From a long recording to a clean rough cut.

Simplify Edits is a Mac app that runs your Claude Code or Codex. Your agent reads the transcript and proposes the cuts. You review the work and keep the final say.

Get early access

Start with your recording.

Link a video and Simplify Edits reads it where it is and never modifies it. A word-timed transcript appears once transcription finishes.

Try this“Make a clean rough cut. Remove the ums, uhs and false starts, and shorten the long pauses.”
Make your first transcript edit
Transcribe chapter

Say what you want cut.

Type the request in plain words. Your agent plans in the background and you watch each step. Nothing changes in your video while it works.

Try this“Set the video format to 9:16 vertical and fill the frame.”
Connect your agent

Review it, then apply it.

Every proposed change is crossed out in the transcript and listed with a Reject and an Accept. Approve the batch, and one Undo reverses all of it.

Try thisRead the list, reject anything that cuts too deep, then Approve all and apply.
Review, apply and undo

Your agent plans. The editor edits.

Simplify Edits talks to Claude Code and Codex through their command-line tools on your Mac. It doesn’t use MCP or a plugin, and the agent never changes your files directly.

  1. 01

    You ask

    In the Assistant panel, in plain words.

  2. 02

    The app briefs the agent

    Transcript, timeline and the conversation so far go to your local claude or codex. Frames only if you allowed them.

  3. 03

    The agent returns a plan

    A structured plan in a fixed format. Claude runs in plan mode with no tools except reading allowed frames; Codex runs in a read-only sandbox.

  4. 04

    The editor checks it

    Word boundaries, protected ranges and the current edit are checked before you see anything.

  5. 05

    You decide

    Review, apply as one step, undo. The editor makes every change itself.

What you need

  • An Apple Silicon Mac, macOS 12 or later.
  • Claude Code or Codex installed and signed in.
  • For transcription: an ElevenLabs API key (current build).
  • Comfort opening a build that isn’t yet notarized by Apple.

What it costs to run

The agent runs on your sign-in. If Claude Code or Codex is signed in with an eligible Claude or ChatGPT plan, usage counts against that plan’s limits; if it uses an API key, the provider bills that usage. Transcription is billed by ElevenLabs. Simplify Edits doesn’t resell or bundle any of it.

Claude, ChatGPT, Descript, and where this fits.

How Claude, ChatGPT, Descript and Simplify Edits relate to editing video
What it isEditing video with it
Claude & Claude CodeAnthropic’s assistant; Claude Code is its agent for working on your computer.Claude Code can run tools like ffmpeg on your files, but there’s no transcript or timeline to review cuts in.
ChatGPT & CodexOpenAI’s assistant; Codex is OpenAI’s coding agent, available with eligible ChatGPT plans.Like Claude Code, Codex works with files and commands, not with a video editor you can see.
DescriptA transcript-based video editor with its own built-in AI features.An all-in-one editor where you edit video by editing text.
Simplify EditsA transcript-first editor that runs your Claude Code or Codex.The agent proposes cuts in the transcript; you review; the editor applies, with one-step Undo. Finishing touches happen in your usual editor.

No speed comparison is claimed: a fair timing of the same task across these tools hasn’t been run.

Get Simplify Edits on your Mac.

Get early access Early access. I’m testing it on my own videos and adding to it as features become real.