Free prompt recipes for AutoShort videos

A recipe is a brief you paste into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Gemini CLI, plus the settings, image direction, two variations and a list of what to avoid. There is one for every ready template, every winning-format preset, the Silent UGC lane, the product-ad lane and the eight channel types.

24 recipes: 2 verified with a real video, 22 untested. The do-not lists come from our own weak results, quoted from our test notes. Our videos are AI-generated. New here? Connect first on the MCP page.

What you can choose: the live options

Read from the same constants autoshort_list_options reads. Call it yourself for the list on your plan; the recipes only use values from it.

Art styles

Id	Name	Image model	When to use it
`AUTOSHORTS`	Professional: Cinematic, professional photography style	Standard	Photographic default. Its negative prompt removes people and faces: good for places and objects, wrong for portraits.
`COMIC_BOOK`	Comic Book: Bold comic book and graphic novel art	PRO (higher-quality image model)	Bold cartoon colour. Hides small drift between scenes better than photographic fur. Used by the repo templates for comedy and finance.
`PIXEL_ART`	Pixel Art: Retro pixel art style	PRO (higher-quality image model)	Retro game look. Not used by any recipe yet.
`WATERCOLOR`	Watercolor: Soft watercolor painting	PRO (higher-quality image model)	Soft storybook look. Used for kids and bedtime recipes.
`OIL_PAINTING`	Oil Painting: Classic oil painting art	PRO (higher-quality image model)	Painterly. Used for the pet-drama recipe.
`CYBERPUNK`	Cyberpunk: Futuristic cyberpunk aesthetic	PRO (higher-quality image model)	Neon future cities. Not used by any recipe yet.
`FANTASY`	Fantasy: Epic fantasy and medieval art	PRO (higher-quality image model)	Epic medieval scenes. Not used by any recipe yet.
`ANIME`	Anime: Japanese anime art with expressive characters	PRO (higher-quality image model)	Expressive anime characters. Not used by any recipe yet.
`STICKMAN`	Stickman: Stick figure explainer animation with one recurring character	PRO (higher-quality image model)	One recurring stick figure, locked by the product in every scene; the only style for a story about people without a human-like face. Our verified recipe uses it.

The art style does not change the render price. 3 further styles exist in the schema; they name third-party brands, so this library does not use them.

Caption looks

Through MCP the caption look is picked automatically for each video and no tool takes a theme yet. These eight looks belong to the dashboard's Motion graphics (beta) style.

neon: Neon, Dark purple glow — the original
clean: Clean, White editorial, one blue accent
bold: Bold, Black + safety yellow, heavy type
finance: Finance, Deep green + gold
paper: Paper, Warm cream paper, serif headlines
tech: Tech, Navy + cyan, subtle grid
sunset: Sunset, Warm sunset gradient, dark cards
mono: Mono, Pure black & white, minimal

Voices

autoshort_draft_video: the default narrator (a free Google voice; paid plans can get an ElevenLabs Flash voice included).
autoshort_generate_chat_video: the same default, or the premium ElevenLabs voice only when the brief asks for it.
autoshort_generate_video: always an ElevenLabs premium voice.
autoshort_create_series: the default, or a Google voice id from autoshort_list_options.
A premium ElevenLabs voice adds 25 credits where it is offered. The voice list depends on the language: call autoshort_list_options with a language code.

Lengths and limits

autoshort_draft_video: 8 to 90 seconds, at most 12 scenes, 1000 characters of narration per scene, 600 characters of visual direction per scene, 3000 characters of narration in total.
autoshort_generate_chat_video: 8 to 90 seconds.
autoshort_generate_product_ad: 15 to 90 seconds.
autoshort_generate_video: 5, 8, 15, 30, 60, 90 seconds.
autoshort_create_series: 10, 60, 90 seconds.
Aspect ratios recorded on a draft: 9:16, 1:1, 16:9.
Each recipe card computes its own price from the live price list. A standard short up to 90 seconds is priced as one standard render; longer videos are long-form and are not covered here.

