When you use Claude Code to edit a Remotion video project, Remotion Skills give Claude instructions for specific tasks, such as rendering a video or adding captions. A skill is guidance that an AI coding agent loads when it applies to a request. Skills help Claude follow Remotion practices, while Remotion provides the tools to build videos with code.
If your goal is a narrated explainer or product demo rather than a Remotion codebase, explainroo is the best fit: it is a free, open-source kit that lets a coding agent create and check a video on your computer. The sections below explain what Remotion Skills do, when they help, and when explainroo is a better match.
What Remotion Skills tell Claude Code
Claude Code skills are folders containing a SKILL.md instruction file. Its frontmatter is the metadata block at the top, which names and describes the skill. Claude uses that description to decide whether a request matches the skill, and you can also invoke a skill directly by name, such as /remotion-captions. The Claude Code documentation describes both automatic use and direct invocation.
A skill supplies guidance to the coding agent; it does not render the video itself. When Claude uses a Remotion skill, it can apply Remotion-specific instructions while editing project code. The official Remotion Agent Skills include guidance for creating projects and working with markup. They also cover rendering, captions, maps, interactivity, and other tasks. The /remotion-best-practices skill gathers the other Remotion skills.
Loading skill instructions only when needed helps keep conversations shorter. Claude Code loads CLAUDE.md into each conversation, while it loads a skill’s main instructions when Claude uses that skill. Put repeatable procedures, such as checking captions or preparing a render, in a skill instead of adding them to every conversation.
When the skills are useful
Use Remotion Skills when you want Claude to follow Remotion-specific guidance while working in a Remotion project. They help with creating or editing a coded video, finding information about a Remotion API, adding captions, and upgrading Remotion packages. For current guidance on a component’s properties, /remotion-docs searches Remotion documentation and fetches pages in Markdown. The /remotion-upgrade skill covers upgrades to Remotion and related packages.
The skills are also useful when you find yourself repeatedly giving Claude the same project instructions. The general Claude guidance on skills recommends them for recurring instructions, checklists, and multistep procedures. Put stable project facts in CLAUDE.md; move a repeatable task procedure into a skill.
Remotion documents installation through npx skills add remotion-dev/skills, and the skills are also offered during some Remotion project creation flows. The documented options appear on its skills page. Third-party skills also appear on marketplaces, but check who maintains them before adding them; Remotion’s official documentation does not cover those marketplace listings. Remotion’s repository also describes licensing conditions, including cases where a company license is required, so check the project’s license information before using it commercially.
When explainroo is the better fit
Choose explainroo when you want a narrated explainer or product demo and prefer to describe the result to a coding agent rather than build a Remotion project. It works with Claude Code and other coding agents that can run shell commands.
To start, paste this prompt into your coding agent and replace the bracketed topic:
Make me a short explainer video about [your topic]. Use explainroo for it: clone the explainroo repository, read its AGENTS.md and follow the steps.The agent sets up explainroo, then creates and checks the video before returning an MP4 file. It writes script.md for the spoken words and scenes.js for the drawings. A drawing can appear on a chosen word in the narration, so scenes follow the speech.
Whisper identifies when each word is spoken so explainroo can line up the visuals with the narration. Chrome draws the video frames on an HTML canvas, and FFmpeg combines them into an MP4. explainroo also generates background music and sound effects. Its checks give the agent scene stills and a contact sheet. They also report overlapping or cut-off text and words the voice mispronounced. The example videos show the kinds of output it produces.
For a product demo, tell the agent which product to show and where to find its code or website. The agent rebuilds the screens using the product’s colors, fonts, and button labels, then shows a pointer clicking and typing as the narration explains each step. You can choose among five visual styles and wide, vertical, 4:5, or square formats. Vertical, 4:5, and square videos include word-by-word captions.
explainroo is free and open source under the MIT license. Optional AI illustrations cost money per image; the coding agent is a separate service with its own pricing. explainroo does not edit existing camera footage or create talking avatars or live-action AI footage, and it has no drag-and-drop editor. You request changes through the coding agent. See the explainroo project for setup details and code.
