# Remove silences from a video (/cut-silences)

/cut-silences is a Claude Code skill in the Video & Motion section. It is maintained by nateherkai and published under the MIT license. Removes silences and dead air from a talking-head recording using its word-level transcript, keeping a natural breath between phrases.

- Web version: https://skills.sgomez.dev/en/s/cut-silences
- Section: [Video & Motion](https://skills.sgomez.dev/en/video.md)
- Author: nateherkai
- License: MIT
- Source: https://github.com/nateherkai/hyperframes-student-kit/tree/ec112ff27abb68ed2086640c18668af8ae1c1fc4/.claude/skills/cut-silences
- Updated 25 Sept 2026

## Use it when

- You have a raw recording with long pauses at the start, the end or between phrases
- You want to give a talking video more pace
- It is the first step of an edit and you already have a word-level transcript

## Not for

- Cutting stutters, repeats or false starts: cut-mistakes does that
- Working without a transcript: it needs one with word-level timing

## What you get

An edit list of the ranges kept and removed, a transcript re-timed to the new timeline, a readable summary and, if you ask for it, the cut video rendered with ffmpeg.

## How to ask for it

- `Remove the silences and dead air from this talking-head recording`
- `Trim the long pauses in my raw video and give me the edit list`
- `Tighten the pacing of this video by cutting the silent gaps`

## Install

macOS · Linux:

```
curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sgomez-dev/claude-skills/main/install.sh | bash
```

Windows:

```
irm https://raw.githubusercontent.com/sgomez-dev/claude-skills/main/install.ps1 | iex
```


## Author's description

Agent 1 of the video editing pipeline. Removes silences and dead air from a talking-head recording. Use when asked to cut silences, trim pauses, remove dead air / gaps, or tighten the pacing of a raw video, given a word-level transcript. Produces an edit list (EDL), a re-timed transcript for downstream agents, and optionally the cut video via ffmpeg. Does NOT cut mistakes, repeats, or false starts — that is the cut-mistakes agent.

## Questions about this skill

### Does it change what I say in the video?

No. It only removes silence: your words stay untouched and speech mistakes are left to cut-mistakes.

### How much does it trim?

With the default setting, which treats any pause over 0.55 seconds as trimmable, it typically removes 15 to 20 percent of a raw take. You can lower or raise that threshold.

### Do I need ffmpeg and a transcript?

You need a word-level transcript. ffmpeg is only needed to render the cut video, not to get the edit list.


- [How we review this](https://skills.sgomez.dev/en/methodology.md)