Narration languages and the second caption line

English (en), Arabic (ar), Bulgarian (bg), Czech (cs), Chinese (zh), Danish (da), Dutch (nl), Estonian (et), Finnish (fi), French (fr), German (de), Greek (el), Hindi (hi), Hungarian (hu), Indonesian (id), Italian (it), Japanese (ja), Korean (ko), Malay (ms), Norwegian (no), Persian (fa), Polish (pl), Portuguese (pt), Russian (ru), Spanish (es), Swedish (sv), Tagalog (tl), Thai (th), Turkish (tr), Ukrainian (uk), Vietnamese (vi). captionSecondaryLanguage takes the same codes, or none.

Niches on offer

MOTIVATIONAL, SCARY_STORIES, AI_FACTS, HISTORY_FACTS, REDDIT_STORIES, LIFE_HACKS, CRYPTO_FINANCE, PSYCHOLOGY_FACTS, PERSONAL_FINANCE, FUNNY_STORIES, LOVE_STORIES, KIDS_SONGS, ABSURD_PROCESS.

The 12 ready templates

One recipe for each template on the templates page, rewritten with a nine-word hook, frame 1 in motion and a visual direction.

History facts: three myths about a lost libraryUntested
“Most of what you know about Alexandria is wrong.”
40 credits per video. 30 s, AUTOSHORTS.
Horror story: the lighthouse that kept its own logUntested
“The logbook was filled in again this morning.”
40 credits per video. 45 s, AUTOSHORTS.
Daily motivation: the "shoes on" ruleUntested
“Put your shoes on. Nothing else.”
40 credits per video. 30 s, AUTOSHORTS.
Finance education: year 20 versus year 1Untested
“Why does year 20 earn more than double?”
40 credits per video. 60 s, COMIC_BOOK.
Kids: counting with the pond ducklingsUntested
“One duckling hops into the pond!”
40 credits per video. 30 s, WATERCOLOR.
Product ad: a small candle shop (fictional)Untested
“One candle. Poured by hand. Cedar and vanilla.”
40 credits per video. 30 s, AUTOSHORTS.
Small-business explainer: how booking works (fictional bike shop)Untested
“Three steps to a fixed bike.”
40 credits per video. 45 s, AUTOSHORTS.
Mini-episode: Pip the paper fox and Moss the snailUntested
“A paper fox crosses a very wet garden.”
40 credits per video. 60 s, WATERCOLOR.
Psychology facts: why you clean the desk insteadUntested
“You cleaned your desk instead of starting.”
40 credits per video. 30 s, AUTOSHORTS.
Life hack: the mug hook that frees a shelfUntested
“Your mugs are stealing a whole shelf.”
40 credits per video. 15 s, AUTOSHORTS.
Pet comedy: the cat versus the robot vacuumUntested
“Biscuit declares war on the robot vacuum.”
40 credits per video. 30 s, COMIC_BOOK.
Science fact: the planet hotter than the one nearest the sunUntested
“Venus is hotter than Mercury. Here is why.”
40 credits per video. 30 s, AUTOSHORTS.

The 7 winning-format presets

One recipe for each preset in the format library. Where our real series used a costlier path, the card says so.

Absurd scene with a fixed reaction, loopedUntested
“Why is the goat on the piano?!”
40 credits per video. 15 s, COMIC_BOOK.
Calm documentary narrator, the animal does nothingUntested
“This is Dumpling. Dumpling has one job.”
40 credits per video. 30 s, COMIC_BOOK.
Wordless-style pet drama with a cliffhangerUntested
“Mochi came home. The bowl was gone.”
40 credits per video. 60 s, OIL_PAINTING.
First-person drama with a cliffhanger last lineUntested
“I thought it was a small mistake.”
40 credits per video. 30 s, STICKMAN.
Short horror or bedtime story with a twistUntested
“Every night at 3 a.m., the swing moves.”
40 credits per video. 45 s, AUTOSHORTS.
Curiosity fact with a looping last lineUntested
“Sealed honey barely spoils, and few explain why.”
40 credits per video. 30 s, AUTOSHORTS.
"Made from one sentence" showcaseUntested
“One sentence. This is what it made.”
40 credits per video. 15 s, AUTOSHORTS.

