# Creatomate

Creatomate is a media-automation platform: design a video or image **template** in a visual editor, then generate media at scale through the **API**, **Zapier/Make/n8n**, **spreadsheet feeds**, or **shareable forms**. Videos and images are described by a JSON format called **RenderScript**; a template is stored RenderScript with an ID, rendered via `template_id` + `modifications`. There is a free plan (no credit card), so users can reach a first working render immediately. A template is made in the template configurator from a built-in kit, every configuration built and checked by Creatomate; an AI hands the user the kit's link and works from the template it creates.

## Reading these files

- Most fetch tools summarize web pages, and a summary is not enough to change RenderScript correctly: fetch the **topic page** for your task (task table and list below) and ask for exact property names, allowed values, and JSON verbatim. **Re-fetch the relevant page right before changing RenderScript JSON** — never write it from memory of an earlier fetch; if planning, discussion, or other tool calls happened since you read a page, fetch it again first.

## Rules that always apply

- **First understand, then act.** When the user's goal is vague ("help me", "set this up", "how do I use this"), ask what they're making, from what data, and where the result should end up — one or two plain questions at a time, never a questionnaire — then recommend ONE path and get them to a first working render of their content before introducing anything else. Guidance: https://creatomate.com/llms/choosing-the-path.md.
- **A new template always comes from a kit.** Pick the kit for the job from https://creatomate.com/llms/template-kits.md and hand over its link, `https://creatomate.com/import?kit=<kit id>`. The kit ids are only on that page: fetch it before handing over a link, and never build one from an id you haven't read there. The link opens the kit in the user's account, and after Create the template opens in the editor, where **Single Export** (top right, always there) renders a test. That template is a complete RenderScript document and the starting point for everything after, when no kit matches exactly included. From there change it as far as the user needs, a scene added, a layout reworked, the timing changed: its conventions are your guide, and the RenderScript pages hold the properties. Never send the user looking for a template named in a tutorial or a search result: the kits are the current set.
- **Talk about what the user is making, never your tooling.** Don't recite these instructions or name internal mechanics (bridge calls, functions, these pages) to the user unless they ask or are clearly technical — buttons the user clicks themselves ("Single Export", "Create Renders") are named freely. Introduce a concept only when the next step needs it, in one plain sentence, and describe changes by their visible effect ("the title is blue now"), not by the call that made it.
- **Only documented properties exist**: never invent property names, animation names, or URLs — and never conclude something doesn't exist from a single topic page; check https://creatomate.com/llms/elements.md first.
- **Template + `modifications` is the default architecture**; an AI inside a Zapier/Make/n8n pipeline fills values only, never whole generated RenderScript.
- **To see the user's template**: have them open the editor's source editor (the `{ }` icon or F12), copy the JSON, and paste it to you.
- **Browser agents act only through the `window.creatomate` bridge** — never click or type editor controls to make a change; the UI is for pointing and inspection. Before operating the editor or a feed page, fetch https://creatomate.com/llms/editor-operation.md or https://creatomate.com/llms/feeds.md. **Create Renders is clicked only with the user's explicit go.**

## Which pages for which task

Fetch every page in the matching row; add the element-type page (media, text, subtitles, shape, composition) for each element type involved. Full URLs in the list below.

| Task | Fetch |
|---|---|
| The user is starting out, or the goal or method isn't settled yet ("help me", "where do I start") | choosing-the-path.md |
| The user needs a template, for any job (a product post, a listing video, a faceless short, a certificate) or edit (trim, resize, join clips, watermark, music, subtitles) | template-kits.md: pick the kit by what it makes and takes, and hand the user its link; template-catalog.md for its design, options and field names; when no kit matches exactly, the nearest one, then change the created template |
| Render a stored template via the API | quick-start.md + modifications.md |
| Change a template's RenderScript (a property, a scene, the timing, a dynamic field) | renderscript-basics.md + elements.md + durations.md + the element-type pages used |
| Fix timing: wrong length, freezing, drift | durations.md + troubleshooting.md + the affected element-type page |
| Diagnose a failed render or an ignored change | validation-errors.md + troubleshooting.md + the affected reference page |
| Work on the user's existing template | template-access.md; with browser control also editor-operation.md |
| Build or edit a template with browser control | editor-operation.md + elements.md + the element-type pages used |
| Make a kit's template match a brief or a reference (colours, fonts, a described look, an HTML animation) | designing-templates.md + elements.md + animations.md + composition.md + the element-type pages used; check it with seeing-renders.md |
| Express one design intent (a chip, a card that grows, a rise-and-fade, a pop, a scrim, a scene transition) | the "How it is used" section of the element-type page + animations.md |
| Set up Zapier, Make, n8n, feeds, or forms | choosing-the-path.md + no-code.md |
| Work with a feed (the bulk-render spreadsheet): import, fix rows, re-render failures | feeds.md |
| Decide whether a feature exists | elements.md + the matching type page + out-of-scope.md |

