The Director — AI Creative Studio

name: sjinn-video
version: 1.2.0
triggers:
  - video
  - animate
  - seedance
  - veo3
  - sora2
  - the director
  - tiktok video
  - youtube video
  - reel
  - product video
  - music video
  - podcast video
  - lip sync
  - make a video
  - turn this into a video
  - upscale video
  - add subtitles
  - create content
  - produce a video
dependencies:
  env:
    - GATEWAY_TOKEN
  tools:
    - curl
    - jq

IMPORTANT: When talking to users, call this capability "The Director." Never mention the internal provider name (Sjinn) — it is confidential. Model names (Seedance 2.0, Veo3, Sora2) are fine.

Overview

The Director is your built-in AI creative studio providing access to Seedance 2.0, Veo3, Sora2, and a full creative pipeline. It uses a dual API architecture:

• Agent API — Submit a prompt, the backend AI handles model selection, multi-shot composition, audio, and post-production automatically. Best for complex productions and auto model selection.
• Tool API — Direct access to specific models/tools for deterministic, single operations. Best when the user requests a specific model (Veo3, Sora2) or you need precise control.

Billing: All calls are proxied through the InstaClaw server. Use the proxy endpoint with GATEWAY_TOKEN for authentication.

Dependencies

• GATEWAY_TOKEN in ~/.openclaw/.env (pre-deployed, platform-level)
• curl and jq (pre-installed on all VMs)
• No user setup required. If GATEWAY_TOKEN is missing: "Video generation isn't configured on your agent yet. Contact support to enable it."

---

Tier 1: Core Video Generation

Text-to-Video

Flow: User describes scene → Agent enhances prompt → Submit → Poll → Download → Send via Telegram

1. Receive request — User says "make a video of a sunset over Miami"
2. Enhance the prompt — Rewrite casual request into cinematic prompt with camera movements, lighting, atmosphere (see references/video-prompting.md)
3. Confirm with user — Show enhanced prompt + settings: "Here's my enhanced version — should I generate this?" (skip if user said "just do it")
4. Choose API:
   • If user specified a model (Veo3/Sora2) → Tool API with the matching tool_type
   • Otherwise → Agent API (auto-selects Seedance 2.0 or best model)
5. Submit:

Agent API (default):

GATEWAY_TOKEN=$(grep GATEWAY_TOKEN ~/.openclaw/.env | cut -d= -f2)
RESPONSE=$(curl -s -X POST "https://instaclaw.io/api/gateway/sjinn?action=create" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GATEWAY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"api\": \"agent\", \"message\": \"$ENHANCED_PROMPT\", \"quality\": \"quality\"}")
CHAT_ID=$(echo "$RESPONSE" | jq -r '.data.chat_id')

Tool API (when specific model requested):

GATEWAY_TOKEN=$(grep GATEWAY_TOKEN ~/.openclaw/.env | cut -d= -f2)
RESPONSE=$(curl -s -X POST "https://instaclaw.io/api/gateway/sjinn?action=create" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GATEWAY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"api\": \"tool\", \"tool_type\": \"veo3-text-to-video-fast-api\", \"input\": {\"prompt\": \"$ENHANCED_PROMPT\", \"aspect_ratio\": \"16:9\"}}")
TASK_ID=$(echo "$RESPONSE" | jq -r '.data.task_id')

6. Acknowledge: "Generating your video now, this usually takes 2-5 minutes. I'll send it as soon as it's ready."
7. Poll — See Async Workflow section below
8. Download — curl -sL "$CDN_URL" -o ~/workspace/videos/${SLUG}_$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M).mp4
9. Send via Telegram — sendVideo (max 20MB reliable, 50MB hard limit). Include caption with prompt summary.
10. Log — Append to ~/memory/video-history.json

Image-to-Video

Flow: User sends photo → Save locally → Serve via Caddy → Submit URL to Tool API → Poll → Download → Send