Silent UGC and product ads

Silent UGC: a 12-second promo for your own appVerified
“POV: you type one line and close your laptop.”
44 credits per video. 12 s.
Product ad from a public product pageUntested
“Open on the product already in use.”
At least 40 credits per video. 30 s, AUTOSHORTS.

Recipes without a template

Stickman comedy: one character, one job, six beatsVerified
“Pip has one job today.”
40 credits per video. 30 s, STICKMAN.
Language learning: five words with a translated caption lineUntested
“Cinco palabras para la cocina.”
40 credits per video. 30 s, AUTOSHORTS.
Kids-safe bedtime story: animals and objects onlyUntested
“The little owl could not sleep.”
40 credits per video. 45 s, WATERCOLOR.

What went wrong in our own tests

These are the findings behind the do-not lists, most repeated first. Counts are how many recipes carry each rule.

The long uppercase no-text block made the image model redraw garbage text on 3 of 11 trial videos; a short "Pure illustration with no writing in it." replaced it.
Used in 12 recipes. Our note: howto.md, line 7.
A bedtime story opened on a wide establishing frame and a 16-plus-word "In a soft watercolour world..." first sentence.
Used in 8 recipes. Our note: hook-first-2026-10-26.md, line 20.
6 of 13 prompts that said "don't invent statistics" still got a percentage figure in the narration.
Used in 8 recipes. Our note: video-feedback-2026-10-17.md, line 76.
Shot 4 showed a second, small capybara-like animal next to the main one and a distorted body; the episode failed QA and was not posted.
Used in 5 recipes. Our note: qa-dumpling-ep4.md, line 29.
Hook rule: first sentence at most 9 words, no scene-setting opener, a face or a concrete action in the first shot.
Used in 5 recipes. Our note: hook-first-2026-10-26.md, line 22.
The look drifted between realistic fur in some shots and cartoon in others.
Used in 4 recipes. Our note: qa-dumpling-ep1.md, line 47.
The animal was drawn upright in every reference view, so the model stood her up when startled; "on all four legs" is the fix.
Used in 3 recipes. Our note: qa-dumpling-ep1.md, line 64.
Dark-ink horror story: the hook frame showed bare feet that looked malformed; replaced by a door with a shadow.
Used in 2 recipes. Our note: qa.md, line 18.
Kids lane characters are animals, toys, vehicles, foods, shapes and colours only; never a child, parent, teacher or any human face, hand or body.
Used in 2 recipes. Our note: kids-songs-niche.ts, line 274-279.
The KIDS_SONGS lane re-adds the full people ban at render time (negativePromptForNiche), on top of the art style's own negative prompt.
Used in 2 recipes. Our note: art-styles.ts, line 94-97.
Product photos are letterboxed on purpose in product ads (a punch-in would crop 6 % per side of the customer's product).
Used in 2 recipes. Our note: polish-all-lanes-2026-10-28.md, line 14.
Scene cuts led the voice by about 1 s: scene lengths are computed from words at 2.5 words per second while the voice ran at 2.7.
Used in 2 recipes. Our note: qa.md, line 62.
Cats video opened on a wide room with the cat asleep far away and a 12-word "Did you know..." line.
Used in 2 recipes. Our note: hook-first-2026-10-26.md, line 18.
captionSecondaryLanguage "vi" was sent but no Vietnamese caption line was burned in.
Used in 2 recipes. Our note: qa-dumpling-ep4.md, line 34.
The lead of a drama series was a different person in episode 3 than in episode 2.
Used in 2 recipes. Our note: quality-benchmark-2026-10-27.md, line 63.
Silent UGC sample: the first scene's phone UI is AI-generated gibberish.
Used in 2 recipes. Our note: quality-benchmark-2026-10-27.md, line 65.
No income or results claims, testimonial stats, percentages, "in 2 minutes", links, handles, hashtags or emoji are accepted in hooks and captions: the server refuses them.
Used in 2 recipes. Our note: silent-ugc-2026-10-26.md, line 14.
