How to Uninstall or Remove video-use from a Project

To completely uninstall video-use from your system, delete the skill symlink from your agent's skills directory and remove the cloned repository containing the source code and configuration files.

The video-use skill from the browser-use repository extends conversational agents like Claude Code or Codex with video editing capabilities. When you need to uninstall or remove video-use from a project, you must reverse the installation process by cleaning up three specific components: the cloned source code, the agent skill registration, and the environment configuration.

What Gets Installed

Understanding the installation architecture is essential for a complete removal. According to the install.md instructions in the browser-use/video-use repository, the setup creates three distinct artifacts on your system.

The Cloned Repository

The source code, helper scripts, and configuration files reside in a local directory. By default, this is ~/Developer/video-use, as specified in the clone instructions at lines 33-39 of install.md https://github.com/browser-use/video-use/blob/main/install.md#L33-L39. This directory contains the SKILL.md definition file, the helpers/ subdirectory with Python scripts like transcribe.py and render.py, and your .env file storing the ElevenLabs API key.

The Skill Symlink

Conversational agents discover skills through symlinks in their configuration directories. The installation creates a symbolic link at ~/.claude/skills/video-use (or ~/.codex/skills/video-use depending on your agent) that points to the repository's SKILL.md file. This registration step is documented in lines 70-79 of install.md https://github.com/browser-use/video-use/blob/main/install.md#L70-L79.

Environment Configuration

The optional .env file stores your ELEVENLABS_API_KEY for the transcription helper. Created from the .env.example template during setup (lines 66-69 of install.md) https://github.com/browser-use/video-use/blob/main/install.md#L66-L69, this file typically lives inside the cloned repository at ~/Developer/video-use/.env.

Step-by-Step Uninstall Instructions

Follow these steps to fully remove the skill from your system and restore your project to its pre-install state.

Delete the Skill Symlink

Disconnect the agent from the skill by deleting the symbolic link in your agent's skills directory.

# For Claude Code

rm -f ~/.claude/skills/video-use

# For Codex (adjust if using custom $CODEX_HOME)

rm -f "${CODEX_HOME:-$HOME/.codex}/skills/video-use"

This removes the pointer established in the "Register the skill" section of the installation guide.

Remove the Cloned Repository

Delete the source code and all helper files.

rm -rf ~/Developer/video-use

If you cloned to a custom location, adjust the path accordingly. This deletes the entire repository including the helpers/ directory, SKILL.md, and the .env file.

Clean Up Environment Variables (Optional)

If you stored the ElevenLabs API key in a separate location or exported it in your shell configuration, remove it manually.

# Remove from a specific .env file outside the repo

sed -i '/^ELEVENLABS_API_KEY=/d' /path/to/.env

# Or remove from shell config if exported there

sed -i '/export ELEVENLABS_API_KEY/d' ~/.bashrc

Remove System Dependencies (Optional)

While video-use relies on ffmpeg and yt-dlp, these are external system dependencies not installed by the skill itself. Remove them only if no other projects require them.

# macOS with Homebrew

brew uninstall ffmpeg yt-dlp

# Ubuntu/Debian

sudo apt remove ffmpeg yt-dlp

Verification Steps

Confirm complete removal by checking that the symlink and directory no longer exist.

# Verify symlink is gone (should return "No such file or directory")

ls ~/.claude/skills/video-use

# Verify repository is deleted (should return "No such file or directory")

ls ~/Developer/video-use

After verification, restart your conversational agent to ensure the skill commands are no longer loaded or suggested.

Summary

• Delete the skill symlink at ~/.claude/skills/video-use (or equivalent agent directory) to unregister the skill from your conversational agent.
• Remove the cloned repository at ~/Developer/video-use to delete all source code, helper scripts in helpers/, and the .env configuration file.
• Clean up external dependencies like ffmpeg and yt-dlp only if they are no longer needed by other projects.
• Verify removal by checking that the skill no longer appears in agent skill listings and the repository path is empty.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will uninstalling video-use affect my existing projects?

No. The video-use skill operates as a standalone utility that does not modify your project files. Removing the symlink and repository only disables the video editing commands in your conversational agent. Any files you created or edited using the skill remain untouched on your system.

Do I need to restart my agent after removing the symlink?

Yes. Most conversational agents like Claude Code cache available skills at startup. After deleting the symlink at ~/.claude/skills/video-use, you must restart your agent session to ensure the skill commands are completely unloaded and no longer appear in command suggestions.

Where is my ElevenLabs API key stored after uninstall?

If you followed the default installation, the API key resides in ~/Developer/video-use/.env inside the cloned repository. This file is permanently deleted when you run rm -rf ~/Developer/video-use. If you copied the key to other shell configuration files or environment locations, you must manually remove it using sed or a text editor to prevent stale references.

Can I reinstall video-use after uninstalling it?

Yes. To reinstall, simply follow the original installation instructions in install.md again. You will need to re-clone the repository to ~/Developer/video-use (or your preferred location), recreate the symlink in your agent's skills directory pointing to the SKILL.md file, and recreate the .env file with your ElevenLabs API key.

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