VidNo uses Claude (by Anthropic) to generate video scripts from the code context it extracts from your screen recordings. You need your own API key, which takes about two minutes to set up.
Go to console.anthropic.com and create an account if you do not already have one. Once logged in, navigate to the API Keys section in the left sidebar. Click "Create Key," give it a name like "vidno" so you can identify it later, and copy the key. It starts with sk-ant- and is a long string of characters.
Back in your terminal, run vidno config and paste the key when prompted. VidNo stores it in ~/.vidno/config.json on your machine. The key is only used when VidNo sends extracted text to Claude's API for script generation. No video, audio, or screenshot data is ever sent — only the text content that OCR pulled from your screen and any git diff summaries.
Regarding cost: Claude API usage for VidNo is remarkably cheap. A typical 30-minute coding session produces about 3,000-5,000 tokens of extracted context, and Claude generates a 2,000-3,000 token script in response. At current Claude API pricing, that works out to roughly $0.003 per video — about a third of a cent. Even if you produce 10 videos per week, your monthly Claude API bill would be under $0.15.
Anthropic bills based on usage with no minimum commitment. You load credits into your account and they are drawn down as you make API calls. A $5 initial deposit will last you through hundreds of VidNo videos.
One important note: VidNo uses the Claude API, not the Claude chat interface. They are separate products with separate billing. A Claude Pro chat subscription ($20/month) does not include API access. You need API credits loaded at console.anthropic.com specifically.
Keep your API key private. Do not commit it to git repositories or share it publicly. If you believe your key has been compromised, revoke it immediately in the Anthropic console and generate a new one.