The AUTOSHORTS (photographic) style has "people, person, human, face, faces, man, woman, portrait, silhouette, body" in its negative prompt.
Used in 1 recipe. Our note: art-styles.ts, line 54-55.
A slideshow-style video showed an empty gradient with no text at 1.5 s.
Used in 1 recipe. Our note: quality-benchmark-2026-10-27.md, line 64.
One beat came back as a stacked two-panel image.
Used in 1 recipe. Our note: qa.md, line 15.
QA note: the red prop reads as a glossy red ball, not a button.
Used in 1 recipe. Our note: manifest.json, line 43.
Every draft scene needs narration text; a draft cannot be wordless.
Used in 1 recipe. Our note: drafts.ts, line 359.
An 11-word first sentence over a static face failed the 9-word hook rule (YouTube swiped away 92.6 %).
Used in 1 recipe. Our note: hook-first-2026-10-26.md, line 13.
STICKMAN is the one way to tell a story about people without a human-like face: the figure has two dot eyes and a line.
Used in 1 recipe. Our note: art-styles.ts, line 181-182.
Faceless mode shows hands on a phone; hands are the main deformity risk and the phone screen is never legible.
Used in 1 recipe. Our note: silent-ugc-2026-10-26.md, line 15.
It is a promotional app ad, the class of post TikTok did not test for our account: use it on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and X.
Used in 1 recipe. Our note: silent-ugc-posts-2026-10-26.md, line 9.
A FREE plan is refused at render with PAID_PLAN_REQUIRED; previews and hook suggestions need a positive credit balance.
Used in 1 recipe. Our note: silent-ugc-2026-10-26.md, line 13.
The wording "raising a mug" and "holding a mug" was drawn as the figure drinking from it, on two beats.
Used in 1 recipe. Our note: qa.md, line 44-45.
Blush marks and sleepy or open-eye variants appeared on some beats although the character lock says two dot eyes and one curved line.
Used in 1 recipe. Our note: qa.md, line 63.
The burnt-in cover title sits over the top of the head on frame 1 for the first 1.5 s.
Used in 1 recipe. Our note: qa.md, line 65.
The account-default second caption line was skipped by the product with a warning; primary captions only.
Used in 1 recipe. Our note: qa-dumpling-ep1.md, line 52.
Watercolour hedgehog story: in beat 4 the squirrel wears the hedgehog's hat (character drift).
Used in 1 recipe. Our note: qa.md, line 12.
madeForKids: omit to use the series answer, or the niche default (false except KIDS_SONGS).
Used in 1 recipe. Our note: tools-workflow.ts, line 253.

Prices and refunds

Costs on each card come from the live price list; see pricing and costs and the plans. A render that fails for good is refunded automatically; the rules are on the refund page. You can preview a script free on the free script preview. Developers: the developer page. More prompts: the prompt library and use cases.

Questions

What does Verified mean on a recipe?

A real video was made through the product from that recipe (or its direct predecessor), it is public, and the card links it and states the honest result, including low view counts and our own QA verdict. Recipes without such a video are marked Untested and say why.

Are these recipes free?

The recipes are free to read and copy. Drafting, editing and pricing a video through MCP are free; rendering costs credits. The costs shown come from the live price list, and autoshort_estimate_cost quotes any paid call for free before you approve it.

Why can I not pick the caption look or the voice in these recipes?

Through MCP the caption look is picked automatically and the draft tool takes no voice id. The options table lists what the product offers where you can choose, and the recipes only name values that exist.

Do the recipes promise views or income?

No. Our own results are small and are shown as they are. No recipe promises views, followers or income, and our videos are AI-generated and are labelled that way when posted.