So here's what the video showed: you drop a raw clip into ChatGPT, tell it to cut it down and put a title up top, and it builds a real project with Tesseract, a video plugin made by a company called Mirage. Then when you say make the title bigger, it changes the title and leaves everything else alone, because it's editing that project instead of making you a whole new video. (A plugin is an add-on you install inside ChatGPT. The project is the editable file behind the video, kind of like the job folder behind an invoice.)
This guide does the whole setup in the ChatGPT desktop app: install the plugin, let ChatGPT set up the free engine on your computer, cut a first video from one of your own clips and change one thing without redoing the rest. The engine and the rendering are free; you still pay for ChatGPT. And I'd keep ChatGPT's permissions on Ask for approval the whole time, so it stops and asks before it reaches outside your folder, because I want to see what it's doing on my computer.
Start here: paste this into ChatGPT or Claude
Not technical? Start here. Copy this prompt into ChatGPT or Claude and it walks you through the whole guide, one step at a time, in plain English. It asks before it assumes anything and checks with you before anything that costs money, reaches a real customer or deletes something. The rest of the page is the same guide, written out, if you'd rather do it yourself.
Hi. Please be my patient setup helper. I run a business and I'm not technical, so go one step at a time, tell me exactly what to click or type, and wait for me to say done before the next step.
Goal: set up Tesseract (a video editing plugin made by Mirage) in the ChatGPT desktop app, let it install its free engine on my computer, cut a short first video from one of my own clips with a title on it, and then change one thing (the title) without redoing the rest. Follow this guide; it's the source of truth for every step:
https://receiptsgroup.com/guides/chatgpt-video-editor
Words to explain to me in plain English the first time you use them: plugin, desktop app, permissions mode, engine (Mirage also calls it the runtime), command, checksum, preview, filmstrip, render, export, project file (.tsrct), MP4, 9:16, telemetry.
Steps:
1. Ask me what computer I'm on. Tesseract works on a Mac (Apple Silicon or Intel), a 64-bit Windows 10 or later PC, or Linux x86_64. If I'm on something else, stop and tell me.
2. Ask which ChatGPT plan I have. OpenAI's plan table lists plugins and local chats in the desktop app on Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise. If I'm on Free or Go, tell me the plugin may not show up for me, and stop before any upgrade: that costs money, so I decide.
3. If I don't have the ChatGPT desktop app, have me download it from OpenAI and sign in.
4. Have me make a new folder, copy one short clip I shot into it, and keep the original somewhere else too.
5. Install the plugin: in the desktop app, open the Plugins tab, search for Tesseract, open the one published by Mirage and click the plus button. Then have me start a new chat, because installed plugins show up in new chats.
6. Have me open my clip folder in the desktop app and start the chat there. Then have me check the permissions menu below the box I type in and pick Ask for approval.
7. Have me paste the guide's engine setup prompt. Every time ChatGPT asks to run a command, tell me in one sentence what it does before I approve it. If a Windows SmartScreen or Mac security warning shows up, explain what it means and let me decide; never tell me to switch a security warning off.
8. Ask me if I want to turn off Tesseract's usage telemetry (basic usage data the engine sends by default, without my prompts, file names or video). If I do, have ChatGPT run the off command from the guide.
9. First test: have me paste the guide's first-edit prompt (a 10-second vertical video from my clip with one title), and look at the preview with me before anything gets exported.
10. Have me paste the guide's one-change prompt (a bigger title, everything else kept the same). Compare the new preview with the old one with me and point out anything else that moved.
11. Only when I like it: export the final MP4, and keep the project file and my clip together in the same folder for next time.
Rules: Tesseract's engine is free, so don't tell me to buy anything; if I need a ChatGPT plan, stop and check with me first. Don't tell me to pick Full access unless the guide's fix calls for it, and tell me what it opens up before I do. Before I post a video or send it to a customer, stop and remind me to watch it all the way through with sound and check it for a customer's face, address or house number. Before anything deletes or overwrites a file in my folder, stop and ask. If my screen doesn't match the guide, tell me what you expected and ask me what I see; don't guess. Never ask me for a password, key or code.
