OpenCut-app / OpenCut-app/OpenCut

[FEATURE] Import/Export project file (.json) for programmatic workflows

Open
#719 4 comments 1 reaction 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

enhancement
Dominant language
TypeScript
Stars
89.8k
Forks
8.9k
PR merge metrics
No merged PRs in 30d

Description

Problem

OpenCut has no portable project file format. Projects are locked in IndexedDB/OPFS — users can't save, share, or move projects between devices. More importantly, external tools (AI assistants, CLI scripts, automation pipelines) have no way to programmatically generate an editing project and hand it to OpenCut for rendering.

Solution

A documented .json file format that captures the full editing state (tracks, clips, trim points, transitions, overlays, audio, project settings). Media files referenced by filename, not embedded.

  • Export: button to save current project as .json
  • Import: load .json file + source media, reconstruct timeline for preview and MP4 export
  • Schema docs: publish a versioned JSON Schema so external tools can generate valid project files programmatically
Alternative

Expose a JS API for project manipulation instead of a file format. This would work for browser extensions but not for offline/external tool workflows.

Anything else?

Example use case: an AI assistant generates a .json file describing cuts, transitions, and overlays → user imports it with source media into OpenCut → previews, tweaks, exports MP4.

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

No files or tests are named. Start by tracing the existing IndexedDB/OPFS project persistence and the project/media import entry points; define the project JSON and versioned schema around the editing state described. Done means projects can be exported, imported with source media, previewed, and rendered to MP4.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
typescript
Domain
data, frontend
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
35/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.