Reddit Shorts Video Maker 🎬

Automated YouTube Shorts generator from Reddit posts. No API keys required!

Convert Reddit's most engaging stories into professional YouTube Shorts videos with:

• 🎙️ Multi-language TTS (EdgeTTS or gTTS)
• 🎵 Karaoke-style captions with word-level timing (Whisper)
• 🎬 Auto-generated backgrounds with zoom punch effects
• 📤 Direct YouTube upload with OAuth2
• 📊 Performance metrics & Datadog integration
• 🐳 Docker support for cloud deployment

Quick Start

Local Installation

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/SeungheeKim/reddit-reaction-maker.git
cd reddit-reaction-maker
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Copy & customize config
cp config.template.toml config.toml
# Edit config.toml to change TTS voice, subreddit, etc.

# Generate your first video!
python main.py --limit 1

Your video is in output/ — ready for YouTube! 🚀

Docker (No Setup Required)

docker build -t reddit-shorts .
docker run -v $(pwd)/output:/app/output reddit-shorts --limit 1
# Or: docker-compose up

Features

✅ No API Keys — Uses Reddit's public .json endpoints

✅ Multi-Language TTS — EdgeTTS (natural, fast) or gTTS (free, 100+ languages)

✅ Karaoke Captions — Word-level timing via Whisper

✅ Auto YouTube Upload — OAuth2-based with custom titles & thumbnails

✅ Observability — Metrics, logging, Datadog integration

✅ 34+ Subreddits — Pre-configured with CTR-optimized hooks

✅ Production Ready — GitHub Actions, Docker, metrics, retry logic

Usage

# Top posts from r/roblox this week
python main.py --limit 1

# Top posts from r/steam today
python main.py --subreddit steam --time day --limit 3

# Specific post by ID
python main.py --post abc123def456

# Local text file (no Reddit needed)
python main.py --file story.txt

# Batch process directory
python main.py --dir scripts/

# Help
python main.py --help

Configuration

Edit config.toml:

[reddit]
subreddit = "amitheasshole"
post_limit = 3

[tts]
engine = "edge-tts"
voice = "en-US-GuyNeural"

[youtube]
enabled = true
privacy = "unlisted"

See config.template.toml for 40+ options with detailed descriptions.

Output

output/
├── roblox_abc123_2026-04-14.mp4       # Video
├── roblox_abc123_2026-04-14_meta.txt  # Metadata
├── roblox_abc123_2026-04-14_thumb.png # Thumbnail
├── _metrics/metrics_*.json             # Metrics
├── history.json                        # Processed posts log
└── logs/2026-04-14.log                # Application logs

Performance

• TTS: 6-9s (↓ 40% via parallelization)
• Composition: 20-30s (↓ 35% via caching)
• Total: ~30s (↓ 35% overall)

Automatic Scheduling (Crontab)

Generate videos automatically on a schedule:

# Interactive setup (Linux/macOS/Unix)
./scripts/setup-crontab.sh

# Or add to crontab manually:
crontab -e
# 0 8 * * * cd /path/to/reddit-reaction-maker && /usr/bin/python3 main.py --limit 1

Features:

• ✅ Automatic path resolution (works from any working directory)
• ✅ File locking prevents concurrent execution conflicts
• ✅ Detailed logging to output/logs/
• ✅ Email notifications on error
• ✅ Datadog integration (optional)

See CRONTAB.md for full guide — scheduling examples, troubleshooting, monitoring.

YouTube Upload

1. Get OAuth2 credentials from Google Cloud Console
2. Download JSON → credentials.json
3. Set enabled = true in config.toml
4. Run once: python main.py --limit 1 (browser opens to authorize)
5. Done! Future runs upload automatically

Documentation

• config.template.toml — All 40+ options with descriptions
• CRONTAB.md — Automatic scheduling with crontab (Linux/Unix)
• DOCKER.md — Docker & deployment guide
• CLAUDE.md — Development policy (TDD required)

Subreddit Coverage

34+ subreddits with custom hooks:

Stories: amitheasshole, relationship_advice, tifu, pettyrevenge, maliciouscompliance, choosingbeggars, entitledpeople, JustNoMIL

Gaming: steam, pcgaming, gaming, consoles, WoW, leagueoflegends

Anime: manga, manhwa, anime, anime_irl

Lifestyle: fitness, loseit, personalfinance, investing, skincare, asianbeauty

Tech: programming, learnprogramming, webdev, python, javascript

General: askreddit, todayilearned, lifeprotips

Unknown subreddit? Auto-generates CTR-optimized hooks!

Troubleshooting

# Missing dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Check TTS voices
edge-tts --list-voices

# View logs
tail -f output/logs/2026-04-14.log

# Check metrics
cat output/_metrics/metrics_*.json | grep -E "youtube_video_id|success"

Contributing

Issues and PRs welcome! TDD required. See CLAUDE.md.

License

MIT

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Made with ❤️ by Seunghee Kim

Generate awesome YouTube Shorts from Reddit. No API keys. No subscriptions. Just stories. 🎬