Feature

Video Clipping API: Turn Long Videos Into Shorts From Your Code

Q: Does StoryCut have an API?

Yes. The StoryCut REST API starts AI Clips runs from a YouTube link, lists the clips with their virality scores and exports them as MP4, with signed webhooks when each step is done. It is included in the Starter, Pro and Business plans.

Q: How much does the API cost?

Nothing on top of your plan, from $7/mo billed yearly. Each run uses one of your plan’s monthly AI Clips videos: 10 on Starter, 50 on Pro, 100 on Business. There are no per-minute or per-request fees. The free plan does not include the API.

Q: Which videos can I send?

Public YouTube links of 2 to 150 minutes. Private, members-only and age-restricted videos can’t be read. To make clips from a file on your computer, upload it on the website.

Q: How long does a run take?

About 10 to 15 minutes for a long video. Add a webhook for run.completed to be told when it’s done, or check GET /v1/runs/{id}, which also gives the progress in %.

Q: What does the API return?

For each clip: its id, title, description, virality score out of 100, start and end in the source video, length, a preview link and the link to edit it in StoryCut. An export gives a 9:16 MP4 up to 1080p, without a watermark.

Q: How do I check that a webhook came from StoryCut?

Every webhook carries an X-StoryCut-Signature header: sha256= followed by the HMAC-SHA256 of the raw request body, made with your webhook’s secret. Compute the same value on your server and compare. Answer with a 2xx status within 10 seconds; otherwise StoryCut tries again after 10 seconds and after 1 minute.

Q: Can I edit a clip before exporting it?

Yes. Open the clip’s edit link in the StoryCut editor, change the captions or add zooms, music or sound effects, and the next export through the API uses those edits.

Q: Are there rate limits?

120 requests a minute per API key. Runs are limited by your plan’s monthly AI Clips videos; GET /v1/usage tells you what’s left.

Q: How does it compare with the OpusClip, Submagic and Vizard APIs?

All of them start clips from a YouTube link. StoryCut’s API starts at $9/mo ($7/mo billed yearly) and counts runs, not minutes: a 90-minute podcast is one of your plan’s monthly videos. As of October 21, 2026, OpusClip’s API is on its Pro plan ($29 a month, or $14.50 billed yearly) with up to 15 hours of API clipping a month, Submagic includes 10 to 100 API minutes a month with packs from $57, and Vizard uses your plan’s upload minutes. The table above links each source.

Q: Does OpusClip have an API?

Yes. OpusClip’s documentation (checked on October 21, 2026) puts API access on its Pro (beta), Max and Business plans, billed in credits of one minute each with a 10-credit minimum per project. StoryCut’s API is included from its Starter plan, at $7/mo billed yearly.

Send a YouTube link. StoryCut finds the best moments, reframes them to 9:16 around the speaker, adds animated captions and scores each clip. Read the clips, export them as MP4 and get a webhook when each step is done.

Get your API key

Included in Starter, Pro and Business
No per-minute API fees
Signed webhooks

Updated October 21, 2026

The StoryCut API: key facts

What it does: Turns a YouTube video into up to 12 vertical clips, each with animated captions, a title and a virality score from 0 to 100, then exports any clip as an MP4.
Input: A public YouTube link, 2 to 150 minutes long (a longer video is used for its first 150 minutes). Clip length: short (15–30 s), medium (30–59 s) or long (60–89 s).
Output: JSON with each clip’s title, score, start and end, a preview link and an edit link. Exports are 9:16 MP4s up to 1080p without a watermark, with a download link valid 24 hours.
Webhooks: run.completed, run.failed, export.completed and export.failed, each signed with HMAC-SHA256. Up to 5 endpoints per account.
Price: Included in Starter ($7/mo billed yearly), Pro and Business. A run uses one of the plan’s monthly AI Clips videos: 10, 50 or 100. No per-minute fees.
Limits: 120 requests a minute per API key. A run takes about 10 to 15 minutes.

What the StoryCut API does

The API runs the same AI Clips engine as the StoryCut website. You send a YouTube link; the AI reads the transcript, picks the moments with a strong opening and a complete thought, reframes each one to vertical around faces and the active speaker, adds animated captions and gives it a virality score. Your code reads the clips, best first, and exports the ones it wants.

Everything lands on your StoryCut account. Every clip also has an edit link: open it in the StoryCut editor to change the caption style or add zooms, music or sound effects, and the next export through the API uses those edits.

For developers

From a YouTube link to an MP4 in three calls

Send your API key as a Bearer token. Every answer is JSON; errors come back as { "error": { "code", "message" } } with the HTTP status.