House rules for this setup:
- If you use a technical word, explain it in plain English the first time.
- Ask me before you assume anything about my business, my accounts or my setup.
- Stop and check with me before anything that costs money or spends credits.
- Stop and check with me before anything that sends, posts or publishes to real people.
- Stop and check with me before you delete or overwrite anything.How the pieces connect
This is the manual way: every step, every prompt and every fix. The helper prompt above follows it too.
- 1Your clipA folder on your computer with the footage your crew shot→ the raw video
- 2Your askA chat in the ChatGPT desktop app, opened on that folder→ what you want, in plain words
- 3The pluginTesseract by Mirage: instructions and examples ChatGPT follows→ the editing steps
- 4The engineTesseract's free engine (the tsrct command), running on your computer→ an editable project (.tsrct) and a preview
- 5Your change"Make the title bigger, keep everything else"→ the same project with one part changed, then an MP4
Every change goes back into the same project file. That's why a fix only touches the part you named, instead of the whole video getting made again.
Words you'll see
- Plugin: an add-on inside ChatGPT. Tesseract's plugin is instructions and examples; it isn't the engine itself.
- Engine (runtime): the program that actually builds the preview and the video on your computer. Its command is
tsrct. - Project (.tsrct): the editable file behind the video: the cut, the title, the sound. Keep it, and you can fix the video later.
- Preview / filmstrip: a quick look before the final video. A filmstrip is a strip of still frames from it.
- Render / export: making the finished video file (an MP4).
- Checksum: a fingerprint of the download, so you know the file is the one Mirage published and nothing changed it.
Install Tesseract in ChatGPT
Get the ChatGPT desktop app
Download it from OpenAI and sign in with your ChatGPT account. It runs on macOS, Windows and Linux. Tesseract runs a program on your computer, so it needs the desktop app: OpenAI says plugins that run local programs are marked Desktop only and install and run only there, not in ChatGPT on the web.
Plan check: OpenAI's plan table lists the desktop app's local chats and plugins on Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise. It doesn't list them for Free or Go.
Make a folder for the job
Make a new folder and copy one short clip into it. Keep the original somewhere else. Mirage's own advice: footage, logos and music in one folder, and keep a copy of the originals.
Install the plugin
WhereChatGPT desktop app: Plugins tabOpen the Plugins tab, search for Tesseract, open the one published by Mirage and click the plus button. (The Install Tesseract button on Mirage's ChatGPT page opens the same listing.) Then start a new chat: installed plugins add their skills to new chats, not the one you already had open.
To call it by name in a chat, type
@and pick Tesseract. Most of the time you don't have to; just say "Use Tesseract to ...".PermissionsThe plugin itself is instructions. Nothing runs on your computer until a chat asks to run a command and the permissions mode below lets it.Open your folder and set the permissions mode
WhereChatGPT desktop app: the permissions menu below the box you type inOpen your clip folder in the desktop app and start the chat there, so ChatGPT works on that folder. Then check the permissions menu below the box you type in, and pick Ask for approval. OpenAI's own advice is to start there for most work.
- Ask for approval: ChatGPT works inside your folder and always asks before it edits files outside it or uses the internet.
- Approve for me: the same folder boundary, but an automatic reviewer approves most requests and it only asks you about ones that look unsafe.
- Full access: the internet and any file on your computer. I'd only use it for one fix below, and switch back after.
PermissionsThe engine install downloads a file from Mirage's GitHub page, so ChatGPT will ask to use the internet. Read what it says before you click yes.
Let ChatGPT set up the free engine
The plugin is the instructions; the engine is a separate program that previews and renders on your computer. ChatGPT installs it for you by following Mirage's install guide. In the chat on your folder, paste this:
Use Tesseract. Follow its installation guide to install the Tesseract engine (the tsrct command) for my computer, the exact version the plugin requires, not just the newest one.
Before you run each command, tell me in one plain sentence what it does.
