Gemini Video Understanding

What it does

When your agent uses it

• Tasks that involve Transcription
• Tasks that involve Computer vision
• Tasks that involve LLM API integration

Example prompts

• “/gemini-video-understanding”

Requirements

• Python 3
• A credential in GEMINI_API_KEY
• Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Bash, Read, Write

Workflow steps

6 steps, taken from the step headings in SKILL.md.

1. 1Video Summarization
2. 2Educational Content
3. 3Timestamp-Specific Questions
4. 4Transcription
5. 5Content Comparison
6. 6Action Detection

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit c6c0686. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

• Tool permissions

  Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:

  • Bash
  • Read
  • Write

  From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

• Runs code

  Ships 2 files in scripts/ (Python), which the agent can run.

  Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

  • python

  From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

• Network

  Hosts in commands or code, which the agent is likely to contact:

  • youtube.com

  Also links to:

  • ai.google.dev
  • aistudio.google.com

  From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

• Credentials

  Names these keys or tokens, usually read from environment variables:

  • GEMINI_API_KEY

  From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Gemini Video Understanding loads about 2.6k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 81 tokens; SKILL.md has 719 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~81

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~2.6k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:54

  claude/skills/gemini-video-understanding/.env`

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:55

  3. **Project root**: `.env` file in project root

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:63

  # Option 2: Skill directory .env file

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:64

  claude/skills/gemini-video-understanding/.env

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:66

  # Option 3: Project root .env file

• NoteMentions a .env fileSKILL.md:67

  cho "GEMINI_API_KEY=your-api-key-here" > .env

• NotePre-approves every shell command (allowed-tools: Bash)SKILL.md

  allowed-tools: Bash, Read, Write

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); the scripts in this folder are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from einverne/dotfiles at commit c6c0686, republished under its MIT licence (© einverne). 719 words, ~2,650 tokens.

name

gemini-video-understanding

description

Analyze videos using Google's Gemini API - describe content, answer questions, transcribe audio with visual descriptions, reference timestamps, clip videos, and process YouTube URLs. Supports 9 video formats, multiple models (Gemini 2.5/2.0), and context windows up to 2M tokens (6 hours of video).

allowed-tools

Bash, Read, Write

license

MIT

metadata.version

1.0.0

metadata.author

ClaudeKit

metadata.api-provider

Google Gemini

metadata.requires-api-key

GEMINI_API_KEY

# Option 1: Environment variable (recommended)
export GEMINI_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

# Option 2: Skill directory .env file
echo "GEMINI_API_KEY=your-api-key-here" > .claude/skills/gemini-video-understanding/.env

# Option 3: Project root .env file
echo "GEMINI_API_KEY=your-api-key-here" > .env

python .claude/skills/gemini-video-understanding/scripts/analyze_video.py \
  --video-path "/path/to/video.mp4" \
  --prompt "Summarize this video in 3 key points"

python .claude/skills/gemini-video-understanding/scripts/analyze_video.py \
  --youtube-url "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID" \
  --prompt "What are the main topics discussed?"

python .claude/skills/gemini-video-understanding/scripts/analyze_video.py \
  --video-path "/path/to/video.mp4" \
  --prompt "Summarize this segment" \
  --start-offset "40s" \
  --end-offset "80s"

python .claude/skills/gemini-video-understanding/scripts/analyze_video.py \
  --video-path "/path/to/video.mp4" \
  --prompt "Analyze the rapid movements" \
  --fps 5

python .claude/skills/gemini-video-understanding/scripts/analyze_video.py \
  --video-path "/path/to/video.mp4" \
  --prompt "Transcribe the audio with timestamps and visual descriptions"

python .claude/skills/gemini-video-understanding/scripts/analyze_video.py \
  --video-paths "/path/video1.mp4" "/path/video2.mp4" \
  --prompt "Compare these two videos and highlight the differences"

python .claude/skills/gemini-video-understanding/scripts/analyze_video.py \
  --video-path "/path/to/video.mp4" \
  --prompt "Detailed analysis" \
  --model "gemini-2.5-pro"

Required (one of):
  --video-path PATH           Path to local video file
  --youtube-url URL           YouTube video URL
  --video-paths PATH [PATH..] Multiple video paths (Gemini 2.5+)

Required:
  --prompt TEXT              Analysis prompt/question

Optional:
  --model NAME               Model to use (default: gemini-2.5-flash)
  --start-offset TIME        Video clip start (e.g., "40s", "1m30s")
  --end-offset TIME          Video clip end (e.g., "80s", "2m")
  --fps NUMBER               Frame sampling rate (default: 1)
  --output-file PATH         Save response to file
  --verbose                  Show detailed processing info

Prompt: "Summarize this video in 3 key points with timestamps"

Prompt: "Create a quiz with 5 questions and answer key based on this video"

Prompt: "What happens at 01:15 and how does it relate to the topic at 02:30?"

Prompt: "Transcribe the audio from this video with timestamps for salient events and visual descriptions"

Prompt: "Compare these two product demo videos. Which one explains the features more clearly?"

Prompt: "List all the actions performed in this tutorial video with timestamps"

# User: "Analyze this YouTube tutorial video"
python .claude/skills/gemini-video-understanding/scripts/analyze_video.py \
  --youtube-url "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abc123" \
  --prompt "Create a structured summary with: 1) Main topics, 2) Key takeaways, 3) Recommended audience"

# User: "Transcribe this interview with timestamps"
python .claude/skills/gemini-video-understanding/scripts/analyze_video.py \
  --video-path "interview.mp4" \
  --prompt "Transcribe this interview with speaker labels, timestamps, and visual descriptions of gestures or slides shown"

# User: "Compare these two product demo videos"
python .claude/skills/gemini-video-understanding/scripts/analyze_video.py \
  --video-paths "demo1.mp4" "demo2.mp4" \
  --model "gemini-2.5-pro" \
  --prompt "Compare these product demos on: features shown, presentation quality, clarity of explanation, and overall effectiveness"

# Check API key detection
python .claude/skills/gemini-video-understanding/scripts/check_api_key.py

Error: Request size exceeds 20MB
Solution: Script automatically uses Files API for large videos

Error: File not reaching ACTIVE state
Solution: Check video integrity, try smaller file, or different format

Error: 429 Too Many Requests
Solution: Wait before retry, or upgrade to paid tier

© einverne, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 7 other files (scripts) in claude/skills/gemini-video-understanding of einverne/dotfiles.

• SKILL.md
• .env.example
• EXAMPLES.md
• QUICKSTART.md
• README.md
• requirements.txt
• scripts/analyze_video.py
• scripts/check_api_key.py

Open the folder on GitHubat commit c6c0686