If you make Shorts, you may already have ChatGPT or Claude open all day. You plan your scripts there, write your titles there and ask for hook ideas there. Then you switch to a video editor, drag the clip in, cut the pauses, type the captions and change the frame to vertical. It's the same few steps on every Short.
I'm Fred Abila, and I build Vidmoat, a hosted AI video editor. You get a real multi-track timeline in the browser and a chat with Otto, our editing agent, who works on that same timeline. Tell Otto "make this a punchy Short with captions" and it cuts, captions and reframes where you can see it, and every change stays editable. The same projects open in the iPhone, Android, Mac and Windows apps (vidmoat.com/download). You can also send a clip to @vidmoat_bot on Telegram and get the edited video back in the chat.
This guide covers another way in, for people who live in ChatGPT or Claude: connect the assistant to Vidmoat and make your Shorts and Reels by chatting with it. No code is needed.
What you get
Here is the workflow for one clip:
- You give the assistant a clip (or a link to one) and say what you want: vertical, captions, tight pacing, a hook on screen.
- The assistant uses Vidmoat to build the edit on a real timeline: a 9:16 canvas, the dead air cut out, word-timed captions from the audio.
- You look at a few frames, ask for fixes, and export an MP4.
- If anything is off, you open the same project in the Vidmoat editor and fix it by hand. Nothing is locked inside a chat.
ChatGPT and Claude can't open an MP4 and cut it on their own. Connected to Vidmoat, they call editing tools on your project, and the result is an ordinary Vidmoat project.
Step 1: Create a free Vidmoat account
Sign up at vidmoat.com/auth/signup. The free Hobby plan needs no card. Exports on Hobby are 720p with a small watermark. Paid plans remove the watermark and unlock 4K. The pricing page has the details.
Step 2: Connect ChatGPT or Claude
Connecting is free and works on every Vidmoat plan, including Hobby. You don't need an API key.
The address you need is https://api.vidmoat.com/api/mcp. MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the standard way for assistants to plug into outside tools. You only need it for this one paste.
In Claude: open the connector settings, add a custom connector, name it Vidmoat, and paste the address. Claude opens the Vidmoat sign-in and approval screen. Sign in as yourself and approve.
In ChatGPT: add a connector with the same address as the server URL. Some ChatGPT workspaces require developer mode for this. Sign in to Vidmoat when asked.
If the form asks for a Client ID and Client Secret: open API & MCP in your Vidmoat dashboard, under the Build group, and copy the App Client ID and Client Secret shown there. They identify the Vidmoat app to the connector, and they are safe to paste. You still sign in yourself, and nobody gets into your account from them.
On the approval screen, check the address where the authorization code will be sent. If you didn't start the connection yourself, stop there. Most connectors ask for full account access, which means they can read and change your projects, start renders and use AI features that spend your credits. The button says so.
Menus in ChatGPT and Claude change often, and which of their own plans allow custom connectors is their rule, not ours. If you can't find the option, check their help pages.
Step 3: Ask for the Short
Be specific. Say the format, the length you're aiming for, what goes on screen, and that you want to see frames before it exports. Here is a brief I'd use for a talking-head clip:
Import my clip from this link into a new Vidmoat project called "Short: morning routine". Make it 9:16 vertical and keep me in frame. Cut the long pauses but keep natural breathing gaps. Add bold, readable captions from what I say. Put a short hook title at the top for the first three seconds. Tell me before any step that costs credits, and show me the opening frame and one caption frame before you export.
For Reels, ask for the same thing. Both formats are vertical, so one 9:16 edit can serve both.
The assistant usually does this in steps: create the project, import the clip, transcribe the speech for word timings, set the 9:16 canvas, frame the clip, lay the captions and add the hook. Vidmoat sends back layout warnings for problems like overlapping text, text off the edge of the frame, or type too small to read, and the assistant can fix those before you see the result.
