Your agent can clone viral videos now

Cloning takes a public TikTok or Instagram video, evaluates whether its motion and framing will transfer cleanly, and generates a new video with your character performing the same motion. Create your character once, then reuse its id on every clone.

Need an API key? Follow Get your API key first.

Before you start

All URLs passed between steps must be https://. Plain http:// is rejected.
TikTok and Instagram links are not directly fetchable by the generation providers. Stage the source first with POST /v1/videos/download/tiktok or POST /v1/videos/download/instagram — every later step takes the staged VidJutsu URL, not the original platform link.
Source clips are capped at 15 seconds. A longer sourceVideoUrl passed to POST /v1/clones/video is rejected with a 422 and error: "video_too_long".
POST /v1/clones/check accepts source videos up to about 2 minutes for the cloneability read, but the actual clone call is still capped at 15 seconds, so trim or pick a short segment before generating.
Starting images returned by POST /v1/clones/starting-image are guaranteed clean: no captions, watermarks, or platform UI, regardless of what the source frame or your prompt asked for.
model defaults to "kling" (Kling motion control, keeps the original sound). Pass model: "seedance" for the alternate model, which renders 9:16 at 480p through video-edit.
Characters are a persisted, reusable resource. Create one once, keep its id, and pass that id into every clone from then on instead of regenerating a character each time.

Create your character first

Before you clone anything, create the character you want to appear in your clones. This only needs to happen once.

curl -X POST https://api.vidjutsu.ai/v1/characters \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $VIDJUTSU_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "prompt": "A friendly host in their late 20s, casual streetwear, warm studio lighting"
  }'

{
  "id": "char_2a91b7f4",
  "imageUrl": "https://cdn.vidjutsu.ai/characters/chr_2a91.../image.png",
  "model": "nano-banana-2"
}

referenceImageUrl is optional if you already have a face or identity image to guide the generation; without it, the character comes purely from prompt. The call is synchronous and shares the daily clone admission limit. Save id: it is what you pass to every clone that should use this character, so you only create it once. To see the characters you’ve already created, list them:

curl https://api.vidjutsu.ai/v1/characters \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $VIDJUTSU_API_KEY"

Or fetch one directly by id:

curl https://api.vidjutsu.ai/v1/characters/char_2a91b7f4 \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $VIDJUTSU_API_KEY"

Errors: 403 subscription_required, 429 on the shared clone admission limit. 404 if the character id doesn’t exist or belongs to another tenant.

The clone calls

1. Stage the source video

curl -X POST https://api.vidjutsu.ai/v1/videos/download/tiktok \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $VIDJUTSU_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "url": "https://www.tiktok.com/@creator/video/123456789"
  }'

{
  "assetId": "asset_8f2c...",
  "url": "https://cdn.vidjutsu.ai/uploads/tt_8f2c.../video.mp4",
  "platform": "tiktok",
  "externalId": "123456789",
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.tiktok.com/@creator/video/123456789",
  "contentType": "video/mp4",
  "size": 4213880,
  "sha256": "b7e2...",
  "reused": false
}

Repeated imports of the same post reuse the same asset (reused: true), so restaging is cheap. Use url from the response as the videoUrl / sourceVideoUrl for every step below. Errors: 403 subscription_required if the key has no active subscription. 429 with a Retry-After header if the daily import limit for the endpoint is hit; the window resets at 00:00 UTC.

2. Check whether it will clone well

curl -X POST https://api.vidjutsu.ai/v1/clones/check \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $VIDJUTSU_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "videoUrl": "https://cdn.vidjutsu.ai/uploads/tt_8f2c.../video.mp4",
    "context": "Two-person kitchen scene, single continuous take, minimal camera movement"
  }'

{
  "verdict": "strong",
  "score": 95,
  "evidence": [
    "Single continuous shot with a stable, mostly static camera",
    "One clearly framed subject occupying the center third",
    "No fast cuts or overlaid text obscuring the motion"
  ],
  "model": "gemini-3.5-flash"
}

verdict is strong, possible, or weak, backed by a 0-100 score and the evidence behind it. Branch on the result: a strong or possible verdict is worth continuing, weak usually is not. This call is synchronous and shares the same daily clone admission limit as the character, starting-image, and video steps. Errors: 403 subscription_required, 429 with Retry-After on the shared clone admission limit.

