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hyperframes-cli

heygen-com/hyperframes

CLI for HyperFrames video composition: scaffold, lint, validate, render locally or on AWS Lambda.

What is hyperframes-cli?

HyperFrames CLI is the entry point for the HyperFrames video authoring and rendering workflow. Use it to initialize projects, author and validate HTML compositions, preview in Studio, render videos locally or in the cloud via AWS Lambda, and manage the build environment. Requires Node.js ≥22 and FFmpeg.

  • Scaffold projects with `init`, `capture` from URLs, or add registry components via `add` and `catalog`
  • Lint and validate compositions for correctness (missing IDs, overlapping tracks, runtime errors, WCAG contrast)
  • Inspect timeline for text overflow, layout issues, and motion intent verification via `*.motion.json` sidecars
  • Preview compositions in Studio (interactive timeline editor) before rendering
  • Render videos locally in draft or high quality, or via Docker for CI reproducibility
  • Deploy distributed rendering to AWS Lambda for long/large videos; manage with `lambda deploy/render/progress/destroy`

How to install hyperframes-cli

npx skills add https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes --skill hyperframes-cli
Prerequisites
  • Node.js version 22 or higher
  • FFmpeg installed and available in PATH
  • AWS credentials configured (only for Lambda cloud rendering)
Claude Code
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How to use hyperframes-cli

  1. 1.Run `npx hyperframes init my-video` to scaffold a new project or `npx hyperframes capture <url>` to start from a URL
  2. 2.Author HTML composition following hyperframes-core patterns
  3. 3.Run `npx hyperframes lint` to check for missing IDs, overlapping tracks, and unregistered timelines
  4. 4.Run `npx hyperframes validate` to load in headless Chrome and report runtime errors and contrast issues
  5. 5.Run `npx hyperframes inspect` to verify text/layout fit and motion intent (if `*.motion.json` sidecar exists)
  6. 6.Run `npx hyperframes preview` to open Studio timeline editor; review and edit, then close when ready
  7. 7.Run `npx hyperframes render --quality draft` for iteration or `--quality high --output out.mp4` for delivery; use `--docker --strict` for CI reproducibility
  8. 8.For cloud rendering: `npx hyperframes lambda deploy`, then `npx hyperframes lambda render ./my-project --width 1920 --height 1080 --wait`, then `npx hyperframes lambda destroy`

Use cases

Good for
  • Initialize a new video project and scaffold HTML composition structure
  • Validate a composition for runtime errors and accessibility issues before preview
  • Iterate on motion and layout using snapshot-driven feedback and `*.motion.json` sidecars
  • Preview editable timeline in Studio, gather feedback, then render final video
  • Render multi-minute or 4K videos on AWS Lambda when local rendering is too slow
Who it's for
  • Video engineers and developers authoring HyperFrames compositions
  • CI/CD pipelines automating video generation and validation
  • Teams using AWS Lambda for distributed or large-scale video rendering
  • Developers troubleshooting HyperFrames build and render environments

hyperframes-cli FAQ

When should I use `lint`, `validate`, and `inspect`?

`lint` catches missing data-composition-id, overlapping tracks, and unregistered timelines. `validate` loads the composition in headless Chrome and reports runtime console errors plus WCAG contrast issues. `inspect` seeks through the timeline and reports text spilling out of containers or off-canvas, and verifies motion intent against `*.motion.json` sidecars. Run all three before preview.

What is the difference between local render and Lambda render?

Local `render` is for dev-loop iteration and short videos. Use Lambda (`npx hyperframes lambda render`) when a render is too long or too large for one host (multi-minute videos, 4K, large parallel batches) and you have AWS credentials configured.

Why do I need to run `snapshot` if `lint` and `validate` pass?

`lint`, `validate`, and `inspect` evaluate each composition in isolation and never load `index.html` with sub-compositions mounted via `data-composition-src`. Only `snapshot` (and `render`) load the project the same way and can catch cross-file mount failures. Use `npx hyperframes snapshot --frames 9` for a quick smoke test.

