Collaborate on creative media with AI-powered review & editing
Shumai is an open-source Frame.io alternative for creative teams, with frame-accurate annotations, secure sharing, and an AI agent teammate.
Why it matters
Shumai helps creative teams review, annotate, and manage video and image assets collaboratively while leveraging AI agents to automate editing tasks, generate content from prompts, and organize media through semantic search-eliminating the need to jump back into traditional creative software for routine updates.
Outcomes
What it gets done
Leave frame-by-frame annotations and timestamped comments on videos and images for precise feedback
Generate or update creative assets from text prompts using AI models without opening Photoshop or Premiere
Automatically transcode and create optimized proxies for fast preview and timeline scrubbing
Search media by visual or conceptual meaning using vector embeddings and auto-fill custom metadata
Install
Add it to your toolbox
Run in your project directory:
curl -fsSL https://spark.entire.vc/get/shumaione-shumai | bash Overview
Shumai
Shumai is a self-hosted, open-source Frame.io alternative for creative teams, combining frame-accurate annotations, secure client sharing, role-based access, and Temporal-orchestrated transcoding with an embedded AI agent that can be mentioned in comments to create or edit media, auto-tag metadata, and power semantic asset search. Use it when a creative team wants a self-hosted, AI-augmented review-and-approval platform instead of a closed SaaS tool; setup requires PostgreSQL with pgvector plus platform system packages, and the AI agent sandbox's Windows support is explicitly alpha and not yet a real security boundary.
What it does
Shumai is an open-source Frame.io alternative built for creative teams to collaborate on and share media. It stores assets on the local filesystem or any S3-compatible storage (AWS S3, Cloudflare R2, MinIO), supports frame-by-frame annotations and timestamped comments on both video and image assets, and provides secure private share links and curated collections for clients and collaborators. Access is governed by granular, role-based permissions at both the team and project level, resource-intensive video transcoding is offloaded to a background worker pool orchestrated by Temporal, and asset metadata fields can be customized per production pipeline. When media is uploaded, Shumai always preserves the original raw file; it separately generates a 480p WebP poster for list-view previews, a full-resolution WebP proxy for images, and for videos at least one proxy video plus a sprite image and a short capped preview for fast timeline scrubbing.
Beyond the Frame.io-style review workflow, Shumai includes an AI agent system built around the premise that modern models (the source names GPT-Image-2 and Seedance 2.5) can already handle a surprising share of creative work - creating or updating videos and images from a prompt without opening Photoshop, Premiere, or Houdini. The agent can be @mentioned directly in asset comments as a context-aware team member, or chatted with privately as a one-to-one assistant; it can be extended with custom scripts, tools, and automation skills, which run in an isolated sandbox (anthropic-experimental/sandbox-runtime) for safety. The agent also auto-fills custom metadata on new assets and powers semantic search across assets by visual or conceptual meaning using vector embeddings (Gemini Embedding 2).
When to use - and when NOT to
Use Shumai when a creative team needs a self-hosted, open-source review-and-approval platform for video and image assets - frame-accurate feedback, secure client-facing sharing, and role-based access - and wants an AI agent embedded directly in that workflow to handle prompt-driven media edits, metadata tagging, and semantic asset search, rather than paying for a closed SaaS platform like Frame.io. It fits teams that want control over their storage backend (local or their own S3-compatible bucket) and their transcoding infrastructure.
It requires real setup: PostgreSQL with the pgvector extension, and, for the AI agent sandbox specifically, platform system packages (ffmpeg, poppler/poppler-utils, imagemagick, plus bubblewrap, socat, and ripgrep on Linux/macOS). Windows support for the sandbox is explicitly alpha - the source states plainly it is "not a security boundary against a deliberately adversarial sandboxed process" on Windows yet, and the design will be substantially revised in a future release.
Inputs and outputs
The fastest path is Docker Compose with local storage:
mkdir shumai && cd shumai
curl -o docker-compose.yaml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shumaiOne/shumai/main/docker-compose/local/docker-compose.yaml
docker compose up -d
Alternatively, install globally via npm, pnpm, or Bun (npm install -g @shumai-one/shumai) against a self-run pgvector/pgvector Postgres container, configure a .env (DATABASE_URL, BETTER_AUTH_SECRET, STORAGE_BACKEND, SHUMAI_SERVER_PORT, AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_S3), and run shumai (or shumai -d for daemon mode, with shumai stop/restart/logs for management). Input day-to-day is uploaded media assets, comments and annotations, and prompts to the AI agent; a bundled CLI additionally manages projects, folders, and assets, and uploads files/folders or creates new versions from the terminal.
