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heygen-com/skills — Official HeyGen Agent Skills Bundle (Avatar / Video / Translate)

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Source: ai-research/heygen-com-skills-bundle-2026-05-14.md — README from heygen-com/skills GitHub repo (MIT, 232 stars, v3.1.0 released 2026-04-27).

Repo: https://github.com/heygen-com/skills Stars: 232 Language: Shell (100%) License: MIT Version: v3.1.0 (2026-04-27, 8 releases total)

HeyGen’s official, vendor-published three-skill bundle for AI agents to drive avatar video creation end-to-end: heygen-avatar (persistent digital twins from photos + voice synthesis), heygen-video (idea → scripted-and-delivered video), heygen-translate (175+ language localization with voice clone + lip sync). Sibling to skills in the vendor-published-agent-skills category — both ship Markdown-based skills installable via gh skill install, both target Claude Code / Cursor / Codex / OpenClaw and 7+ other runtimes, both function as the CLI+Skill alternative to that vendor’s MCP. Distinct from hyperframes (HeyGen’s composition framework — HTML-to-MP4 rendering, separate repo). The skills bundle is the vendor surface for HeyGen’s three production capabilities (avatar / video / translate); Hyperframes is the composition surface for stitching motion graphics, captions, and transitions around that output.

Key Takeaways

  • Three skills, one repo. heygen-avatar + heygen-video + heygen-translate, all under the same MIT-licensed heygen-com/skills repository at v3.1.0. Install one or all three independently via gh skill install heygen-com/skills <skill-name>.
  • heygen-avatar = persistent digital twins from photos. Trains a reusable avatar identity (the same productized surface as HeyGen Avatar V) and bundles voice synthesis so the avatar can speak in dialogues across multiple videos without re-training.
  • heygen-video = idea-to-scripted-video. Operator describes the target output (intro, outreach, explainer, update), skill returns a scripted video with avatar delivery + style recommendations. Productizes the “describe what you want, get a draft video” surface that previously required hand-crafted prompts in HeyGen Studio Automation.
  • heygen-translate = 175+ language localization. Takes a finished video, applies voice cloning, and re-lip-syncs the avatar in the target language. Same 175+ language coverage cited in Avatar V’s technical report; now exposed directly as an agent-callable skill.
  • Runtime spread is the widest we’ve tracked. Eleven runtimes named in the README: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, OpenClaw, Gemini CLI, Copilot, Junie, Goose, OpenHands, Amp, Cline. Same gh skill install command, same SKILL.md contract, same auth flow.
  • Three install paths. Recommended: gh skill install heygen-com/skills <name> per skill. Alternative: ClawHub one-shot clawhub install heygen-skills. OpenClaw users: openclaw plugins install clawhub:@heygen/openclaw-plugin-heygen. Power users: clone the repo into the agent’s skills directory directly.
  • Dual-auth: API key OR ChatGPT-style OAuth via HeyGen plan. Operators with existing HeyGen subscriptions can run these skills via MCP/OAuth against their plan credits (no separate API-key budget). Operators without a HeyGen plan pay direct via API key. Same unit-economics pattern as the Hermes Codex App-Server Runtime (subscription-not-API-key) and the ChatGPT Ads access path (managed-tier credits vs self-serve).
  • Composable with Hyperframes. Operators can chain the three skills with the Hyperframes HTML composition framework: heygen-avatar trains the identity, heygen-video produces the talking head, Hyperframes composes captions / lower-thirds / b-roll / transitions around it, heygen-translate localizes the final cut. Two HeyGen repos, full-pipeline coverage.
  • Sister to the Higgsfield skills bundle pattern. Both vendors converged on the same surface in the same April-May 2026 window: vendor-curated skills bundle that wraps the vendor’s existing API/MCP/CLI in a Markdown-based skill format the agent runtime loads at session start. Pattern signal — expect Anthropic-blessed marketing-AI vendors (e.g., Adaline, TinyFish, Higgsfield, HeyGen) and Anthropic-adjacent dev-tool vendors (e.g., Vercel, Linear, Cloudflare) to ship analogous skills bundles over the next quarter.

What each skill does

heygen-avatar (persistent digital twins)

Trains a reusable avatar identity from a photo (or photos) + voice characteristics. Persists the identity so subsequent video generations reuse the same look, voice, and gestures without re-training. Same value prop as Avatar V’s video-reference conditioning, now exposed as an agent skill — the skill encapsulates the upload, training, and re-use steps so the agent invokes them via natural language rather than via direct API calls.

Use case: spin up a digital twin once per brand / personality / fictional character, then reference that twin across the rest of the workflow.

heygen-video (idea-to-scripted-video)

Takes a brief from the operator (“a 30-second cinematic intro,” “a video update for my team,” “an outreach video for potential investors”) and returns a scripted video with avatar delivery + style recommendations. The skill handles script generation, voice synthesis, avatar choice (or reuse of a previously-trained heygen-avatar identity), pacing, and delivery style. Closes the “describe what I want, get a draft” gap that operators previously crossed by hand-prompting Claude / GPT to write the script first, then manually feeding the script into HeyGen Studio.

Use case: any cold-start video brief where the operator doesn’t already have a script — internal updates, marketing intros, sales-enablement videos, briefings.

heygen-translate (175+ language localization)

Localizes a finished video into another language with voice cloning (preserves the speaker’s vocal identity in the new language) and lip-sync (re-renders the avatar’s mouth movements to match the new audio). Same 175+ language coverage as Avatar V. Skill encapsulates the upload-to-localize flow so the agent invokes it with a target language string.

Use case: any agency / DTC / SaaS workflow where one finished asset needs to ship in multiple language markets — turns localization from a separate production pass into a one-line agent invocation.

