How do I install the Screenkite Transcription Cut skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add screenkite/screenkite-transcription-cut in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Screenkite Transcription Cut safe to use?

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Which AI agents work with Screenkite Transcription Cut?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Screenkite Transcription Cut free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Screenkite Transcription Cut?

screenkite (@screenkite) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Screenkite Transcription Cut by screenkite

Name: Screenkite Transcription Cut
Author: screenkite

Screenkite Transcription Cut

Transcribe a ScreenKite recording's mic audio, detect silence gaps in the word-level transcript, and cut those gaps from the timeline using editTimeline action=cut. Use when the user asks to "remove silences", "auto-cut dead air", "transcript-based cut", or "clean up pauses" in a .skbundle project. Do NOT use for B-roll overlay work (see use-screenkite-advanced-b-roll). Do NOT use when no .skbundle is open.

screenkite Updated Sep 17, 2026

File contents

screenkite-transcription-cut

Remove silence gaps from a ScreenKite recording based on the mic transcript.

Prerequisites

screenkite CLI at /usr/local/bin/screenkite.
ELEVEN_LABS_API_KEY (underscored) in a .env anywhere up from the bundle.
ffmpeg on PATH.
python3 + requests (pip install requests).

Phase 1 — Open project

/usr/local/bin/screenkite agent project open \
  --path '<absolute-path-to.skbundle>' --json

Confirm the project is current:

/usr/local/bin/screenkite agent project current --json

Phase 2 — Transcribe mic audio

Mic audio lives at <bundle>/media/microphone_*.m4a.

python3 scripts/transcribe_mic.py \
  '<bundle>/media/microphone_<name>.m4a' \
  --edit-dir '<bundle-parent>/<slug>-edit' \
  --language en \        # or zho, auto-detect if omitted
  --num-speakers 1
# Output: <edit-dir>/transcripts/<stem>.json  (word-level, cached)

Script is a thin wrapper around ElevenLabs Scribe. Re-running is a no-op if the JSON already exists.

Phase 3 — Compute silence cut ranges

python3 scripts/compute_silence_cuts.py \
  '<edit-dir>/transcripts/<stem>.json' \
  --min-silence 0.8 \       # seconds — gaps shorter than this are kept
  --pad 0.15 \              # seconds to keep at each edge of the gap
  --output '<edit-dir>/cuts.json'

Inspect cuts.json before applying. It lists [{start, end, gap_s}, ...] sorted by start time. Adjust --min-silence if too many or too few cuts.

Typical values:

0.5s — aggressive, catches short breath pauses
0.8s — balanced default
1.5s — conservative, only obvious dead air

Phase 4 — Dry-run review (mandatory first pass)

python3 scripts/compute_silence_cuts.py \
  '<edit-dir>/transcripts/<stem>.json' \
  --min-silence 0.8 --pad 0.15 \
  --dry-run          # prints human-readable table, no file written

Show the table to the user. Confirm count and longest gaps look right. Do not apply cuts until the user confirms.

Phase 5 — Apply cuts

/usr/local/bin/screenkite agent tool call \
  --name editTimeline \
  --input-json "$(python3 scripts/compute_silence_cuts.py \
      '<edit-dir>/transcripts/<stem>.json' \
      --min-silence 0.8 --pad 0.15 --emit-tool-input)" \
  --json

--emit-tool-input prints {"action":"cut","parameters":{"ranges":[...]}}.

Or pass the saved cuts.json directly:

python3 scripts/apply_cuts.py '<edit-dir>/cuts.json'

apply_cuts.py reads cuts.json, calls the ScreenKite CLI, and prints the updated clip count returned by the tool.

Phase 6 — Verify

/usr/local/bin/screenkite agent tool call \
  --name getProjectState --input-json '{"scope":"summary"}' --json

Check duration shrank by roughly the total gap seconds. Scrub in ScreenKite to spot-check.

If a cut is wrong: editTimeline action=undo (repeat per bad cut).

Anti-patterns

Never run without dry-run first. cut is destructive and undo is one-step-at-a-time.
Don't use the B-roll skill for this. That skill uses setSceneLayout, which does not remove content.
Don't set --min-silence below 0.3s. Sub-300ms gaps are rarely true dead air and cuts there feel choppy.
Don't cut without opening the project first. CLI calls without a current project silently fail.

