> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://heygen-1fa696a7.mintlify.site/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Overview

> HeyGen Skills give any AI agent a face, a voice, and the ability to create, translate, and deliver video. Three composable skills — avatar, video, and translation — that work standalone or chain together.

**HeyGen Skills** are open-source [agent skills](https://github.com/heygen-com/skills) that teach Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, and other AI agents how to drive HeyGen end-to-end. Your agent gets a face, a voice, and the ability to send video like a message — no glue code, no API wrangling.

Each skill is a `SKILL.md` instruction file plus reference docs. The agent loads it on demand, follows the embedded workflow, and calls HeyGen through the [MCP server](/mcp/overview) or the [CLI](/cli). You get production-grade output (correct aspect ratios, prompt engineering, voice matching) without writing the pipeline yourself.

<Info>
  Skills are the agent-native layer on top of HeyGen. The [MCP server](/mcp/overview) and [CLI](/cli) expose the *tools*; skills encode the *expertise* for using them well.
</Info>

## The Three Skills

<CardGroup cols={3}>
  <Card title="heygen-avatar" icon="user" href="/skills/heygen-avatar">
    Turn a photo or description into a persistent digital twin — a reusable face + voice identity for the agent, the user, or any named character.
  </Card>

  <Card title="heygen-video" icon="clapperboard" href="/skills/heygen-video">
    Turn an idea into a scripted, prompt-engineered presenter video with your avatar delivering the message. Built on the v3 Video Agent pipeline.
  </Card>

  <Card title="heygen-translate" icon="language" href="/skills/heygen-translate">
    Localize a finished video into 175+ languages with voice cloning and lip-sync. The presenter keeps their face; their voice speaks natively.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## How They Chain

The skills are standalone but compose into a full pipeline. They communicate through human-readable `AVATAR-<NAME>.md` files at your workspace root: **heygen-avatar** writes them, **heygen-video** reads them.

```
Photo / Description          Avatar File              Finished Video           Localized Video
       │                        │                         │                         │
  heygen-avatar     →     AVATAR-NAME.md      →      heygen-video      →     heygen-translate
  (identity + voice)      (reusable state)           (script + video)        (175+ languages)
```

A single request like *"Create my avatar and make a 30-second founder intro"* runs **heygen-avatar** first (identity → avatar ready), then hands the `avatar_id` and `voice_id` to **heygen-video**. **heygen-translate** rides on top of any finished video whenever you need to localize it.

| Skill                | What it does                                               | Invoke              | Returns                           |
| -------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------- | --------------------------------- |
| **heygen-avatar**    | Photo/description → persistent digital twin (face + voice) | `/heygen-avatar`    | `avatar_id` + `voice_id`          |
| **heygen-video**     | Idea → script → prompt-engineered presenter video          | `/heygen-video`     | Video share URL + session URL     |
| **heygen-translate** | Existing video → translated & dubbed version               | `/heygen-translate` | Translated video URL per language |

## Authentication

Skills support two auth modes with an explicit priority order. The skill detects the mode silently at session start.

| Priority | Mode               | Trigger                              | Billing                               | Best for                       |
| -------- | ------------------ | ------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------- | ------------------------------ |
| 1        | **CLI (API key)**  | `HEYGEN_API_KEY` is set              | Direct API usage (separately metered) | Agents, CI, scripts            |
| 2        | **MCP (OAuth)**    | MCP tools visible **and** no API key | Existing HeyGen plan credits          | Users already on a HeyGen plan |
| 3        | **CLI (fallback)** | `heygen auth login` session          | Direct API usage                      | Interactive CLI users          |

<Note>
  **Billing tradeoff:** CLI mode bills against your HeyGen API usage. MCP mode consumes your existing HeyGen plan credits — no extra API billing. If `HEYGEN_API_KEY` is set, the CLI always wins.
</Note>

## Supported Agents

Skills install across 12+ agents via [`gh skill install`](/skills/install) — including Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot, Junie, Goose, OpenHands, Amp, Cline, OpenCode, and Warp.

## Get Started

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Install the skills" icon="download" href="/skills/install">
    Install across any agent with `gh skill install`, ClawHub, or git clone, then wire up auth.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Browse the source" icon="github" href="https://github.com/heygen-com/skills">
    Read the `SKILL.md` files and reference docs in the open-source repo.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Tip>
  Want a zero-effort install? Paste this into your agent: *"Read [https://raw.githubusercontent.com/heygen-com/skills/master/INSTALL\_FOR\_AGENTS.md](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/heygen-com/skills/master/INSTALL_FOR_AGENTS.md) and follow it. Ask me for any API keys you need."* The agent clones the repo, sets up auth, runs a verify test, and ends with a working video.
</Tip>