ChatCut Desktop

ChatCut Desktop is the native version of the ChatCut editor. It is designed for local media, local rendering, and agent-assisted editing on the computer where your footage already lives.

It supports two different agent workflows:

• Run ChatCut, Claude Code, Codex CLI, or Hermes Agent from the AI composer inside ChatCut Desktop.
• Open Claude Code Desktop or the Codex desktop app and let that external app control the open ChatCut Desktop project through ChatCut’s local MCP connection.

These workflows are related, but they are not the same as installing the ChatCut Agent Plugin.

Choose the right ChatCut product

The Agent Plugin does not install into the ChatCut web editor, Claude’s website, or ChatGPT’s website.

Download and install ChatCut Desktop

1. Open the ChatCut web app and sign in.
2. Click your avatar in the top-right corner.
3. Hover over Desktop App.
4. Click Download beside your platform: macOS — Apple silicon, macOS — Intel, or Windows.
5. Open the downloaded installer and finish the operating-system prompts.
6. Launch ChatCut Desktop and sign in to the same ChatCut account.

Linux is not currently listed as a download option.

Update ChatCut Desktop

ChatCut Desktop checks for updates and downloads an available build in the background. When the download finishes, it offers to restart immediately or finish later. Deferring one restart does not hide later versions.

If the background update fails or you need to reinstall manually, download the current installer and install it over the existing copy:

1. Quit ChatCut Desktop.
2. Open the ChatCut web app, click your avatar in the top-right corner, and hover over Desktop App.
3. Click Download beside your platform.
4. On macOS, open the downloaded disk image and drag ChatCut onto Applications, confirming the replacement. On Windows, run the downloaded installer.
5. Launch ChatCut Desktop and sign in if prompted.

Your projects live in your ChatCut account, so reinstalling does not remove them. Local media stays where it is on disk. If a project reopens with media marked missing, repair it with Relink File rather than importing the files again — see My Assets / Media Pool.

Import local or online media

In ChatCut Desktop, open a project, select My Assets, click the Upload button in its toolbar, and choose Files… or Folder…. You can also drag files from Finder or File Explorer into the media library.

The desktop app remembers the original local file location and can read supported media directly from your computer for editing and local export. This is useful for long recordings, multi-camera shoots, and large source folders that would otherwise need to upload before you could begin.

Some cloud features still need network access. For example, an AI generation service may need to upload the references required for that generation. “Local media” does not mean every ChatCut feature runs offline.

To import a video or audio URL, choose My Assets → Upload → URL…. Desktop checks the source first, then shows the compatible resolution, frame-rate, audio-language, and audio-quality choices. The download appears in the shared task queue and enters the current project only after processing succeeds.

Cloud-only projects can also be imported from their card or row in the Desktop project library. The card shows download progress and retryable errors; if you opened the project while starting the import, Desktop opens it automatically when it is ready.

Use a local agent inside ChatCut Desktop

This workflow runs your installed local agent from inside ChatCut Desktop.

1. Open a project in ChatCut Desktop.
2. Open the AI panel if it is collapsed.
3. At the bottom of the AI composer, click the current agent button next to the message field.
4. Under Agent Selection, choose ChatCut, Claude Code, Codex CLI, or Hermes Agent.
5. If ChatCut shows Sign in, complete that agent’s sign-in flow.
6. Enter your editing request and send it. The selected agent can inspect and change the current project’s timeline through ChatCut’s tools.

Claude Code, Codex CLI, and Hermes Agent appear when compatible local installations are detected. If one is missing, signed out, or cannot start, its row explains the required installation or sign-in step. Selecting a local agent uses that provider’s own account and quota, not the built-in ChatCut Agent quota.

Give the local agent more project context

Because Claude Code and Codex run on your computer, you can ask them to use material outside the video project—such as a script, brief, PDF, spreadsheet, website, or codebase—as context for an edit, subject to that agent’s file and network permissions. These files inform the agent; they do not automatically become timeline media. Import the actual video, image, and audio files you want to use through My Assets.

You keep normal editor control while the agent works. Review its changes in the Viewer and Timeline, then trim, reorder, or restyle anything manually. Before trying a different direction, click Versions in the top bar and choose Save Current Version to save a named timeline snapshot you can return to later.

Let an external desktop agent control ChatCut Desktop through MCP

This is the reverse direction: the conversation stays in Claude Code Desktop or the Codex desktop app, while the agent operates the project currently open in ChatCut Desktop.

1. Install and open ChatCut Desktop at least once.
2. Make sure Claude Code Desktop or the Codex desktop app is installed on the same computer.
3. Open the ChatCut project you want the agent to edit.
4. Open the external desktop agent app and ask it to edit the project with ChatCut.
5. When the connection is active, ChatCut Desktop shows an agent icon in the top bar. Click it to see ChatGPT or Claude Code and its connection status.
6. Click the agent’s name to return to its conversation. If ChatCut shows Reconnect, click it to repair the local MCP connection.

ChatCut Desktop attempts to register its local MCP server with supported agents it detects. Both apps must run on the same computer, and ChatCut Desktop must be open for the external agent to control its current native project.

This local MCP bridge is separate from the Agent Plugin’s hosted ChatCut connection. See Agent Plugin: Desktop-app support and installation for that workflow.

Export locally in 4K or HDR

1. Add at least one item to the timeline.
2. Click Export in the top bar.
3. Open the Video tab.
4. Choose SDR or HDR under Dynamic Range.
5. Choose 480p, 720p, 1080p, or 4K under Resolution.
6. Choose a frame rate, export range, and destination, then start the export.

Video export in ChatCut Desktop renders on your computer and saves to the folder you select. HDR is available only when the current computer supports it; otherwise the HDR option is disabled and the panel says HDR export is not available on this computer.

For the other export tabs, formats, and web-app limits, see Exporting.

What still uses the cloud?

ChatCut Desktop is not a fully offline application. Account sign-in, project synchronization, the built-in ChatCut Agent, hosted generation models, and other server-backed features need an internet connection. Local Claude Code or Codex execution may also call its provider’s online service.

The practical difference is that Desktop can begin from local media and perform supported video rendering locally; it is not a promise that every tool avoids the network.