# Shotstack Documentation

> Shotstack is a cloud-based video editing API that enables developers to automate video generation at scale using JSON and natural language workflows.

This is the LLM-friendly index of the Shotstack guide documentation, generated from the docs corpus and sidebar structure. It lists every guide page with a short description.

## Using these docs programmatically

- Every page is available as raw Markdown: append `.md` to any docs URL (e.g. `https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/getting-started/core-concepts.md`). The links below already point to the `.md` versions.
- For the entire guide as a single file, fetch `https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/llms-full.txt`.
- For a machine-readable list of every Markdown URL, see `https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/sitemap-md.xml`.
- Endpoint-level details (parameters, status codes, error responses) are documented in the API reference at `https://shotstack.io/docs/api/`, which is a separate site not covered by this file. The full OpenAPI spec for the Edit API is one machine-readable file at `https://shotstack.io/docs/api/api.edit.json`: use it to check property names and enum values. Rate limits are on the Limitations page (`https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/limitations.md`).
- Environments: the sandbox (`stage`, for example `https://api.shotstack.io/edit/stage/render`) renders for free with a watermark, AI assets are still charged and it needs at least 1 credit in your balance. Production (`v1`, for example `https://api.shotstack.io/edit/v1/render`) uses credits and has no watermark. New accounts get 10 free credits (10 minutes of production video), valid for 30 days, with no credit card needed. See `https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/getting-started/request-api-keys.md`.
- If a documentation link returns 404, the page was likely renamed or removed. Re-fetch this index or `llms-full.txt` and search it rather than guessing alternative URLs.

## Overview

- [What is Shotstack?](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/what-is-shotstack.md): Shotstack is a video editor that runs in the cloud and is driven by software. AI agents, automations and apps send an edit, and Shotstack returns the finished video.

## Getting Started

- [Edit Videos Using Code](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/getting-started/core-concepts.md): Learn the basics of how a video edit is put together using JSON
- [Quickstart with an AI agent](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/getting-started/quickstart-agent.md): Make your first Shotstack video with Claude Code, Cursor, Codex CLI or another AI agent. Preview it in Studio with no API key, then render it when you're ready.
- [Hello World](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/getting-started/hello-world-using-curl.md): Create your first video in 5 minutes using the command line and Curl. Covers the render request, the render status values (queued, fetching, preprocessing, generating, rendering, saving, done, failed) and serving the video from the CDN.
- [Request API Keys](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/getting-started/request-api-keys.md): Sign up to get sandbox and production API keys. New accounts get 10 free credits (10 minutes of production video with no watermark), valid for 30 days. No credit card needed.

## AI Agents

- [AI agents](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/agents.md): Let your AI agent make videos with Shotstack. It writes the edit, you review it in Studio, and Shotstack renders it once or for every record in your data.
- [MCP Server](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/agents/mcp-server.md): Connect Shotstack to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code, JetBrains, and other AI clients.
- [CLI + Skill](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/agents/cli.md): Use Shotstack from a terminal. The CLI and its skill let coding agents write, check, preview and render videos.
- [Director](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/agents/director.md): Director is Shotstack's own AI agent, built into Studio in your dashboard. Describe a video and it builds and edits the timeline with you.
- [Your own agent](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/agents/your-own-agent.md): Give your own AI agent a Shotstack render tool. Connect it to the MCP server, or define one tool that sends an edit to the Edit API.
- [From draft to production](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/agents/draft-to-production.md): Turn an agent's draft into a template your app renders for every record, with no agent in the loop.
- [Edit JSON conventions for AI](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/agents/conventions.md): The authoring rules every agent needs to compose valid Shotstack Edit JSON — track ordering, asset types, fonts, and the top 5 mistakes.

## Editing Assets

- [Editing Videos, Images and Audio](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/guidelines.md): Guidelines on how to create an application incorporating the Shotstack API.
- [Rich Text](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/rich-text.md): Create advanced animated text with gradients, shadows, and effects
- [Positioning](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/positioning.md): Position assets precisely on the video canvas using position, offset, fit, and scale properties
- [SVG](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/svg.md): Create scalable vector graphics using raw SVG markup
- [HTML5](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/html5.md): Render self-contained HTML, CSS, and JavaScript pages as animated video clips
- [Rich Captions](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/rich-captions.md): Add styled captions with word-level animations and karaoke effects. Captions can be auto-generated from a video or audio clip, including generated speech, in the same render using alias://, so no separate transcription step or SRT file is needed.
- [Aliases](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/aliases.md): Reference clips by name to synchronize timing and enable auto-captioning
- [Smart Clips](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/smart-clips.md): Automatic timing of clips
- [Merging Data](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/merging-data.md): How to merge data and build templates with merge fields
- [Animations](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/animations.md): How to add animations to your video
- [Masking with Luma Mattes](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/masks-luma-mattes.md): How to use luma mattes to mask clips
- [Chromakey](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/chromakey.md): Adding a chromakey to your video
- [Inspecting Assets](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/inspect-assets.md): Inspect and view metadata for a media file using the probe endpoint
- [Temporary Output Files](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/temporary-files.md): Rendered files are hosted on the Shotstack CDN by default and stay there. Only the temporary url in the render status response expires after 24 hours.
- [Templates](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/templates.md): How to use templates, placeholders and merge fields
- [Automation Tools](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/automation-tools.md): Render Shotstack videos from n8n, Make and Zapier. Each app renders an edit or a saved template and returns the finished file, so a workflow can make a video for every new row, form or record.
- [Webhooks](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/webhooks.md): Receive callback POST notifications whenever the status of a render completes or fails
- [Caching](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/caching.md): Caching assets and source footage to speed up render times and reduce bandwidth
- [Limitations](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/architecting-an-application/limitations.md): Rate limits per API key for production and the sandbox, render time, sandbox rules (watermark, 10-minute maximum render, at least 1 credit needed) and disk space limits.

