video-remove-background

Video Remove Background — Transparent Videos & Alpha-Channel Clips

Remove the background from any video and get a clip with a transparent (alpha) or solid-color background. Powered by Bria's video editing pipeline — commercially safe, royalty-free, production-ready video background removal and subject matting.

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when the user wants to:

• Remove a background from a video — "remove the background from this video", "delete the video background"
• Create a transparent video — "video with no background", "transparent webm", "alpha channel video"
• Green screen removal — "remove the green screen", "chroma-key this clip", "key out the background"
• Extract a moving subject — "isolate the person in the video", "cut out the product from the clip", "video matting"
• Replace background with a solid color — "put the subject on a white background", "black background version"
• Prepare overlays — "transparent clip to layer over my website", "video cutout for compositing"
• Transparent GIFs — "make this GIF transparent", "animated cutout"
• Batch video background removal — "remove backgrounds from all these clips"

When NOT to Use This Skill

• Image background removal → use the remove-background skill (RMBG 2.0)
• Real-time / streaming background removal (webcam, live feeds) → Bria's WebSocket-based Streaming Background Removal
• Generate or edit images → use the bria-ai skill

This skill does one thing: remove backgrounds from video files to produce transparent or solid-color clips.

Setup — Authentication

Before making any API call, you need a valid Bria access token.

Step 1: Check for existing credentials

if [ -f ~/.bria/credentials ]; then
  BRIA_ACCESS_TOKEN=$(grep '^access_token=' "$HOME/.bria/credentials" | cut -d= -f2-)
  BRIA_API_KEY=$(grep '^api_token=' "$HOME/.bria/credentials" | cut -d= -f2-)
fi
if [ -z "$BRIA_ACCESS_TOKEN" ]; then
  echo "NO_CREDENTIALS"
elif [ -n "$BRIA_API_KEY" ]; then
  echo "READY"
else
  echo "CREDENTIALS_FOUND"
fi

If the output is READY, skip straight to making API calls — no introspection needed. If the output is CREDENTIALS_FOUND, skip to Step 3. If the output is NO_CREDENTIALS, proceed to Step 2.

Step 2: Authenticate via device authorization

Start the device authorization flow:

2a. Request a device code:

DEVICE_RESPONSE=$(curl -s -X POST "https://engine.prod.bria-api.com/v2/auth/device/authorize" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json")
echo "$DEVICE_RESPONSE"

Parse the response fields:

• device_code — used to poll for the token (keep this, don't show to user)
• user_code — the code the user must enter (e.g. BRIA-XXXX)
• interval — seconds between poll attempts

2b. Show the user a single sign-in link. Tell them exactly this — nothing more:

Connect your Bria account: Click here to sign in Your code is {user_code} — it's already filled in.

Do NOT show two links. Do NOT show the raw URL separately. Do NOT use verification_uri from the API response. Keep it to one clickable link.

2c. Poll for the token. After showing the user the code, immediately start polling. Try up to 60 times with the given interval (default 5 seconds):

for i in $(seq 1 60); do
  TOKEN_RESPONSE=$(curl -s -X POST "https://engine.prod.bria-api.com/v2/auth/token" \
    -d "grant_type=urn:ietf:params:oauth:grant-type:device_code" \
    -d "device_code=$DEVICE_CODE")
  ACCESS_TOKEN=$(printf '%s' "$TOKEN_RESPONSE" | sed -n 's/.*"access_token" *: *"\([^"]*\)".*/\1/p')
  if [ -n "$ACCESS_TOKEN" ]; then
    BRIA_ACCESS_TOKEN="$ACCESS_TOKEN"
    REFRESH_TOKEN=$(printf '%s' "$TOKEN_RESPONSE" | sed -n 's/.*"refresh_token" *: *"\([^"]*\)".*/\1/p')
    mkdir -p ~/.bria
    printf 'access_token=%s\nrefresh_token=%s\n' "$BRIA_ACCESS_TOKEN" "$REFRESH_TOKEN" > "$HOME/.bria/credentials"
    echo "AUTHENTICATED"
    break
  fi
  sleep 5
done

If the output contains AUTHENTICATED, proceed to Step 3. Otherwise the code expired — start over from Step 2a.

Do not proceed with any API call until authentication is confirmed.

