Edit videos. In your browser.
FreeCut is a browser-based, multi-track video editor. No install, no uploads: projects and media stay local, while editing, preview, analysis, transcription, AI generation, and export run in the browser through WebGPU, WebCodecs, Web Workers, OPFS, and the File System Access API.
FreeCut writes projects, linked media metadata, thumbnails, waveforms, generated AI assets, transcripts, scene cuts, and caches as plain files inside a workspace folder you choose on disk.
- Multi-track timeline with video, audio, text, image, shape, mask, and compound clip items
- Linked audio/video editing with split, join, ripple, rolling, slip, slide, and rate-stretch tools
- Cut-centered transitions with live resize, alignment, source-time anchoring, and preview overlays
- Track mute/visibility/lock controls, linked sync badges, track push/pull, and close-gap workflows
- Filmstrip thumbnails, stereo waveforms, snap guides, markers, timecode, and undo/redo
- Source monitor with mark in/out, patch destinations, insert edits, and overwrite edits
- Project templates, auto-match canvas/FPS from first media, and configurable keyboard shortcuts
- Real-time preview with transform, crop, corner-pin, mask, and group gizmos
- Frame-accurate playback through FreeCut's custom
Clockand composition runtime - Fast scrub overlays, decoder prewarming, adaptive preview quality, and source warming
- Two-up and four-up edit panels for ripple, rolling, slip, and slide operations
- GPU color scopes: waveform, vectorscope, and histogram
- Separate project master bus and monitor/device volume
- Clip volume, audio fades, track faders, master bus fader, and stereo LED meters
- Per-clip pitch shift in semitones/cents with SoundTouch preview playback
- Clip EQ and track EQ stages, including a compact six-band floating EQ panel
- Pitch, EQ, fades, volume, and transition audio paths are preserved in preview and export
All visual effects and compositing paths are WebGPU-first, with fallbacks where practical.
- Blur: gaussian, box, motion, radial, zoom
- Color: brightness, contrast, exposure, hue shift, saturation, vibrance, temperature/tint, levels, curves, color wheels, grayscale, sepia, invert
- Distortion: pixelate, RGB split, twirl, wave, bulge/pinch, kaleidoscope, mirror, fluted glass
- Stylize: vignette, film grain, sharpen, posterize, glow, edge detect, scanlines, color glitch
- Keying: chroma key with tolerance, softness, and spill suppression
- 25 blend modes, including multiply, screen, overlay, soft light, difference, hue, saturation, color, and luminosity
- Clip masks and pen paths with keyframeable geometry transforms
- Fade, wipe, slide, 3D flip, clock wipe, and iris transitions with directional variants
- Dissolve, sparkles, glitch, light leak, pixelate, chromatic aberration, and radial blur
- Adjustable duration, alignment, source anchoring, and Canvas 2D fallback for non-WebGPU paths
- Bezier graph editor, dopesheet, split view, and multi-curve overlays
- Easing presets: linear, ease-in, ease-out, ease-in-out, cubic-bezier, spring
- Auto-keyframe mode, tangent mirroring, property accordions, and marquee selection
- Animated transform, crop, mask, text, effect, and color properties
- Import videos, audio, images, GIFs, SVGs, and generated assets without copying originals
- Proxy generation, thumbnail extraction, waveform caching, and media relinking
- Browser Whisper transcription with generated caption text items
- AI captioning with local vision-language providers and configurable sample cadence
- Scene detection with histogram, optical-flow, and optional model verification workflows
- Scene Browser for searching captioned media and reusing detected moments
- Local Kokoro text-to-speech voiceovers
- Local MusicGen music generation with presets, progress, and cancellation
- Local model cache controls and unload controls in settings
- Workspace folder persistence via the File System Access API
- Multi-workspace switcher with known workspace management
- Projects stored as plain files on disk, with legacy browser-storage migration
- Project soft-delete, restore, empty-trash, and permanent delete flows
- Project ZIP bundle export/import with Zod-validated schemas
- Auto-save, project thumbnails, workspace cache mirroring, and orphan cleanup
- In-browser rendering through WebCodecs and worker-backed render paths
- Video containers: MP4, WebM, MOV, MKV
- Video codecs: H.264, H.265, VP8, VP9, AV1, ProRes where supported
- Audio export formats: MP3, AAC, WAV/PCM
- Quality presets from low to ultra, with runtime capability checks and fallbacks
Prerequisites: Node.js 22+ recommended, npm 11+, and a modern Chromium browser.
git clone https://github.com/walterlow/freecut.git
cd freecut
npm install
npm run devOpen http://localhost:5173 in Chrome, Edge, Brave, or Arc.
