Closes #294. ## Summary Recent `chrome-headless-shell` builds (observed on 147) no longer expose `HeadlessExperimental.beginFrame`. The domain's `enable`/`disable` methods are deprecated upstream and appear to have been dropped alongside `beginFrame` in these builds, so on Linux with chrome-headless-shell the engine aborts with \`\`\` Protocol error (HeadlessExperimental.beginFrame): 'HeadlessExperimental.beginFrame' wasn't found \`\`\` and — because the browser was launched with `--enable-begin-frame-control` — the compositor waits for beginFrames the engine can no longer deliver, so every subsequent screenshot also comes back blank. Today users have to discover `PRODUCER_FORCE_SCREENSHOT=true` themselves (openclaw did exactly that — see the issue body). ## Fix One-time probe, right after the browser launches in beginframe mode: 1. Create a disposable CDP session. 2. `await client.send("HeadlessExperimental.enable")`. 3. Send one no-op `HeadlessExperimental.beginFrame` raced against a 2s timeout. 4. If anything throws / times out — missing method, protocol error, stuck call — close the browser, strip beginframe-only chrome flags, relaunch in screenshot mode, and set \`captureMode = "screenshot"\` for the returned session. Probing `beginFrame` directly rather than `enable` alone is important because some builds keep the domain registered (so `.enable()` succeeds) while dropping the method itself — that's exactly the failure shape in #294. Cost on happy path: one extra CDP round-trip per browser acquisition (≈ a few ms, since in beginframe-control mode the command returns as soon as the compositor acks). Cost on broken path: one extra launch, which is what the env-var escape hatch already forces manually. The beginframe-only flag set is enumerated in-module and matched by the stripper, so adding/removing flags stays in one place with `buildChromeArgs`. ## Test plan - [x] `bun run --filter=@hyperframes/engine test` — all 42 tests pass - [x] `bun run --filter=@hyperframes/engine build` — typechecks - [x] `bunx oxlint` + `bunx oxfmt --check` clean - [x] Manual: standalone test on Linux x86_64 with chrome-headless-shell 146 — probe returns `supported=true`, no fallback (happy path) - [x] Manual: same test with `--force-fail` simulating openclaw's missing-method condition — fallback triggers, flags stripped, relaunch succeeds, 6.8 KB PNG captured (broken path) - [ ] Verify on openclaw / real chrome-headless-shell 147 build that the fallback triggers automatically without `PRODUCER_FORCE_SCREENSHOT` ## Notes - `probeBeginFrameSupport` catches any failure generically; we trust that a working browser answers the no-op beginFrame in well under 2s. - Warning is logged once per browser acquisition, not per frame. - Browser pool interaction: pooled browsers cache the resolved `captureMode`, so subsequent acquires in the same process reuse the post-fallback mode without re-probing.
Write HTML. Render video. Built for agents.
Hyperframes is an open-source video rendering framework that lets you create, preview, and render HTML-based video compositions — with first-class support for AI agents.
Quick Start
Option 1: With an AI coding agent (recommended)
Install the HyperFrames skills, then describe the video you want:
npx skills add heygen-com/hyperframes
This teaches your agent (Claude Code, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Codex) how to write correct compositions and GSAP animations. In Claude Code, the skills register as slash commands — invoke /hyperframes to author compositions, /hyperframes-cli for CLI commands, and /gsap for animation help.
Try it: example prompts
Copy any of these into your agent to get started. The /hyperframes prefix loads the skill context explicitly so you get correct output the first time.
Cold start — describe what you want:
Using
/hyperframes, create a 10-second product intro with a fade-in title, a background video, and background music.
Warm start — turn existing context into a video:
Take a look at this GitHub repo https://github.com/heygen-com/hyperframes and explain its uses and architecture to me using
/hyperframes.
Summarize the attached PDF into a 45-second pitch video using
/hyperframes.
Turn this CSV into an animated bar chart race using
/hyperframes.
Format-specific:
Make a 9:16 TikTok-style hook video about [topic] using
/hyperframes, with bouncy captions synced to a TTS narration.
Iterate — talk to the agent like a video editor:
Make the title 2x bigger, swap to dark mode, and add a fade-out at the end.
Add a lower third at 0:03 with my name and title.
The agent handles scaffolding, animation, and rendering. See the prompting guide for more patterns.
Option 2: Start a project manually
npx hyperframes init my-video
cd my-video
npx hyperframes preview # preview in browser (live reload)
npx hyperframes render # render to MP4
hyperframes init installs skills automatically, so you can hand off to your AI agent at any point.
Requirements: Node.js >= 22, FFmpeg
Why Hyperframes?
- HTML-native — compositions are HTML files with data attributes. No React, no proprietary DSL.
- AI-first — agents already speak HTML. The CLI is non-interactive by default, designed for agent-driven workflows.
- Deterministic rendering — same input = identical output. Built for automated pipelines.
- Frame Adapter pattern — bring your own animation runtime (GSAP, Lottie, CSS, Three.js).
How It Works
Define your video as HTML with data attributes:
<div id="stage" data-composition-id="my-video" data-start="0" data-width="1920" data-height="1080">
<video
id="clip-1"
data-start="0"
data-duration="5"
data-track-index="0"
src="intro.mp4"
muted
playsinline
></video>
<img
id="overlay"
class="clip"
data-start="2"
data-duration="3"
data-track-index="1"
src="logo.png"
/>
<audio
id="bg-music"
data-start="0"
data-duration="9"
data-track-index="2"
data-volume="0.5"
src="music.wav"
></audio>
</div>
Preview instantly in the browser. Render to MP4 locally or in Docker.
Catalog
50+ ready-to-use blocks and components — social overlays, shader transitions, data visualizations, and cinematic effects:
npx hyperframes add flash-through-white # shader transition
npx hyperframes add instagram-follow # social overlay
npx hyperframes add data-chart # animated chart
Browse the full catalog at hyperframes.heygen.com/catalog.
Documentation
Full documentation at hyperframes.heygen.com/introduction — Quickstart | Guides | API Reference | Catalog
Packages
| Package | Description |
|---|---|
hyperframes |
CLI — create, preview, lint, and render compositions |
@hyperframes/core |
Types, parsers, generators, linter, runtime, frame adapters |
@hyperframes/engine |
Seekable page-to-video capture engine (Puppeteer + FFmpeg) |
@hyperframes/producer |
Full rendering pipeline (capture + encode + audio mix) |
@hyperframes/studio |
Browser-based composition editor UI |
@hyperframes/player |
Embeddable <hyperframes-player> web component |
@hyperframes/shader-transitions |
WebGL shader transitions for compositions |
Skills
HyperFrames ships skills that teach AI agents framework-specific patterns that generic docs don't cover.
npx skills add heygen-com/hyperframes
| Skill | What it teaches |
|---|---|
hyperframes |
HTML composition authoring, captions, TTS, audio-reactive animation, transitions |
hyperframes-cli |
CLI commands: init, lint, preview, render, transcribe, tts, doctor |
hyperframes-registry |
Block and component installation via hyperframes add |
gsap |
GSAP animation API, timelines, easing, ScrollTrigger, plugins, React/Vue/Svelte, performance |
Contributing
See CONTRIBUTING.md for guidelines.
