Your first run, in six steps.

Install.

git clone https://github.com/whystrohm/shotkit.git
cd shotkit && ./install.sh

shotkit: setting up the checks (one time, about ten seconds)
shotkit: the checks are ready.

Done. Shotkit is installed.

  1. Restart Claude Code, in the folder where you want the files.
  2. Type a brief:

       /shotkit 30-second launch video for <your company>, 9:16

  It plans the shots, writes the prompts and opens the board in your browser.

That is the whole setup. You need Python 3 and nothing else: the installer gives the validators their own environment, so there is no pip install step. Check it any time:

~/.claude/shotkit-tools/sk doctor

shotkit 3.2.0
  tools    ~/.claude/shotkit-tools
  python   Python 3.14.5 (/opt/homebrew/bin/python3)
  checks   ready (private environment)
  skill    shotkit
  skill    storyboard-architect
  skill    visual-prompt-forge
  skill    visual-asset-critic
  skill    storyboard-html-preview
  skill    brand-lock-extractor

The install page has every option.

Type the brief.

Restart Claude Code in the folder where you want the files. Type /shotkit and describe the video in a sentence:

Shotkit plans the shots, checks its own files, opens the board in your browser, then writes the prompts. It does not stop to ask for what a default covers. With no length it uses 30 seconds. With no generator named it writes for Flux and Kling. With no brand it uses a neutral starter brand and says so. Each default is listed in its reply, so you can change it.

To use your own brand, put your site in the brief (“use the brand from example.com”) and it writes a brand lock from the site first.

Read the board.

The board is one page, output/board.html. It has every shot on a timeline and a contact sheet, the on-screen text set over each frame, and the next step with the line to type. Open a shot to see its spec, its prompts and the critic’s notes. Nothing is uploaded: it is a file on your machine.

~/.claude/shotkit-tools/sk board output/ --open

  wrote output/board.html
  9 plan. Next: Write the prompts.

The last line counts the shots by state and names the next step. This one ran on a storyboard with no prompts yet.

Make the frames.

Open a shot on the board, pick your generator’s tab and press Copy prompt. Paste it into the generator with the params shown under the prompt. Save the image as output/frames/round-1/shot_03.png: the round, then the shot id.

Or let the board file it for you. Run the live board and drop each image on its shot:

~/.claude/shotkit-tools/sk board output/ --serve --open

It runs on your machine only, reloads when files change, and saves a dropped frame under the right name.

Or have Shotkit make them. Put a fal.ai key in a .env file in the folder (FAL_KEY=...), then:

~/.claude/shotkit-tools/sk generate output/ --model flux

It lists each request and sends nothing. Add --yes to run it. fal bills your account at the price on that model’s page. Use --model kling afterwards for a video clip per shot. The fal guide covers the key and how to pick any model.

Check the frames.

The critic compares each frame with its shot and the brand lock and gives a verdict: ACCEPT, REVISE or REJECT. Every issue carries a fix. The board shows the verdict on each shot. For the ones that came back:

Shotkit rewrites only those prompts, into prompts/round-2/. Round 1 stays as it was. Make the new frames and check again.

Prove it, and send it.

~/.claude/shotkit-tools/sk validate output/

Validating 1 storyboard set(s)

  ok    output/shots.json

All storyboard sets valid (0 warning(s)).
Validating 1 snapshot file(s)

  ok    output/brand-lock.snapshot.md

All snapshot files valid (0 warning(s)).
Validating provenance for 1 output tree(s)

  ok    output  (9 shot(s), 0 reviewed, rounds none)

It checks the shot plan, the brand lock and the prompts, and recomputes every hash in run.json. Add --require-accept and it exits 0 only when every shot has an accepted frame.

~/.claude/shotkit-tools/sk preview output/

  wrote output/preview.html

preview.html is the quiet version: the storyboard in the brand’s own colours and type, one file, and it prints to a clean PDF.