Clipto - Fully local, natural language search over terabytes of media

@qi_xiao2 Really glad to hear it feels faster for you — that’s exactly one of the reasons we built Clipto this way.

Since everything runs on-device, Clipto doesn’t need to upload large media files to the cloud before it can start working. That skips a lot of the slow parts you often feel with cloud tools, like upload time, network lag, and waiting on server processing.

The first analysis and indexing step still depends on how much footage you have and how powerful your Mac is. But once indexing is done, search itself is usually very quick.

So yes, the snappy feeling you noticed is very much part of the local-first experience：）

@lily_liu8 Yes, you can search that way. Clipto is designed to understand scene-level descriptions. It can recognize people, dialogue, actions, scenes, objects, and so on in your footage, and automatically tag them during indexing. So a query like “man running in the rain at night” is a good example of how you can search across messy, unorganized clips without tagging everything manually first. I’d definitely suggest trying a few real phrases from your own footage：）

@shgjj9 Filmmakers are actually one of the core user groups we had in mind when building Clipto.

And yes — because everything runs locally, your footage doesn’t need to be uploaded anywhere. That also means you can keep using Clipto in places with poor or no internet connection, like on a mountaintop set, on a plane, or anywhere in the field. Hope Clipto can help make your footage workflow a lot easier：）

@bruceyongli Yes — just drag your local media files into Clipto.

From there, Clipto will watch and listen to the content for you. It can recognize basic media information like format, resolution, frame rate, and aspect ratio — for example MP4 or MOV files, 4K or 1080p footage, 24fps or 30fps, widescreen or vertical clips.

It can also understand what’s inside the content, including people, actions, dialogue, scenes, objects, and more. During indexing, Clipto automatically adds multi-dimensional tags to your media files, so in most cases, you don’t need to manually rename, tag, or organize everything first.

Thanks, Alper. @alpertayfurr 

That’s exactly the thesis behind Clipto. As AI becomes more powerful, people want their data to be more accessible, not less private.

We believe search should happen where the data already lives, whether that’s meetings, media libraries, research archives, or personal memories.

Privacy, ownership, and usability shouldn’t be tradeoffs.

@jiaqichen Yes. Semantic search for visual content, locally, is exactly what we built～

@yan_labs_ Yes.Just select all your folders and drag them straight into Clipto — no reorganizing needed beforehand. Clipto will analyze your video and audio files and automatically tag them across multiple dimensions: people, dialogue, scenes, objects, and more. So when you're looking for something later, just describe what you remember about the content, and Clipto will find it instantly.

A couple of quick notes:

1. Clipto reads your files where they already live — it won't move, reorganize, or delete anything. Your files stay exactly where they are.

2. Indexing speed depends on your Mac's specs. On an M5 MacBook Pro, ~2TB takes about a day. Higher-end chips (M1 Pro/Max/Ultra and above with 24GB+ RAM) will give you the best experience.

@peng_wood Thanks for the support — really appreciate it! 🙌

@genedai Yes, and we’ve actually tested this out in the desert ourselves.

Our founder and teammates have used Clipto in remote shooting environments with little or no reliable internet. That’s exactly why the local-first workflow matters: once your files are on your device and indexed, you can keep searching and working with them even when Wi-Fi is spotty or unavailable.

You could even turn off Wi-Fi or unplug the network cable and try it yourself:)

So for editing on the road, in a cafe, on a plane, or out in the field, Clipto is built to keep working without depending on the cloud.

@vermouth2333 Thank you so much and really appreciate it. Speed was one of the things we cared about most when building Clipto, so it means a lot to hear that it feels right in actual use. Would love to hear how it works with your own footage as you keep trying it.