#Review loop and AI cut grades

Editing in CutZal works like this: AI cuts first, and you listen and confirm. Your job isn't to find every cut from scratch. It's to listen to a result that's already cut and fix only what's wrong. That's why reviewing goes much faster with the keyboard than with the mouse.

#Where the cuts come from

Cuts arrive in two stages.

• Default cut: when the transcript comes in, CutZal works it out right away on this Mac. Rules find silences of a second or longer, retake cues (saying you'll do a line again) and the discarded take before them, places where you restarted with the same words, fillers on their own, and noises such as coughs. It costs nothing, and the app calls it the AI cut. For now, retake cues and fillers are recognized only in Korean (plus the cue "NG"), so the default cut doesn't catch them in videos spoken in other languages.
• Auto cut: uses the Claude Code subscription you connected to analyze the whole video to the end, and reads the context to clean up the retakes and extra words the default cut missed. Details are below.

When transcription finishes, a Default cut ready card appears at the top of the chat panel. It shows the original and current length and the number of spots to review. Start review and Export let you carry on right away without using your subscription. Auto cut is below them, under Refine further.

#Grades: certain, recommended and unclear

Suggestions from the default cut come with a grade, a reason and a confidence.

By default only certain and recommended suggestions are cut automatically. Unclear ones aren't cut and only stay marked. Choose how far automatic cutting goes under AI cut in Cut settings.

• Certain only: cuts most conservatively.
• Certain + recommended: the default.
• Include unclear: cuts every unclear spot too, and you listen and restore.

Changing this value reapplies the AI cut and resets your review progress so far. It changes right away without a confirmation, so if you changed it by mistake, undo it. Cut silence ≥ in the same place sets the shortest silence, in seconds, that gets cut. The default is 1 second. The lower it is, the tighter the jump cuts between phrases.

Suggestions show up as a badge on each line in View original. The badge gives the reason and the confidence, such as "Retake signal 95%", and its color shows the grade. Hover over a badge to see the detailed reason, such as "The next line restarts with the same words". The reason is one of Retake signal, Before retake, False start, Duplicate, Stutter, Filler or Non-verbal (sounds that aren't speech, like laughter or coughing).

#Auto cut

The default cut runs on rules, so it can't make decisions that need context, such as picking a take after hearing the whole sentence or trimming passages where explanations overlap. Auto cut takes care of those.

• It only runs when you start it. Click Start Auto cut with subscription on the Auto cut card in the chat panel, or choose Auto cut from More at the top of the chat and click Auto cut with subscription in the window that opens. Either way, a task card stays in the chat. If Claude isn't connected yet, the card shows Connect and start.
• If you turn on Start Auto cut when transcription finishes on the screen where you choose how to transcribe, it starts as soon as transcription finishes. You can only turn it on while Claude is connected, and it's off by default. While transcription runs, you can turn it off with Don't start on the progress card.
• Your Claude Code needs to be signed in with a Claude subscription. API key connections aren't supported. Chat and your agent shows how to connect.
• It sends the transcript text, word timings and the default cut draft. It doesn't send video or audio.
• It uses your Claude subscription allowance, and longer videos use more. You can stop it any time with Stop on the task card, and pick it up later with Resume remaining analysis on the task card or in More.
• While it analyzes, the cuts it picks are applied first so you can see them, and they're finalized when it finishes. Your current edit and the sections you restored stay as they are.
• Where its confidence is low, it doesn't cut and marks the spot in Final transcript as Needs a decision.
• Changes by stage on the task card shows how many decisions each stage changed and how many deleted ranges it added. Open an item to see the first decision and the later stages' changes in Decision history.
• You can review batches that finished analysis while you wait. If a batch still includes ranges that haven't been judged, it shows Judgment pending and keeps the decision buttons disabled. If AI changes a decision you already confirmed, it comes back as AI revised this so you can listen again.

If you don't like the result, a single Z undoes the whole Auto cut. To keep your own edits and remove only what AI changed, click Remove AI changes only in More.

#Two views

The Review tab on the right has two ways to look at the transcript.

• Final transcript: the view you see first. It shows only what remains now. Each cut part stays as one folded line between lines. Expand it to see the Deletion reasons and the words that were cut. Bring the whole part back with Restore this section, or select words and bring back only those with Restore selection. You can also hear the cut audio first with Listen to selection.
• View original: shows the whole original transcript. Cut lines are struck through, and AI suggestion badges sit on each line. It's handy for deciding unclear suggestions one at a time.

To listen to the final version again from View original, turn on Skip cuts. When it's on, playback skips the cut parts like the final video. When it's off, you hear the original as it was, cut parts included.

#Review queue

The header of Final transcript shows how many spots to listen to first, how many need a decision and how many were handled automatically. Click Start review to go to the first unchecked item. A cut spot plays from 2 seconds before the join to 2 seconds after it, and a sentence that needs a decision plays with 1 second on each side, at 1x speed on the final timeline, then stops. When it's done, playback goes back to your previous speed.

When AI cutting finishes, a notice at the bottom shows the number of spots to review and Start review. The notice stays until you close it or start reviewing. To start from the keyboard, press ⇧] (Next review item). If you aren't on an item, it opens the first unchecked one.

• Cut spots: Y confirms the cut as it is, and N restores the cut part.
• Spots that need a decision: Y cuts, and N leaves it as it is.
• After you decide, it moves to the next unchecked item and plays it. Press R to hear it again, and O to hear the original, cut words included.
• Turn on Review items only to keep just the items and one line before and after each. For hard calls, hand the range to chat with Send range to chat and ask directly.
• Start review on a chat card for a finished Auto cut takes you into the same flow.

