OpenMontage: run a full AI video pipeline with zero paid APIs

The Stack

Steps

1. 1

   Author the pipeline config and validate it

   Write pipeline.yaml: a name, one or more stages each with a tool from OpenMontage's toolset, a composer (ffmpeg or remotion), and a tts block. Using piper as the TTS provider costs nothing. CI checks the config shape; the actual clone, setup, and pipeline run are fenced.

   cat > pipeline.yaml <<'YAML'
   name: documentary-zero-cost
   stages:
     - tool: script_writer
       source: prompt
     - tool: asset_fetcher
       sources:
         - archive_org
         - nasa
         - pexels
     - tool: editor
       transitions: crossfade
   composer: ffmpeg
   tts:
     provider: piper
     voice: en_US-lessac-medium
   YAML
   ruby -ryaml -e '
   c = YAML.safe_load(File.read("pipeline.yaml")) || {}
   abort "BAD: name is required" if c["name"].to_s.empty?
   stages = c["stages"]
   abort "BAD: stages must be a non-empty list" unless stages.is_a?(Array) && !stages.empty?
   stages.each_with_index do |s, i|
     abort "BAD: stage " + i.to_s + " must have a tool" if s["tool"].to_s.empty?
   end
   allowed_composers = ["ffmpeg", "remotion"]
   abort "BAD: composer must be ffmpeg or remotion" unless allowed_composers.include?(c["composer"].to_s)
   tts = c["tts"] || {}
   abort "BAD: tts.provider is required" if tts["provider"].to_s.empty?
   free = tts["provider"] == "piper"
   puts "pipeline OK: " + stages.length.to_s + " stage(s), composer " + c["composer"].inspect + ", TTS " + tts["provider"].inspect + (free ? " (free/local)" : " (paid API)")
   '

2. 2

   Run the pipeline (fenced)

   Clone the repo and run make setup, then point your coding assistant at the pipeline config. For zero-cost output use piper TTS and archive sources; swap in paid model APIs only if quality requires it. If distributing a product built on OpenMontage, read the AGPL-3.0 obligations before you ship. The setup and generation run are fenced.