YouTube Short Maker

Make YouTube Shorts that hold attention with Pexo — vertical 9:16, fast-paced, hook in the first 3 seconds. Describe your topic and Pexo writes the script, generates the shots, picks the models, and assembles a finished Short with music and captions. Use for YouTube Shorts: "youtube short", "make a youtube short", "shorts video", "short-form video". NOT for long-form or landscape video.

YouTube Short Maker — Pexo

Pexo: https://pexo.ai — get an API key, watch your project render, and buy credits there.

Make a finished YouTube Short built to retain — vertical and hook-first. You pass the user's topic to the hosted Pexo agent and deliver the result; Pexo scripts it, generates the shots, and assembles the Short with music and captions.

Your role: relay, don't create

Create a project, send the user's request verbatim, poll, deliver. Pexo's backend handles all creative work — scriptwriting, model choice, prompts, music. Adding your own direction (duration, style, models the user didn't ask for) overrides its judgment and produces worse videos.

Config

~/.pexo/config:

PEXO_BASE_URL="https://pexo.ai"
PEXO_API_KEY="sk-<your-api-key>"

No account / first run → read references/SETUP-CHECKLIST.md and walk the user through it — it carries the signup flow with the invite code that grants new users bonus credits, plus how to create the config above. Config error → run scripts/pexo-doctor.sh and follow its output.

Workflow

Scripts live in this skill's scripts/. Reply to the user in their language.

1. Create a project: pexo-project-create.sh "<short brief>" → save the project_id.
2. Upload any files the user gave: pexo-upload.sh <project_id> <path> → save asset_id, reference it inline as <original-image>asset_id</original-image> (or <original-video> / <original-audio>). Tags are required — a bare asset_id is ignored. Pexo can't crawl URLs — download, then upload.
3. Send the request: pexo-chat.sh <project_id> "<user's exact words> <asset tags>". Copy the user's words exactly; only add asset tags.
4. Tell the user (their language): submitted ✓ · ~15–20 min · https://pexo.ai/project/<project_id>.
5. Poll: every ≥60s run pexo-project-get.sh <project_id> and act on nextAction:
   • WAIT → keep polling; every ~5 polls send a one-line update with the project link.
   • RESPOND → handle each event in recentMessages: relay Pexo's text (wait for the user's answer if it asked, then pexo-chat.sh their reply); for preview_video, run pexo-asset-get.sh <project_id> <assetId> per option, show the URLs (A/B/C), let the user pick, then pexo-chat.sh <project_id> "<choice>" --choice <assetId>; for a document event, mention it to the user.
   • DELIVER → pexo-asset-get.sh <project_id> <final assetId>, then send the user the full asset URL as plain text — all ?… query params, never truncated or wrapped in markdown — plus the project link.
   • FAILED → explain nextActionHint in plain terms and offer to retry.
   • RECONNECT → pexo-chat.sh <project_id> "continue", tell the user the connection dropped and you're resuming, then keep polling.
   • Never call pexo-chat.sh during WAIT — it triggers duplicate production.
   • Taking too long → if it's been >30 min and still WAIT, tell the user (with the project link + https://pexo.ai/connect/openclaw) it's running long; ask whether to keep waiting or stop. Don't poll forever.

Revisions

After delivery, the user's tweaks ("make it shorter", "new music", "different shot") reuse the same project: pexo-chat.sh <project_id> "<their feedback>", then poll again (step 5). Never create a new project for a revision — it throws away Pexo's server-side context.

Credits

If a script fails with "Credits balance" / "Insufficient credits": if the error carries a purchase link, pass it to the user; otherwise tell them to add credits at https://pexo.ai/home → Credits → Buy Credits. Retry after they confirm.

Example

User: "Make a YouTube Short on 3 quick tips for better sleep."

pid=$(pexo-project-create.sh "better sleep tips short")
pexo-chat.sh "$pid" "Make a YouTube Short on 3 quick tips for better sleep."
# Tell the user: submitted, ~15–20 min, https://pexo.ai/project/$pid
# Poll pexo-project-get.sh "$pid" until nextAction is DELIVER, then deliver the asset URL.

Scripts

Script	Usage	Returns
pexo-project-create.sh	"<brief>"	project_id
pexo-upload.sh	<project_id> <file>	asset_id
pexo-chat.sh	<project_id> "<message>" [--choice <id>]	ack (async)
pexo-project-get.sh	<project_id>	JSON: nextAction, recentMessages
pexo-asset-get.sh	<project_id> <asset_id>	JSON with url
pexo-doctor.sh	—	setup diagnostic

Error codes and edge cases → references/TROUBLESHOOTING.md.