<p align="center"><img src="docs/gallery/1-main.jpg" alt="Takes for Mac: record talking-head videos, Claude Code does the edit" width="100%"></p>

<p align="center">
  Record on your Mac or iPhone. <a href="https://claude.com/claude-code">Claude Code</a> writes the script,<br>
  cuts the edit and drafts the posts.<br>
  <a href="https://gettakes.app"><b>gettakes.app</b></a>
</p>

<p align="center">
  <img alt="macOS 15+" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/macOS-15%2B-0b1530">
  <img alt="iOS 18+" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/iPhone-iOS%2018%2B-0b1530">
  <img alt="Swift" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Swift-SwiftUI-3b82f6">
  <img alt="MCP" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Claude%20Code-MCP%20server-d97757">
  <img alt="License: MIT" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/license-MIT-22c55e">
</p>

Takes shows each post the way LinkedIn, X, YouTube or Shorts will show it, so you review the real thing. No coding needed, no account, no usage data: your videos stay in folders on your Mac.

## Install

Paste this in Terminal:

```sh
curl -fsSL https://gettakes.app/install | bash
```

It installs Takes, ffmpeg and Apple's developer tools, then opens Takes. Takes works with Claude Code, Codex or pi: when one of them is on your Mac, the script uses it and helps you sign in. With none, it installs Claude Code. Run it again to update. You can [read the script](https://gettakes.app/install) first: it is 124 lines.

<details>
<summary>Other ways to install</summary>

- **Download:** get `Takes.dmg` from [Releases](https://github.com/marvtub/takes-public/releases/latest) and drag Takes to Applications. Takes is not notarized yet, so open System Settings > Privacy & Security and click **Open Anyway** once ([pictures of each step](https://gettakes.app/download)). Then click **Finish setup** in the sidebar.
- **From source:** clone this repo, `brew install ffmpeg`, then `./build.sh install`.

</details>

## How a video goes

1. **Storyboard.** Ask *"storyboard my next video"*. Claude writes the script and sketches each shot.
2. **Record.** Read off a teleprompter that follows your voice. Camera and screen record as two synced files. Star the take you keep.
3. **Post.** Ask *"cut my last take"* and *"write the posts"*. Review each draft as the platform shows it, leave comments on a frame or a line, and schedule it.

<p align="center"><img src="docs/gallery/3-storyboard.jpg" alt="A marker sketch for every shot of the script" width="100%"></p>

<p align="center"><img src="docs/gallery/2-record.jpg" alt="A teleprompter that follows your voice, camera and screen in one take" width="100%"></p>

<p align="center"><img src="docs/gallery/4-edit.jpg" alt="No timeline: Claude Code cuts the take and makes the vertical version" width="100%"></p>

<p align="center"><img src="docs/gallery/5-comment.jpg" alt="Notes on the frame become a new version of the edit" width="100%"></p>

<p align="center"><img src="docs/gallery/6-styles.jpg" alt="Caption and title styles for the edit" width="100%"></p>

<p align="center"><img src="docs/gallery/7-posts.jpg" alt="The posts for LinkedIn, X, YouTube and Shorts, previewed as the real post" width="100%"></p>

<p align="center"><img src="docs/gallery/8-rules.jpg" alt="A note given once becomes a rule Claude reads before every edit" width="100%"></p>

## On your iPhone

Your videos, takes, storyboards and posts, from anywhere. Ask Takes from the phone too. Record a take on the phone and it lands in the session on your Mac. The phone reaches your Mac over [Tailscale](https://tailscale.com); nothing goes through a server of ours.

To install it you need Xcode and an Apple ID: `TAKES_TEAM=<team id> ios/install.sh`. With a free Apple ID, install it again every 7 days.

## How it works

Your library is plain folders in `~/Movies/Takes`. The app records into them, your agent reads and writes them through the `takes` MCP server, and the app updates when a file changes. The chat panel in the app runs on Claude Code, Codex or pi, on your own plan: the line under "Takes" in the chat picks the agent and the model, and Settings › Agents shows which agents can open your library.

The server works with any MCP agent. On its first launch Takes adds it to each one on your Mac: Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, opencode, pi (with pi-mcp-adapter) and Claude Desktop. It also adds its skills (`takes-storyboard`, `takes-video-edit`, `takes-image-prompt`) to `~/.claude/skills` and `~/.agents/skills`, and downloads the [HyperFrames](https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes) skills (HeyGen) for motion graphics. So you can ask from any of them too. Plugins › Skills turns each skill on or off and adds any skill from GitHub. Another agent, or one you installed later: Settings › Agents › Connect, or `python3 /Applications/Takes.app/Contents/Resources/takes_mcp.py --setup`.

- Start a new agent session after the first launch: a session that was already open does not see the server.
- **Cursor** gets a short list of 30 tools (script, takes, storyboard, edit, jobs, comments, posts, plan), because Cursor uses only about 40 tools across all its servers. For every tool, set `"env": {"TAKES_TOOLS": "all"}` in the `takes` entry of `~/.cursor/mcp.json`.
- **Gemini CLI** turns MCP servers off in folders you have not trusted. Trust the folder once when Gemini asks.
- The server runs on the Python in Apple's developer tools. Without them, Takes' Finish setup has an Install button.

```mermaid
flowchart LR
    app["<b>Takes.app</b><br/>record · review"]
    lib[("<b>~/Movies/Takes</b><br/>scripts · takes · posts")]
    claude["<b>Your agent</b><br/>chat panel, Claude Code,<br/>Codex, Cursor, …"]
    phone["<b>iPhone</b>"]
    app <--> lib
    claude -- "takes MCP" --> lib
    app -- "starts" --> claude
    phone -- "Tailscale" --> app
```

## Good to know

- **Needs:** a Mac with Apple silicon, macOS 15+ and a Claude plan.
- **Optional:** `whisper` for transcripts. A Gemini key for storyboard sketches, B-roll names and best cuts: Settings › Gemini says what it adds and saves it.
- **Questions and ideas:** [Discussions](https://github.com/marvtub/takes-public/discussions). Takes does not take pull requests, so one person keeps it consistent. Forks are welcome.
- The pictures are the real app on a made-up library.

## Support

Takes is free. If it saves you time, you can buy me a coffee:

<p>
  <a href="https://paypal.me/webtotheflow"><img alt="Donate with PayPal" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/PayPal-Buy%20me%20a%20coffee-003087?style=for-the-badge&logo=paypal&logoColor=white"></a>
  <a href="https://venmo.com/u/MarvinAziz"><img alt="Donate with Venmo" src="https://img.shields.io/badge/Venmo-Buy%20me%20a%20coffee-008CFF?style=for-the-badge&logo=venmo&logoColor=white"></a>
</p>