1. User sends a photo via Telegram (with intent: "animate this", "make this move", "turn this into a video")
2. Save image to ~/workspace/tmp-media/ with unique name:

   UUID=$(cat /proc/sys/kernel/random/uuid)
   EXT="jpg"  # or png based on original
   cp /path/to/received/image.jpg ~/workspace/tmp-media/${UUID}.${EXT}

3. Serve via Caddy: https://{hostname}/tmp-media/${UUID}.${EXT}
4. Submit to Tool API (image-to-video requires Tool API):

   GATEWAY_TOKEN=$(grep GATEWAY_TOKEN ~/.openclaw/.env | cut -d= -f2)
   curl -s -X POST "https://instaclaw.io/api/gateway/sjinn?action=create" \
     -H "Authorization: Bearer $GATEWAY_TOKEN" \
     -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
     -d "{\"api\": \"tool\", \"tool_type\": \"veo3-image-to-video-fast-api\", \"input\": {\"prompt\": \"$PROMPT\", \"image_url\": \"https://${HOSTNAME}/tmp-media/${UUID}.${EXT}\"}}"

5. If Caddy not available: fallback to curl -F "file=@image.jpg" https://transfer.sh/image.jpg for temporary hosting
6. Poll, download, and send as with text-to-video

If user sends image without video intent: Ask "Would you like me to animate this photo into a video?"

Quality Modes

Mode	When to Use	Credits	Typical Time
quality (default)	Final content, portfolio, posting	Higher	3-8 min
cheap (fast)	Previews, drafts, testing prompts	Lower	1-3 min

• User says "quick video" / "just a draft" / "preview" → cheap mode
• User says "high quality" / "cinematic" / "final version" → quality mode
• If user is low on daily units → suggest cheap mode proactively

Model Selection

Trigger	API	Model	Duration	Audio
No preference / auto	Agent API	Seedance 2.0 (auto)	Varies	Yes
"use Veo3"	Tool API	veo3-text-to-video-fast-api	8s fixed	Yes
"use Sora2"	Tool API	sora2-text-to-video-api	5s or 10s	Yes
"use Sora2 pro"	Tool API	sora2-text-to-video-api (mode: pro)	5s or 10s	Yes

---

Tier 2: Advanced Production

Multi-Shot Story Videos

Via Agent API with templates. User describes a story → The Director automatically scripts, storyboards, generates shots, and composes with transitions + audio.

GATEWAY_TOKEN=$(grep GATEWAY_TOKEN ~/.openclaw/.env | cut -d= -f2)
curl -s -X POST "https://instaclaw.io/api/gateway/sjinn?action=create" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GATEWAY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"api\": \"agent\", \"message\": \"$STORY_PROMPT\", \"template_id\": \"$TEMPLATE_ID\", \"quality\": \"quality\"}"

Template IDs

Template	ID	Use Case
Veo3 Story Video	9b371ec6-09a2-43d5-97c2-0aea79a12371	Live-action consistent characters
Sora2 Story Video v2	de733710-fc66-4a2b-b53c-27b52c6c6f5e	Anime/stylized consistent characters
Sora2 Extend	d5db7e33-4ef6-4c6f-96be-b7e0a98f0706	Extend existing Sora2 clip
Veo3 Extend	1de0cc26-6bf9-4eed-a5a2-c62fe88aef52	Extend existing Veo3 clip
Kids Short Video	788acc9a-866b-4688-849e-7c7cfffaff54	Children's content
Single Podcast	071b3487-d689-4e9e-9125-f280fdb85e7a	Single host podcast visual
Dual Podcast	5d0cbc88-41d7-471a-88b3-7df276016de1	Two hosts podcast visual
Music Video	57a003c8-ea94-44a8-8e32-d2ec53ea780b	Lyrics-synced music video

Platform-Specific Outputs

Platform	Aspect Ratio	Duration	Style
TikTok / Reels / Shorts	9:16	15-60s	Fast cuts, trending
YouTube	16:9	30s-5min	Cinematic
Instagram Feed	1:1 or 4:5	15-30s	Clean, eye-catching
Twitter/X	16:9	15-30s	Quick hook
Product Demo	16:9 or 1:1	30-60s	Professional
Podcast	16:9	1-5min	Talking head

Auto-detect platform from user request ("make me a TikTok" → 9:16 vertical).