- Pick a workspace folder when prompted.
- Create a project from the projects page.
- Import media by dragging files into the media library.
- Drag clips to the timeline, then trim, arrange, add effects, transitions, masks, captions, and audio work.
- Use the source monitor, keyframe editor, scene browser, AI tools, and preview overlays as needed.
- Export directly from the browser.
Chrome or Edge 113+ is recommended. FreeCut depends on WebGPU, WebCodecs, OPFS, and the File System Access API, so a modern Chromium browser is required for the full workflow.
Brave may disable the File System Access API. To enable it:
- Navigate to
brave://flags/#file-system-access-api - Change the setting from Disabled to Enabled
- Click Relaunch to restart the browser
| Action | Shortcut |
|---|---|
| Play / Pause | Space |
| Previous / Next frame | Left / Right |
| Previous / Next snap point | Up / Down |
| Go to start / end | Home / End |
| Split at playhead | Ctrl+K / Alt+C |
| Split at cursor | Shift+C |
| Join clips | Shift+J |
| Delete selected | Delete |
| Ripple delete | Ctrl+Delete |
| Freeze frame | Shift+F |
| Nudge item (1px / 10px) | Shift+Arrow / Ctrl+Shift+Arrow |
| Undo / Redo | Ctrl+Z / Ctrl+Shift+Z |
| Copy / Cut / Paste | Ctrl+C / Ctrl+X / Ctrl+V |
| Selection tool | V |
| Razor tool | C |
| Rate stretch tool | R |
| Rolling edit tool | N |
| Ripple edit tool | B |
| Slip tool | Y |
| Slide tool | U |
| Toggle snap | S |
| Add / Remove marker | M / Shift+M |
| Previous / Next marker | [ / ] |
| Add keyframe | A |
| Clear keyframes | Shift+A |
| Toggle keyframe editor | Ctrl+Shift+A |
| Keyframe view: graph / dopesheet / split | 1 / 2 / 3 |
| Group / Ungroup tracks | Ctrl+G / Ctrl+Shift+G |
| Mark In / Out | I / O |
| Clear In/Out | Alt+X |
| Insert / Overwrite edit | , / . |
| Open Scene Browser | Ctrl+Shift+F |
| Zoom in / out | Ctrl+= / Ctrl+- |
| Zoom to fit | \ |
| Zoom to 100% | Shift+\ |
| Save | Ctrl+S |
| Export | Ctrl+Shift+E |
- React 19 + TypeScript
- Vite+ for dev, build, lint, format, check, and tests
- Vite + @vitejs/plugin-react
- WebGPU for effects, compositing, transitions, masks, scopes, and AI acceleration
- WebCodecs for preview and export pipelines
- File System Access API + OPFS for workspace-backed persistence and caches
- Zustand + Zundo for state management and undo/redo
- TanStack Router for file-based, type-safe routing
- Tailwind CSS 4 + Radix UI + shadcn-style components
- Mediabunny for media decoding, metadata, and audio encoding support
- Transformers.js for local browser AI models
- Kokoro.js for WebGPU text-to-speech
- Web Workers and AudioWorklets for heavy media processing off the main thread
Most commands are npm scripts backed by vite-plus (vp).