# 1. Start a run
curl https://app.storycut.com/v1/runs \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $STORYCUT_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"youtube_url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID", "clip_length": "short"}'

# 2. About 10-15 minutes later (or on the run.completed webhook): the clips, best first
curl https://app.storycut.com/v1/runs/RUN_ID/clips -H "Authorization: Bearer $STORYCUT_KEY"

# 3. Export a clip, then get its download link
curl -X POST https://app.storycut.com/v1/clips/CLIP_ID/export -H "Authorization: Bearer $STORYCUT_KEY"
curl https://app.storycut.com/v1/exports/EXPORT_ID -H "Authorization: Bearer $STORYCUT_KEY"

Base URL: https://app.storycut.com/v1. The full reference, your keys and your webhooks are in StoryCut under API & Integrations.

Endpoints

POST /v1/runs

Starts a run from a YouTube link, with the clip length you want. Answers at once with the run id.

GET /v1/runs/{id}

The run’s status (processing, completed or failed), its progress in % and the number of clips.

GET /v1/runs/{id}/clips

The clips, best first: title, score, start and end, preview link and edit link.

POST /v1/clips/{id}/export

Exports a clip with its captions and the edits saved on it. GET /v1/exports/{id} gives the download link.

Webhooks

StoryCut sends a signed POST to your server when a run or an export finishes or fails, so you don’t have to keep checking.

GET /v1/usage

Your plan and what it has left this month, so a script can stop before the limit.

Your code

Your code starts it. A webhook tells you it’s done.

A run takes about 10 to 15 minutes, so you don’t have to wait on it. Add a webhook and StoryCut calls your server with run.completed when the clips are ready, then export.completed with the download link once a clip is rendered. Each request is signed with your webhook’s secret, so your server can check it came from StoryCut.

Code that starts a StoryCut run and handles its webhooks, next to the finished clips with virality scores and an export.completed event with a download link

How It Works

How to start with the API

01
Create a key
On a Starter, Pro or Business plan, open API & Integrations in StoryCut and click Create key. It is shown once: keep it in your server’s environment.
02
Start a run
POST /v1/runs with a YouTube link. The answer comes back at once with the run id.
03
Get the clips
Wait for the run.completed webhook, or check GET /v1/runs/{id}. Then read the clips, best first.
04
Export
POST /v1/clips/{id}/export. The download link arrives with export.completed, or from GET /v1/exports/{id}.

What people automate with it

Podcast and webinar pipelines

A new episode goes up, your script sends the link, and the best clips are ready about 15 minutes later.

n8n and Make workflows

Call the API from an HTTP request step and start the next step from the webhook: no code to host.

Agencies

Run every client video through the same steps, and open a clip in the StoryCut editor when it needs a human touch.

AI assistants

Prefer to ask in a chat? The same runs start from Claude or ChatGPT with the StoryCut MCP connector, on every plan.

Video clipping APIs compared

Clipping APIs compared on price, usage, webhooks and limits, from each tool’s own pricing page and API docs, checked on 2026-10-21
Feature	StoryCut	OpusClip	Submagic	Vizard	Klap
API included from	Starter: $9/mo ($7/mo billed yearly)	Pro: $29/mo ($14.50/mo billed yearly)	Starter: $19/mo ($12/mo billed yearly)	Creator: $29/mo ($14.50/mo billed yearly)	Pay per use: $0.32 per short, $0.44 per video, $0.48 per export
How API use is counted	Runs: the plan’s 10, 50 or 100 long videos a month, any length up to 150 min	Credits, 1 per minute, 10 minimum per project; up to 15 hours a month on Pro	10 to 100 API minutes a month, then packs from $57 for 250 minutes	The plan’s upload minutes, 1 credit per minute (600 a month on Creator)	Per operation
Clips from a YouTube link	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Webhooks	Yessigned with HMAC-SHA256	Yessigned	Yes	Yesset in the workspace	Nothe docs show polling
Rate limit	120 requests a minute	30 requests a minute	Not stated	3 a minute on Creator	Not stated
Claude & ChatGPT connector (MCP)	Yesevery plan	Yes	Yes	Not checked	Not checked

Checked on October 21, 2026 from each product’s public pages. Sources: OpusClip pricing, OpusClip API overview, OpusClip API limits, Submagic pricing, Submagic Magic Clips API, Vizard pricing, Vizard API pricing, Klap API pricing, Klap API: generate shorts.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Does StoryCut have an API?

How much does the API cost?

Which videos can I send?

How long does a run take?

What does the API return?

How do I check that a webhook came from StoryCut?

Can I edit a clip before exporting it?

Are there rate limits?

How does it compare with the OpusClip, Submagic and Vizard APIs?

Does OpusClip have an API?

Do I need the API to use StoryCut from Claude or ChatGPT?

Automate your clips

Choose Starter, Pro or Business, create a key in API & Integrations and send your first YouTube link.

Get your API key

Included in Starter, Pro and Business
No per-minute API fees

StoryCut Editor - AI Captions, Transitions & Effects

AI video editor for creators who want viral content without the editing grind.

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