meme-it (npx distribution)

Local meme video editor — one command runs the API + web UI:

npx meme-it
npx meme-it --port 4200 --no-open
npx meme-it --data-dir ~/.memeit-data

How it works

• src/cli.ts parses args, checks ffmpeg/yt-dlp, then starts the Express app from services/render-api/src/app.ts via createApp({ dataDir, publicDir }). With a verify/render subcommand it instead validates or renders a project file headlessly (no server) — see AGENTS.md.
• The web UI is the production apps/web build, copied to public/ at build time (scripts/build-ui.mjs) and served with the COOP/COEP headers the WASM background removal needs. Non-/api GETs fall back to index.html (SPA).
• tsup bundles src/cli.ts + services/render-api/src + @memeit/* workspace packages into a single dist/cli.js. Runtime npm deps stay external (express, sharp, zod, …); @google-cloud/text-to-speech is optional (dynamically imported — TTS endpoints 503 with a hint when unconfigured).

Build / publish

pnpm install
pnpm --filter meme-it build        # web UI -> public/, server -> dist/cli.js
pnpm --filter meme-it typecheck
cd packages/memeit && npm publish --access public  # note: npm can't see pnpm workspaces, publish from the package dir

Test the tarball locally before publishing:

pnpm --filter meme-it build
(cd packages/memeit && npm pack --pack-destination /tmp)
npx --yes /tmp/meme-it-0.3.0.tgz --help

System deps (not bundled)

• ffmpeg + ffprobe on PATH — required for renders (brew install ffmpeg). Missing binary warns at startup and /api/health reports it.
• yt-dlp on PATH or $YTDLP_PATH — optional, only for YouTube import. The macOS-only bin/yt-dlp in this repo is dev-only (git-ignored) and is NOT shipped.