npm run dev # Dev server on port 5173
npm run dev:quiet # Dev server with perf-focused env
npm run dev:compare # Run dev and local perf preview together
npm run build # Production build
npm run build:perf # Production build using `.env.perf`
npm run preview # Preview the production build
npm run preview:perf # Serve production build on port 4173
npm run perf # Build + serve a production-like perf target
npm run lint # Oxlint through Vite+
npm run lint:fix # Oxlint autofix
npm run format # Oxfmt
npm run format:check # Check formatting with Oxfmt
npm run check # Vite+ check without formatting
npm run check:fix # Vite+ check with fixes
npm run test # Vite+ test watch mode
npm run test:run # Vite+ test single run
npm run test:coverage # Vite+ coverage
npm run test:preview-sync # Focused preview sync suite
npm run test:preview-sync:stress # Repeated preview sync stress runner
npm run check:boundaries # Feature boundary architecture check
npm run check:deps-contracts # Enforce deps contract adapter routing
npm run check:legacy-lib-imports # Block feature imports from "@/lib/*"
npm run check:deps-wrapper-health # Fail on unused pass-through deps wrappers
npm run check:edge-budgets # Feature coupling budget check
npm run report:feature-edges # Human-readable feature edge report
npm run report:feature-edges:json # JSON feature edge report
npm run report:deps-wrapper-health:json # JSON deps wrapper health report
npm run verify # Full local quality gate
npm run routes # Regenerate TanStack Router route tree
npm run changelog:append # Append generated changelog data
npm run changelog:rollup # Roll changelog data into release notesnpm run devis best for correctness and iteration, but includes React/Vite dev overhead, HMR, and debug instrumentation.npm run perfis the better check for real playback or rendering performance because it serves a production build locally.npm run dev:quietkeeps HMR while hiding the editor debug panel.npm run dev:comparestartshttp://localhost:5173andhttp://localhost:4173together for side-by-side dev vs production-like checks.
VITE_SHOW_DEBUG_PANEL=true # Show debug panel in devsrc/
|- app/ # App-level providers and shared app state
|- components/ # Shared app components and shadcn-style UI
|- config/ # Hotkeys and editor configuration
|- core/ # Framework-agnostic domain rules and migrations
| |- projects/ # Project schema migrations and normalization
| \- timeline/ # Timeline defaults and transition engine/registry
|- data/ # Generated app data, including changelog JSON
|- features/
| |- composition-runtime/ # Composition renderer, media layout, audio graph, masks
| |- editor/ # Editor shell, toolbar, panels, dialogs, deps adapters
| |- effects/ # Effect registry and effect UI
| |- export/ # WebCodecs export pipeline and canvas fallback rendering
| |- keyframes/ # Graph editor, dopesheet, animation resolvers
| |- media-library/ # Import, metadata, proxies, transcription, captioning
| |- player/ # Clock, player primitives, video source pools
| |- preview/ # Program/source monitors, overlays, gizmos, scopes
| |- project-bundle/ # ZIP and JSON project import/export
| |- projects/ # Project list, templates, migration, trash
| |- scene-browser/ # Caption and scene search UI
| |- settings/ # Settings store, hotkey editor, model cache controls
| |- timeline/ # Timeline UI, tools, stores, services, workers
| \- workspace-gate/ # Workspace picker, permission gate, workspace switcher
|- hooks/ # Shared React hooks
|- infrastructure/ # Browser, storage, GPU, thumbnail, and analysis adapters
| |- browser/ # Blob/object URL and Mediabunny input adapters
| |- gpu/ # Stable facades over GPU lib modules
| |- storage/ # Workspace FS, handles DB, legacy IDB migration
| \- thumbnails/ # GPU-backed thumbnail generation adapters
|- lib/ # Low-level engines: GPU effects, transitions, scopes, analysis
|- routes/ # TanStack Router file routes
|- shared/ # Shared UI, utilities, typography, model settings
|- test/ # Test setup
\- types/ # Shared TypeScript types
Feature modules should use their local deps/ adapters for cross-feature imports.
Feature code should not import directly from @/lib/*; route low-level engines
through @/infrastructure/* facades when crossing feature boundaries.
Layer notes:
- src/core/README.md
- src/infrastructure/README.md
- Feature
deps/README.mdfiles inside individual feature folders
FreeCut is open source but not open contribution. Pull requests are not accepted at this time.
- Report bugs: open an issue
- Suggest features: start a discussion