lazycut
Terminal-based video trimming tool
TLDR
SYNOPSIS
lazycut video-file
DESCRIPTION
lazycut is a terminal-based video trimming tool that provides an interactive TUI for marking in/out points and exporting trimmed video clips. It renders video frames directly in the terminal using chafa and processes cuts with FFmpeg, allowing quick and precise trimming without leaving the command line.
The interface uses vim-style keybindings for navigation and supports repeat counts for seeking (e.g., 5l seeks forward 5 seconds). After setting in and out points, pressing Enter exports the trimmed clip.
KEYBOARD CONTROLS
Space
Play or pause playback.h / l
Seek backward or forward 1 second.H / L
Seek backward or forward 5 seconds.i / o
Set the in point or out point for trimming.Enter
Export the trimmed clip.?
Display help menu.q
Quit the application.
CAVEATS
Requires both FFmpeg and chafa to be installed and available in PATH. Terminal rendering quality depends on the terminal emulator's capabilities and font size. Not available in standard Linux distribution package managers — must be installed via Homebrew or built from source.
HISTORY
lazycut was created by Emin Ozata and first released on GitHub as an open-source project under the MIT license. Written entirely in Go, it gained visibility after appearing on Hacker News. The tool provides a lightweight alternative to GUI video editors for simple trimming tasks.
