stream_highlights_workflow v1.0.0

name: stream_highlights_workflow description: Turn a finished stream VOD into a highlight reel plus platform-native cuts for YouTube Shorts, TikTok, and Reels. Use when someone asks to cut highlights from a stream, repurpose a VOD into clips, or build a posting batch from one broadcast. Covers pre-stream marker prep, two-pass VOD review, moment scoring, hook-first editing, title writing, and per-platform export specs.

Stream Highlights Workflow

Purpose

One stream becomes a week of content. This skill takes a finished broadcast (the VOD) and turns it into a long-form highlight reel and a batch of vertical cuts, each titled and exported for the platform it goes to. The core idea: never review the whole VOD from scratch. You mine moments first, pick the winners, then edit only what you already decided to post.

Workflow

0. Pre-stream prep (5 minutes before going live)

Do this once per stream and the post-work gets much cheaper:

• Bind a stream marker hotkey. On Twitch, /marker in chat stamps the timestamp; map it to a Stream Deck or keyboard shortcut and hit it whenever something lands. Ask a mod to do the same when chat explodes.
• If you run OBS, add a second vertical canvas (1080x1920) alongside the horizontal one, and set a replay-buffer/backtrack hotkey with a 2-5 minute buffer so you can save instant replays mid-stream.
• Frame for vertical: keep the facecam, the key gameplay, and the reaction zone readable inside a center crop, with headroom left for captions.
• Check the mic. A muddy voice track kills more clips than bad framing does.

1. Get the VOD

• Pull your own copy locally as soon as the stream ends. On Twitch: Creator Dashboard > Video Producer > download your past broadcast. Terminal users: yt-dlp handles Twitch VODs and clips.
• Work from the local file, not from re-downloaded Twitch clips, so the footage stays full resolution.
• Keep a local master of everything finished. Twitch caps Highlights and Uploads storage at 100 hours per channel (announced Feb 2025) and auto-deletes beyond it, while VODs and Clips are exempt. Never treat Twitch as your archive.

2. Pass one: moment mining (no editing yet)

Goal: a ranked list of candidate moments, not footage. Gather signals from every source:

• Stream markers and the timestamps your mod noted.
• Viewer clips made during the broadcast (each one is a vote that a moment landed).
• Chat activity spikes: a sudden burst of messages or clip requests around a timestamp usually marks a reaction, a joke, or a fail the game-event tools missed.
• A transcript pass: run the VOD through a transcription tool and search for phrases like "no way", "clip it", laughter, or whatever your channel's catchphrases are.

Score each candidate 1-5 on three axes and add them up:

1. Energy. Did the streamer and chat react hard?
2. Standalone clarity. Does a viewer who never saw the stream get it from the clip alone?
3. Uniqueness. Is this different from the last batch you posted?

Log every candidate in the shortlist (see Output Contract). Sort by score. Cut everything below a threshold you set per stream. This list is the whole plan; nothing gets edited unless it is on it.

3. Pass two: selection and bucketing

Walk the shortlist top-down and commit to the final set. Two jobs here:

• Bucket each pick into one of four types: Hot Take, Tutorial, Fail, or Teaser. This is what spreads one stream across a week of posts without repeating yourself.
• Apply the standalone test. Play each moment cold, as if you are a stranger. Cut the setup and greetings: a gameplay tip opens with the result or the problem it solves; a reaction clip keeps just enough of the trigger that the reaction makes sense. If it needs a paragraph of context, it is not a clip.

4. Assemble the edits

• Rough-cut first: drop the chosen segments into a timeline, stack them on a second track, move them into a fresh sequence, delete the gaps. You now have a rough reel to rearrange and trim.
• Highlight reel (horizontal, YouTube): arrange the strongest moments for pacing, trim each to its best beats, add a short intro card and end card. 8-15 minutes is the sweet spot for search-driven views; tutorials can stretch longer.
• Vertical cuts (one master, many versions): edit each clip hook-first. The premise must be clear in the first 1-2 seconds on screen. Add animated word-level captions; most vertical views happen with sound off or in noisy rooms. Keep cuts and zooms tight to clarify action or punch the reaction.
• Export settings live in references/platform-specs.md. Encode one 1080x1920 master at good quality, then derive per-platform versions: Shorts needs 60 seconds or less and #Shorts in the title or description; TikTok rewards 21-34 seconds; Reels allow up to 90 seconds. Keep on-screen text centered and clear of platform UI overlays.
• One resend per clip: core caption message stays identical everywhere; the tail changes. Hashtags matter more on TikTok and Instagram (3-5 relevant); YouTube Shorts needs a keyword-rich title because Shorts is searched.

5. Titles, descriptions, tags

Titles decide whether anyone taps. Rules that hold up:

• One target keyword per title, placed in the first 60 characters, total under 60-65 characters so it does not truncate on phones.
• Write it like a human sentence. Numbers and brackets lift click-through ("3 Clutch Plays from Friday's Stream"). Never write a title the clip does not deliver; a lying title gets the click and the instant bounce, and the bounce is what the algorithm remembers.
• Description: 200+ words for the reel, keyword early, first two sentences carry the pitch since they show before the fold. Add chapter timestamps; they help navigation and surface in search.
• Tags: about five relevant ones, one of them the target keyword. Upload a transcript when you have one; YouTube indexes spoken words.

More title formulas live in references/title-templates.md.

6. Schedule the batch

Post on a consistent slot between streams so the algorithms learn your cadence. A workable week from one stream:

| Day | Slot | Bucket | |-----|------|--------| | 1 | Stream day +1 | Fail (fastest to cut, rides the stream's own afterglow) | | 2 | | Hot Take | | 3 | | Tutorial | | 4 | | Teaser for the next stream | | 5 | | Highlight reel (long-form, mid-week when watch time peaks) | | 6-7 | | Re-run the best performer as a repost or a duet/stitch reply |

Check the numbers 48 hours after posting. Keep the hooks that worked; retire the ones that did not.

Output Contract

Every run of this workflow produces:

1. Moment shortlist: table with timestamp, source signal (marker / clip / chat spike / transcript), type bucket, energy/clarity/uniqueness scores, standalone verdict, final hook line. Template: assets/moment-shortlist.csv.
2. Highlight reel master: horizontal edit with intro/end cards, chapters, titled and described per section 5.
3. Vertical cuts: one 1080x1920 master per selected moment, plus per-platform exports (Shorts, TikTok, Reels) with platform-appropriate captions and tails.
4. Title pack: final title, description, tags, and hashtags for each output.
5. Posting schedule: which cut goes live on which day, in which slot.

Operating Rules

1. Never review raw VOD footage before the shortlist exists. The list comes first; the editor opens only for what is already picked.
2. Every factual claim about a platform (length limits, specs, storage caps) comes from references/platform-specs.md or a fresh check. Limits change; guesses do not.
3. Keep a human approval step between moment detection and posting. A detection pass finds where something happened; judgement decides whether it belongs on the channel.
4. If the VOD has no markers, no mod notes, and no transcript, say so and run a transcript pass before scoring. Scoring blind is how filler gets posted.
5. Titles must be honest about the clip. Clickbait that lies is a short-term view and a long-term ranking hit.
6. Keep local masters of every finished cut. Platform storage is rented space, not an archive.