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Examples

Each example shows what you type, what Aurora does, and what you should see. Wording of Aurora's replies varies; the files and the shape of the outcome do not. Every example uses /aurora (Claude Code); in Codex write $aurora or plain language.

First run in a new project

mkdir my-channel && cd my-channel && git init

/aurora interview

Expected: a chat of 8-15 short exchanges, then a 5-line summary and a request for corrections. Afterwards:

preferences.json        # created
CLAUDE.md / AGENTS.md   # got a "## Video preferences" section

Nothing is rendered and no money is spent.

Create a video from your idea

/aurora create "why sourdough starters fail"

Expected, in order:

  1. A preflight pass. First time only it installs the render kit into ./video-kit/ (a few minutes; Chromium is ~150 MB). The last line is READY kit=... run_prefix='...'. If something is missing you get an ACTION: line with the exact sudo apt install ... command; run it and rerun.
  2. In a git repo, preflight updates .gitignore so videos, audio and render caches stay out of git. If it prints ACTION: ask the user whether to version the logs, Aurora asks you once; answer "keep" or "ignore".
  3. A one-line theme statement ("Angle: your starter is not dead, your kitchen is cold") and then silence while the pipeline runs.
  4. The draft checkpoint: path to the draft video, a short summary, what is verified and what is not (audio never is), minor open items.
draft_videos/why-sourdough-starters-fail/
  state.json  plan.json  narration.md  sources.md
  scenes/  package/

Cost: the ElevenLabs voice (about $0.45 per 6 minutes) plus model tokens; state.py cost <slug> prints it at the end.

Let Aurora choose the theme

/aurora create auto

Expected: the same run, but Aurora searches (max 4 searches), filters by topics_like / topics_avoid, your inbox ideas and aurora/insights.md, then states the theme in one line before building. She does not ask which theme; if you do not like it, say so and she restarts the theme step.

Review a draft

The draft has the scene number burned into the top-right corner. Answer by scene:

scene 10: the joke is too slow, and scene 4 shows the wrong chart

Expected: "Redoing scenes 4 and 10." Only those scenes are re-rendered; you get the draft path again. Say approved and the final render, loudness mix and package/ follow:

package/video.mp4  thumbnail_a.png thumbnail_b.png thumbnail_c.png
package/subtitles.srt  package/package.md

Feedback that sticks

/aurora feedback "a subscriber says the voice is too fast; also, no more cooking puns please"

Expected: two lines saying 2 points were stored, both with scope: all, nothing declined. They are appended to aurora/feedback.jsonl, and the pace goes into preferences.json. Every next create and batch applies them and lists the applied entries in its summary. "Only for the next video" makes the scope next.

A week of videos

/aurora batch

Expected: a table of 7 themes (day, title, angle, takeaway) and the estimated voice cost of the week. Reply ok, or swap 3 and 5. Aurora then builds seven drafts one after the other and reports one line each:

day 1 | why-sourdough-starters-fail | draft-ready | draft_videos/why-.../ | QA pass | audio unverified

Review whenever you like:

/aurora review drafts 1, 3, 4 approved; draft 2 has an issue at the intro, the joke at scene 5 falls flat

Resume where you stopped

/aurora resume

Expected: one line per unfinished video, then a question if you gave no slug:

why-sourdough-starters-fail     next=review   10min serial updated=2026-10-28  "why sourdough starters fail"

/aurora resume=why-sourdough-starters-fail continues at next; finished steps are never redone.

Publish and tidy

/aurora publish why-sourdough-starters-fail

Expected: Aurora asks for the YouTube URL and upload date, prints a dry run (what is kept, what goes to .aurora_trash/, with sizes) and waits for your OK. After it, the video lives in published_videos/2026-10-28_why-sourdough-starters-fail/ with a published.json. Nothing is deleted for good; .aurora_trash/ is emptied only when you say so.

Shorts

/aurora shorts why-sourdough-starters-fail

Expected: 2-4 vertical clips (1080x1920, captions, a title on top) and shorts/shorts.md with a title and description for each. You upload them yourself.

Learn from analytics

/aurora analise ~/Downloads/studio-export.zip

Expected: at most 5 lines: top findings, rules saved, and what data would sharpen the next analysis. The detail is in aurora/insights.md. With fewer than 5 videos every rule is marked hypothesis, and Aurora says so.

Ask in plain language

/aurora open the draft for me please

Expected: "Opening the draft of why-sourdough-starters-fail (most recently updated)", the video opens in your player, and the reply ends with the command that was run. More in Ask.

Bring an existing project

/aurora adopt

Expected: a dry-run scan of your folders, then a question about which finished-looking videos you actually published (never guessed), then a plan with moves and a trash list. Nothing moves until you approve.