Step 3: Verify billing status and resolve API key

Introspect the bearer token to check billing status and obtain the real API key for Bria API calls:

INTROSPECT=$(curl -s -X POST "https://engine.prod.bria-api.com/v2/auth/token/introspect" \
  -d "token=$BRIA_ACCESS_TOKEN")
BILLING_STATUS=$(printf '%s' "$INTROSPECT" | sed -n 's/.*"billing_status" *: *"\([^"]*\)".*/\1/p')
if [ "$BILLING_STATUS" = "blocked" ]; then
  BILLING_MSG=$(printf '%s' "$INTROSPECT" | sed -n 's/.*"billing_message" *: *"\([^"]*\)".*/\1/p')
  echo "BILLING_ERROR: $BILLING_MSG"
fi
ACTIVE=$(printf '%s' "$INTROSPECT" | sed -n 's/.*"active" *: *\([^,}]*\).*/\1/p' | tr -d ' ')
if [ "$ACTIVE" = "false" ]; then
  # Clear stale tokens so re-auth starts fresh (credentials file is re-created in Step 2c)
  printf '' > "$HOME/.bria/credentials"
  echo "TOKEN_EXPIRED"
fi
BRIA_API_KEY=$(printf '%s' "$INTROSPECT" | sed -n 's/.*"api_token" *: *"\([^"]*\)".*/\1/p')
if [ -n "$BRIA_API_KEY" ]; then
  grep -v '^api_token=' "$HOME/.bria/credentials" > "$HOME/.bria/credentials.tmp" 2>/dev/null || true
  printf 'api_token=%s\n' "$BRIA_API_KEY" >> "$HOME/.bria/credentials.tmp"
  mv "$HOME/.bria/credentials.tmp" "$HOME/.bria/credentials"
fi

Interpret the output:

• If it prints BILLING_ERROR: ... — relay the message to the user exactly as shown and stop. Do not make any API calls.
• If it prints TOKEN_EXPIRED — the session is no longer valid. Tell the user their session expired and restart from Step 2.
• Otherwise, BRIA_API_KEY now contains the real API key and is cached for future calls. Proceed to the next section.

How to Remove a Video Background

Use bria_video_call for the API call. It handles local file upload (via Bria's video upload service), JSON construction, the API call, and async polling — all in a single function call. The API key is auto-loaded from ~/.bria/credentials.

source ~/.agents/skills/video-remove-background/references/code-examples/bria_video_client.sh

# Remove background from a local file — get a transparent video
RESULT_URL=$(bria_video_call "/path/to/clip.mp4")
echo "$RESULT_URL"  # → https://...output.webm

# Remove background from a URL
RESULT_URL=$(bria_video_call "https://example.com/clip.mp4")
echo "$RESULT_URL"

That's it. One function call. Video jobs are asynchronous and take longer than image jobs — the helper polls for up to 10 minutes.

Input

• Local file path — automatically uploaded via Bria's video upload service (max 1 GB) to get a temporary URL.
• Video URL — any publicly accessible video URL. Passed directly to the API.

Supported containers: .mp4, .mov, .webm, .avi, .gif. Supported codecs: H.264, H.265 (HEVC), VP9, AV1, PhotoJPEG. Max duration: 60 seconds. Resolution up to 16K (16000x16000).

Options

Pass extra JSON fields as a second argument:

| Option | Values | Default | Notes | |--------|--------|---------|-------| | background_color | Transparent, Black, White, Gray, Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, Cyan, Magenta, Orange | Transparent | Predefined names only — hex values are not supported | | output_container_and_codec | mp4_h264, mp4_h265, webm_vp9, mov_h265, mov_proresks, mkv_h264, mkv_h265, mkv_vp9, gif | webm_vp9 | See alpha-support rule below | | preserve_audio | true / false | — | Retain the input's audio track |

Important — alpha support: With background_color: Transparent (the default), the output preset must support alpha. The server accepts only webm_vp9, mkv_vp9, or mov_proresks with Transparent — any other preset returns 422 Unprocessable Entity. When the user asks for an MP4 output, set a solid background_color — MP4 cannot hold transparency.

Known issues (verified June 2026): the gif preset fails server-side with a 500 error even with a solid background — produce webm_vp9 and convert with ffmpeg instead (example below). mov_proresks completes and returns ProRes 4444, but in testing the file lacked an alpha plane — verify alpha before relying on it, and prefer webm_vp9/mkv_vp9 for transparency.

