Building an AI-Powered YouTube Clipper using n8n

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My colleague Annie loves clipping videos from her favorite creators. You know that feeling when you catch a great moment and turn it into a perfect short? That's her jam. But she kept running into this frustrating problem: by the time she saw a new video and got around to clipping it, everyone else had already done it. She was always late to the party.

When she told me about this, I thought, "What if we could automatically clip videos the moment they're published?" That way, she'd have her clips ready to post while the content is still fresh.

So I put my experience with integration tools to work and built something for her—and for anyone else who has this same problem. And you know what? I'm pretty excited to share it with you.

French version of this post available here: Automatiser le clipping vidéo YouTube avec l'IA et n8n

What I Created

I put together an open-source n8n templates that automatically clips YouTube videos using AI. Here's how it works:

  1. It watches for new videos from your favorite YouTube channel
  2. Sends the video to Reka's AI to create clips automatically
  3. Checks when the clips are ready and sends you an email with the download link

The whole thing runs on n8n (it's a free automation platform), and it uses Reka's Clips API to do the AI magic. Best part? It's completely free to use and set up.

How It Actually Works

I built this using two n8n workflows that work together:

Workflow 1: Submit Reel Creation


This one's the watcher. It monitors a YouTube channel's RSS feed, and the moment a new video drops, it springs into action:

  • Grabs the video URL
  • Sends it to Reka's API with instructions like "Create an engaging short video highlighting the best moments"
  • Gets back a job ID so we can track the progress
  • Saves everything to a n8n data table

The cool thing is you can customize how the clips are made. Want vertical videos for TikTok? Done. Need subtitles? Got it. You can set the clip length anywhere from 0 to 30 seconds. It's all in the JSON configuration.

{
  "video_urls": ["{{ $json.link }}"],
  "prompt": "Create an engaging short video highlighting the best moments",
  "generation_config": {
    "template": "moments",
    "num_generations": 1,
    "min_duration_seconds": 0,
    "max_duration_seconds": 30
  },
  "rendering_config": {
    "subtitles": true,
    "aspect_ratio": "9:16"
  }
}

Workflow 2: Check Reel Status


This one's the patient checker. Since AI takes time to analyze a video and create clips (could be several minutes depending on the video length), we need to check in periodically:

  • Looks at all the pending jobs in our data table
  • Asks Reka's API "Hey, is this one done yet?"
  • When a clip is ready, sends you an email with the download link
  • Marks the job as complete so we don't check it again

I set mine to check every 15-30 minutes. No need to spam the API—good things take time! 😉

Setting It Up (It's Easier Than You Think)

When I was helping Annie set this up (you can watch the full walkthrough below), we got it working in just a few minutes. Here's what you need to do:

Step 1: Create Your Data Table

In n8n, create a new data table. Here's a pro tip I learned the hard way: don't name it "videos"—use something like "clip_jobs" or "reel_records" instead. Trust me on this one; it'll save you some headaches.

Your table needs four columns (all strings):

  • video_title - The name of the video
  • video_url - The YouTube URL
  • job_id - The ID Reka gives us to track the clip
  • job_status - Where we are in the process (queued, processing, completed, etc.)

Step 2: Import the Workflows

Download the two JSON files from the GitHub repo and import them into n8n. They'll show up with some errors at first—that's totally normal! We need to configure them.

Step 3: Configure "Submit Reel Creation"

  1. RSS Feed Trigger: Replace my YouTube channel ID with the one you want to monitor. You can find any channel's ID in their channel URL.

  2. API Key: Head to platform.reka.ai and grab your free API key. Pop it into the Bearer Auth field. Give it a memorable name like "Reka API key" so you know what it is later.

  3. Clip Settings: This is where you tell the AI what kind of clips you want. The default settings create one vertical video (9:16 aspect ratio) up to 30 seconds long with subtitles. But you can change anything:

    • The prompt ("Create an engaging short video highlighting the best moments")
    • Duration limits
    • Aspect ratio (square, vertical, horizontal—your choice)
    • Whether to include subtitles

  4. Data Table: Connect it to that table you created in Step 1.

Step 4: Configure "Check Reel Status"

  1. Trigger: Start with the manual trigger while you're testing. Once everything works, switch it to a schedule trigger (I recommend every 15-30 minutes).

  2. API Key: Same deal as before—add your Reka API key.

  3. Email: Update the email node with your email address. You can customize the subject and body if you want, but the default works great.

  4. Data Table: Make sure all the data table nodes point to your table from Step 1.

Watching It Work

When Annie and I tested it live, that moment when the first clip job came through with a "queued" status? That was exciting. Then checking back and seeing "completed"? Even better. And when that email arrived with the download link? Perfect.

The clips Reka AI creates are actually really good. It analyzes the entire video, finds the best key moments (or what ever your prompt asks), adds subtitles, and packages it all up in a format ready for social media.

Wrap Up

This tool works great whether you're a clipper enthusiast or a content creator looking to generate clips for your own channel. Once you set it up, it just runs. New video drops at 3 AM? Your clip is already processing. You wake up to a download link in your inbox.

It's open source and free to use. Take it, customize it, make it your own. And if you come up with improvements or have ideas, I'd love to hear about them. Share your updates on GitHub or join the conversation in the Reka Community Discord.

Watch the Full Setup

I recorded the entire setup process with Annie (she was testing it for the first time). You can see every step, every click, and yes, even the little mistakes we made along the way. That's real learning right there.


Get Started

Ready to try it? Here's everything you need:

🔗 n8n template/ Github: https://link.reka.ai/n8n-clip
🔗 Reka API key: https://link.reka.ai/free (renewable & free)


~frank