Verify the download's checksum before installing. Don't use sudo or admin rights, and don't bypass any Gatekeeper or SmartScreen warning: if one shows up, stop and tell me.
When it's done, run it with --version and tell me the version and where it's installed. Don't start a project yet.What it does, per Mirage's install guide: it picks the download that matches your computer, gets the ZIP and its matching .sha256 file from Mirage's GitHub releases, checks the checksum, unzips it and runs the installer. The installer doesn't need admin rights, Homebrew or Node. The plugin pins the engine version it needs (0.4.0 when I checked, released 2026-10-13), and Mirage's guide tells ChatGPT not to swap in a different one.
Mac downloads are signed and notarized by Apple, and the first launch may need internet for Apple's check. The Windows download isn't signed, so SmartScreen may warn you. If it does, read it, and if it's a work computer, follow your company's approval process. Mirage's guide says not to bypass Gatekeeper or SmartScreen, and I wouldn't either.
When it's done, the engine is here:
Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Tesseract/bin/tsrct
Windows: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Tesseract\bin\tsrct.cmd
Linux: ~/.local/share/Tesseract/bin/tsrctOptional: turn off usage telemetry
The engine sends basic usage data by default: which command ran (only creating a project, previews, filmstrips and exports), the version, your operating system and random ids. Mirage says no prompts, contents, file names, paths or error text get sent. If you'd rather it send nothing, ask ChatGPT to run the off command, or run it yourself:
"$HOME/Library/Application Support/Tesseract/bin/tsrct" telemetry status
"$HOME/Library/Application Support/Tesseract/bin/tsrct" telemetry disable& "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Tesseract\bin\tsrct.cmd" telemetry status
& "$env:LOCALAPPDATA\Tesseract\bin\tsrct.cmd" telemetry disableFirst test: a 10-second cut, then one change (free)
Rendering is free, so this costs nothing beyond your normal ChatGPT usage. Keep the first one small: one clip, ten seconds, one title. Fill in your file name and your title:
Use Tesseract to make a 10-second vertical (9:16) video from <your clip's file name> in this folder.
Cut it down to the best part, put one short editable title up top that says "<your title>", and keep the clip's own sound.
Show me a preview first, and keep the source project with its media in this folder. Don't export the final video yet.Good: a preview with the cut and your title, and a .tsrct project file in your folder. Want to check the cuts? Ask for a filmstrip around them. Bad: it exports a final video without showing you a preview first. Tell it to stop and show the preview.
Now the part the video was about. Ask for one change:
Make the title bigger. Keep everything else the same: the cut, the timing and the sound.
Render a preview before exporting, and tell me exactly what you changed.Put the two previews side by side. The title should be bigger and the cut, the timing and the sound should be the same. If anything else moved, say exactly what, and ask it to put that back the way it was. When you like it:
That's good. Export the finished video as an MP4 in this folder and keep the .tsrct project next to it. Tell me both file names.Real use: prompts for crew job clips
Same folder, same chat, one change at a time. Mirage's tip is to point to a time and name the change, and to tell it to keep the rest of the project the same.
At 0:04, shorten the pause and bring the title in earlier. Keep the rest of the project the same, and show me a preview.Use the music file <file name> in this folder. Check its timing before you plan the cuts, and keep it low enough under the talking that the speech is easy to hear. Show me a preview.Use Tesseract to turn the clips in this folder into a 30-second vertical video. Keep the opening quick, add a clean title, and finish on our logo (<logo file name>). Show me a preview before exporting.Use Tesseract to design a cover graphic for this video. Match its title font and colors. Deliver the PNG and the editable project.Other ways in: the skills installer, or your phone
The skills installer (instead of the plugin)
If you'd rather not use the plugin, Mirage's repo has a one-line installer for the same instructions. It needs Node.js and npm (the installer only; the engine doesn't need them). Run it in Terminal, then pick the Tesseract skills you want (Edit Video, Motion Graphics, Editor, Design) and your AI app. After that, your app sets up the engine the same way as above. You need the plugin or the skills, not both.
npx skills add mirage-hq/TesseractChatGPT on your phone
Mirage says ChatGPT Mobile can run Tesseract in ChatGPT's hosted environment, so your phone isn't doing the rendering. Use the Open in ChatGPT button on Mirage's mobile page, upload your clip, describe the video, review the preview in the chat, ask for changes and download the finished video from the conversation. Mirage's page doesn't list limits on length or file size for this, so I'd keep the first one short.
