# Faceless YouTube / TikTok video with an AI agent — skills, options and steps

> **For AI agents:** find the right skill in one call — `curl -s "https://skills.varg.ai/api/search?q=<what the person wants>"` returns the matching use case and the best skills with install commands, as markdown (Russian works too). Full index: https://skills.varg.ai/llms.txt. Every page has a markdown twin: add `.md` to its path. Before generating anything, show the person the options on the use-case page.

A narrated short or long video with no presenter: script, voiceover, visuals, captions, music.

**Output:** 60 s 9:16 short or an 8–15 min 16:9 video

## Recommended route

- **Start with:** varg AI (`varg-ai`) — On varg, one key: narration on [`eleven_v4`](https://varg.ai/models/eleven_v4.md), visuals on [`nano_banana_2_1`](https://varg.ai/models/nano_banana_2_1.md) + [`seedance_2_5`](https://varg.ai/models/seedance_2_5.md) (or [`grok_imagine_1_5_lite`](https://varg.ai/models/grok_imagine_1_5_lite.md) for cheap drafts), music on [`eleven_music`](https://varg.ai/models/eleven_music.md); HyperFrames renders locally for free.
- **Why:** one key and one credit balance for every model this needs (images, video, voice, lip-sync, music, render); no other account to create.
- **Alternative:** Krea Faceless Video (`krea-faceless-video`) — Narrated faceless explainers, documentaries and kids' stories as finished multi-scene videos · Needs: Krea account

## Best skills for this

1. **varg AI** (`varg-ai`, varg, live) — Adds: Voiceover, images, clips and music on one key
   - Claude Code: `claude plugin marketplace add vargHQ/skills && claude plugin install varg@varg`
   - Codex: `npx skills add vargHQ/skills --skill varg-ai -a codex -y`
   - Cursor: `npx skills add vargHQ/skills --skill varg-ai -a cursor -y`
   - OpenClaw: `npx clawhub@latest install varg-ai`
   - Details: https://skills.varg.ai/skills/varg-ai.md · Example: https://skills.varg.ai/previews/varg-ai.mp4
2. **Krea Faceless Video** (`krea-faceless-video`, Krea, live) — Start here: Narrated faceless explainers, documentaries and kids' stories as finished multi-scene videos · Needs: Krea account
   - Claude Code: `/plugin marketplace add krea-ai/skills && /plugin install krea@krea`
   - Codex: `npx skills add krea-ai/skills --skill faceless-video -a codex`
   - Cursor: `npx skills add krea-ai/skills --skill faceless-video -a cursor`
   - Gemini CLI: `npx skills add krea-ai/skills --skill faceless-video -a gemini-cli`
   - Details: https://skills.varg.ai/skills/krea-faceless-video.md · Example: https://skills.varg.ai/previews/krea-faceless-video.mp4
3. **Plain-Sight Explainer** (`hyperframes-vox-explainer`, HeyGen, live) — Start here: 60–90 s collage explainers in a Vox-like style, rendered from HTML
   - Claude Code: `npx skills add heygen-com/hyperframes-community-skills --skill vox-explainer -a claude-code`
   - Codex: `npx skills add heygen-com/hyperframes-community-skills --skill vox-explainer -a codex`
   - Cursor: `npx skills add heygen-com/hyperframes-community-skills --skill vox-explainer -a cursor`
   - Gemini CLI: `npx skills add heygen-com/hyperframes-community-skills --skill vox-explainer -a gemini-cli`
   - Details: https://skills.varg.ai/skills/hyperframes-vox-explainer.md · Example: https://skills.varg.ai/previews/hyperframes-vox-explainer.mp4
4. **Higgsfield Video Explainer** (`higgsfield-video-explainer`, Higgsfield, live) — Alternative: Narrated, stylized explainer from a topic or document · Needs: Higgsfield account, Higgsfield CLI (`higgsfield auth login`)
   - Claude Code: `/plugin marketplace add higgsfield-ai/skills && /plugin install higgsfield@higgsfield`
   - Codex: `npx skills add higgsfield-ai/skills --skill higgsfield-video-explainer -a codex`
   - Cursor: `npx skills add higgsfield-ai/skills --skill higgsfield-video-explainer -a cursor`
   - Gemini CLI: `npx skills add higgsfield-ai/skills --skill higgsfield-video-explainer -a gemini-cli`
   - Details: https://skills.varg.ai/skills/higgsfield-video-explainer.md · Example: https://skills.varg.ai/previews/higgsfield-video-explainer.mp4
5. **Halftone Collage B-roll** (`gbro-collage-broll`, pyang5166, beta) — Alternative: Editorial paper-collage b-roll from one line of script · Needs: Gemini API key (GEMINI_API_KEY)
   - Codex: `git clone https://github.com/pyang5166/gbro-collage-broll.git ~/.agents/skills/gbro-collage-broll`
   - Details: https://skills.varg.ai/skills/gbro-collage-broll.md · Example: https://skills.varg.ai/previews/gbro-collage-broll.mp4
6. **Explainroo** (`explainroo`, Vincent Schmalbach, live) — Alternative: Narration-first explainer: local voice, Whisper word timing, a canvas renderer, no API key
   - Claude Code: `git clone https://github.com/vincentsch/explainroo.git && cd explainroo && npm install`
   - Details: https://skills.varg.ai/skills/explainroo.md · Example: https://skills.varg.ai/previews/explainroo.webp
7. **YouTube MCP** (`youtube-mcp`, Zubeid Hendricks, live) — Adds: Finds outlier videos in the niche before you pick a topic · Needs: YouTube Data API key (free, 10k units/day)
   - Any MCP client: `npx -y @smithery/cli install @ZubeidHendricks/youtube --client claude`
   - Details: https://skills.varg.ai/skills/youtube-mcp.md