---name: screenkite-transcription-cutdescription: Transcribe a ScreenKite recording's mic audio, detect silence gaps in the word-level transcript, and cut those gaps from the timeline using editTimeline action=cut. Use when the user asks to "remove silences", "auto-cut dead air", "transcript-based cut", or "clean up pauses" in a .skbundle project. Do NOT use for B-roll overlay work (see use-screenkite-advanced-b-roll). Do NOT use when no .skbundle is open.---# screenkite-transcription-cutRemove silence gaps from a ScreenKite recording based on the mic transcript.## Prerequisites- `screenkite` CLI at `/usr/local/bin/screenkite`.- `ELEVEN_LABS_API_KEY` (underscored) in a `.env` anywhere up from the bundle.- `ffmpeg` on PATH.- `python3` + `requests` (`pip install requests`).## Phase 1 — Open project```bash/usr/local/bin/screenkite agent project open \ --path '<absolute-path-to.skbundle>' --json```Confirm the project is current:```bash/usr/local/bin/screenkite agent project current --json```## Phase 2 — Transcribe mic audioMic audio lives at `<bundle>/media/microphone_*.m4a`.```bashpython3 scripts/transcribe_mic.py \ '<bundle>/media/microphone_<name>.m4a' \ --edit-dir '<bundle-parent>/<slug>-edit' \ --language en \ # or zho, auto-detect if omitted --num-speakers 1# Output: <edit-dir>/transcripts/<stem>.json (word-level, cached)```> Script is a thin wrapper around ElevenLabs Scribe. Re-running is a no-op if> the JSON already exists.## Phase 3 — Compute silence cut ranges```bashpython3 scripts/compute_silence_cuts.py \ '<edit-dir>/transcripts/<stem>.json' \ --min-silence 0.8 \ # seconds — gaps shorter than this are kept --pad 0.15 \ # seconds to keep at each edge of the gap --output '<edit-dir>/cuts.json'```Inspect `cuts.json` before applying. It lists `[{start, end, gap_s}, ...]`sorted by start time. Adjust `--min-silence` if too many or too few cuts.Typical values:- `0.5s` — aggressive, catches short breath pauses- `0.8s` — balanced default- `1.5s` — conservative, only obvious dead air## Phase 4 — Dry-run review (mandatory first pass)```bashpython3 scripts/compute_silence_cuts.py \ '<edit-dir>/transcripts/<stem>.json' \ --min-silence 0.8 --pad 0.15 \ --dry-run # prints human-readable table, no file written```Show the table to the user. Confirm count and longest gaps look right.**Do not apply cuts until the user confirms.**## Phase 5 — Apply cuts```bash/usr/local/bin/screenkite agent tool call \ --name editTimeline \ --input-json "$(python3 scripts/compute_silence_cuts.py \ '<edit-dir>/transcripts/<stem>.json' \ --min-silence 0.8 --pad 0.15 --emit-tool-input)" \ --json````--emit-tool-input` prints `{"action":"cut","parameters":{"ranges":[...]}}`.Or pass the saved `cuts.json` directly:```bashpython3 scripts/apply_cuts.py '<edit-dir>/cuts.json'````apply_cuts.py` reads cuts.json, calls the ScreenKite CLI, and prints theupdated clip count returned by the tool.## Phase 6 — Verify```bash/usr/local/bin/screenkite agent tool call \ --name getProjectState --input-json '{"scope":"summary"}' --json```Check `duration` shrank by roughly the total gap seconds. Scrub in ScreenKiteto spot-check.If a cut is wrong: `editTimeline action=undo` (repeat per bad cut).## Anti-patterns- **Never run without dry-run first.** `cut` is destructive and undo is one-step-at-a-time.- **Don't use the B-roll skill for this.** That skill uses `setSceneLayout`, which does not remove content.- **Don't set `--min-silence` below 0.3s.** Sub-300ms gaps are rarely true dead air and cuts there feel choppy.- **Don't cut without opening the project first.** CLI calls without a current project silently fail.

Frequently asked questions