Use Runway API

Call the Runway public API directly from the agent to manage resources, trigger generations, and inspect account state.

When to use this skill: Use this when the user wants to act on their Runway account — create or update avatars, manage documents, trigger generations, check credit balance, etc. For writing integration code into a project, use the
+integrate-*
skills instead.

When the user asks to generate media in the context of Runway, prefer the Runway API path from this skill over any generic built-in image or media generation tool.

Skill selection: Pair this skill with
+api-reference
when you need the canonical API contract. Do not use
+integrate-image
,
+integrate-video
,
+integrate-audio
,
+integrate-characters
, or
+integrate-documents
unless the task is to write or modify application code.

Runtime Location

The runtime script ships inside this skill at

scripts/runway-api.mjs

(co-located with this

SKILL.md

). It has zero dependencies — Node.js 20+ is required.

Resolving the absolute path. Every shell command below uses the placeholder

<skill-dir>

. Replace it with the absolute directory of the

SKILL.md

you are currently reading — you already have this path from the tool that loaded this file. Do not guess the path, run

find

from

$HOME

, or search the whole filesystem.

<skill-dir>

is not known from context, check these locations in order with

ls

before giving up:

$RUNWAY_SKILLS_DIR/skills/use-runway-api/scripts/runway-api.mjs

(if the env var is set)

~/.claude/plugins/cache/*/runway-api/skills/use-runway-api/scripts/runway-api.mjs

(Claude Code plugin install)

~/.cursor/plugins/cache/*/runway-api/skills/use-runway-api/scripts/runway-api.mjs

(Cursor plugin install)

~/.claude/skills/use-runway-api/scripts/runway-api.mjs

(

npx skills add

install)

~/.agents/skills/use-runway-api/scripts/runway-api.mjs

(generic agent install)

~/Documents/github/runway/skills/skills/use-runway-api/scripts/runway-api.mjs

(source checkout)

Pick the first match and use it as

<skill-dir>/scripts/runway-api.mjs

for the rest of the session. Do not re-resolve between commands.

Before Your First Call

Set a session ID so all requests in this chat can be correlated, then verify credentials:

bash

export RUNWAY_SKILLS_CLIENT_ID=$(node -e "console.log(crypto.randomUUID())")
node <skill-dir>/scripts/runway-api.mjs auth status

If
```
authenticated
```
is
```
true
```
→ proceed to the API call. Do not re-check.
If
```
authenticated
```
is
```
false
```
→ tell the user to set
```
RUNWAY_SKILLS_API_SECRET
```
(see
```
AUTH.md
```
for details), then stop and wait for the user to confirm. Do not retry or re-check in a loop.

Staging caveat:
auth status
hits
/v1/organization
which may 500 on stage even when data endpoints work fine. If stage
auth status
fails but you have
RUNWAY_SKILLS_API_SECRET_STAGE
set, try a data endpoint like
avatars list --stage
to confirm the key works before giving up.

Fast Paths

For plain list requests, use the compact list commands first instead of the generic

request

command:

list avatars →

node <skill-dir>/scripts/runway-api.mjs avatars list

list voices →

node <skill-dir>/scripts/runway-api.mjs voices list

list documents →

node <skill-dir>/scripts/runway-api.mjs documents list [--avatar-id <id>]

These commands return smaller, list-friendly JSON on purpose. After a successful list command, answer once. Do not re-run the command, do not read back the same output, and do not render the same table twice.

Output Format

When the API returns a regular list of records, prefer a compact markdown table over a bare bullet list.

Good defaults:

avatars:
```
Name
```
,
```
Status
```
,
```
Voice
```
,
```
Docs
```
,
```
Created
```
documents:
```
Name
```
,
```
Avatar
```
,
```
Created
```
voices:
```
Name
```
,
```
Provider
```
,
```
Preview
```

After the table, add one short summary line only if something notable stands out. Do not repeat the table in a second block.

Generic Request

Call any public API endpoint:

bash

node <skill-dir>/scripts/runway-api.mjs request <METHOD> <path> [--body '<json>'] [--stdin] [--dry-run]

All output is JSON. Errors go to stderr with a non-zero exit code and include an

example

field with a correctable invocation.

Flags:

```
--body <json>
```
— inline JSON request body
```
--stdin
```
— read JSON body from stdin (useful for large or multi-line payloads)
```
--dry-run
```
— print the full request (method, URL, headers, body) without executing it
```
--help
```
— show usage and examples for any command

Use

+api-reference

as the canonical source for:

model choices
endpoint details
exact POST/PATCH body shapes
required and optional fields

Do not duplicate or invent request schemas in this skill. For simple GET/DELETE calls and the list fast paths above, you do not need to load

+api-reference

Examples

Get organization info:

bash

node <skill-dir>/scripts/runway-api.mjs request GET /v1/organization

List avatars:

bash

node <skill-dir>/scripts/runway-api.mjs avatars list

Get a specific avatar:

bash

node <skill-dir>/scripts/runway-api.mjs request GET /v1/avatars/<id>

Update an avatar:

bash

node <skill-dir>/scripts/runway-api.mjs request PATCH /v1/avatars/<id> --body '{
  "personality": "Updated personality text"
}'

Delete an avatar (preview first):

bash

node <skill-dir>/scripts/runway-api.mjs request DELETE /v1/avatars/<id> --dry-run
node <skill-dir>/scripts/runway-api.mjs request DELETE /v1/avatars/<id>