Can I auto-render after checks pass?

No. The CLI is user-gated: pause at `preview`, tell the user the video is editable in Studio, and render only after they approve.

How do I use `--json` output in CI or agent pipelines?

`--json` is available on every command except `render`, `preview`, and `play`. It includes a `_meta` envelope with CLI version and update advice. For `doctor`, always check the payload's `ok` field: `npx hyperframes doctor --json | jq -e '.ok' > /dev/null`. Paths in `--json` are redacted (e.g., `$HOME` becomes literal `$HOME`) for safe sharing in bug reports.

Full instructions (SKILL.md)

Source of truth, from heygen-com/hyperframes.


name: hyperframes-cli description: HyperFrames CLI dev loop. Use when running npx hyperframes init, add, catalog, capture, lint, validate, inspect, layout, snapshot, preview, play, render, publish, lambda, doctor, browser, info, upgrade, skills, compositions, docs, benchmark, telemetry, transcribe, tts, or remove-background, or when troubleshooting the HyperFrames build/render environment. Entry point for AWS Lambda cloud rendering (hyperframes lambda deploy / render / progress / destroy / policies).

HyperFrames CLI

Everything runs through npx hyperframes unless project instructions specify a local wrapper. Obey the local wrapper exactly. Requires Node.js >= 22 and FFmpeg.

Workflow

  1. Scaffoldnpx hyperframes init my-video (or capture from a URL)
  2. Write — author HTML composition (see the hyperframes-core skill)
  3. Lintnpx hyperframes lint
  4. Validatenpx hyperframes validate (runtime errors + contrast)
  5. Visual inspectnpx hyperframes inspect
  6. Previewnpx hyperframes preview opens Studio, the timeline editor where the user can manually edit anything (not just watch). Review there, then ask before rendering.
  7. Render — pick the variant:
    • Iterate: npx hyperframes render --quality draft
    • Deliver: npx hyperframes render --quality high --output out.mp4
    • CI / cross-host repro: npx hyperframes render --docker --strict --output out.mp4
    • Cloud (long / large): npx hyperframes lambda render ./my-project --width 1920 --height 1080 --wait (see Lambda below)

Run lint, validate, and inspect before preview. lint catches missing data-composition-id, overlapping tracks, and unregistered timelines. validate loads the composition in headless Chrome and reports runtime console errors plus WCAG contrast issues. inspect seeks through the timeline and reports text spilling out of bubbles/containers or off the canvas — and, when a *.motion.json sidecar is present, verifies motion intent (entrances firing under seek, stagger order, in-frame, liveness) against that same seeked timeline.

For motion-heavy work, prefer snapshot-driven iteration and a *.motion.json sidecar — see references/lint-validate-inspect.md for the discipline and motion-verification spec.

Agent Conventions

Cross-cutting rules that hold for every command:

  • --json is available on every command except render, preview, and play. Use it for any agent / CI invocation of the supported commands; output includes a _meta envelope (cli version, latest available, update advice). render reports status via stdout + exit code only — verify success with the post-render check below; preview / play are servers, no JSON.
  • doctor --json always exits 0, even when the environment is broken. Gate on the payload's ok field: npx hyperframes doctor --json | jq -e '.ok' > /dev/null. This insulates pipelines from CLI release churn.
  • Non-TTY mode is auto-detected. When stdout is not a TTY (CI, agents, piped output) the CLI auto-switches to non-interactive; init then requires --example. Pass --non-interactive to force this mode even on a TTY.
  • CI gating on render: --strict fails on lint errors, --strict-all fails on warnings too, --strict-variables fails on undeclared --variables keys.
  • Paths in --json are redacted$HOME becomes the literal $HOME so output is safe to paste into bug reports and agent contexts.
  • Render is user-gated. Never auto-render once the checks pass. Pause at preview, tell the user the video is editable in Studio, and render only after they approve.
  • Post-render verification. After render returns exit 0, confirm the output file exists and has plausible size before reporting success: [ -s "$OUTPUT" ] || echo "render produced no output". The CLI prints ◇ <path> on success; for long renders also sanity-check duration with ffprobe -i "$OUTPUT" -show_format -v error.