Output

A URL to the processed video (default: transparent .webm). Output keeps the input's resolution, aspect ratio, and frame rate. Short clips process in roughly 30–60 seconds. Download the result to save it locally:

curl -sL "$RESULT_URL" -o output.webm

Verifying transparency: for VP9 outputs, ffprobe reports pix_fmt=yuv420p even when alpha is present — VP9 stores alpha in a WebM side channel. Check the ALPHA_MODE tag instead, or decode with libvpx: ``bash ffprobe -v error -select_streams v:0 -show_entries stream_tags=alpha_mode -of default=noprint_wrappers=1 output.webm # TAG:ALPHA_MODE=1 → has alpha ffmpeg -c:v libvpx-vp9 -i output.webm -frames:v 1 frame.png # frame.png will be rgba ``

Examples

Transparent video for web overlays

source ~/.agents/skills/video-remove-background/references/code-examples/bria_video_client.sh
RESULT_URL=$(bria_video_call "/path/to/presenter.mp4" '"output_container_and_codec":"webm_vp9"')
curl -sL "$RESULT_URL" -o presenter_transparent.webm
echo "Transparent video saved to presenter_transparent.webm"

Solid white background MP4 (e-commerce / social)

MP4 doesn't support alpha, so set a solid background color:

source ~/.agents/skills/video-remove-background/references/code-examples/bria_video_client.sh
RESULT_URL=$(bria_video_call "/path/to/product_spin.mp4" '"background_color":"White","output_container_and_codec":"mp4_h264","preserve_audio":true')
curl -sL "$RESULT_URL" -o product_white_bg.mp4

MKV with alpha for video editing pipelines

source ~/.agents/skills/video-remove-background/references/code-examples/bria_video_client.sh
RESULT_URL=$(bria_video_call "https://example.com/talent.mov" '"output_container_and_codec":"mkv_vp9"')
curl -sL "$RESULT_URL" -o talent_alpha.mkv

Transparent animated GIF

The API's gif output preset currently fails server-side — get a transparent webm and convert locally with ffmpeg:

source ~/.agents/skills/video-remove-background/references/code-examples/bria_video_client.sh
RESULT_URL=$(bria_video_call "/path/to/animation.mp4")
curl -sL "$RESULT_URL" -o cutout.webm
ffmpeg -c:v libvpx-vp9 -i cutout.webm \
  -filter_complex "[0:v]split[a][b];[a]palettegen=reserve_transparent=1[p];[b][p]paletteuse=alpha_threshold=128" \
  animation_transparent.gif

Batch video background removal

source ~/.agents/skills/video-remove-background/references/code-examples/bria_video_client.sh
mkdir -p cutouts
for vid in videos/*.mp4; do
  [ -f "$vid" ] || continue
  name=$(basename "${vid%.*}")
  RESULT_URL=$(bria_video_call "$vid" '"output_container_and_codec":"webm_vp9"')
  if [ -n "$RESULT_URL" ]; then
    curl -sL "$RESULT_URL" -o "cutouts/${name}_transparent.webm"
    echo "Done: $name"
  else
    echo "Failed: $name" >&2
  fi
done

How It Works

1. You provide a video (local file path or URL); local files are uploaded via Bria's video upload service to get a temporary URL
2. bria_video_call sends it to Bria's video background removal endpoint (POST /v2/video/edit/remove_background)
3. The API returns HTTP 202 with a status_url; the helper polls it every 5 seconds (up to 10 minutes)
4. Every frame is segmented — background pixels become transparent (or your chosen solid color)
5. You get back a URL to the processed video, matching the input's resolution and frame rate

Common Errors

| Error | Cause | Fix | |-------|-------|-----| | 422 Unprocessable Entity | Transparent background with a non-alpha preset | Use webm_vp9/mkv_vp9/mov_proresks, or set a solid background_color | | 500 "list index out of range" (job status ERROR) | gif output preset (currently broken server-side) | Output webm_vp9 and convert to GIF with ffmpeg (see example) | | 413 Payload Too Large | Input resolution above 16000x16000 | Downscale the input video | | 400 with duration message | Input longer than 60 seconds | Trim the video to ≤ 60s first | | Polling timeout | Long/high-res job still processing | The helper prints the status_url — re-poll it manually, or raise BRIA_POLL_ATTEMPTS / BRIA_POLL_INTERVAL |

Additional Resources

• [API Endpoints Reference](references/api-endpoints.md) — Full endpoint documentation: remove_background, video upload service, status polling
• [Shell Client (bria_video_client.sh)](references/code-examples/bria_video_client.sh) — Helpers: bria_video_call (upload + call + poll) and bria_video_upload (local file → temporary URL)

Related Skills

• remove-background — Background removal for images (transparent PNGs, cutouts) with RMBG 2.0
• bria-ai — Full Bria API access: generate images, edit photos, replace/blur backgrounds, upscale, and 20+ more endpoints
• image-utils — Post-processing with Python Pillow for extracted frames