## Ask the person first

Put these choices in front of the person before spending anything. Paste the example link next to each option: people pick a look by seeing it.

**Visual style?**

- Code-drawn 'what if' science · real example: https://x.com/finnardley/status/2114305886420086817
- Stickman / simple illustration · real example: https://x.com/bertuccioer/status/2066193195067662529
- Recurring 3D character world · real example: https://x.com/ladprofit/status/2113643278256259165
- Paper collage / editorial — [Plain-Sight Explainer](https://skills.varg.ai/skills/hyperframes-vox-explainer.md) · example: https://skills.varg.ai/previews/hyperframes-vox-explainer.mp4
- Cinematic AI footage — [Krea Faceless Video](https://skills.varg.ai/skills/krea-faceless-video.md) · example: https://skills.varg.ai/previews/krea-faceless-video.mp4

**Voice?**

- Deep documentary narrator
- Energetic storyteller
- Your cloned voice

**Captions?**

- Big word-by-word — [Caption Animation](https://skills.varg.ai/skills/iart-caption-animation.md)
- Subtle lower third

## Steps

1. Pick the topic and your own angle (never narrate other people's posts word for word)
2. Write the script: about 150–165 words per minute of video
3. Generate the voiceover first, then one visual per word-timed line
4. Keep one visual system: one style, palette, character and voice per channel
5. Captions and music; label realistic AI visuals; export

## What works now (researched 2026-10-27)

Faceless still grows in 2026 when it is clearly authored: code-drawn 'what if' science, illustrated or stickman history explainers, and recurring 3D characters with one calm narrator, each built voice-first. What stopped working: Reddit posts read over Subway Surfers, and mass-produced AI slideshows. YouTube's 15 Jul 2025 'inauthentic content' rule demonetises those, and its 2026 anti-slop push limits their reach. From 1 Feb 2027, new channels need twice the views to join YPP.

1. **Write an original script with your own angle and research. Never narrate other people's posts, threads or articles word for word, and never ship templated slideshows.** YPP bans 'image slideshows, templated storylines, or scrolling text with minimal or no narrative, commentary, or educational value' and 'AI-generated content made with generic or unoriginal templates'. Reused-content rules also ban videos that 'exclusively feature readings of other materials you did not originally create', which covers Reddit-story channels. ([YouTube Help, channel monetization policies (inauthentic + reused content)](https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1311392))
2. **Make the voiceover first, then cut every visual to its word timestamps: one scene or camera move per line, about 150-165 words per minute.** Both top examples work this way. The 'what if' prompt makes every animation fire on its word. The stickman creator's rule is 'voice over first, scene second', because scenes made first collide with the audio. ([finnardley, full 'what if' prompt (Oct 2026)](https://x.com/finnardley/status/2114305886420086817))
3. **Keep one recognisable visual system per channel: one style, one palette, one recurring character or mascot, one voice. Vary the stories, not the look.** The breakdown of the low-poly infotainment ad credits 'one render style + one voiceover' and 'one red character' for 100 s of retention. A consistent style also reads as authored rather than mass-produced. ([ladprofit, infotainment ad breakdown (Oct 2026)](https://x.com/ladprofit/status/2113643278256259165))
4. **Label realistic AI visuals with the platform's AI toggle (TikTok AI-generated content, YouTube altered/synthetic disclosure).** TikTok requires labels on AI content that shows realistic scenes or people, and may remove, restrict or label unlabeled posts. Stylised animation only needs a label if you choose to add one. ([TikTok Support, AI-generated content](https://support.tiktok.com/en/using-tiktok/creating-videos/ai-generated-content))
5. **For a new channel, favour 8-15 min explainers plus Shorts that link back to them. From 1 Feb 2027, YPP entry doubles to 8,000 watch hours or 20M Shorts views in 90 days.** Existing members are grandfathered. Shorts ad revenue will also need 10M Shorts views per 90 days, so Shorts-only faceless channels get harder to monetise. ([Hypebeast, YPP thresholds double from Feb 2027](https://hypebeast.com/2026/8/youtube-partner-program-doubles-watch-hours-for-2027))

