An AI video composer API should do more than return one generated clip. The practical workflow is: choose a video format, generate an editable plan, let the app or user revise the storyboard, render the final video, then report usage in a way finance and product teams can understand.
EmpirioLabs Compose exposes that flow through /v1/videos/compose.
1. List available recipes
Recipes are public format definitions. Each recipe tells you the slug, display name, description, supported inputs, scene limits, caption defaults, and recommended models.
curl https://api.empiriolabs.ai/v1/videos/compose/recipes \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $EMPIRIO_API_KEY"2. Create an editable plan
Use mode: "plan" when you want a storyboard before rendering. The response is a job id. Poll /v1/jobs/{job_id} until the job status is succeeded.
{
"recipe": "ai-ugc-product-ad",
"mode": "plan",
"brief": "A creator explains a travel mug that keeps coffee hot all morning",
"product_image": "https://example.com/mug.jpg"
}The successful plan result includes scene narration, caption text, visual prompts, model choices, and social caption helpers where supported.
3. Render the final video
Pass the storyboard back with mode: "render". You can edit scene copy, captions, and visual prompts first, or render the plan as returned.
{
"recipe": "ai-ugc-product-ad",
"mode": "render",
"storyboard": {
"title": "Travel Mug UGC",
"scenes": []
}
}The render job returns the final MP4 URL when complete. Client apps should treat Compose as async, because a full production includes several model calls and a final render step.
4. Audit spend and usage
Use the account usage API to pull Compose-only records:
curl "https://platform.empiriolabs.ai/api/v1/account/usage?source=compose&limit=25" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $EMPIRIO_API_KEY"The summary includes spend.compose, and each usage event may include Compose metadata such as recipe slug, phase, and output count. This keeps reporting clean when one product uses normal model calls and full-video Compose jobs side by side.
Full reference
Read the full API guide at Compose docs and the reporting reference at Account Usage API.