What it costs
| Tool | Plan | Monthly, list price |
|---|---|---|
| Tesseract (Mirage) | The engine: previews and rendering on your computer, no Mirage account | $0 |
| ChatGPT | Plus (listed with plugins and desktop local chats) | $20 |
| ChatGPT | Pro | From $100 |
| ChatGPT | Business | $25 per user billed monthly, or $20 per user billed yearly (2+ users) |
| ChatGPT | Free or Go | $0 or $8; OpenAI's plan table doesn't list plugins for these |
So for most people it's a ChatGPT Plus plan and nothing else. Your edits use that plan's usage like any other chat, and the engine costs nothing to run. No Adobe subscription either.
When it breaks
You can't find Tesseract, or there's no Plugins tab
The plugin is installed but ChatGPT doesn't use it
@, pick Tesseract, and start your ask with "Use Tesseract to ...".No suitable GPU adapter found
Windows SmartScreen or a Mac security warning blocks the engine
ChatGPT wants to install the newest engine instead
The preview is missing a clip or a logo
A small fix changed more than you asked
On Linux: No usable H.264 encoder
You want captions of what was said
That's the setup
You drop in a clip, ask for a cut and a title, and when you say bigger title, it changes the title and nothing else, because it's editing the project instead of handing you a whole new video.
Checked on Oct 31, 2026 against
Every claim about a third-party tool in this guide (plans, prices, menu paths, commands, limits) was checked against these official pages on Oct 31, 2026. These screens change often: if something looks different, trust the page over this guide.
- Mirage: Tesseract for ChatGPTInstall the plugin published by Mirage in the desktop app, let the agent set up the runtime, first project; the skills installer; Mac and 64-bit Windows 10+; the local engine and rendering are free, no Mirage account, agent costs separate.
- Mirage: TesseractWhat it edits (footage, titles, motion, sound, design); it doesn't generate footage or avatars; output can't add missing detail; 4K 60 FPS export; no Adobe subscription.
- Mirage: Your first projectOne folder, keep originals, the 10-second starter prompt, preview first, one targeted revision at a time, keep the rest intact, keep the source project.
- Mirage: Tesseract in ChatGPT MobileRendering happens in ChatGPT's hosted environment; upload, preview, revise, download.
- Tesseract on GitHubThe README:
npx skills add mirage-hq/Tesseract, Node.js only for the installer, the four skills, plugin or skills not both, example prompts, the.tsrctproject. - Tesseract: CLI installation guideSupported systems, install paths, checksum and installer steps, no admin rights, signed Mac and unsigned Windows bundles, the GPU and permissions fix, the Linux H.264 note.
- Tesseract: Usage telemetryOn by default;
tsrct telemetry disable; what is and isn't sent. - Tesseract: Running locallyNo asset generation, transcription, dubbing or cloud jobs; one project folder for the whole job.
- Tesseract: Releasesv0.4.0 released 2026-10-13, ZIPs with matching
.sha256files for each system. - OpenAI: PluginsThe Plugins tab, the plus button to install, start a new chat,
@to call a plugin, Desktop only plugins, Uninstall plugin. - OpenAI: Permission modesThe menu below the composer: Ask for approval (start here), Approve for me, Full access.
- OpenAI: ChatGPT desktop appmacOS, Windows or Linux; sign in with your ChatGPT account; open a folder.
- OpenAI Developers: Desktop only pluginsPlugins that run local programs are marked Desktop only and install and run only in the desktop app.
- OpenAI: Plans and pricingFree $0, Go $8, Plus $20, Pro from $100, Business $25 per user monthly or $20 yearly; the plan table lists desktop local chats and plugins on Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise (checked 2026-10-31).
Questions people ask about this