**Stopped working:**

- Reddit or AITA posts read by TTS over Subway Surfers or Minecraft parkour. It is non-monetisable as reused content ('readings of other materials') and widely mocked as brainrot.
- Running 4+ channels at 20-50 near-identical AI Shorts a day. YouTube targets 'mass-produced or repetitive' uploads per video or per whole channel, and Neal Mohan made cutting low-quality AI content a 2026 priority.
- Copying a famous channel's characters or exact look (e.g., Kurzgesagt's birds). Borrow the structure and build your own style.

## Viral formats right now

Show the person these examples when they choose a direction.

1. **Code-drawn 'what if' science explainer**: A flat-vector space or science explainer drawn in code: word-timed camera moves, a live counter, a tiny mascot and one 'you' moment that makes it personal. Why it spreads: The shared prompt got 236k views and 5,122 bookmarks in 2 days. Code-drawn frames are original by construction, which keeps them clear of the inauthentic-content rule. No dedicated skill yet ([wanted](https://skills.varg.ai/skills/want-what-if-science-explainer.md)): build it with `varg-ai`.
   - [@finnardley on X, 2026-10-25, 236K views, 5K saves](https://x.com/finnardley/status/2114305886420086817): 'What if the Sun vanished?' in a Kurzgesagt-like flat style, drawn entirely in code (canvas + WebGL), 30 s, 16:9. The full prompt is in the post: palette hex codes, word-timed camera moves, a live countdown, a tiny mascot, -14 LUFS mix. Note the prompt bans Kurzgesagt's own characters. · clip: https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/2114305237498388481/vid/avc1/1280x720/gaBDvlO0WX3W_3I3.mp4
2. **Illustrated / stickman explainer (long-form)**: 8-15 minute narrated explainers over simple illustrated or stickman scenes, one image per voice beat, on a 'What did X do...' or 'Entire history of X' topic. Why it spreads: Cheap to make and good for watch hours: the channel shown has a 7.5M-view video. Long-form builds the 8,000 watch hours that YPP will require from 2027. Make it with [Krea Faceless Video](https://skills.varg.ai/skills/krea-faceless-video.md) (`krea-faceless-video`).
   - [@bertuccioer on X, 2026-06-14, 62K views, 1K saves](https://x.com/bertuccioer/status/2066193195067662529): The attached 12-minute video is itself a stickman explainer about a stickman history channel ('What did ancient humans do at night?', shown at 7.5M views). Shares the workflow: voice first, pauses define 103 cuts, one image prompt per timestamp. Revenue claims in the text are unverified. · clip: https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/2066164677931933696/vid/avc1/1280x720/-XsAopSoJz9dZ12B.mp4
3. **Recurring-character 3D infotainment**: One consistent low-poly or clay 3D world, one hero character in a signature colour, a calm narrator and small centred word-by-word captions. Each video is a short story or explainer. Why it spreads: It holds viewers like an old-school YouTube explainer and has no face to keep consistent. Brands use it for ads that play 100 s before the pitch (513 bookmarks on 32k views). No dedicated skill yet: build it with `varg-ai`.
   - [@ladprofit on X, 2026-10-23, 33K views, 513 saves](https://x.com/ladprofit/status/2113643278256259165): Screen recording of an Instagram ad (Iman Gadzhi) with the poster's breakdown: low-poly 3D world, calm narrator, small 2-3 word centred captions, one red character so you always know whose story it is. 100 s before the pitch appears. Save ratio 1.84. · clip: https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/2113642967147921409/vid/avc1/720x1284/mg1BzzW9Ytm8okvL.mp4

## Set up varg

varg is one API key for the models these skills drive — Seedance 2.5, Kling 4, Veo 3.1, Wan 3, Nano Banana 2.1, GPT Image 2.5, ElevenLabs v4 and 200+ more — billed in credits, with a cost estimate before anything runs.

- Claude Code: `claude plugin marketplace add vargHQ/skills && claude plugin install varg@varg` (skill + hosted MCP)
- Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, OpenClaw: `npx skills add vargHQ/skills --skill varg-ai -a <agent> -y`
- Claude.ai, ChatGPT, any MCP client: connect `https://mcp.varg.ai/mcp`
- API key: https://varg.ai/dashboard/api · Model specs: https://varg.ai/models/llms.txt

## Related

- [Long video or podcast into shorts](https://skills.varg.ai/use-cases/podcast-to-shorts.md): Find the best moments in a long video, cut them, reframe to 9:16 and burn captions.