Output is a running web app (default http://localhost:3000) serving the review workspace: annotated assets, share links, collections, and agent-generated or agent-edited media and metadata.
Integrations
Shumai integrates with S3-compatible storage providers (AWS S3, Cloudflare R2, MinIO, or any S3-compatible endpoint) as an alternative to local filesystem storage, Temporal for distributed background video transcoding, PostgreSQL with the pgvector extension as its database and vector store, and anthropic-experimental/sandbox-runtime to isolate AI agent script execution. Its AI capabilities are model-agnostic in principle but the source names GPT-Image-2 and Seedance 2.5 for media generation and editing and Gemini Embedding 2 for semantic search embeddings.
Who it's for
Creative teams, agencies, and studios that want a self-hosted alternative to Frame.io for video and image review and client sharing, especially teams that want an AI agent embedded in that same review workflow - editing media from a prompt, tagging metadata automatically, and enabling semantic search - rather than switching between separate creative and AI tools.
Source README
Shumai
An open-source platform for all your creative work.
Website | Docs | Demo | Discord | 中文
Features
Shumai is an open-source Frame.io alternative built for creative teams to collaborate and share media with ease:
- S3-Compatible & Local Storage: Store and serve creative assets securely using the local filesystem or any S3-compatible storage service, including AWS S3, Cloudflare R2, and MinIO.
- Frame-by-Frame Annotations & Comments: Leave precise feedback with frame-specific drawing tools and timestamped comments on both video and image assets.
- Secure Sharing & Collections: Create private share links and curated media collections for clients, stakeholders, and collaborators.
- Granular Access Control: Manage workspace permissions with team-level and project-level role-based access control.
- Distributed Transcoding via Temporal: Offload resource-intensive video transcoding to a background worker pool orchestrated by Temporal.
- Custom Asset Metadata: Define dynamic metadata fields tailored to your production pipeline.
But Shumai goes beyond being a Frame.io alternative. With modern models like GPT-Image-2 and Seedance 2.5, AI can already handle a surprising amount of creative work. That means you can create or update videos and images from a simple prompt without having to jump back into Photoshop, Premiere or Houdini. That is why Shumai includes a powerful agent system:
- Agent as a Team Member: Mention a context-aware AI agent with
@mentionsdirectly in asset comments, just like a real teammate. - Agent as a One-to-One Assistant: Chat privately with the agent and ask it to help with tasks.
- Custom Skills & Tools: Extend the agent by registering custom scripts, tools, and automation skills.
- Isolated Sandbox Execution: Run agent-submitted scripts safely in a sandboxed environment.
- AI Metadata Autofill: Automatically fill in custom metadata for new assets.
- Semantic Search: Find assets by visual or conceptual meaning using vector embeddings (Gemini Embedding 2).
Here is a short demo video showing what the Shumai agent can do:
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/2ebe5456-342e-47f7-9a93-a963fcf12097
Installation
Below is a quickstart guide for running Shumai with local storage. For advanced configuration options (including S3-compatible storage and Temporal workflow orchestration), see our Documentation.
Option 1: Docker Compose
Docker Compose is the fastest way to get Shumai running. You do not need to clone the repository or install packages manually. Ensure you have Docker and Docker Compose installed, then follow these steps:
Create and navigate to a new directory for your configuration and data volumes:
mkdir shumai && cd shumaiDownload the
docker-compose.yamlfile:curl -o docker-compose.yaml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/shumaiOne/shumai/main/docker-compose/local/docker-compose.yamlConfigure environment variables (optional):
SHUMAI_SERVER_PORTcontrols the port the Shumai server listens on. The default is3000.By default, Shumai uses the bundled local storage service in this Docker Compose setup. To use an external S3-compatible storage instead, configure the environment variables for your S3 provider. Here are examples for AWS S3 and Cloudflare R2:
AWS S3 Example:
STORAGE_BACKEND: s3 S3_BUCKET: your-bucket-name S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID: your-access-key-id S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: your-secret-access-key AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_S3: https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.comCloudflare R2 Example:
STORAGE_BACKEND: s3 S3_BUCKET: your-bucket-name S3_REGION: auto S3_ACCESS_KEY_ID: your-access-key-id S3_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: your-secret-access-key AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_S3: https://<account-id>.r2.cloudflarestorage.comBy default,
AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_S3is set to:http://localhost:{SHUMAI_SERVER_PORT}, if you use local storage and expose Shumai on a custom host/port combination, setAWS_ENDPOINT_URL_S3to the external URL that browsers will use to upload files.For example, if you change the port mapping in
docker-compose.yamlfrom3000:3000to12345:3000and deploy on a server with IP address12.34.56.78, set:AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_S3: http://12.34.56.78:12345This value must be reachable from client browsers and should include the externally exposed port.