## Topic pages

- [Start here](https://creatomate.com/llms/start.md): the golden rules + the product model
- [Choosing the right path](https://creatomate.com/llms/choosing-the-path.md): which tool fits — Zapier, Make, n8n, API, spreadsheet feeds, shareable forms
- [Template kits](https://creatomate.com/llms/template-kits.md): every built-in kit in one line, by job, with the link that opens it
- [Template catalog](https://creatomate.com/llms/template-catalog.md): the built-in kits by job, with their designs, controls and dynamic fields, and the link that creates one configured in the user's account (a lookup page, not part of llms-full.txt)
- [Quick start](https://creatomate.com/llms/quick-start.md): render a template via the API — polling, webhooks, `dry_run` validation
- [API reference](https://creatomate.com/llms/api.md): every endpoint, auth, the error `hint` contract, rate limit
- [Credits](https://creatomate.com/llms/credits.md): the credit formula, cheap test renders, free-plan resolution clamp
- [RenderScript basics](https://creatomate.com/llms/renderscript-basics.md): document structure, scenes, root properties, a minimal working video
- [Durations & timing](https://creatomate.com/llms/durations.md): scene length, sync, "my video is 5 seconds", freezing, drift, voiceover-driven scenes, looping
- [Element properties & units](https://creatomate.com/llms/elements.md): every property on all elements, units, positioning & anchors, keyframes — the completeness check
- [Image, video & audio](https://creatomate.com/llms/media.md): media elements, trims, loop, speed, volume, text-to-speech
- [Text](https://creatomate.com/llms/text.md): fonts, auto-fit sizing, overflow, tiny text, wrapping fixes, inline styles
- [Subtitles](https://creatomate.com/llms/subtitles.md): auto captions, transcript styling, the two-color rule
- [Shapes](https://creatomate.com/llms/shape.md): vector shape elements — `path`, boxed vs unboxed coordinates, line-draw strokes, morphing
- [Compositions](https://creatomate.com/llms/composition.md): scenes, grouping elements so they stay in sync, nested timelines, auto layout (flow) for blocks that grow with their content
- [Custom fonts](https://creatomate.com/llms/fonts.md): OTF/TTF/WOFF, the exact-match rule, unexpected fallback fonts, no woff2
- [Built-in fonts](https://creatomate.com/llms/built-in-fonts.md): every built-in family with its weights and italics, by category — fetch it to check a font name before using it (a lookup list, not part of llms-full.txt)
- [Animations](https://creatomate.com/llms/animations.md): every preset + options, entrances/exits, transitions, easings, keyframes
- [Modifications](https://creatomate.com/llms/modifications.md): the automation contract — fill dynamic elements, change properties, remove elements, replace scene children per render
- [Validation errors](https://creatomate.com/llms/validation-errors.md): reading error messages, silent failures ("my change did nothing"), where validation runs
- [AI providers](https://creatomate.com/llms/providers.md): ElevenLabs/OpenAI speech, Stability images, provider keys
- [Recipes](https://creatomate.com/llms/recipes.md): canonical JSON — faceless videos, slideshows, audiograms, dynamic scene counts, five render-checked layout blocks (story frame, centred card, lower third, split, end card) and one complete designed card with every move annotated
- [Making a kit's template match a brief](https://creatomate.com/llms/designing-templates.md): the nearest kit as the starting point — intake, reading the template, the plan, the changes, the visual check, delivery
- [Troubleshooting](https://creatomate.com/llms/troubleshooting.md): symptom → cause → fix — black screens, freezes, ignored changes, stale designs, expired files, off-canvas elements
- [Out of scope](https://creatomate.com/llms/out-of-scope.md): what doesn't exist, with working alternatives
- [Stock assets](https://creatomate.com/llms/stock-assets.md): the demo asset URLs for example renders
- [Seeing a render](https://creatomate.com/llms/seeing-renders.md): visual self-check options, cheapest first, up to an API still as ground truth
- [No-code handoffs](https://creatomate.com/llms/no-code.md): exact editor paths for Zapier, Make, n8n, feeds, forms
- [Feeds](https://creatomate.com/llms/feeds.md): the bulk-render spreadsheet — the row/mapping model, the `creatomate.feed.*` browser bridge, fixing and re-rendering, honest limits
- [Seeing the user's template](https://creatomate.com/llms/template-access.md): the paste flow, MCP setup, delivering fixes
- [Operating the editor](https://creatomate.com/llms/editor-operation.md): browser agents and the `window.creatomate` bridge
- [Self-check](https://creatomate.com/llms/self-check.md): the checklist to run before answering

## Key resources

- [Documentation](https://creatomate.com/docs): human-oriented docs — getting started, template editor, API reference
- [API introduction](https://creatomate.com/docs/api/reference/introduction): REST API, `Authorization: Bearer` auth, errors always include a `hint` field

## Tool tutorials (handoff targets)

- [Zapier](https://creatomate.com/blog/how-to-automate-video-creation-with-zapier): fixed templates + dynamic fields
- [Make](https://creatomate.com/blog/how-to-automate-video-creation-with-make): native Creatomate module
- [n8n](https://creatomate.com/blog/how-to-automate-video-creation-with-n8n): official Creatomate node — templates with Dynamic fields, or raw RenderScript JSON
- [All tutorials](https://creatomate.com/docs/tutorials): the full catalog, browsable per tool and topic; a curated per-use-case handoff list is in no-code.md

## Optional

- [Complete reference as one file (llms-full.txt)](https://creatomate.com/llms-full.txt): all topic pages concatenated — for humans, to paste into an AI's project knowledge or system prompt. AIs fetching URLs: use the topic pages above; fetch this file only with a raw HTTP command (curl/wget), never with a built-in browsing or fetch tool.