Kdenlive — D-Bus Scripting & Expressions Fork

Fork of KDE/kdenlive that adds a D-Bus scripting API and a JavaScript expression engine for programmatic control of Kdenlive from Python, CLI, or any D-Bus client.

What this fork adds

D-Bus Scripting API

108 new Q_SCRIPTABLE methods exposed via D-Bus (org.kde.kdenlive.MainWindow), covering:

Category	Examples
Project	Open, save, new, properties, fps, resolution
Media pool	Import, folders, clip properties, delete, relink
Timeline	Insert, move, resize, cut, slip, delete clips; track management
Effects	Add/remove effects, get/set/update keyframes
Compositions	Add, move, resize, delete, list cross-track compositions
Audio	Volume get/set, audio fades, audio level analysis
Subtitles	Add, edit, delete, export; subtitle styles
Markers/guides	Add, list, delete by frame or category (timeline and clip markers)
Groups	Group/ungroup clips, query group membership
Selection	Get/set selection, select all, select by track
Sequences	List sequences, get/set active sequence
Zones	Get/set zone in/out points, extract zone
Titles	Create/read/update title clips (kdenlivetitle XML)
Proxy	Set, rebuild, delete, query clip proxy status
Playback	Seek, play, pause, get position
Rendering	Render timeline/bin frames as thumbnails, scene detection
Undo	Undo, redo, query undo stack status

JavaScript Expression Engine

An embedded QuickJS-based expression engine that allows keyframe parameters to be driven by JavaScript expressions (e.g. sin(time * 2), audio-reactive effects). Includes:

• Expression editor dialog with syntax highlighting
• Built-in function library (math, time, audio, easing)
• Expression template system with a repository of presets
• Expression cache for performance

libplacebo Effects

Two new GPU-accelerated effects via libplacebo: shader and render.

Python API

Use with kdenlive-api — a DaVinci Resolve-compatible Python wrapper:

from kdenlive_api import Resolve

resolve = Resolve()
project = resolve.GetProjectManager().GetCurrentProject()
timeline = project.GetCurrentTimeline()

Building

Follow the standard Kdenlive build instructions. This fork tracks upstream master. Additional build requirements:

• D-Bus: -DUSE_DBUS=ON (enabled by default on Linux, must be explicit on Windows via Craft)
• QuickJS: Bundled in src/expressions/quickjs/ (no external dependency)

Upstream

For general Kdenlive information, features, and downloads visit kdenlive.org. Upstream source: KDE Invent / GitHub mirror.