---
title: Set up invideo in Codex
description: Install the invideo plugin in Codex, sign in once in the browser, and have Codex generate video, voice and music and edit it on a real timeline you can watch live.
---
Codex gets the invideo skills and the CLI, opens your projects by URL, generates the shots, voices and music a video lacks, and edits it all on a timeline you watch live in the browser. In Codex, invideo runs through the CLI, not through an MCP server.

## Set up

Install the invideo plugin. Run these in your terminal, or ask Codex to run them for you.

```bash
codex plugin marketplace add invideoio/skills
codex plugin add invideo@invideo
```

The plugin installs the invideo skills: how to connect, the work loop, the cost rule, and the steps for each kind of video. The skills are CLI-first. On your first video request, Codex installs the invideo CLI, a single binary with no sudo, and opens a browser tab for you to sign in.

<Steps>
<Step title="Install the plugin">
Run the two lines above. You see invideo in `codex plugin list`.
</Step>
<Step title="Ask for a video">
Give Codex a video job. It installs the CLI with the install script and runs `invideo auth login`. A sign-in tab opens in your browser.
</Step>
<Step title="Approve in the browser">
Sign in and choose the workspaces your agent may use. Come back to Codex. It carries on with your job, and `invideo auth status` shows your name.
</Step>
</Steps>

You can also install the CLI yourself, before the first job.

```bash
curl -fsSL https://agents.invideo.io | sh
invideo --version
invideo auth login
```

On Windows, install with the PowerShell line on [invideo for AI agents](/agents).

## Sign in

With the CLI, `invideo auth login` opens the browser and waits for you to approve. Codex runs it in the background or with a long timeout and tells you a tab opened.

Where no browser can open, on ssh, in a container or on a cloud machine, the agent uses a device code.

```bash
INVIDEO_NO_BROWSER=1 invideo auth login
```

It prints a link and a code. Open the link on another device and enter the code. Your agent never asks you to send the code back, and never asks for a password.

## First prompt

Start with a prompt that proves the connection works.

```text
Use invideo to show me my projects.
```

Then give it a real job. Name the folder with your files.

```text
Make a new invideo project called "Product demo". Upload the clips in
./footage, cut them into one timeline on a branch, add captions and a
short generated opening shot. Tell me the price before you spend,
and show me the frames before you export.
```

Codex replies with project and timeline URLs. Open them to watch the edit land.

Your agent runs a dry run first. For any call that costs 1 credit or more, it tells you the price and waits for your yes. A call under 1 credit runs without asking, and your agent tells you what it cost.

## If something goes wrong

Most problems come from the install path or the sign-in.

| Symptom | Fix |
| --- | --- |
| `codex plugin add` says the plugin is not found | Run `codex plugin marketplace add invideoio/skills` first, then add again. |
| The agent says `invideo` is not found after the install | The install script wrote `~/.local/bin/invideo`. Run it by its full path, or add that folder to `PATH`. |
| CLI exit 4, not signed in | Run `invideo auth login`, or the device code line above. |
| The sign-in tab never opened | Run `INVIDEO_NO_BROWSER=1 invideo auth login` and open the link it prints. |
| The agent cannot see a workspace | Run `invideo auth login` again and choose that workspace in the browser. |
| Avoid: the agent asks for your code or password | Instead: you approve in the browser, and the agent waits. |
| Avoid: the agent adds invideo as an MCP server in Codex | Instead: use the CLI. The skills teach it, and the plugin carries no MCP config. |

## Next

- [invideo for AI agents](/agents), the rules your agent follows
- [Check your video before you say it is done](/how-to/check-your-video)
- [Know the cost before you spend](/how-to/cost-before-you-spend)
- [Run invideo in CI and on servers](/how-to/ci-and-servers)
- [CLI commands and flags](/reference/cli)