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This page walks you through installing the Pictory Text-to-Video skill and connecting it to your Pictory account. You only do this once.

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Prerequisites

  • Claude Code installed: 
    npm install -g @anthropic-ai/claude-code
  • A Pictory API key. Sign in at app.pictory.ai, click your profile picture (top-right), choose API Subscription, purchase a plan, and copy the key shown on that page. Keys start with pictai_.

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Step 1: Get the skill

The skill lives in Pictory’s public GitHub repository: github.com/pictoryai/pictory-claude-skills Clone it and copy the skill folder into Claude Code’s skills directory:
Prefer automatic updates? Use a symlink instead of copying, then git pull in the cloned repository whenever you want the latest version:
ln -s "$(pwd)/pictory-claude-skills/pictory-text-to-video" ~/.claude/skills/pictory-text-to-video

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Step 2: Add your Pictory API key

The skill reads two environment variables:
VariableValue
PICTORY_API_KEYYour API key (pictai_…), required
PICTORY_API_BASE_URLhttps://api.pictory.ai/pictoryapis, the Pictory production API
Add both to your shell profile so they’re set in every terminal: 
echo 'export PICTORY_API_KEY="pictai_your_key_here"' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'export PICTORY_API_BASE_URL="https://api.pictory.ai/pictoryapis"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc
(Use ~/.bashrc instead of ~/.zshrc if your terminal runs bash.)
Treat your API key like a password. Anyone who has it can create videos on your account. Never commit it to a repository or paste it into shared documents. If it is ever exposed, regenerate it from the API Subscription page.
Put the variables in the project’s .claude/settings.local.json (this file is git-ignored by default, so the key stays off your repository):
{
  "env": {
    "PICTORY_API_KEY": "pictai_your_key_here",
    "PICTORY_API_BASE_URL": "https://api.pictory.ai/pictoryapis"
  }
}
If the key is missing when you ask for a video, the skill stops and asks you for it before making any API call. It never guesses.

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Step 3: Verify

  1. Open a new terminal (so the environment variables load) and start Claude Code: 
    claude
  2. Type /pictory-text-to-video. The skill should appear and load.
  3. Ask for a quick test:
    Make a 15-second test video about coffee. You decide everything.
If Claude Code was already running when you installed the skill, restart it. Skills are discovered when a session starts.

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Updating the skill

cd pictory-claude-skills
git pull
cp -r pictory-text-to-video ~/.claude/skills/   # skip if you used a symlink

Next: create your first real video

Example prompts, tips for great results, and troubleshooting