Skip to main content
Pictory Claude Skills let you create videos by having a conversation. Instead of writing API requests by hand, you tell Claude Code what video you want, in plain English, and the skill handles everything else: writing the script, designing the scenes, choosing visuals, adding a voice-over and music, calling the Pictory API, and handing you the finished video link.

​
What is a Claude Skill?

A Claude Skill is a folder of instructions and reference material that teaches Claude Code how to do a specific job well. When you ask for something the skill covers, Claude Code loads it automatically and follows it. There are no commands to memorize. The Pictory Text-to-Video skill teaches Claude Code to be a video producer. It knows the Pictory API inside out: every request field, which fonts and colors work well together, how to pace narration so scenes don’t run long, how to lay out text and shapes like a designer, and how to submit and track a render job.

​
What you can create

Once the skill is installed, you can say things like:
  • “Create a 60-second explainer about our new expense-tracking feature, professional tone, for YouTube.”
  • “Make a vertical Instagram teaser for our coffee brand: warm, cozy, upbeat music.”
  • “Turn this script into a tutorial video with step-by-step diagrams.” (paste your script)
  • “A 30-second product launch teaser for a smart lamp. Futuristic look, use AI-generated visuals.”
The skill plans the video scene by scene, shows you the plan, renders it through your Pictory account, and returns the MP4 link, typically in a few minutes.

​
What happens behind the scenes

1

You describe the video

Topic, or a full script if you have one. The skill asks about anything important that’s missing: video format, voice-over, music, whether AI-generated visuals are okay. Say “you decide” and it picks sensible defaults.
2

Claude writes and designs

It writes narration paced for a natural voice-over, picks a color palette and fonts that match the mood, designs each scene’s layout, and chooses stock footage (or generates AI visuals if you opted in).
3

Pictory renders

The skill submits the video to the Pictory API with your API key and checks progress every 30 seconds, keeping you posted.
4

You get the video

A direct MP4 link, a shareable player link, and, if saved as a project, an editable copy in your Pictory workspace at app.pictory.ai. Want changes? Just say what to change and it re-renders.

​
What you need

RequirementDetails
Claude CodeAnthropic’s AI coding assistant, free to install: claude.com/claude-code
A Claude planPro, Max, Team, or an Anthropic API key
A Pictory API subscriptionThe skill renders through your account: get an API key
Python 3Pre-installed on macOS and most Linux systems; used by the skill’s helper script

Install & Configure

Get the skill running in about five minutes

Create Videos

Example prompts, tips, and troubleshooting