the short version
- HyperFrames turns a web page into a video. An AI writes each scene as code, and HyperFrames renders it to MP4. It is free and open source.
- There are two ways in. HyperFrames Studio is a desktop app with an AI agent built into its chat. The other way is to ask Claude Code to build the video, and watch it in a preview page that opens in your browser.
- Both play and render the same files. I use Studio for quick, visual, branded pieces, and Claude Code for longer builds that should stay on my own computer.
side by side
| HyperFrames Studio | Claude Code + browser preview | |
|---|---|---|
| what it is | HeyGen’s free desktop app for Mac, Windows (not Arm) and Linux | The HyperFrames command-line tool. hyperframes preview opens a local page in your browser |
| who builds | An agent inside the app’s chat: Claude Code, Codex, Grok, Antigravity, OpenCode, GitHub Copilot or Studio’s own | Claude Code, with the HyperFrames skills (npx skills add heygen-com/hyperframes). The browser page is for watching and checking |
| built in | Storyboard to approve stills first, brand kits, 91 caption styles, a library of inspirations, comment or draw on the frame, background removal, podcast multicam edit, HeyGen voices, video clips and lip sync, and computer use (new, 29 Oct 2026, on some accounts) | Preview, timeline and frame checks. Everything else is whatever you ask Claude Code to do |
| sign-in, cost | Free HeyGen account. HeyGen voices, clips and lip sync use HeyGen credits. The agent bills to its own plan | No sign-in. Local and free, apart from your Claude plan |
| privacy | In my copy, usage telemetry and “agent traces” (prompts, replies and tool results, with file paths and keys removed) were on by default. Screen-recording sharing was off | Nothing goes to HeyGen unless you add a HeyGen tool on purpose |
| files live | A hidden .hyperframes-studio folder in your home folder | Wherever you build the project |
| best for | Steering by pointing and clicking, branded samples, quick drafts | Long explainers and music videos, your own voice and music tools, work you want to keep off other servers |
use this when
- Studio
- You want to see stills before anything moves, mark fixes on the frame, or keep a brand kit (colours, fonts, logos, rules) the agent follows every time.
- Claude Code
- The video is long, uses voices or music you made elsewhere, or holds work or client material you don’t want leaving your computer.
- both
- Start a draft in one and finish in the other. Studio can import existing HyperFrames projects.
things I’d check
- Privacy settings in Studio. Settings → General has the telemetry and agent-trace switches. Turn them off before you use it for anything you wouldn’t share.
- Leave the risky switches off. Studio can give agents full access, stop asking before computer use acts, and start runs from other agents on their own. Each one asks you to confirm. I keep all three off.
- Studio needs Claude Code signed in on its own. If a run stops with “Login expired”, run
claude auth loginin Terminal. Signing in to the Claude app doesn’t cover it. - Preview pages keep running. Each
hyperframes previewstays open in the background after the build is done. If HyperFrames tabs keep appearing in your browser, that’s why. Stop them when the project is finished.
Based on HyperFrames Studio as installed on my Mac on 31 Oct 2026. The app changes often, so check its own settings and HeyGen’s Studio docs before relying on this.
Back to the toolkit, or see what I’ve been trying.