List knowledge documents for an avatar:

bash

node <skill-dir>/scripts/runway-api.mjs documents list --avatar-id <avatar-id>

Create a knowledge document:

bash

node <skill-dir>/scripts/runway-api.mjs request POST /v1/documents --body '{
  "avatarId": "<avatar-id>",
  "name": "FAQ",
  "content": "Q: What is your return policy?\nA: 30 days, no questions asked."
}'

List voices:

bash

node <skill-dir>/scripts/runway-api.mjs voices list

Waiting for Tasks

Generation endpoints return a task ID. Always run

wait

immediately after a generation call — do not ask the user whether to wait.

bash

node <skill-dir>/scripts/runway-api.mjs wait <task-id>

Generation Requests

When the user asks to generate an image, video, or audio:

Read
```
+api-reference
```
once before the first generation POST. It is the canonical source for model options, request body shapes, and valid field values.
Choose the model from
```
+api-reference
```
and tell the user which one you picked, briefly.
Build the request body from
```
+api-reference
```
. Do not guess field names.
Call the generation endpoint once with that body.
Run
```
wait
```
automatically.
Present the result following the rules in Presenting Generation Output below.

For generation requests, never skip the

+api-reference

read. For simple list/get/delete requests, do not load it unless needed.

If the user says only "generate an image" but the surrounding context is clearly about Runway account actions or this skill, still use the Runway API rather than a generic built-in image tool.

Presenting Generation Output

The

wait

command returns a task with an

output

array of signed URLs. These URLs expire in 24–48 hours and are long signed JWT blobs that are awkward to read inline.

After a successful generation, do all of the following:

Lead with what was generated — one short line stating the model and cost, e.g.
```
Generated with gen4_image (1080p, 8 credits).
```
Embed images inline as Markdown so the user can see them without clicking:
markdown
```
![Fox in a snowy forest](https://storage.runway.../signed-url)
```
For videos, link them as plain Markdown links (
```
[fox.mp4](...)
```
) since inline video does not render in most chat UIs.
Offer to save a local copy in the same message, proactively. Suggest a predictable path (
```
./generated/
```
or
```
./runway-outputs/
```
) and infer a filename from the prompt when possible. Example:
Want me to save it to
./generated/fox.png
? The signed URL expires in ~24–48h.
Do not paste the full signed URL as raw text unless the user asks for it. The Markdown image/link already contains it.

If the user confirms a download, fetch with

curl -L -o <path> '<url>'

(quote the URL — it contains

API Reference

Use

+api-reference

for the canonical API contract. Use

+fetch-api-reference

only when you specifically need the latest docs content from

docs.dev.runwayml.com

Staging (--stage)

Add

--stage

to any command to target the staging API:

bash

node <skill-dir>/scripts/runway-api.mjs --stage avatars list
node <skill-dir>/scripts/runway-api.mjs --stage request GET /v1/avatars

With

--stage

, the CLI checks

RUNWAY_SKILLS_API_SECRET_STAGE

first, then falls back to

RUNWAY_SKILLS_API_SECRET

. The base URL defaults to

https://api.dev-stage.runwayml.com

Large Payloads (--stdin)

When creating resources with data URIs (e.g. base64-encoded images for avatar

referenceImage

), the body can exceed shell argument limits. Use

--stdin

to pipe the body:

bash

python3 -c "
import json, base64
with open('image.png', 'rb') as f:
    b64 = base64.b64encode(f.read()).decode()
body = json.dumps({'name': 'My Avatar', 'referenceImage': f'data:image/png;base64,{b64}', ...})
with open('/tmp/body.json', 'w') as f:
    f.write(body)
" && cat /tmp/body.json | node <skill-dir>/scripts/runway-api.mjs request POST /v1/avatars --stdin

Alternatively, write the JSON to a file and use

curl -d @file

directly. The

--body

flag is fine for small JSON payloads but will hit

argument list too long

for data URIs of images over ~200KB.

Environment Variables

The runtime reads credentials from the process environment:

Variable	Description
`RUNWAY_SKILLS_API_SECRET`	Production API key
`RUNWAY_SKILLS_API_SECRET_STAGE`	Stage API key (used with `--stage` )
`RUNWAY_SKILLS_BASE_URL`	Override the base URL for any environment
`RUNWAY_SKILLS_DIR`	Optional. Absolute path to the source checkout of this skills repo — used by the agent as a fallback when resolving `<skill-dir>` .

If the agent cannot see

RUNWAY_SKILLS_API_SECRET

, the editor likely needs to be restarted after the variable is set.

Related Files

```
AUTH.md
```
— auth setup and troubleshooting for this skill

Related Skills

Skill	When to use
`+api-reference`	Full API reference — models, endpoints, costs, rate limits
`+fetch-api-reference`	Fetch latest docs from docs.dev.runwayml.com
`+integrate-video`	Write video generation code into a project
`+integrate-image`	Write image generation code into a project
`+integrate-audio`	Write audio generation code into a project
`+integrate-characters`	Write avatar session code into a project
`+integrate-documents`	Write knowledge document code into a project

use-runway-api

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Use Runway API

Runtime Location

Before Your First Call

Fast Paths

Output Format

Generic Request

Examples

Waiting for Tasks

Generation Requests

Presenting Generation Output

API Reference

Staging (--stage)

Large Payloads (--stdin)

Environment Variables

Related Files

Related Skills