Free Mac app · works with Claude Code

Record takes. Claude Code does the rest.

Read your script off the teleprompter and star the best take. Claude Code cuts the edit and writes the posts.

Download .dmg

macOS 15+ · Apple silicon · needs a Claude plan

Takes
Takes recording view: camera preview, take list and the Takes chat
New take added!
★ Keeper · take 3
✓ Posted to LinkedIn
0 silences cut
LinkedIn✦X threads✦YouTube✦Shorts✦Reels✦TikTok✦Your blog✦

Storyboard → Record → Post

One session holds one video, from the first idea to the posts.

  1. 01

    Storyboard

    Claude writes the script and sketches every shot. Each shot shows its line, how to film it and a Record button.

  2. 02

    Record

    A teleprompter sits beside the camera. Pick a hook, read a variant, star the keeper. Camera and screen record as two synced files.

  3. 03

    Post

    One draft per platform, shown the way that platform shows it. Variants, opening hooks, history and a schedule.

Storyboard
The Storyboard tab with seven sketched shots The Record tab with the camera and the chat The Post tab with a LinkedIn preview

Storyboard

Every shot, sketched before you press record.

Ask for a storyboard and Claude splits the script into shots, then draws each one in marker. You see the hook, the middle and the end before you film a frame.

The chat

Ask the way you would ask an editor.

Takes has a Claude Code chat built in, next to your takes. It reads the same folders the app writes, so it knows the script, the keeper and the posts. Use the chat in the app or Claude Code in any terminal.

0silences cut
0false starts removed
0posts drafted
TakesI let AI edit my videos for a week
Cut my keeper into a vertical short. Keep it tight, no silences.
4 steps · Bash, get session, Read
The short is ready, cut from your keeper. I took out 14 silences and both false starts, and the captions sit above the platform buttons.
ai-week-short-v10:08
Nice. Now write the posts for it.
3 steps · set post
The posts are on the Post tab: one caption for TikTok, Reels and Shorts, a LinkedIn post and an X thread. Each one uses the new short.
Message Takes

Post

Every platform, previewed as it will look.

You review the real thing, not a text box. Line breaks, the "more" cut-off, the thumbnail and the caption all sit where the platform puts them.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn post preview in Takes
X thread
X thread preview in Takes
YouTube
YouTube preview in Takes
TikTok, Reels, Shorts
Vertical video preview in Takes
Blog article
Blog article you can edit in place

In the app

Made for the person in front of the camera.

Teleprompter beside the camera

It scrolls while you record. Space pauses, the arrow keys change the speed.

Hooks to pick from

Claude writes a few openings. You pick one and read it.

Camera and screen, synced

Two files that start on the same frame. Any camera works, Continuity Camera too.

Variants and history

Scripts and posts keep every version. Go back to any of them.

Takes in dark mode
Takes in light mode
⟷

Light and dark

Drag the handle. Settings › Appearance has more palettes.

How it works

Your library is plain folders.

Takes records into ~/Movies/Takes. Claude Code reads and writes the same files through the takes MCP server. When a file changes, the app updates. Nothing lives in a cloud you can't open.

Takes.apprecord · review
~/Movies/Takes

    
Claude Codechat panel or terminal
records into
takes MCP
starts

Get started

One line in Terminal.

It installs Takes, ffmpeg and Claude Code if you don't have them, signs you in to Claude and opens the app. Run it again to update.

Terminal · zsh
~ %

Downloading Takes…

Takes is in /Applications.

Downloading ffmpeg…

ffmpeg is in ~/.local/bin.

Installing Claude Code…

Claude Code is signed in.

Done. Opening Takes.

NeedsA Mac with Apple silicon, macOS 15 or later, and a Claude plan.
Rather click?Download the .dmg, drag Takes to Applications, then click Finish setup in the sidebar.
From sourceClone the repo, brew install ffmpeg, then ./build.sh install.

Questions

Good to know.

What does it cost?

Takes is free and the code is public. The AI part runs on your own Claude plan through Claude Code, so Takes never sees a bill or an API key.

Why does macOS warn me about the .dmg?

Apple has not notarized Takes. If you download the .dmg in a browser, the first open is blocked: open System Settings › Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway. The Terminal line skips this, because files that curl downloads don't get the quarantine flag.

Where do my videos go?

Into ~/Movies/Takes on your Mac, as plain folders: one per project, one per video. Scripts are Markdown, takes are .mov files, edits sit in an edits folder. Back them up the way you back up anything else.

Can I use Claude Code from my own terminal?

Yes. On its first launch Takes adds the takes MCP server and two skills to Claude Code. Then ask in any terminal: "storyboard my next Takes video" or "cut my last take".

Is there an iPhone app?

There is one in the repo. You build it yourself with your own Apple developer team, for now.

Can I send a pull request?

Takes is a personal tool, shared as is. A bot closes pull requests and there is no support. Fork it and make it yours, and say hi in Discussions.

Copied. Paste it in Terminal.