/carousel

The mother skill — generate a complete Instagram carousel from topic to ready-to-post PNGs.

Usage

/carousel [topic or description]

Examples:

• /carousel 5 tools every agency owner needs
• /carousel how to automate client onboarding
• /carousel (no topic — will ask what to create)

Step 0 — First-Time Setup

Check for config at ~/.claude/skills/carousel/config.json.

If config exists AND setupComplete is true: Load config, skip to Pipeline.

If config does NOT exist: Run the full brand setup wizard.

Setup Wizard

Welcome to /carousel! Let's build your carousel template.

This takes about 10 minutes. You'll have a fully branded carousel system when we're done — cover slide, content slides, and CTA slide, all in your colors and style.

Part 1 — Brand Info

Ask these questions one at a time:

1. What's your name or brand name? (displayed on slides)
2. What's your social handle? (e.g. @yourbrand — shown in headers/footers)
3. What's your niche/industry? (e.g. "AI automation for agencies", "fitness coaching", "real estate investing")
4. Describe your voice in 1-2 sentences. (e.g. "Direct, no-BS, energetic. I tell it how it is but always give people hope." — If they have a /brand-voice config, offer to read from that instead)

Part 2 — Visual Identity

1. Do you have a profile picture to use on slides? If yes, get the file path. If no, slides will show the handle text only.

1. Pick a color scheme — show these presets OR let them go custom:

1. Pick fonts — show these presets OR let them go custom:

1. Do you have character/mascot images? If yes, get file paths for different poses (pointing, crossed arms, thumbs up, etc.). If no, slides will use a clean layout without characters. Minimum: 1 image. Ideal: 3-5 poses for variety.

Part 3 — Build Template Slides

Now build 3 template slides live with the user and get approval on each:

Cover slide first:

• Generate the HTML template with their brand colors, fonts, and handle
• Create a sample hook slide: bold headline with accent color, category pill, terminal preview
• Render it as PNG using Puppeteer (1080x1440)
• Open it in Preview: open -a Preview [path]
• Ask: "How does this cover slide look? Want to change anything — colors, font size, layout?"
• Iterate until approved

Content slide next:

• Build a sample step slide with headline, subline, terminal block, and character (if provided)
• Render and show
• Ask: "How about this content slide? Any tweaks?"
• Iterate until approved

CTA/closing slide last:

• Build the centered CTA layout with keyword box and follow prompt
• Render and show
• Ask: "And the closing slide — looks good?"
• Iterate until approved

Part 4 — Save Everything

Save config to ~/.claude/skills/carousel/config.json:

{
  "brandName": "Your Brand",
  "handle": "@yourbrand",
  "niche": "AI automation for agencies",
  "voice": "Direct, no-BS, energetic...",
  "profilePic": "/path/to/pic.jpg",
  "colors": {
    "bg": "#F4F3EE",
    "text": "#2A1F14",
    "accent": "#C15F3C"
  },
  "fonts": {
    "headline": "Space Grotesk",
    "mono": "JetBrains Mono"
  },
  "characters": [
    {"name": "pointing", "path": "/path/to/pointing.png"},
    {"name": "crossed", "path": "/path/to/crossed.png"}
  ],
  "slideSize": {"width": 1080, "height": 1440},
  "setupComplete": true,
  "setupDate": "2026-04-06"
}

Save the approved HTML template to ~/.claude/skills/carousel/slide-template.html. Save the approved build script to ~/.claude/skills/carousel/build-carousel.js.

Copy any character images and profile pic into ~/.claude/skills/carousel/assets/.

Install Puppeteer if not already installed:

cd ~/.claude/skills/carousel && npm init -y && npm install puppeteer

Setup complete! Your carousel template is ready.
Run /carousel with any topic to create your first carousel.

Dependency Check

Before rendering, verify:

• Node.js — which node (required for Puppeteer)
• Puppeteer — check ~/.claude/skills/carousel/node_modules/puppeteer exists
• If missing, provide install instructions and stop.

Pipeline

Step 1: Content (/carousel-copy logic)

Generate all slide content — headlines, sublines, terminal commands, character assignments.

• Load config for voice, niche, handle, available characters
• Show the user the slide breakdown for approval
• Wait for OK before rendering

Step 2: Design (/carousel-design logic)

Render every slide as a 1080x1440 PNG using the saved template.

• Build script from template, run Puppeteer, save PNGs
• Verify output by reading a sample slide image

Step 3: Deliver

Open Finder/file manager with all slides for easy sharing.

• List all files with sizes
• On Mac: Open Finder via AppleScript with files selected (for AirDrop)
• On other OS: print the output directory path

Flow

1. If no topic provided, ask what the carousel should be about
2. Run /carousel-copy logic — generate slide JSON using config voice/niche
3. Present the slide breakdown for approval
4. On approval, run /carousel-design logic — render PNGs
5. Open files for delivery
6. Done

Rules

• Always get approval on the copy BEFORE rendering
• If the user wants changes to specific slides, update the JSON and re-render only those
• The full pipeline should take under 2 minutes once copy is approved
• Never skip the approval step — always review copy first
• All config reads from ~/.claude/skills/carousel/config.json
• All assets (characters, profile pic, bg pattern) live in ~/.claude/skills/carousel/assets/
• Template HTML lives at ~/.claude/skills/carousel/slide-template.html

Related Skills

• /carousel-idea — brainstorm carousel topics
• /carousel-copy — just the content, no rendering
• /carousel-design — just the rendering, from existing JSON

Built by @tenfoldmarc. Follow for daily AI automation builds — real systems, not theory.