The progress count includes spots you checked or fixed yourself. When you decide the last item, a note says you didn't listen to the automatic spots. Automatic spots are cuts that weren't picked out for listening. It doesn't mean someone listened to all of them. The export window shows the progress too. If there are Listen first spots you haven't heard, it points them out clearly, and Review now closes the window and starts the review. You can still export with review left. If you undo a decision with Z, that item becomes unchecked again.

#The keyboard loop

These are the default keys. You can change them or add more in Editing · Shortcuts settings, and pressing ? in the app shows the full list. They keep working while a Korean input source is on.

A review pass usually goes like this.

1. Raise the speed with 2 or 3 and press Space to play. While it plays, the cursor follows the part you're hearing.
2. When you hear something else to cut, press X right there. For an unclear suggestion, decide with Y or N. If you went past it, go back with ↑.
3. If a join sounds awkward, go to the boundary with [ or ] and move it one frame at a time with , or ..

In Final transcript, cut parts are folded, so the normal cursor doesn't stop on them. Open the review item and restore it with N, or expand the folded line and click Restore this section. You can also go back with Z. In View original, pressing X again on the same line restores it.

A boundary you moved by hand stays at the value you set, so the export cuts at exactly that frame. The finished video comes out just as you heard it in the preview.

#Find the playhead

If you scroll the timeline sideways and lose sight of the playhead, click Playhead in the toolbar. The timeline view moves so the current position sits in the middle. At the very start and end of the video, it moves as far as it can. It centers the position the same way even when the playhead is already visible.

The playhead position, zoom level and selected range stay as they are. Even while you preview another spot with Skimming, it moves to the real playhead. It has no default shortcut. In Editing · Shortcuts settings, find Show current playhead and assign a key.

#Undo and go back

• Z undoes your last edit, one at a time. The undo history goes away when you close the project or reopen the app.
• Tasks that change many places at once, such as chat, Auto cut, applying a Skill and placing B-roll, keep the moment just before they apply as a checkpoint. Checkpoints are saved in the project folder, so they're still there after you reopen the app. Go back to before this returns you to that moment, and the edits you made by hand after it go back too, so it asks you to confirm first.
• Reset to AI cut is available in View original. It discards the cuts and trims you made by hand and your review records, and returns to the default cut. It first shows how much will be undone and asks you to confirm, and it backs up the state from just before it runs to the project folder once. You can still undo it afterward.
• Edits save automatically. When you reopen the app, the project you last worked on opens just as you left it.

#Take A/B comparison

If you recorded the same lines several times, use the take comparison button to hear the speech AI kept (A) and the speech it deleted (B). You can compare retakes that were handled automatically too. Click Alternate listening or use Alternate takes from the shortcut list to switch between them at 1x speed. When several lines replace one, the kept speech plays in order. Even when section boundaries split a retake across several lines, one comparison plays all the speech deleted for that retake. When listening ends, or when you press play/stop or Esc, you return to your original position and speed.

Keep this cut confirms the current AI decision. Use deleted take deletes the kept speech and restores the deleted speech at the same time. One undo reverts both sides. If one deleted row has several retakes, move between them with Next comparison and listen to each.

A partial retake swaps only the matching word range. If there's no matching range, or there are several, or the replacement side has manual edits or a pending decision, the swap button shows the reason. In that case, select the original and the kept speech yourself and check them. The compared range and the temporary listening state aren't saved to the project.

#Check the sound at a join

If a selected review item shows a clue that sound runs across the cut boundary, check the join with Replay. You can also hear the cut words with Hear deleted speech.

The clue isn't a final verdict that a word got clipped. The clue alone doesn't add Listen first items or automatic cuts. Even when the sound information isn't available, your existing review and confirmations stay. If it sounds fine, choose Keep this cut. If it needs to come back, choose Restore.

#Check cuts on your phone

On your Mac, connect your phone in Settings › General · Appearance › Phone connection, then open the Script tab on the phone. The First, Ask and Auto filters show items you haven't checked yet, and Confirmed gathers the items you checked yourself. Auto doesn't mean someone listened to all of them.

Tap a line, then settle a cut spot with Confirm this cut or a remaining unclear sentence with Keep as is. If something was cut by mistake, tap Restore. To cut more, tap Cut. Checks and edits made on the phone can be undone on the Mac too, and your check status stays when you reopen the project.

While a decision is still pending or there's nothing to check, the confirm buttons are disabled. If the decisions or the script changed on the Mac, load the latest script again and pick the line again. To compare sound closely or fine-tune frame boundaries, review on the Mac.

Tap Make preview on the Progress tab and your Mac makes a preview video of the current edit, which plays on the phone when it's ready. While it's being made, the progress shows in the toolbar above the timeline on your Mac, and you can stop it anytime with Stop on the phone or Cancel on the Mac. You can keep editing on the Mac and the phone in the meantime. If the edit changes after the preview is made, tap Make again for a new one.

#Personal tuning of the review order

In Memory settings, you can collect the confirm and restore records of the current project. Collecting the same project again updates its earlier tally. CutZal doesn't guess where past edits came from, so records build up from the AI decisions you review yourself after you start using this feature.

Once a type has records from 3 projects and 40 or more reviews, you can see tuning suggestions. If you almost never restore pruning, it suggests handling it automatically. If you often restore retakes, fillers or markers, it suggests listening to them first. Grades change only when you apply a suggestion yourself. Collecting records alone doesn't change them.

Tuning only affects the review order. Lost content, clipped words, re-review and unclear decisions stay as spots to check, and the cuts in the finished video don't change. The desktop app, the phone and cutzal review show the same grades.

You can return to the defaults or reapply a past version from the tuning history. Each return is saved as a new version. Records stay on this device only, and the tally file doesn't copy transcripts or original paths. Whether this actually shortens review time will be measured separately once personal usage records build up.