---
title: Cloud Rendering
description: "Render a composition on the hosted cloud — no local Chrome, no FFmpeg, no AWS to manage."
---

Render any Frames composition on Hanzo Cloud: the CLI zips your project, uploads it, runs the render there, and downloads the finished video. There's nothing to deploy and no Chrome or FFmpeg to install — the render is metered against your org's balance.

```bash
frames auth login            # one-time sign-in
frames cloud render          # zip → upload → render → download
```

```bash
# ◆  Zipping my-video
#    42 files · 3.1 MB
# ◆  Uploading the project
#    asset_id: asst_abc123 · 1.2s
#   Polling hfr_def456 every 10s …
#   completed  47s
# ◆  Downloading to renders/hfr_def456.mp4
#    8.4 MB written
```

This is the zero-infra alternative to running your own renderer. If you'd rather own the compute, see [AWS Lambda](/deploy/aws-lambda), [GCP Cloud Run](/deploy/gcp-cloud-run), or the [Vercel, Cloudflare, or Modal templates](/guides/deploy). For local iteration during authoring, use [`frames render`](/guides/rendering).

## Authenticate

Cloud rendering uses the same credential as everything else: a Hanzo IAM token
in `HANZO_API_KEY`, read from [Hanzo KMS](https://kms.hanzo.ai). One token, every
surface — no separate sign-in, no credential file, no per-repo `.env`.

```bash
export HANZO_API_KEY=...   # from Hanzo KMS; in CI, injected by the pipeline

frames auth status
# Shows which credential is in use, the identity behind it, and the balance.
# Exit 0 = usable; exit 1 = absent or rejected.
```

<Note>
  Point the CLI at a different deployment with `HANZO_BASE_URL` (default
  `https://api.hanzo.ai`). A publishable `pk-` key is read-only and is refused;
  use an IAM token or an `sk-` key. For what the same token unlocks across the
  skills, see [Authentication](/guides/authentication).
</Note>

## How a cloud render flows

`frames cloud render` runs the whole pipeline end-to-end:

```
 Your machine                          Hanzo Cloud
┌─────────────────────────┐          ┌─────────────────────────────────┐
│ zip project             │ ──PUT───▶│ direct-to-store asset upload    │
│ (.framesignore +        │  upload  │  → asset_id                     │
│  generated outputs)     │          │                                 │
│                         │ ──POST──▶│ submit the render               │
│                         │  submit  │  → render_id (queued)           │
│                         │          │  Chromium + FFmpeg render       │
│ poll the render         │ ◀────────│  queued → rendering → completed │
│ stream video to disk    │ ◀────────│  signed video_url               │
└─────────────────────────┘          └─────────────────────────────────┘
```

1. **Resolve the project** — a local directory (default `.`), or skip the upload with `--asset-id` / `--url`.
2. **Auto-detect the aspect ratio** from the entry HTML's `data-width`/`data-height` so you rarely set it by hand.
3. **Zip** the project (same ignore set as `frames publish`, including `.framesignore`).
4. **Upload** the zip through the direct-to-store asset flow, yielding an `asset_id`.
5. **Submit** the render, yielding a `render_id`.
6. **Poll** that render until it completes or fails (skip with `--no-wait`).
7. **Download** the signed video URL to disk.

## Control archive size

Hosted cloud project uploads are limited to 200 MB. Frames automatically excludes root-level `renders/` and `snapshots/` plus development-only paths such as `.git`, `node_modules`, `dist`, `.next`, `coverage`, and dotfiles.

Use a gitignore-style `.framesignore` at the project root for additional generated or intermediate files that are not needed at render time:

```gitignore
/snapshots2/
/exports/
/assets/source-master.mp4
```

Inspect the exact archive without authenticating, uploading, or starting a render:

```bash
frames cloud render . --dry-run
frames cloud render . --dry-run --json
```

The dry run reports compressed size, file count, and the ten largest included files. Rules also apply to `frames publish`. Avoid broad patterns such as `assets/`: dynamically selected media may not appear as an obvious static HTML reference.

## Render options

The most-used flags — see the [CLI reference](/packages/cli#frames-cloud) for the full list.

| Flag | Default | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `--fps` | `30` | Frames per second, 1–240. |
| `--quality` | `standard` | `draft`, `standard`, or `high`. |
| `--format` | `mp4` | `mp4`, `webm`, or `mov` (webm/mov carry alpha). |
| `--resolution` | `1080p` | `1080p` or `4k`. 4k is billed at 1.5×. |
| `--aspect-ratio` | auto | `16:9`, `9:16`, or `1:1`. Auto-detected from a local project's `data-width`/`data-height`; for `--asset-id`/`--url` it defaults to `16:9` unless set. |
| `--composition` / `-c` | `index.html` | Entry HTML file inside the zip. |
| `--output` / `-o` | `renders/<render_id>.<ext>` | Local destination for the download. |
| `--dry-run` | off | Build and inspect a local project zip without authenticating, uploading, or rendering. |

```bash
# Pick a composition and an output path.
frames cloud render . \
  --composition compositions/intro.html \
  --output ./renders/intro.mp4

# Higher quality at 60fps.
frames cloud render --quality high --fps 60
```

