Davinci-ProUser · the resolve api laboratory
The Impossibles
94 things DaVinci Resolve's API supposedly can't do — or can, and nobody checked. Every single one gets an experiment before it gets a label. Impossible is a hypothesis, not a verdict.
the taxonomy
Four colors of "can't."
Verified against the installed API reference and the v21 docs — then challenged anyway. The counters are live truth computed from the ledger, not marketing.
documented API exists — experiment = build it and find the real-world cracks
a route exists with suspected gaps — experiment = map where it breaks
the true impossibles — probe undocumented routes before accepting defeat
new AI surfaces — stay blue until the verification sweep flips them with evidence
the method
No assumptions. Tried first.
A want enters the ledger
Every directive comes from real work — wildlife RAW from a Nikon ZR, a rugby scoreboard, a Nike-style spot pipeline, an interview edit. No hypotheticals.
It gets a hypothesis
"Can't be done" becomes HYPOTHESIS.md — proven-if, disproven-if, written before any code runs.
The experiment runs against a live Resolve
A guarded run.py in a junk project. Breakage is acceptable. Untested claims are not.
Evidence goes in the locker
Stills, dumps, timings, RESULT.md — pass or fail, the record stays. Failures are findings.
The ledger flips
🔴 becomes 🟢, or it stays red with a map of exactly where the wall is. Either way: we know now.
the deep end
The true impossibles — and how we break in.
Fourteen directives have no documented API surface at all. Each one already has a probe route planned: undocumented method dumps, project-database spelunking, grade-file injection, Fusion side doors.
Resolve transcribes — but offers no getter. We hunt the sidecar through the project database and cache dirs. If found, it unlocks D3: the Descript move — edit text, re-cut picture.
No AddNode anywhere. So we generate .drx grade files externally and inject them via ApplyGradeFromDRX — node-graph smuggling. Windows, trackers, keyframes ride along.
Historically the API ships more than it documents. dir() every object, diff against the docs, publish UNDOCUMENTED.md — our map of the dark territory.
Resolve is not a live mixer — officially. Fusion Text+ driven by intool Lua reading JSON gets near-live on render. How near? That's a measurement, not an opinion.
The famous Apple↔BMD standoff. Folklore says never. We throw the .mov at our own builds anyway — verify the folklore before accepting it.
The genuine wasteland of the API — presets only. If every probe fails, it stays red with evidence. That's still science.
the full ledger
All 94, on the record.
Fifteen sections, each born from a real project. The interactive version — filterable, clickable, runnable — lives in the Lab app.
the experiment queue
23 experiments, priority-ordered.
One folder per hypothesis. The bridge ships now — so experiments fire from a button in the Lab UI, against a live Resolve.
watch it happen
Every flip happens in public view.
The ledger is live in the Lab. Green dots are earned, red ones are honest, and the experiment record never gets deleted.