---

Tier 3: Full Production Pipeline

Advanced tools available through The Director. See references/video-production-pipeline.md for complete details.

• Image Generation — Nano Banana, Nano Banana Pro, seedream 4.5, AI Image Edit
• Audio Production — TTS, background music, SFX, speech-to-text
• Post-Production — ffmpeg_full_compose (multi-clip), subtitles, lip sync, video upscaling, frame extraction, trimming

Workflow example: Generate character image → animate into video → add subtitles → add background music → compose final output.

---

Async Workflow (CRITICAL)

Video generation takes 1-10+ minutes. This is NOT synchronous.

Submit & Poll Loop

1. Receive request → enhance prompt → confirm with user
2. Submit to API → get chat_id (Agent API) or task_id (Tool API)
3. Acknowledge: "Generating your video now, 2-5 minutes."
4. Poll loop:

Agent API:

GATEWAY_TOKEN=$(grep GATEWAY_TOKEN ~/.openclaw/.env | cut -d= -f2)
while true; do
  RESULT=$(curl -s -X POST "https://instaclaw.io/api/gateway/sjinn?action=query" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $GATEWAY_TOKEN" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d "{\"api\": \"agent\", \"chat_id\": \"$CHAT_ID\"}")
  STATUS=$(echo "$RESULT" | jq -r '.data.status')
  if [ "$STATUS" = "1" ]; then break; fi  # 1 = completed
  sleep 15
done
VIDEO_URL=$(echo "$RESULT" | jq -r '.data.video_url')

Tool API:

GATEWAY_TOKEN=$(grep GATEWAY_TOKEN ~/.openclaw/.env | cut -d= -f2)
while true; do
  RESULT=$(curl -s -X POST "https://instaclaw.io/api/gateway/sjinn?action=query" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer $GATEWAY_TOKEN" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d "{\"api\": \"tool\", \"task_id\": \"$TASK_ID\"}")
  STATUS=$(echo "$RESULT" | jq -r '.data.status')
  if [ "$STATUS" = "1" ]; then break; fi   # 1 = completed
  if [ "$STATUS" = "-1" ]; then echo "FAILED"; break; fi  # -1 = failed
  sleep 15
done
VIDEO_URL=$(echo "$RESULT" | jq -r '.data.video_url')

Note: The proxy normalizes responses — data.video_url always contains the final video URL regardless of which API type was used. The proxy also auto-corrects if you accidentally query with the wrong API type.

Polling Intervals & Timeouts

Type	Poll Interval	Timeout
Video generation	15 seconds	10 minutes
Image generation	10 seconds	5 minutes
Audio generation	10 seconds	5 minutes

Progress Updates

• Immediately: "Generating your video now. This usually takes 2-5 minutes. I'll send it as soon as it's ready."
• At 2 min: "Still working on your video. Complex scenes can take a few extra minutes."
• At 5 min: "Your video is taking a bit longer than usual. Almost there..."
• At 10 min (timeout): "Video generation timed out. This sometimes happens with complex prompts. Want me to try again with a simpler version?"

