How to Install Claude Video on Linux and Windows: Complete Cross-Platform Guide

Claude Video installs identically across Linux, Windows, and macOS via the Agent Skills CLI, but defers OS-specific dependency setup until your first /watch command.

The Claude Video skill from bradautomates/claude-video is architected as a platform-agnostic Agent Skill that runs on any host supporting the Agent Skills runtime (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot, Gemini CLI). While the core installation steps remain consistent across operating systems, the first-run setup dynamically adapts to your environment by detecting missing binaries and printing the exact package manager commands needed for your specific OS.

Agent-Skills CLI Installation (Recommended)

The Agent-Skills CLI provides the simplest path to install Claude Video on Linux and Windows without manual configuration.

Install the skill globally for your user:

npx skills add bradautomates/claude-video -g

The CLI discovers the skill metadata from skills/watch/SKILL.md and copies the entire skill folder while preserving the relative script layout that the orchestration layer expects. This method works identically on Linux, Windows, and macOS because the runtime handles path resolution internally.

Manual Developer Installation

For development workflows or custom agent configurations, manually symlink the skill directory into your host's skill folder.

Clone the repository and link the skill:

git clone https://github.com/bradautomates/claude-video.git
ln -s "$(pwd)/claude-video/skills/watch" ~/.codex/skills/watch

On Windows, use the equivalent mklink command:

mklink /D %USERPROFILE%\.codex\skills\watch %CD%\claude-video\skills\watch

This approach keeps your local repository in sync with the skill runtime, as the symlink references the live skills/watch directory containing the execution scripts.

Claude AI Web Interface Installation

For the pure-web Claude AI interface, you must upload a pre-built skill bundle rather than using the CLI.

Build the bundle locally (requires a Unix-like shell):

bash skills/watch/scripts/build-skill.sh

This generates dist/watch.skill. Drag this file into Settings → Capabilities → Skills on claude.ai to activate the functionality without local CLI installation.

First-Run Setup on Linux and Windows

When you invoke /watch for the first time on a non-macOS system, skills/watch/scripts/setup.py executes automatically with the --check flag.

If ffmpeg or yt-dlp are missing from your PATH, the script prints OS-specific installation commands rather than failing silently:

• Linux (apt): sudo apt install ffmpeg yt-dlp
• Linux (dnf): sudo dnf install ffmpeg yt-dlp
• Windows (winget): winget install ffmpeg yt-dlp

Simply copy and paste the suggested command into your terminal. The setup script also scaffolds ~/.config/watch/.env with placeholders for Whisper API keys if you require audio transcription capabilities.

After satisfying these prerequisites, subsequent /watch calls execute without prompts because the pre-flight check becomes a fast lookup (< 100 ms).

Platform-Agnostic Architecture

The skill never hard-codes platform-specific paths to ffmpeg or yt-dlp. Instead, skills/watch/scripts/config.py loads configuration from environment files while skills/watch/scripts/download.py and skills/watch/scripts/frames.py expect these binaries to exist on the system PATH.

This design ensures the same codebase runs on any operating system. The skills/watch/scripts/watch.py orchestrator coordinates between download, frame extraction, and transcription modules regardless of underlying platform differences.

Summary

• Install globally using npx skills add bradautomates/claude-video -g for the simplest cross-platform setup.
• Manual installation works via symlinks on Linux/macOS or mklink on Windows, pointing to skills/watch/.
• First-run detection in setup.py identifies missing ffmpeg and yt-dlp binaries, printing exact commands for apt, dnf, or winget.
• Web users must build the skill bundle using skills/watch/scripts/build-skill.sh and upload the resulting watch.skill file.
• Configuration persists in ~/.config/watch/.env for API keys and user preferences across all platforms.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I install Claude Video on Windows without WSL?

Yes. The Agent Skills CLI (npx skills add) works natively on Windows. When you first run /watch, the setup script provides winget commands to install ffmpeg and yt-dlp directly on Windows without requiring Windows Subsystem for Linux.

What happens if I don't have ffmpeg installed when I run a watch command?

The skill invokes skills/watch/scripts/setup.py --check, detects the missing binary, and prints the exact command needed for your operating system (apt, dnf, or winget). The skill will not proceed until you install the dependency, but it tells you precisely how to do so.

Is there a difference between the CLI install and the manual symlink method?

Functionally, no. Both methods expose the skills/watch directory to your agent host. The CLI method copies the files, while the symlink method references them directly. Developers prefer symlinks to modify source code in skills/watch/scripts/ and see changes reflected immediately without reinstallation.

Do I need Python installed separately to use Claude Video on Linux?

No. The skill runs within the Agent Skills runtime environment (Claude Code, Codex, etc.), which provides its own Python execution context. You only need to ensure ffmpeg and yt-dlp are available on your system PATH as instructed during first-run setup.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}