Installing And Upgrading Vex

Recommended Install

Requirements:

• Python 3.11 or newer
• FFmpeg on PATH
• pipx

Install:

pipx install vex-video
vex --version
vex setup config
vex renderers doctor

Set VEX_NODE_PATH and optionally VEX_NPM_PATH to absolute executable paths when Vex should use an isolated Node runtime instead of the first one on PATH. This is the recommended setup for x64 Remotion rendering on Windows ARM without replacing an ARM-native system Node installation.

HyperFrames and Remotion visuals additionally require Node.js 22+ and npm:

vex renderers install hyperframes
vex renderers install remotion
vex renderers doctor

For source checkouts, Remotion dependencies come from the repository lockfile:

npm ci
vex renderers doctor

Optional Features

pipx install "vex-video[transcription]"
pipx install "vex-video[manim]"
pipx install "vex-video[all]"

For an existing Vex installation:

vex setup transcription

This reuses a compatible system Whisper runtime when one is discoverable, otherwise it installs and verifies Whisper in the Python environment that runs Vex. Packages installed into system Python are intentionally isolated from pipx; Vex crosses that boundary through its external worker when the interpreter is on PATH, or when WHISPER_PYTHON_PATH points to it.

Manim also has platform-specific Cairo, Pango, and LaTeX requirements. Blender is installed separately and discovered from PATH or BLENDER_PATH.

Upgrade

pipx upgrade vex-video
vex renderers install remotion
vex renderers doctor

Each Vex version uses separate managed HyperFrames and Remotion runtime directories for every Node platform, CPU architecture, libc, major version, and module ABI. This avoids silently changing dependencies underneath an older Vex installation or reusing ARM64 native packages from an x64 Node process. Source checkout Remotion dependencies are pinned in package-lock.json; run npm ci again after upgrading if you use renderer=remotion.

Install A Release Candidate

Release candidates are published as pipx-verified GitHub prereleases:

VERSION=0.1.0rc7
pipx install \
  "https://github.com/AKMessi/vex/releases/download/v${VERSION}/vex_video-${VERSION}-py3-none-any.whl"
vex --version

Configured release pipelines also publish and verify candidates on TestPyPI. Use release candidates for validation, not production projects.

Roll Back

List published versions on PyPI, then install the required version explicitly:

pipx install --force "vex-video==0.1.0"
vex --version
vex renderers install remotion

Project files remain in AGENT_PROJECTS_DIR; changing the Vex executable does not delete projects. Back up a project before opening it with an older version when a release changes project-state schemas.

Uninstall

pipx uninstall vex-video

The managed renderer runtime and Vex projects are user data and are not deleted automatically. This prevents package removal from destroying work.