Your first video

Make your first video: open CutWright, import a file, put it on the timeline, shorten it, save the editable project, and export an MP4.

Open the browser editor

On the CutWright website, look for Agentic video editing. and click Launch to open the editor. To use your own agent, follow Connect your agent after opening a project. You can also edit by hand. Donate is the separate, optional contribution action; you do not need to donate to start editing. It opens Buy Me a Coffee in a separate tab.

1. Open cutwright.cc and click Launch. You can also open app.cutwright.cc directly.
2. Use a current desktop Chrome or Edge window. Keep the tab open while editing or exporting. Your browser must allow the editor to save local data and downloads.
3. The first empty project is named Untitled project. If a recovery bar appears, read Restore a recovered project before starting over.
4. Click the project name in the top bar and type a useful name, such as My first video. Click an empty part of the timeline when finished typing.

Editing and export do not require an account or an agent connection. Imported media stays on your device. Keep your original files: the editable project file is not a package containing every original.

Use the Windows app instead

1. On the website, click the Windows-logo icon next to Docs at the top-right. Its tooltip is Download for Windows; clicking it downloads the installer directly.
2. Run the downloaded installer and follow its installation prompts. Launch CutWright from Windows after installation.
3. Follow the same editing steps below. Windows uses file dialogs for opening projects, saving projects, and choosing an export destination; the browser downloads saved projects and finished videos.

Do not open a Windows installer as a project. Project files have names ending in .cutwright.json; finished videos normally end in .mp4.

Run CutWright locally

Two small icons beside the Windows download at the top-right of the homepage offer alternative starts. The Docker whale shows the Docker command; the angle-bracket icon shows the source commands. Click the copy icon at the right of a command block to copy the whole block. Its tooltip is Copy Docker command or Copy source commands, and a checkmark confirms the copy. If clipboard access is unavailable, the commands are selected so you can press Ctrl+C. Click the header icon again, click outside its panel, or press Escape to close it. The commands use the version currently advertised on the website and wrap to fit the panel.

1. For Docker, install and start Docker, open a terminal, and run the displayed docker run -d -p 8080:80 iwatkot/cutwright:0.0.7 command. Open localhost:8080 in Chrome or Edge. If port 8080 is already used, change the first 8080 in the command to an unused port and open that port instead.
2. Docker runs in the background, prints its container ID, and returns you to the terminal. You can close that terminal. To stop the container later, use Docker Desktop or run docker stop <container-id> with the ID printed when it started. You can find the running ID again with docker ps. Use docker start <container-id> to resume the same container.
3. For source, install Git and Node.js 24. Copy and run all four lines in order: clone the displayed release, change into its folder, run npm ci, then npm run dev:web. Open the local address printed in the terminal, normally localhost:5173. Keep this terminal open while editing; press Ctrl+C there when finished.
4. Save your project and keep your original media before stopping either local edition so you can resume later.

The website shows its version in the footer. The browser and Windows editors show their version beside the CutWright name at the top-left. Include that number when reporting an issue. Localhost is a separate editing location: its browser recovery and media storage do not automatically appear at app.cutwright.cc. Save your project and retain your originals when moving between them.

Import your first video, photo, or audio file

1. Click Import in the top bar. Its icon is a downward arrow above a line.
2. In the file picker, select one or more videos, photos, or audio files and confirm the selection. Cancel the picker to return without importing anything.
3. Click Media in the left rail if the Project files panel is not visible. Wait for your file cards to appear.
4. If a card is hard to find, click All media and clear Search files…. The Videos, Photos, and Audio filter buttons show only their respective file types.

Importing creates library entries; it does not automatically build your sequence. A thumbnail or waveform may take a moment to appear. If a file is marked missing, follow Relink missing files.

Put the file on the timeline and make a cut

1. Click the imported file card once. A video or photo is added to the end of V1; an audio file is added to the end of A1. The new clip becomes selected.
2. Click Go to start below the preview, then click the large triangle Play button. Click it again to pause. The time display shows your current position and the total sequence length.
3. Pause, then click the timeline's numbered ruler at a point inside the clip. A red vertical playhead marks that position. Use Zoom in at the far right of the timeline toolbar if the clip is too narrow to place the playhead accurately.
4. Click Split, the scissors icon above the timeline. You can also press C. The clip becomes two pieces at the playhead.
5. Click the unwanted piece, then click Delete, the trash icon above the timeline. With Ripple editing off, the remaining clips keep their positions. Turn it on before deleting if you want later clips on the affected track to move earlier.
6. If the result is wrong, click Undo, the curved arrow in the timeline toolbar, or press Ctrl+Z after clicking back into the timeline.

Dragging a library card onto the timeline also adds it at the end of its default track; the drop point does not choose its insertion time. Add it first, then move the clip to the exact position you need.

Choose the video shape

1. Click Project settings above the preview. The button shows the current ratio and pixel size.
2. Under Frame, click 16:9 for landscape, 9:16 for portrait, or 1:1 for square. This changes the frame immediately.
3. Close the panel with its X button and review your picture. A different frame shape may require repositioning or resizing content. See Frame sizes for custom dimensions.

Save the project, then export the video

1. Click Save, the disk icon near the top-left corner, or press Ctrl+S. In Windows, choose the project file location. In the browser, keep the downloaded .cutwright.json file.
2. To make a video, choose Source in the Export preset menu beside Export. Source uses the project frame size.
3. Click Export. On Windows, choose a destination in Export MP4. In the browser, the finished MP4 downloads when export completes.
4. Watch the top-bar progress button. Click its Cancel action if you need to stop. Wait until Export returns before retrying.
5. Open the completed MP4 from its destination or your browser's Downloads list. Check both picture and sound.

Saving a project does not export a playable movie. Exporting a movie does not replace saving your editable project. See Projects and recovery and Export for both workflows.

Where to go next

• Workspace: find controls, adjust panels, change appearance, and use numeric fields.
• Timeline: trimming, multiple tracks, markers, snapping, and right-click actions.
• Canvas: preview zoom and pan, exact placement, guides, and grid spacing.
• Shortcuts: keyboard commands and the situations in which a field or menu takes priority.

If the first edit does not work

The preview says Empty timeline.

Import a file, then click its card in Project files. Merely importing it is not enough.

Split is unavailable.

Move the playhead clearly inside a clip, away from either edge. Zoom the timeline for precision. A marker or an empty gap cannot be split.

Pressing C types a letter instead of cutting.

A text field still has focus. Click the timeline, then press C again. Close an open dialog or menu first.

The picture is black after a clip.

You may be in a timeline gap. Move the next clip earlier, or use ripple deletion when removing unwanted sections.

Export reports missing media.

Use Import to select each missing original with the same filename. Do not replace it by adding an unrelated new clip.