## Generating Assets with AI

- [Generating Assets with AI](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/generating-assets/generative-ai.md): Generate video, images, speech and music from a text prompt, inside a render or on their own with the generate endpoint. Covers choosing a model, when an asset is generated, reuse of earlier generations, storage, legacy asset types and using your own provider.
- [AI Video Generation](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/generating-assets/ai-video-generation.md): Generate video from a prompt, or animate a start image, with Seedance, Wan and Gemini Omni Flash models. Covers start and end images, length, aspect ratio, audio and how to write video prompts.
- [AI Image Generation](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/generating-assets/ai-image-generation.md): Generate images from a prompt, or edit existing images with reference images, using Nano Banana and GPT Image models. Covers resolution, aspect ratio, image editing and how to write image prompts.
- [AI Speech Generation](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/generating-assets/ai-speech-generation.md): Turn a script into a voiceover with ElevenLabs, MiniMax and Amazon Polly speech models. Covers voices, languages, voice settings, clip length and captions.
- [AI Music Generation](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/generating-assets/ai-music-generation.md): Generate music from a prompt with ElevenLabs Music, with or without vocals, or plan a track section by section with styles, lyrics and exact durations.
- [AI Generation Pricing](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/generating-assets/ai-generation-pricing.md): How AI generation is charged in credits, what each model's price depends on, how to get a quote before you generate, when generation is free, and what happens in the sandbox.

## Serving Assets

- [Host and Serve Video and Images](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/serving-assets/hosting.md): Learn how to host and serve videos and images with Shotstack’s CDN and Serve API. Securely store, stream, and manage assets with built-in hosting and storage solutions.
- [Manage Hosted Assets with the Serve API](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/serving-assets/serve-api.md): Host and manage your videos, images, and audio with Shotstack’s built-in CDN and Serve API. Instantly deliver high-quality assets globally with secure, high-availability storage.
- [Shotstack Hosting Asset Webhook](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/serving-assets/polling-vs-webhook.md): Receive a webhook when an asset is copied to the Shotstack CDN
- [Opt-out from Shotstack Hosting](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/serving-assets/self-host.md): Use your own hosting service and ot-out from Shotstack's built in service

## Destinations

- [Distribute Assets Using Destinations](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/serving-assets/destinations.md): Distribute videos, images and audio to your own hosting, storage or social media accounts
- [Shotstack Destination](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/serving-assets/destinations/shotstack.md): How to host and manage your videos and images using the Shotstack CDN and Serve API.
- [S3 Destination](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/serving-assets/destinations/s3.md): Easily transfer videos from Shotstack to your AWS S3 bucket for secure storage and fast distribution.
- [Google Cloud Storage Destination](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/serving-assets/destinations/google-cloud-storage.md): Send videos and assets from Shotstack to your Google Cloud Storage bucket for secure storage and distribution.
- [Azure Blob Storage Destination](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/serving-assets/destinations/azure-blob-storage.md): Send videos and assets from Shotstack to your Azure Blob Storage container for secure storage and distribution.
- [Google Drive Destination](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/serving-assets/destinations/google-drive.md): Distribute videos to Google Drive
- [Akamai NetStorage Destination](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/serving-assets/destinations/akamai-netstorage.md): Send videos and assets from Shotstack to your Akamai NetStorage storage group for CDN distribution.
- [Vimeo Destination](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/serving-assets/destinations/vimeo.md): Upload videos to Vimeo

## Ingesting Footage

- [Ingest and Transform Source Footage](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/ingesting-footage/ingestion.md): How to ingest videos, images, audio files and fonts to use in video edits, and how to create and transform them into renditions.
- [Ingest Files with the Ingest API](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/ingesting-footage/ingest-api.md): How to fetch and download videos, images, audio files and fonts using the Ingest API.
- [Ingesting and Uploading Source Files](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/ingesting-footage/sources.md): How to fetch and upload source videos, images, audio files and fonts using the Ingest API.
- [Creating Renditions from Source Files](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/ingesting-footage/renditions.md): How to create renditions from source files using transformations such as resizing, cropping, changing the aspect ratio and quality.
- [Shotstack Ingestion Webhook](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/ingesting-footage/polling-vs-webhook.md): Receive a webhook when an asset is ingested or a rendition processed

## Studio SDK

- [Studio SDK](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/studio-sdk/studio-sdk.md): Embed previews and video editing capabilities into your application

## Optional

- [API Reference](https://shotstack.io/docs/guide/api-reference.md): Comprehensive API reference with JSON and code examples.