Download & Deliver

FILENAME="${SLUG}_$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%H-%M).mp4"
curl -sL "$VIDEO_URL" -o ~/workspace/videos/$FILENAME
# Send via Telegram sendVideo (< 20MB reliable, < 50MB hard limit)
# If > 50MB: compress or send as document

---

Pending Task Recovery

On session start, check ~/memory/video-history.json for pending tasks:

PENDING=$(jq '.pending[]' ~/memory/video-history.json 2>/dev/null)

If pending tasks exist, query their status and retrieve completed results. Update the history file.

video-history.json structure:

{
  "pending": [
    {
      "chat_id": "uuid",
      "task_id": "uuid-if-tool-api",
      "api": "agent|tool",
      "prompt": "enhanced prompt",
      "submitted_at": "ISO timestamp",
      "quality": "quality",
      "template_id": null
    }
  ],
  "completed": [
    {
      "chat_id": "uuid",
      "prompt": "enhanced prompt",
      "result_url": "https://cdn.example.com/...",
      "local_path": "~/workspace/videos/sunset_2026-02-25_14-30.mp4",
      "submitted_at": "ISO",
      "completed_at": "ISO",
      "generation_time_seconds": 180,
      "quality": "quality"
    }
  ]
}

---

Credit Integration

Daily Limits (enforced by proxy)

Tier	Videos/day	Images+Audio/day
Starter	5	10
Pro	10	30
Power	30	100
BYOK	5	15

The proxy enforces these limits automatically. If you hit the limit, the proxy returns a 429 error with video_limit_reached.

Budget Guardrails

Before every generation:

1. The proxy checks daily limits automatically
2. If the proxy returns 429 (video_limit_reached), tell the user: "You've hit your daily video limit. Resets at midnight."
3. If user is close to limit → suggest cheap mode proactively

---

Failure Handling & Escalation

1. Submission Verification

After every action=create call, verify the response immediately:

# After submitting:
HTTP_CODE=$(echo "$RESPONSE" | jq -r '.status // empty')
ERROR_MSG=$(echo "$RESPONSE" | jq -r '.error // empty')

# Agent API: must have chat_id
CHAT_ID=$(echo "$RESPONSE" | jq -r '.data.chat_id // empty')
# Tool API: must have task_id
TASK_ID=$(echo "$RESPONSE" | jq -r '.data.task_id // empty')

Hard rule: If the response has no chat_id (Agent API) or no task_id (Tool API), the submission FAILED. Do NOT poll. Tell the user immediately and retry once.

2. Retrieval Validation — API Type Matching

CRITICAL: You MUST query with the SAME API type used during creation.

Created with	Query with	ID field	Correct
"api": "agent"	"api": "agent"	chat_id	YES
"api": "tool"	"api": "tool"	task_id	YES
"api": "agent"	"api": "tool"	task_id	NO — will return nothing
"api": "tool"	"api": "agent"	chat_id	NO — will return nothing

Hard rule: When you save a pending task to video-history.json, you MUST record which api type was used. When querying, you MUST use that same api type and corresponding ID field.

There is NO fetch action. There is NO GET endpoint. The ONLY way to retrieve results is POST ?action=query with the correct API type and ID.

3. Retry Limits (Hard Rules)

Phase	Max Retries	Interval	After Exhaustion
Submission (create)	2	30 seconds	Tell user, stop
Polling (query)	40 polls (10 min)	15 seconds	Escalate (see below)
Download (curl -sL)	3	10 seconds	Report URL to user
Telegram send	2	5 seconds	Save locally, tell user path

Hard rules:

• NEVER poll more than 40 times for a single video (10 minutes at 15s intervals)
• NEVER retry a submission more than twice
• NEVER silently drop a failed generation — always tell the user what happened

4. Stalled Job Detection

During polling, track the status value:

Status	Meaning	Action
0	Queued	Normal — keep polling
1	Completed	Extract URL, download
2	Processing	Normal IF progressing
-1	Failed	Stop polling, tell user
No change after 20 polls	Stalled	Escalate

Hard rule: If status stays at the same value for 20 consecutive polls (5 minutes), the job is STALLED. Stop polling. Tell the user:

"Your video generation appears to be stuck on the backend. This is a known intermittent issue. Would you like me to try again with a new submission?"

