# document-to-narration

Converts written articles and Markdown files into video narration scripts with unified TTS audio and word-level VTT timestamps.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 970 installs · ★ 176
- Author: jwynia
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/jwynia/agent-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/education/document-to-narration/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-02-24
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/document-to-narration

## What it does

The skill breaks long-form text into scenes based on narrative rhythm rather than raw paragraph breaks. It targets 100 to 300 words per scene. Instead of rendering clips scene by scene, the recommended pipeline generates a single `full-narration.wav` file in one pass. This avoids volume jumps.

After speech synthesis, whisper-cpp transcribes the track into JSON and VTT formats containing word-level timestamps. A dedicated script extracts scene boundaries for video timelines. The old per-scene approach remains as a legacy option, but concatenating separate audio clips causes volume unevenness and audible clicks.

Processing requires Deno, Python 3.12 with venv, ffmpeg, and whisper-cpp. The TTS scripts will fail without local Qwen3-TTS model weights placed inside `tts/model/`.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jwynia/agent-skills --skill document-to-narration -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/document-to-narration/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/document-to-narration/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jwynia/agent-skills --skill document-to-narration -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/document-to-narration/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jwynia/agent-skills --skill document-to-narration -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/document-to-narration/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install jwynia/agent-skills document-to-narration
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/document-to-narration/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jwynia/agent-skills --skill document-to-narration -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/jwynia/agent-skills --path skills/education/document-to-narration
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/document-to-narration/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jwynia/agent-skills --skill document-to-narration -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/jwynia/agent-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/education/document-to-narration/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- split Markdown essays into cohesive scene files
- generate full-length narration audio without volume fluctuations
- produce word-level timestamps in VTT and JSON formats
- extract scene boundary markers for video editors

## Example prompts
- Split input.md into narrative scenes under ./output/
- Run the full narration pipeline on essay.md to generate speech and VTT
- Extract scene boundaries from full-narration.json for video composition

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 90b0c17994c36361.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 90b0c17994c36361
````text
---
name: document-to-narration
description: "Convert written documents to narrated video scripts with TTS audio and word-level timing. Use when preparing essays, blog posts, or articles for video narration. Outputs scene files, audio, and VTT with precise word timestamps. Keywords: narration, voiceover, TTS, scenes, audio, timing, video script, spoken."
license: MIT
compatibility: Requires Deno, Python 3.12 with venv, ffmpeg, whisper-cpp
metadata:
  author: jwynia
  version: "1.0"
  domain: video-production
  type: generator
  mode: generative
---

# Document to Narration

Convert written documents into narrated video scripts with precise word-level timing.

## Core Principle

**The agent interprets; the document guides.** Rather than rigid template-based splits, this skill uses agent judgment to find where the content naturally breathes, argues, and transitions. The document's argument flow determines scene breaks, not a predetermined structure.

## When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when:
- Converting a blog post or essay to video narration
- Preparing content for TTS audio generation
- Breaking long-form content into digestible scenes
- Creating word-level synchronized captions for video

Do NOT use this skill when:
- The content is already in scene/script format
- You need real-time voice synthesis (this is batch processing)
- Working with dialogue or multi-speaker content (single voice only)

## Prerequisites

- **Deno** installed (https://deno.land/)
- **Python 3.12** with venv support
- **ffmpeg** for audio conversion
- **whisper-cpp** (installed via @remotion/install-whisper-cpp)
- **TTS model** at `tts/model/` (not in git due to size - see Model Setup below)

## Complete Pipeline

There are two approaches: **per-scene** (legacy) and **full narration** (recommended).

### Full Narration Pipeline (Recommended)

Generates a single audio file for consistent volume and pacing:

```
Document (.md)
    ↓ [agent interprets scene breaks]
Scene .txt files (01-scene-name.txt, 02-scene-name.txt, ...)
    ↓ [TTS via narrate-full.py - SINGLE PASS]
full-narration.wav (one consistent audio file)
    ↓ [Whisper via transcribe-full.py]
full-narration.json + full-narration.vtt (word-level timing)
    ↓ [extract-scene-boundaries.py]
Scene timing boundaries for video composition
```

### Per-Scene Pipeline (Legacy)

Generates separate audio per scene - **can cause volume inconsistencies**:

```
Scene .txt files
    ↓ [TTS via narrate-scenes.py - MULTIPLE PASSES]
Scene .wav files (volume may vary between scenes)
    ↓ [concatenate]
Combined audio (may have clipping at boundaries)
```

> **Warning:** Per-scene TTS generates audio with different volume levels and pacing. When concatenated, this causes audible jumps and clipping. Use the full narration pipeline instead.

## Quick Start

### Full Narration Pipeline (Recommended)

```bash
````
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 90b0c17994c36361

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---
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