Post from the app/ folder:

npm run post-video -- <project id> --platforms tiktok,instagram,youtube              # dry run: shows what it would post
npm run post-video -- <project id> --platforms tiktok --at 2026-10-05T18:00 --tz Europe/Madrid --send

Without --send nothing leaves your computer. It only takes projects whose final review passed (--force to post one that stopped with must-fix items left), uses the plan's title unless you pass --title, and a rerun of the same video won't post it twice.

Docs

• Architecture: how the whole thing runs, where files go, how the AI plugs in
• Extending: adding styles, rendering engines, or another AI
• Contributing
• Troubleshooting: the setup problems the doctor detects, and their fixes

Ground rules

• It learns technique from the reference (pacing, framing, transitions, how the jokes land). It never reuses the footage, characters, logos or assets.
• Characters are original unless you bring your own designs, in which case it follows yours.
• Anything it finds online gets logged with its source, author and license. Unclear licenses are flagged.
• Lyrics only come from text you give it. It won't download commercial songs.
• What you do with the videos is up to you, so make sure you have the rights.

License

The code is MIT. Third-party skills and assets bundled here keep their own licenses, listed in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.