3. Compose the starting frame

Pass the id from Create your character first as characterId. POST /v1/clones/starting-image accepts either characterId (reuse the character you already created) or characterImageUrl (a one-off image), but exactly one of the two.

curl -X POST https://api.vidjutsu.ai/v1/clones/starting-image \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $VIDJUTSU_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "characterId": "char_2a91b7f4",
    "prompt": "Standing at a kitchen counter, mid-gesture, facing camera",
    "sourceVideoUrl": "https://cdn.vidjutsu.ai/uploads/tt_8f2c.../video.mp4"
  }'

{
  "imageUrl": "https://cdn.vidjutsu.ai/clones/frame_5d0e.../frame.png",
  "model": "nano-banana-2"
}

sourceVideoUrl is optional; passing it grounds the composition in the source clip’s opening frame so the pose and framing line up with the motion you’re about to clone. The returned frame is always clean, no overlays or platform UI, no matter what the source or prompt included. Synchronous and shares the clone admission limit. Errors: 403 subscription_required, 429 on the shared clone admission limit. 422 if both or neither of characterId / characterImageUrl are provided, or if characterId doesn’t resolve to a character you own.

4. Submit the clone

curl -X POST https://api.vidjutsu.ai/v1/clones/video \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $VIDJUTSU_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "startingImageUrl": "https://cdn.vidjutsu.ai/clones/frame_5d0e.../frame.png",
    "sourceVideoUrl": "https://cdn.vidjutsu.ai/uploads/tt_8f2c.../video.mp4",
    "model": "kling"
  }'

{
  "id": "clone_9c7a1e",
  "status": "processing"
}

model defaults to "kling"; pass "seedance" for the 480p 9:16 alternate. prompt is an optional override of the default identity-swap prompt and only applies to seedance. This call is asynchronous: it returns 202 immediately with a task id to poll. Errors: 403 subscription_required. 422 video_too_long if sourceVideoUrl runs past 15 seconds. 429 with Retry-After on the shared clone admission limit.

5. Poll for the result

curl https://api.vidjutsu.ai/v1/clones/video/clone_9c7a1e \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $VIDJUTSU_API_KEY"

{
  "id": "clone_9c7a1e",
  "status": "completed",
  "videoUrl": "https://d2h7xmz5gqybh9.cloudfront.net/clones/clone_9c7a1e/output.mp4"
}

Poll while status is "processing". On "completed", videoUrl carries the finished clip. On "failed", error explains why. Status reads are not billed and not rate-limited. Unknown ids, or ids owned by another tenant, return 404.

SDK and CLI

The vidjutsu clone run CLI command requires the CLI’s clone release. If you’re on an older CLI version, run the calls directly against the API or the TypeScript SDK below until you upgrade.

Create your character once:

vidjutsu clone character --prompt "A friendly host in their late 20s, casual streetwear"

This prints the character’s id. Reuse that id on every clone:

vidjutsu clone run https://www.tiktok.com/@creator/video/123456789 --character char_2a91b7f4

The CLI command wraps the remaining calls: stage, check, starting image (using the character id you passed), submit, poll, printing the verdict and score before it commits to generation.

Continue the workflow

Scrape guide

Preview a TikTok or Instagram post’s engagement before you decide what to clone.

API reference

Full request and response schemas for every clone endpoint.

Overlay and disclaimer

Add a text overlay or disclaimer card to the finished clone before you publish.

Authentication

Get an API key and pass it as a bearer token.

Getting Started

Reference

Recipes

Legal

Clone viral videos

Your agent can clone viral videos now

Before you start

Create your character first

The clone calls

1. Stage the source video

2. Check whether it will clone well

3. Compose the starting frame

4. Submit the clone

5. Poll for the result

SDK and CLI

Continue the workflow

Scrape guide

API reference

Overlay and disclaimer

Authentication

​Your agent can clone viral videos now

​Before you start

​Create your character first

​The clone calls

​1. Stage the source video

​2. Check whether it will clone well

​3. Compose the starting frame

​4. Submit the clone

​5. Poll for the result

​SDK and CLI

​Continue the workflow

Scrape guide

API reference

Overlay and disclaimer

Authentication

Your agent can clone viral videos now

Before you start

Create your character first

The clone calls

1. Stage the source video

2. Check whether it will clone well

3. Compose the starting frame

4. Submit the clone

5. Poll for the result

SDK and CLI

Continue the workflow