AutoShort

Kids-safe bedtime story shorts: what is allowed and what is not

Children's content has stricter rules than any other type of short. This page says what AutoShort will and will not make, and what you must decide yourself before you publish.

Who it is for

  • Parents and teachers who want a calm two-minute-or-less story with animals or objects as the characters.
  • Storytellers who will read every script before it is published.
  • Channel owners who know they must answer YouTube's made-for-kids question honestly.

What AutoShort does for this

  • The assistant writes a gentle story with you. autoshort_draft_video stores it word for word, free, with one picture description per scene.
  • The kids-songs lane (the KIDS_SONGS niche) has a built-in rule: characters are animals, toys, vehicles, foods, shapes and colours only, never a person or a human face. It applies when AutoShort writes the script itself. In a draft you write, the rule must be in your prompt, as in the example below.
  • Narration is read by a synthetic voice. In the kids lane there is no singing and no voice or face cloning: the output is a narrated video.
  • autoshort_publish_video and autoshort_create_series have a madeForKids setting: it is your answer to YouTube's children's-content question, and the tool says to ask the user.
  • A ready kids counting-song template is on the templates page; autoshort_estimate_cost prices any render first.

Not connected yet? Follow the steps for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Gemini CLI on the MCP page.

Worked example

Worked example

Not run: costs credits

A calm bedtime story about a small grey hedgehog who is afraid of the dark

Paste this into Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Gemini CLI once AutoShort is connected. It is the library prompt Calm bedtime story with an original animal with the bracketed parts filled in.

Use the AutoShort tools to make a calm bedtime story of about 40 seconds for young children. The hero is an original animal I make up: a small grey hedgehog who is afraid of the dark.
Write 6 scenes yourself, slow and gentle, short sentences. No people's faces, no named cartoon or film characters, no brand characters, no scary moments, no real places. Scene 1 narration is at most 9 words and the hero is already doing something (not a wide establishing shot). The last scene is quiet and the hero falls asleep.
Use the same one-sentence description of the animal in every scene visual. Call autoshort_draft_video with scenes[] (free), show me the draft, then autoshort_estimate_cost. Show me the price first and wait for my yes before any paid step.
After my yes: autoshort_render_draft once, then autoshort_get_video until COMPLETED or FAILED.
Do not publish anything. If I later ask you to publish, ask me first whether the video is made for kids and pass my answer as madeForKids.
Tools it triggers
  • autoshort_draft_video
  • autoshort_estimate_cost
  • autoshort_render_draft
  • autoshort_get_video
Estimated cost
40 credits (about $0.63 on the Starter plan, $0.80 at the $0.02-per-credit list rate). Ask for the price first: autoshort_estimate_cost quotes it for free.
What you get
  • A six-scene gentle story you can read first, then a narrated short of about 40 seconds with an AI-generated animal hero.
  • Nothing is published by this prompt. Publishing is a separate step with your own made-for-kids answer.
Test status
Draft + price quote run on 2026-10-29 (QA account, free tools only): 6-scene draft, 39.6 s estimated, no warnings, estimate_cost 40 credits, balance stayed 0. Render not run: costs credits.

What the output looks like

  • A shy fox shares her lantern (34 s, watercolor bedtime story), made in StoryShort, not AutoShort

    YouTube Shorts, channel StoryShort (Made for kids: Yes), 2026-10-25. AI-generated.

    How it was made: Made with StoryShort (storyshort.app), a separate app we also run, in the WATERCOLOR style with a synthetic voice. Labelled AI-generated, altered content: yes, and we answered Made for kids: Yes because it is a children's bedtime story.

    Result: It had 0 views on YouTube at the 2026-10-28 read. The same story reached 343 views on Facebook (3-second rate 9.9 %). Our own views are not excluded.

The example is a StoryShort video with a similar story, not an AutoShort render of the prompt above. We have no public AutoShort bedtime short yet.

What it costs

40 credits (about $0.63 on the Starter plan, $0.80 at the $0.02-per-credit list rate). Ask for the price first: autoshort_estimate_cost quotes it for free.

One short is 40 credits with the default voice; autoshort_estimate_cost prices the exact draft first.

See what things cost, pricing and the refund policy. Want to see a script first? The free script preview needs no account.

Limits, stated plainly

  • AutoShort will not make content that sexualises children or puts a child in an abusive or dangerous situation, and it does not allow using the face, body or voice of a minor. Such requests are refused.
  • Human-like faces are not something to ask for in kids content. The repo records that the app does not generate them, and the kids lane casts animals and objects only. Keep every character an animal or an object.
  • Made for kids is your decision. Answer it honestly when publishing: it is the answer YouTube asks for about children's content, and AutoShort only passes on what you say.
  • This page is not legal advice and AutoShort does not certify content as child-safe or COPPA-compliant. Read every script and watch every video before a child does.
  • The voice is synthetic and the narration is verbatim. Short pictures drift a little between scenes, so keep the characters simple.
  • No singing: the output is a narrated video, not a sung one.

Frequently asked questions

Will AutoShort refuse anything in kids content?

Yes. Its acceptable-use rules prohibit any sexualised, exploitative, abusive or dangerous depiction of a child and using the face, body or voice of a minor. The kids-songs lane also casts only animals and objects, never a person or a human face.

Can I show a child, a parent or a teacher in the pictures?

No: do not ask for that. Use animals, toys, vehicles or objects. If the request names a person, the kids lane casts the nearest friendly animal or object instead.

What does madeForKids do?

It is your answer to YouTube's children's-content question, which autoshort_publish_video and autoshort_create_series pass through when uploading. The tool descriptions tell the assistant to ask you rather than decide for you. Check YouTube's own rules to answer correctly.

How much does one bedtime story short cost?

A standard short of up to 90 seconds is 40 credits with the default voice. Drafting the script is free, and autoshort_estimate_cost quotes the exact price before anything is charged. The credits are taken when you approve the render, and refunded automatically if the render fails for good.

Does AutoShort certify the video as child-safe?

No. It applies content checks and the animals-and-objects rule, but it cannot certify anything. You are the reviewer of every script and every video.

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