Routing

Want to…Read
Scaffold a project (init, capture, skills)references/init-and-scaffold.md
Check correctness (lint, validate, inspect, snapshot)references/lint-validate-inspect.md
Preview or render (preview, play, render, publish)references/preview-render.md
Diagnose the environment (doctor, browser)references/doctor-browser.md
Cloud render on AWS Lambda (lambda deploy / sites / render / progress / destroy / policies)references/lambda.md
Everything else (info, upgrade, compositions, docs, benchmark, telemetry, asset preprocessing)references/upgrade-info-misc.md

Cross-Skill Hand-Offs

  • Tailwind projects (init --tailwind) → use hyperframes-core (Tailwind reference) before editing classes or theme tokens.
  • Registry blocks/components (hyperframes add, hyperframes catalog) → use hyperframes-registry for install paths, sub-composition wiring, and snippet merging.
  • Asset preprocessing (tts, transcribe, remove-background) → use hyperframes-media for voice selection, Whisper model rules, captions, and TTS-to-captions chain.
  • Parametrized renders (--variables) → declared via data-composition-variables on <html>; see hyperframes-core for the full schema.

Lambda (Cloud Rendering)

hyperframes lambda deploys distributed rendering to AWS Lambda and drives renders from your laptop or CI. End-to-end is three commands:

npx hyperframes lambda deploy                                             # provision SAM stack (Lambda + Step Functions + S3)
npx hyperframes lambda render ./my-project --width 1920 --height 1080 --wait
npx hyperframes lambda destroy                                            # tear down (S3 bucket is retained)

Use Lambda when a render is too long / too large for one host (multi-minute videos, 4K, large parallel batches) and you have AWS credentials configured. For dev-loop iteration stay on local render.

See references/lambda.md for prerequisites, all 6 subcommands (deploy, sites create, render, progress, destroy, policies), IAM policy validation, state files, and cost / cleanup rules.

Minimum Completion Gate

Static gates

npx hyperframes lint
npx hyperframes validate

Add inspect for layout-sensitive work and render --strict in CI to fail on lint errors.

Visual smoke test — required when the project uses sub-compositions

lint / validate / inspect evaluate each composition in isolation. They never load index.html and mount sub-compositions via data-composition-src, so they cannot catch cross-file mount failures (see hyperframes-corereferences/sub-compositions.md, "Common pitfalls"). The only gate that catches them is one that actually loads index.html and seeks the timeline.

Use hyperframes snapshot — it loads the project the same way render does (so it exercises the same mount path) but only captures the timestamps you request, so it's seconds instead of a full render:

# Capture one frame at the midpoint of every sub-composition.
# Midpoints = data-start + data-duration/2 for each host slot in index.html.
npx hyperframes snapshot --at <t1>,<t2>,<t3>,...

# Or, if you don't need per-scene targeting, an evenly-spaced sample:
npx hyperframes snapshot --frames 9

Output lands in snapshots/frame-NN-at-Xs.png. Eyeball each frame against the scene plan.

Per-frame red flags (each maps to a specific failure mode the static gates miss):

What you seeRoot cause
Text shows up tiny + unstyled in the top-left corner<style> block left in <head> outside <template> (Pitfall 1) — no CSS reached live DOM
SVG/icon elements blown up to canvas-sizeSame as above — no width/height constraints applied
Hero element of the scene is missing entirely; only background + watermark visibleHost-id ≠ template id (Pitfall 2) — timeline never ran, frame captured at initial state
Snapshot command logs Sub-composition timelines not registered after 45000msPitfall 2 — direct confirmation

snapshots/ can be deleted after eyeballing; the user-facing final render is a separate pass with npx hyperframes render.