Getting started with agents

This page is for people who want to make videos with Imaginary Arts without writing the code themselves. You install the library once, then let a coding agent write and run the scripts for you. Claude Code is the agent these instructions use, but any coding agent works the same way.

Installation

You need three things on your computer: Python, the Imaginary Arts library, and Claude Code. There is nothing else to install; your videos are rendered on the Imaginary Arts servers and sent back to you, so your computer never needs video software of its own. Each step below is run in a terminal. On a Mac, open the Terminal app; on Windows, open PowerShell.

1. Install Python

Download Python from python.org/downloads and run the installer. On Windows, tick Add Python to PATH in the installer. Then check it worked:

python3 --version

You should see a version number, 3.11 or higher. Python includes pip, its package installer. If pip turns out to be missing later, this adds it:

python3 -m ensurepip --upgrade

2. Create a folder for your videos

Make a folder, go into it, and create a virtual environment inside it. A virtual environment is a private copy of Python for this folder, so the packages you install here don't interfere with anything else on your computer.

mkdir my-videos
cd my-videos
python3 -m venv .venv

Then activate it. You do this every time you open a new terminal in this folder.

# Mac / Linux
source .venv/bin/activate

# Windows (PowerShell)
.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

Your prompt now starts with (.venv), which means the virtual environment is active.

3. Install Imaginary Arts

pip install imaginaryarts

4. Install Claude Code

# Mac / Linux
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

# Windows (PowerShell)
irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

Claude Code needs a Claude account. The first time you start it, it will ask you to log in.

5. Start Claude Code in your folder

Make sure you are in the my-videos folder with the virtual environment active, then start Claude Code:

claude

That's the whole setup. Claude Code is now running inside a folder that has Python and Imaginary Arts ready to go.

Creating videos with your coding agent

The entire documentation you are reading has been put into a single .md file, which is a plain text file. Click the button below to download it.

Paste the contents of that file into Claude Code as your first message and hit enter. Claude Code will read it and tell you what it can now do to help you make a video.

From there, just describe the video you want in plain language. Claude Code writes the script, runs it, and shows you the result. When you want something changed, say so, and it edits the script and runs it again. Because the library only regenerates what changed, each round is quick.

Even if an agent does the typing, it is still worth reading this documentation yourself. Knowing what the building blocks are, such as generated scenes, voiceovers with word timestamps, captions, looks and camera motion, tells you what is possible, and lets you ask for it precisely.