# video-to-sfx

This skill generates sound effects matched to what is on screen: footsteps, impacts, ambience, foley. Useful when you have footage that still needs sound design.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 1400 installs · ★ 117
- Author: sonilo-ai
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/sonilo-ai/skills/tree/HEAD/video-to-sfx/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-20
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/video-to-sfx

## What it does

The skill hands a video to Sonilo and gets back audio that fits the scene. You can give one overall description, or script effects to specific time ranges through `segments`, so a particular sound lands on a particular second. Generation runs as an async task on the backend; the tools poll for you and return the saved file.

Two tools cover the job. `video_to_sfx` returns audio only, while `video_to_video_sfx` returns a new `.mp4` with the effects muxed in. Audio format is one of `wav`, `mp3`, `aac` or `flac`, with `aac` as the default. Clips are capped at 480 seconds, and going over gets a 422 rejection rather than a trim — worth checking runtime first, because a retry after a failed run is billed as a new call.

You can drive it through MCP tools, the CLI, or the Python and JS clients. Every path needs Sonilo access: either the MCP server connected, or the `sonilo` CLI installed and signed in, plus credentials from `sonilo login`, the hosted OAuth plugin, or `SONILO_API_KEY`. Each call hits the API and may cost money, so the skill advises calling the tools only when explicitly asked.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add sonilo-ai/skills --skill video-to-sfx -a claude-code
```

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

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add sonilo-ai/skills --skill video-to-sfx -a codex
```

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

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add sonilo-ai/skills --skill video-to-sfx -a cursor
```

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

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install sonilo-ai/skills video-to-sfx
```

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

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add sonilo-ai/skills --skill video-to-sfx -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/sonilo-ai/skills --path video-to-sfx
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

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

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add sonilo-ai/skills --skill video-to-sfx -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/sonilo-ai/skills/tree/HEAD/video-to-sfx/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- lay footsteps and impacts under an edited clip
- build scene ambience without recording on set
- pin a specific sound to a time range
- get a finished mp4 with sound instead of a separate track
- make foley for a short clip or an animated gif

## Example prompts
- Generate sound effects for `action-scene.mp4`: footsteps on gravel, distant traffic, a door slam
- Make foley for `clip.mp4` and give me the video back with the effects muxed in
- Script the sound by segment: footsteps on gravel from 0 to 2 seconds, then rain

## 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: c38d6c610bb113ed.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE c38d6c610bb113ed
````text
---
name: video-to-sfx
description: Generate sound effects matched to a video using Sonilo — footsteps, impacts, ambience, foley — optionally scripted to specific timed segments, returning either the audio or a new video with the SFX muxed in. Use when the user has footage that needs sound design. For SFX from a text description alone, use the text-to-sfx skill; for music, use video-to-music.
license: MIT
compatibility: "Requires Sonilo through either transport — the MCP server connected, or the `sonilo` CLI installed and signed in — plus credentials: a `sonilo login` sign-in, the hosted OAuth plugin, or SONILO_API_KEY. See the setup-api-key skill."
allowed-tools: Bash, Read, Write, mcp__sonilo__*
---

# Sonilo Video-to-SFX

Hand Sonilo a video and it generates sound effects matching what it sees —
footsteps, impacts, ambience, UI sounds, whatever the scene calls for — or pin
specific sounds to specific moments with `segments`. Generation runs as an async
task on the backend; the tools poll internally and hand back the saved file.

> **Setup:** See the [setup-api-key](../setup-api-key) skill.

> ⚠️ **Cost:** every tool below makes an API call that may incur charges. Only call it when explicitly requested.

## Transport: MCP or CLI

Pick one at the start of the session and stay on it. Do not mix the two inside
a single job, and do not announce the choice.

1. **Sonilo MCP tools visible in this session** (`video_to_sfx` and friends) — use them. This is the preferred path: it needs no shell, and it is the only one that survives a very long generation. If a call fails to authenticate — rather than failing on its inputs — this transport is not usable in this session: go to 2 instead of retrying it.
2. **No usable Sonilo MCP tools, but `sonilo account` exits 0** — use the CLI commands below. Same API, same account, same credential file. Probe with `sonilo account`, not `sonilo whoami`: whoami exits 0 even when signed out, so it cannot tell the two states apart.
3. **Neither** — stop and run the [setup-api-key](../setup-api-key) skill. Do not call `api.sonilo.com` with curl to work around it; both transports handle uploads, polling and retries that a bare request does not.

## Quick Start

### MCP tool call (recommended)

```
video_to_sfx(
    video_path="~/Desktop/action-scene.mp4",
    prompt="Footsteps on gravel, distant traffic, a door slam"
)
```

### Python (`pip install sonilo`)

```python
from sonilo import Sonilo

client = Sonilo()  # reads SONILO_API_KEY

foley = client.video_to_sfx.generate(video="action-scene.mp4", prompt="Footsteps on gravel, distant traffic, a door slam")
foley.save("foley.wav")
````
END THIRD-PARTY FILE c38d6c610bb113ed

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