CutCat

A fast, focused desktop video editor built with React, Tauri 2, and FFmpeg.

CutCat 0.2 handles multiple video and audio sources on a magnetic V1 video track and a freely positioned A1 audio track. Editing is non-destructive: source files remain unchanged; only clip order and settings change.

Implemented features

• drag and drop multiple videos and MP3/audio files directly onto the timeline;
• ffprobe metadata: duration, resolution, fps, and video/audio codecs;
• frame-accurate playhead, preview, and frame stepping;
• corrected two-sided trimming: dragging the left handle moves the left clip edge;
• dedicated Select (V) and Cut (C) timeline tools;
• split from the context menu, toolbar, or S, without the native browser menu;
• drag and drop to reorder videos and move audio clips freely;
• per-clip volume, mute, and 0.25×–4× speed;
• detach video audio into a separate, trimmable A1 clip;
• ripple delete, undo/redo, timeline zoom, and fit;
• multi-source H.264/AAC MP4 export with normalized frame dimensions and audio mixing;
• optional fast stream copy for a single segment;
• FFmpeg progress, cancellation, and safe partial output;
• browser frontend fallback for fast UI development.

Research, UX decisions, FFmpeg filtergraphs, and architecture: docs/RESEARCH.md.

Getting started

Requirements:

• Node.js 24 or later;
• Rust stable;
• on Windows: the stable-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc toolchain, Visual Studio Build Tools with the “Desktop development with C++” workload, and the Windows SDK;
• WebView2 Runtime.

npm install
npm run tauri:dev

npm install copies the platform-specific FFmpeg and ffprobe sidecars into src-tauri/binaries with target-triple filenames.

To run only the React UI:

npm run dev

Browser mode supports importing, previewing, and timeline editing. Export requires native file paths and is unavailable in this mode.

Usage

1. Drop one or more videos/MP3 files onto the timeline.
2. Use Select mode to select, trim, and reorder clips.
3. Use Cut mode to click the desired cut point in a clip.
4. Right-click a video and choose Detach audio to create a separate A1 clip.
5. Adjust speed, volume, or mute for the selected clip.
6. Choose export quality and resolution, then select Export.

Keyboard shortcuts:

Key	Action
V	Select and move tool
C	Cut tool
Space	Play / pause
S	Split at the playhead
M	Mute the selected clip
Alt + ← / →	Reorder the selected video
Delete / Backspace	Ripple delete the selected segment
← / →	Step by 1 frame
Shift + ← / →	Step by 5 frames
+ / -	Timeline zoom
0	Timeline fit
Ctrl/Cmd+Z	Undo
Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+Z, Ctrl+Y	Redo

Checks and builds

npm test
npm run build
cargo check --manifest-path src-tauri/Cargo.toml
npm run tauri:portable
npm run tauri:build

npm run tauri:portable builds the release .exe and sidecars in src-tauri/target/release without an installer. For the full installer package, use npm run tauri:build.

Structure

src/
  components/       React editor UI
  hooks/            undo/redo history
  lib/              timeline math, time, and Tauri bridge
  types/            IPC and editor types
src-tauri/
  src/media.rs      canonical import + ffprobe
  src/export.rs     validation, filtergraph, progress, cancellation
  capabilities/     minimal Tauri permissions
scripts/
  prepare-ffmpeg.mjs

FFmpeg license

The development package uses ffmpeg-static and ffprobe-static binaries. Before a release, audit the selected binary's build configuration and license. Distributing a GPL FFmpeg build containing libx264 entails GPL obligations; builds with --enable-nonfree cannot be redistributed. See THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md and FFmpeg Legal.