Step 4: Check the frames, then fix by hand
A successful edit is not proof that it looks right. Ask the assistant to show you a few frames: the opening, a caption in the middle, the ending. Look for captions covering your face, a hook cut off at the edge, or a cut that lands mid-word.
Then open the project in the Vidmoat editor, in the browser or in the app. Play it with the sound on. You'll see every clip, caption and title on the timeline. Drag a caption, swap the caption style, trim the last half-second. If a word was misheard, select it in the Transcript panel and press Correct. That fixes the text without touching the timing. Then re-run the captions so they pick up the correction.
Step 5: Export and post
When it looks right, export an MP4 from the editor, or ask the assistant to render it and give you the download link. Vidmoat can publish straight to YouTube and TikTok. Instagram publishing is listed as coming, so for Reels, download the MP4 and upload it in Instagram yourself.
About captions and languages
This is what Vidmoat's captions help page documents, and I'd rather you know the limits up front:
- Captions are generated from the audio, with word-level timing. That's what makes the highlighted word move along as you speak.
- The language is detected from the speech, so you don't pick one. Captions come out in the language spoken.
- There is a caption style called Devanagari Bold, made for Hindi. If your clip is in Hindi, check every line before you post, and fix anything that's off in the Transcript panel.
- If a file is still uploading, it's transcribed in your browser with a model that handles English only. Wait for the upload to finish before captioning.
- Captions are burned into the video. Vidmoat can't import or export SRT or VTT subtitle files.
- Clips longer than 30 minutes can't be captioned in one go. Split a long recording first.
- If you already have a script, there's a free way to time it across the clip instead of transcribing. The timing is estimated rather than heard, so it can drift on a long take.
Captions are only as good as the audio. Before you post, read them the way your viewers will, on a phone.
Prefer to skip the assistant?
You don't need ChatGPT or Claude to do any of this. Otto, Vidmoat's own agent, does the same edit inside the editor: type the request and watch it work on the timeline. On your phone, send the clip to @vidmoat_bot on Telegram with a line like "cut the silence, add captions, make it vertical", and the finished video comes back in the chat. WhatsApp and Discord work the same way once you link them from your dashboard. Telegram caps bot uploads at 20 MB, so start long recordings in the browser editor or the apps.
Honest limits
Vidmoat is young, and a small operation compared with the bigger players. An assistant is quick at the mechanical part of a Short: cutting pauses, adding captions, reframing, then repeating it on the next clip. It's weaker at taste. Which moment makes the best hook, and whether a joke lands, are still your call.
The assistant also inherits your Vidmoat plan exactly. On the free plan its exports carry the small watermark, and its AI actions spend credits from your own balance. Generation steps say what they cost, so ask it to tell you before it spends.
To disconnect an assistant later, go to vidmoat.com/oauth/connected, press Revoke on its row, and confirm.
FAQ
Can ChatGPT or Claude edit a video on their own?
No. They can't open and cut an MP4 by themselves. Connected to Vidmoat, they call editing tools on your project, and you get a real timeline you can open and change.
Do I need a paid plan to connect ChatGPT or Claude?
No. Connecting with a sign-in works on every Vidmoat plan, including free Hobby. Hobby exports are 720p with a small watermark.
Can one edit work for both YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels?
Yes, both are vertical. Ask for a 9:16 edit, export the MP4, and post it to both.
Will the captions be in my language?
Captions come out in the language spoken in the clip. Vidmoat includes a Devanagari Bold caption style for Hindi. Check the captions before posting and correct any misheard words in the Transcript panel.
Can I download an SRT file for YouTube?
Not today. Captions are burned into the video, and SRT and VTT import and export aren't supported.
Do I have to use the assistant?
No. You can ask Otto in the Vidmoat editor, or text a clip to @vidmoat_bot on Telegram.
Make your next Short
Create a free account, connect ChatGPT or Claude, and send it your next clip with the brief above. Then open the project, check the captions, and post. Start free at vidmoat.com/auth/signup.
Fred Abila builds Vidmoat.