Start the services in detached mode:
docker compose up -dOpen your browser and access Shumai at
http://localhost:3000(orhttp://<your-server-ip>:3000for remote deployments).
Option 2: Install via NPM / Package Manager
Shumai is published as @shumai-one/shumai on NPM. This option allows you to run Shumai globally or locally.
Step 1: Start PostgreSQL with pgvector
Shumai requires PostgreSQL with the pgvector extension. Start a pre-configured database container using Docker:
docker run --name shumai_postgres \
-e POSTGRES_USER=shumai \
-e POSTGRES_PASSWORD=shumai_password \
-e POSTGRES_DB=shumai_db \
-p 5432:5432 \
-d pgvector/pgvector:pg18
Step 2: Create a workspace folder
Create a dedicated directory to store your environment configuration and media files (which are saved in a ./data directory by default):
mkdir shumai && cd shumai
Step 3: Install Platform-Specific Dependencies
Linux
Shumai requires the following system packages on Linux:
ffmpeg- Used for media transcoding and metadata extraction.poppler(poppler-utils) - Used for PDF page image extraction and PDF sprite preview generation (pdftoppm).imagemagick- Used for PSD format transcoding and color profile conversion to sRGB.bubblewrap,socat, andripgrep- Required by the AI agent sandbox (anthropic-experimental/sandbox-runtime) for process isolation, networking, and workspace search.
Install all required packages with one command:
Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt install -y ffmpeg poppler-utils imagemagick bubblewrap socat ripgrep
Fedora
sudo dnf install -y ffmpeg poppler-utils ImageMagick bubblewrap socat ripgrep
Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S --noconfirm ffmpeg poppler imagemagick bubblewrap socat ripgrep
macOS
Shumai requires:
ffmpeg- Used for media transcoding and metadata extraction.poppler- Used for PDF page image extraction and PDF sprite preview generation (pdftoppm).imagemagick- Used for PSD format transcoding and color profile conversion to sRGB.ripgrep- Required by the AI agent sandbox (anthropic-experimental/sandbox-runtime).
Install the required packages with Homebrew:
brew install ffmpeg poppler imagemagick ripgrep
Windows (alpha)
Shumai requires:
ffmpeg- Used for media transcoding and metadata extraction.imagemagick- Used for PSD format transcoding and color profile conversion to sRGB.
Install required packages using your preferred package manager:
winget
winget install Gyan.FFmpeg ImageMagick.ImageMagick
Chocolatey
choco install ffmpeg imagemagick
Step 4: Install Shumai globally
Install Shumai globally using your preferred package manager:
# NPM
npm install -g @shumai-one/shumai
# PNPM
pnpm add -g @shumai-one/shumai
# Bun
bun add -g @shumai-one/shumai
Step 5: Configure Environment Variables
Create a .env file in your workspace folder (shumai/) and add the following configuration:
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://shumai:shumai_password@localhost:5432/shumai_db?schema=public
BETTER_AUTH_SECRET=ySxs7DxzHDZBbeeHNPEwBuspYwipBqz5Gk5XdBjNhWw=
STORAGE_BACKEND=local
SHUMAI_SERVER_PORT=3000
AWS_ENDPOINT_URL_S3=http://localhost:3000
Step 6: Run Shumai
Start the application from your workspace folder:
shumai
Alternatively, you can run and manage Shumai in daemon mode:
- Start in daemon mode:
shumai -d - Stop Shumai:
shumai stop - Restart Shumai:
shumai restart - Show/tail logs:
shumai logs
On startup, Shumai will automatically run database migrations and start the web server at http://localhost:3000.
Option 3: Run from Source (Development)
To set up Shumai locally for development:
- Clone the repository and install dependencies:
git clone https://github.com/shumaiOne/shumai.git cd shumai bun install - Start the
pgvectordatabase container (as described in Option 2, Step 1). - Create a
.envfile at the root of the workspace using the configuration from Option 2, Step 5. - Apply the database schema migrations:
bun run db:migrate - Start the local development server:
bun run dev
Command Line Interface (CLI)
Shumai provides a Command Line Interface (CLI) tool to manage projects, folders, and assets, upload files/folders, and create new versions directly from your terminal.
For more details on installation and usage, see the CLI Readme.
FAQ
Common questions
Discussion
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