Make UGC video

Agent-Media UGC Video#

One tool. One call. A finished, captioned, vertical UGC video.

You give a script and (optionally) who says it — agent-media picks the pipeline, the take count, and the duration for you. You NEVER pick a sub-tool:

• Short line → one clean talking-head clip.
• Full monologue (any length) → a seamless multi-take video, never trimmed to fit a clip.
• broll_url → the person narrates over your b-roll / gameplay / product footage.

Inputs#

What they say — exactly one of:

• script — the spoken line, any length. A sentence becomes one clip; a paragraph becomes the full multi-take video. Never trimmed.
• scene_action — a silent clip instead (dancing, b-roll, vibes). Requires a character.

Who says it — optional, pass at most one (omit → a default person is generated):

• person — describe them in words, e.g. "a 25-year-old woman with curly red hair".
• image — a photo of the person: a public https URL or base64. The face is locked to it.
• character — reuse a saved character: its char_… id (from list_characters) or its character_sheet_url.
• name — optional name/age/vibe hint, e.g. "Sophia, 28".

A long monologue or a broll_url review needs a real face — pass image or character, not just person.

Captions are OPT-IN — do NOT add them on your own. First ASK the user whether they want captions and which caption_style (hormozi | tiktok | minimal); set captions:true only if they say yes, otherwise leave it off.

Look & format — all optional:

• captions — off unless set true (ask first, above); caption_style (hormozi | tiktok | minimal)
• look (natural | commercial | raw_iphone), aspect_ratio (9:16 | 1:1)
• broll_url — an https video overlaid on the lower half while they narrate.
• duration — leave blank; length is inferred from the script. Set only to force a short clip.

Examples#

A quick clip from a text description:

{ "script": "Honestly? This app saved my whole morning routine.", "person": "a friendly young woman, soft daylight" }

A full monologue from a saved character — multi-take, never trimmed:

{ "script": "Okay I have to be honest with you for a second. Three months ago I was completely overwhelmed … (the entire monologue, as long as you like) … and that is your sign.", "character": "char_8f3ac210" }

From a photo of a real person:

{ "script": "Wait — you have to see what this actually does.", "image": "https://example.com/face.jpg", "name": "Maya, 27" }

A narrated b-roll / gameplay review:

{ "script": "Watch this play — this is where the whole match turns around.", "broll_url": "https://example.com/clip.mp4", "character": "char_8f3ac210" }

Reuse the same person across a session#

After a video finishes, the character is saved — GET /v1/characters lists it with a character_id (char_…) and a character_sheet_url. For the NEXT video in the same task, pass that as character instead of a new person: it keeps the exact same face, and it's faster + cheaper because it reuses the existing portrait + character sheet rather than re-making them (the character sheet is never skipped — it's reused). Only generate a NEW person when the user asks for a different one. If you're not sure whether they want the same person or a new one, ASK the user before generating.

How to call it#

Preferred path: MCP tool mcp__agent-media__make_ugc. The full schema is auto-published via tools/list; the fields above are the manual.

Fallback path: REST.

POST https://api.agent-media.ai/v1/skills/make_ugc/run
Authorization: Bearer $AGENT_MEDIA_API_KEY
Content-Type: application/json
Idempotency-Key: <any unique string per intent>

{ "script": "Okay this completely changed how I work — I plan my whole week in ten minutes now.", "character": "char_8f3ac210" }

Cost & timing#

• Credits: route-dependent: ~190–505 for a short clip; priced per-take for a long monologue or b-roll review
• Wall time (typical): 360–1400s
• Deducted as each take runs.

Polling the result#

GET https://api.agent-media.ai/v1/skills/runs/<skill_run_id>
Authorization: Bearer $AGENT_MEDIA_API_KEY

Returns per-step status + current_step; final_output.video_url is your finished MP4 when status is succeeded.

Keep the user posted — don't go silent. A video takes a few minutes: a new person runs portrait → character sheet → the video (→ captions if asked); reusing a saved person skips straight to the video. When you submit, tell the user the plan + a rough ETA, then poll and report each current_step as it changes (e.g. "building the character sheet…", "rendering the video…", "adding captions…") so they always know what's happening.

House rules#

• See reference/realism-rubric.md for the realism doctrine baked into every prompt.
• See reference/pacing.md — you don't manage pacing; make_ugc sizes every take to the words.
• See reference/auth.md for first-time install and agent-media login.

Source of truth#

Auto-generated by scripts/generate-public-skill.ts from services/api-v2/src/skills/registry.ts. Do not hand-edit; CI rejects drift.

Supporting file: reference/auth.md#

Auth — first-time setup#

agent-media uses a ma_* Bearer API key. Get one via the CLI:

npm install -g agent-media-cli
agent-media login

This stores the key at ~/.agent-media/credentials.json. The bundled MCP server reads it via the AGENT_MEDIA_API_KEY environment variable; the plugin's .mcp.json does ${AGENT_MEDIA_API_KEY} interpolation.

Without the CLI#

You can paste the ma_* token directly:

export AGENT_MEDIA_API_KEY="ma_..."

How the key is used#

• MCP server forwards it as Authorization: Bearer ma_... to api.agent-media.ai.
• Server resolves it to a user_id and runs every primitive against that account.
• Credits debit from the same account.

Rotation#

agent-media logout && agent-media login rotates the key. The old key keeps working for ~30 days unless explicitly revoked.

Supporting file: reference/pacing.md#

Script pacing — how word count picks the duration#

make_ugc does not ask you for a duration. It counts the words in your script and picks the take length for you:

That mapping is the server's fitDuration() — the same function the quote and the run both use, so the number /quote returns is the number you are charged.

The boundaries are what matter. A 12-word script is a 10-second video, not a 5-second one — and costs 280 credits, not 140. For a 5s take, stay at 11 words or fewer.

Roughly 2.5 words per second is the natural TikTok talking-head cadence: too few words leaves dead air the model fills with filler "um"s, too many and it races and the lip-sync breaks.

Longer scripts#

There is no rejection for a long script. 23–33 words becomes a single 15s take. Past 33 the script is split into several takes stitched together, each priced by the same table — 33 words is the most a 15s take can hold (round(15 × 2.2)), so a 34-word script is two takes, not one long one. Call /quote first if you want the cost before spending.

Examples#

• 5s clip: "This app completely changed my morning routine — try it." (9 words)
• 10s clip: "I've used this for two weeks and it saves me thirty minutes every morning. My coffee is still hot." (20 words)
• 15s clip: "Okay so I've been using this for two weeks now and it genuinely saves me thirty minutes every single morning, no joke — my coffee is still hot by the time I'm finished." (33 words)

Supporting file: reference/realism-rubric.md#

Realism#

Every image and video is automatically enhanced so people look real, not AI-perfect — natural skin and lighting, candid UGC framing, believable imperfection. This happens server-side on every render; there is nothing to configure and no way (or need) to hand-write it.

Choosing the look#

Use realism_target to pick the overall look:

• natural — soft, natural daylight look.
• commercial — clean, brand-ready look.
• raw_iphone — unpolished, shot-on-phone look.

Just describe the person and scene in plain language in description; the realism enhancement is applied for you.