Connect Claude Code or Codex

Simplify Edits doesn’t ship its own AI. It runs the agent you already have installed and signed in on your Mac.

Before you start

  • An Apple Silicon Mac on macOS 12 or later, with the Simplify Edits preview build.
  • Claude Code (the claude command) or Codex (the codex command), installed and signed in. Check in Terminal with claude --version or codex --version.

The app looks in the usual install places, including /opt/homebrew/bin, ~/.npm-global/bin, ~/.local/bin and the Codex app’s bundled tool, so a normal install is found without extra setup.

Choose the provider

  1. Open Settings → AI editor (or Change harness from the model picker in the Assistant panel).
  2. Under Provider, choose Claude CLI or Codex app-server. The app never switches to a provider you didn’t pick.
The AI editor settings after switching the provider to Claude CLI
After choosing Claude CLI: the Assistant now shows “Claude CLI · Installed local Claude harness”.

Choose the model, per message

The model sits beside the message box. With Claude Code you can pick Sonnet, Opus or Haiku. With Codex the list comes from your installed Codex.

Decide about video frames

Let the AI look at frames from this video is off unless you turn it on, and it’s asked once per project. When on, the app saves one small still (640 px wide) per clip on your Mac and lets the agent read it. The agent may then send that still to its model provider as part of the request.

Before starting, check that your chosen agent is installed and signed in on this Mac. Use your own provider account.

Next: your first transcript edit

A real video editor, with your agent inside.

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