Install paths

PathCommandWhen to use
gh skill install (recommended)gh skill install heygen-com/skills heygen-avatar (one per skill)Default for Claude Code / Cursor / Codex / Gemini CLI / Copilot / Junie / Goose / OpenHands / Amp / Cline. Pick which skills you actually need; skip the rest.
ClawHub one-shotclawhub install heygen-skillsAll three skills at once. ClawHub manages the install + auth wiring.
OpenClaw pluginopenclaw plugins install clawhub:@heygen/openclaw-plugin-heygenOpenClaw / Hermes deployments — wraps the same surface in OpenClaw’s plugin schema.
Git cloneClone the repo to the agent runtime’s skills directoryPower-user path. Useful when you want to fork + customize a skill (override prompts, add WEO-specific wrappers).

Auth flow

API key mode — direct billing. Operator sets an API key env var; HeyGen bills per call. Same unit-economics as any direct-API integration.

MCP / OAuth mode — runs against the operator’s existing HeyGen plan credits. Significant for operators who already pay for a HeyGen subscription and don’t want to manage a separate API-key budget. Same “subscription-as-cost-control” pattern as the Hermes Codex runtime running OpenAI turns against a ChatGPT subscription.

How it fits the existing HeyGen + Higgsfield ecosystem in this wiki

SurfaceWhat it isWhere it fits
HeyGen Avatar V (entity)The avatar model itself — video-reference conditioning, 1080p, unlimited duration, 175+ languagesFoundation layer for heygen-avatar skill
Claude Code (Nate Herk)Three-tool pipeline (ElevenLabs + HeyGen + Remotion) hand-orchestrated by Claude CodeOperator-assembled predecessor to the heygen-video skill
heygen-com/skills bundle (this article)Vendor-published 3-skill bundle (avatar / video / translate)Productized agent surface — what Nate Herk’s pipeline was teaching by hand, HeyGen now ships as install-and-go skills
HeyGen HyperframesSeparate repo — HTML composition framework + the /hyperframes, /hyperframes-cli, /gsap skillsComposition layer that pairs with this skills bundle for full-pipeline coverage
skillsSister vendor’s skills bundle (Higgsfield’s four skills)Pattern peer — same “vendor-published agent skills” model in the creative-AI vertical

Routing decision: use this skills bundle when the operator wants HeyGen’s three core production capabilities as agent-callable surfaces inside Claude Code / Cursor / Codex / etc. Use Hyperframes when the composition layer is the bottleneck (captions, transitions, motion graphics, layout). Use both together for the end-to-end pipeline.

Try It

  1. Confirm gh skill is installed. gh skill --help. If not present, install the gh skill extension first (it’s an official GitHub CLI extension).
  2. Install the skill(s) you need. For a typical full-pipeline workflow: 
    gh skill install heygen-com/skills heygen-avatar
gh skill install heygen-com/skills heygen-video
gh skill install heygen-com/skills heygen-translate
  3. Pick your auth path. If you already pay for HeyGen, configure MCP/OAuth against your plan credits. Otherwise set the HEYGEN_API_KEY env var.
  4. Spin up an avatar. From Claude Code (or whichever runtime), invoke the skill with a photo + a name. The skill returns a persistent identity reference you can reuse.
  5. Generate a first video. Use the persistent avatar reference + a one-line brief. Inspect the script the skill returns; iterate on the brief if the script needs adjustment.
  6. Localize for one extra language. Run the heygen-translate skill on the finished video. Validate the voice-clone + lip-sync quality before scaling to additional languages.
  7. Compose with Hyperframes. Take the rendered video and use [[ai-video-content/hyperframes|/hyperframes]] to add a caption overlay, lower-third, or end-card. Both repos are MIT and target the same agent runtimes.
  8. Compare cost vs Studio Automation pipeline. Run the same brief through Nate Herk’s three-tool pipeline and through the skills bundle; measure setup-time-to-first-render, per-render credit cost, and operator-control granularity. Different operators will optimize different axes.

Open Questions

  • Skill granularity — three skills cover avatar / video / translate. Is HeyGen planning a fourth (or fifth) skill — for example a heygen-thumbnail (export-frame-as-thumbnail), a heygen-clip (cut-and-export-segment), or a heygen-streaming-avatar (real-time avatar driver)? Worth tracking the releases page on the repo for v3.x and v4 trajectory.
  • MCP/OAuth flow specifics — README confirms the dual-auth option exists but doesn’t document the OAuth scope or token lifecycle. Worth a primary-source pull on HeyGen’s developer docs for the exact contract before relying on it for production deployments.
  • Plugin marketplace fragmentation — the README cites three install paths (gh skill, clawhub, openclaw plugin). Each implies a different marketplace surface tracking the same skills. Worth understanding which one HeyGen actually treats as canonical — pattern hygiene for vendors shipping the same skill via multiple marketplaces.
  • Skills + Hyperframes integration story — both repos are HeyGen’s, both target the same agent runtimes, but the README of heygen-com/skills doesn’t explicitly mention Hyperframes as a composition partner. Open question: is HeyGen positioning these as separate products or as a planned bundle? An eventual heygen-compose skill that wrapped Hyperframes would close that gap.
  • Anthropic-skills-repo cross-listing — does HeyGen plan to mirror these skills into the skills registry so Claude Code users can discover them through Anthropic’s skill marketplace too? Discovery surface matters for adoption.
  • Pricing for the MCP/OAuth path — running against HeyGen plan credits is operationally cleaner than API-key billing, but the per-call credit cost vs API-key pricing isn’t documented in the README. Worth measuring on a small test workflow.

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