<Warning>
  `--resolution 4k` can't be combined with `--format webm` or `--format mov`. The 4k supersampling path runs through the screenshot capture pipeline, which has no alpha channel. Render 4k as `mp4`, or render alpha at the composition's native resolution.
</Warning>

## Templates and variables

Cloud rendering supports [variables](/concepts/variables) — the same mechanism that powers templates everywhere else in Frames. Declare `data-composition-variables` on your composition, then fill them at render time:

```bash
# Inline JSON
frames cloud render --variables '{"title":"Q4 Recap","theme":"dark"}'

# From a file
frames cloud render --variables-file ./vars.json

# Fail fast on undeclared keys or wrong types
frames cloud render --variables '{"title":"Q4 Recap"}' --strict-variables
```

For a **local project**, the CLI validates your `--variables` against the composition's declared schema *before* uploading. For `--asset-id` / `--url` the schema lives server-side, so mismatches surface as a `frames_project_invalid` API error.

The idiomatic template workflow is **upload once, re-render many**: render a local project to get its `asset_id`, then submit new renders against that same asset with different variables — no re-zip, no re-upload.

```bash
# 1. Upload + render once; note the asset_id printed during upload.
frames cloud render ./card-template

# 2. Re-render the same asset with new values (skips zip + upload).
frames cloud render --asset-id asst_abc123 --variables '{"name":"Ada"}'
frames cloud render --asset-id asst_abc123 --variables '{"name":"Linus"}'
```

For high-volume personalized batches, the bring-your-own-AWS path adds a JSONL fan-out — see [Templates on Lambda](/deploy/templates-on-lambda).

## Fire-and-forget and webhooks

By default the CLI blocks, polls, and downloads. Pass `--no-wait` to submit and exit with just the `render_id`, and `--callback-url` to get an HTTPS webhook when the render terminates. The webhook fires whether or not the CLI is still polling, so combine them for true fire-and-forget:

```bash
frames cloud render --callback-url https://example.com/hf-hook --no-wait
# ✓  Submitted hfr_def456
#    Poll with: frames cloud get hfr_def456
```

| Flag | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `--no-wait` | Submit and exit immediately; print the `render_id`. |
| `--callback-url` | HTTPS webhook fired when the render terminates. |
| `--callback-id` | Opaque tracking ID echoed in webhook payloads. |
| `--poll-interval` | Poll cadence in seconds (default `10`). |
| `--max-wait` | Max poll duration in minutes (default `60`). |

## Managing renders

```bash
frames cloud list                 # recent renders (--limit, --token, --all)
frames cloud get hfr_def456       # full detail + short-lived signed video_url
frames cloud delete hfr_def456    # soft-delete (--no-confirm to skip the prompt)
```

`video_url` and `thumbnail_url` are short-lived presigned URLs — re-fetch with `cloud get` rather than caching them.

## Safe retries

A retry is harmless for reads, but the zip upload is **not** idempotent on its own — a blind retry would create a duplicate asset and meter the org twice. Pass `--idempotency-key` so retries are safe:

```bash
frames cloud render . --idempotency-key "$(uuidgen)"
```

The key is forwarded to both the upload and submit calls; the server scopes idempotency per-endpoint, so reusing one value across both steps is safe. Use any opaque string in `[A-Za-z0-9_:.-]` (1–255 chars).

## Cloud vs. Lambda vs. local

- **`frames render`** (local) — fastest iteration loop; use while authoring. See [Rendering](/guides/rendering).
- **`frames cloud render`** — zero-infra; Hanzo Cloud runs the render, metered against your org's balance. Use when you don't want to manage Chrome/FFmpeg/AWS.
- **`frames lambda render`** — bring-your-own-AWS distributed rendering with chunked parallelism. Use when you've already invested in AWS. See [AWS Lambda](/deploy/aws-lambda).

## Next steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Variables" icon="sliders" href="/concepts/variables">
    Declare and fill template slots in a composition
  </Card>
  <Card title="Templates on Lambda" icon="layer-group" href="/deploy/templates-on-lambda">
    High-volume personalized renders on your own AWS
  </Card>
  <Card title="Local rendering" icon="film" href="/guides/rendering">
    Render locally or in Docker during authoring
  </Card>
  <Card title="CLI reference" icon="terminal" href="/packages/cli#frames-cloud">
    Every `cloud` and `auth` flag in detail
  </Card>
</CardGroup>