5. Escalation Protocol

When a generation fails after exhausting retries:

1. Tell the user immediately — never go silent
2. Log the failure — append to ~/memory/video-history.json with "status": "failed" and "failure_reason": "..."
3. Offer alternatives:
   • "Want me to try again?" (resubmit)
   • "Want me to try cheap mode?" (faster, more reliable)
   • "Want me to try a different model?" (if one model is failing)
4. Do NOT retry automatically more than once — ask the user first

6. Pre-Flight Checklist

Before EVERY video generation, verify:

# 1. GATEWAY_TOKEN exists
GATEWAY_TOKEN=$(grep GATEWAY_TOKEN ~/.openclaw/.env | cut -d= -f2)
if [ -z "$GATEWAY_TOKEN" ]; then
  echo "GATEWAY_TOKEN not configured"
  # Tell user: "Video generation isn't set up yet. Contact support."
  exit 1
fi

# 2. Quick connectivity test (optional, skip if recent success)
TEST=$(curl -s -o /dev/null -w "%{http_code}" "https://instaclaw.io/api/gateway/sjinn?action=query" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $GATEWAY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"api":"tool","task_id":"00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000"}')
# 200 = endpoint reachable (even if task not found, response is valid)
# 401/403 = token issue
# 5xx = backend down

7. Model Selection & Fallback Order

If a specific model fails, try the next one:

Priority	Model	API	tool_type
1	Seedance 2.0 (auto)	Agent API	n/a
2	Veo3	Tool API	veo3-text-to-video-fast-api
3	Sora2	Tool API	sora2-text-to-video-api

Only fall back if:

• The user didn't request a specific model
• The first attempt returned an error (not just slow)

Tell the user when falling back: "The default model had an issue, trying Veo3 instead."

8. Real-Time Communication Rules

• NEVER go silent for more than 2 minutes during a generation
• ALWAYS tell the user what happened when something fails — never swallow errors
• NEVER claim a video was generated unless you have a downloaded file you can send
• NEVER say "I'll send it shortly" unless you actually have the URL and are downloading
• If polling finds nothing after 5 minutes, proactively update the user — don't wait for timeout
• If you lose track of a task ID, tell the user honestly: "I lost track of that generation. Want me to start a new one?"

---

Error Codes

Error Code	Meaning	User-Facing Response
429 (video_limit_reached)	Daily limit hit	"You've hit your daily video limit. Resets at midnight."
503 (service_unavailable)	Backend at capacity	"Video generation is temporarily at capacity. Please try again later."
401	Invalid gateway token	"Video generation is temporarily unavailable. I'll let the team know."
403	Unauthorized	"Video generation is temporarily unavailable."
404	Resource not found	"That video task wasn't found. Let me try generating it again."
500	Internal server error	"The video service hit an error. Let me retry."
Timeout >10min	Generation too long	"Video generation timed out. Want me to try with a simpler prompt or cheap mode?"
Video >50MB	Too large for Telegram	Compress or send as document
Video 20-50MB	Large but sendable	Send with note: "Large file, may take a moment to load."
Network error	Download failed	Retry download 3 times with 10s delay

---

Quality Checklist

Before delivering any video, verify:

1. Prompt was enhanced with cinematic vocabulary (camera, lighting, atmosphere)
2. Correct API chosen (Agent vs Tool) based on user request
3. Async poll loop running with correct intervals (15s video, 10s image/audio)
4. Progress updates sent at 2min, 5min milestones
5. Timeout handled at 10min (video) or 5min (image/audio)
6. Video downloaded to ~/workspace/videos/ with descriptive filename
7. Video size checked before Telegram delivery (20MB/50MB thresholds)
8. Result logged to ~/memory/video-history.json
9. Pending task removed from pending array after completion

---

References

• API Reference: ~/.openclaw/skills/sjinn-video/references/sjinn-api.md
• Prompt Enhancement Guide: ~/.openclaw/skills/sjinn-video/references/video-prompting.md
• Full Production Pipeline: ~/.openclaw/skills/sjinn-video/references/video-production-pipeline.md
• Setup Script: ~/scripts/setup-sjinn-video.sh