DOCS/GET STARTED/Quickstart

Quickstart

Set up the engine, scaffold a series, and build your first short in 5 minutes.

Get up and running in under 5 minutes — install the native binary, add your Fish Audio key, and render your first short.

1. Install Engine

Run the one-line installer for your operating system. It sets up the binary, local FFmpeg, dependencies, and validates your license:

Linux & macOS

Terminal

1curl -fsSL https://shotrunner.haroonsaifi.dev/install.sh | bash

Windows (PowerShell)

PowerShell

1irm https://shotrunner.haroonsaifi.dev/install.ps1 | iex

License Key

Paste your SR-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX key when prompted, or export SHORTS_LICENSE_KEY in your environment.

Create the gitignored secrets/ folder and add your Fish Audio key:

Terminal (Add Key)

1mkdir -p secrets

2echo "your_fish_audio_api_key" > secrets/fish_api_key.txt

For automated YouTube publishing, see the Secrets & OAuth Setup Guide.

In your AI agent workspace (Claude Code, Cursor, or Antigravity), give the command:

Agent Prompt

1run my-series

3# Or guide research with an explicit topic:

4run my-series about the deepest ocean submarine rescue

To drive stages without an AI agent, use the plain CLI:

Manual CLI Commands

1# Scaffold series folder & configuration

2shorts series --name my-series

4# Check pipeline environment health

5shorts check-env

Check live progress across all script runs in your series:

Terminal (Status Matrix)

1shorts status --series my-series

Rendered video output is saved to series/<series>/scripts/<slug>/short.mp4.

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