podcast-cover-art

name	podcast-cover-art
description	Generate podcast cover art with AI and apply branding. Uses Gemini via OpenRouter for image generation with light cream backgrounds, then adds Yudame Research logo and series/episode text using Playfair Display typography. Requires OPENROUTER_API_KEY.

Podcast Cover Art Generation

Skill name: podcast-cover-art

Generate episode cover art using AI and apply podcast branding in one command.

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Quick Start

cd ~/src/research/podcast/tools
python cover_art.py ../episodes/YYYY-MM-DD-slug/

This:

• Auto-detects title and series from content_plan.md
• Generates AI cover art from report.md using Gemini via OpenRouter
• Applies podcast branding (logo, series/episode text)
• Saves to cover.png in episode directory

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Usage

# Full generation + branding (default)
python cover_art.py ../episodes/your-episode/

# With explicit series name
python cover_art.py ../episodes/your-episode/ --series "Series Name"

# Custom episode text for overlay
python cover_art.py ../episodes/your-episode/ --episode-text "Ep 5 - Topic"

# Skip AI generation, only apply branding to existing cover.png
python cover_art.py ../episodes/your-episode/ --skip-generate

# Quiet mode
python cover_art.py ../episodes/your-episode/ --quiet

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Requirements

• report.md must exist (used to generate AI image prompt)
• content_plan.md should exist (for auto-detecting title/series)
• OPENROUTER_API_KEY in environment (for Gemini image generation)
• Playfair Display fonts installed

First-Time Setup

# Verify fonts installed
cd ~/src/research/podcast/tools
uv run python add_logo_watermark.py --check-fonts

# If missing, install:
mkdir -p ~/Library/Fonts && cd ~/Library/Fonts
curl -L -o playfair.zip "https://gwfh.mranftl.com/api/fonts/playfair-display?download=zip&subsets=latin&variants=600,italic"
unzip -o playfair.zip

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Output

• cover.png - Final branded cover art (1024x1024, ~1MB)
• logs/cover_generation_*.txt - Generation log
• logs/cover_generation_*.json - Prompt metadata
• logs/branding_log_*.txt - Branding log

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Cover Art Specifications

Property	Value
Dimensions	1024x1024px
Background	Light cream (#F5F1E8)
Accents	Black (#000000), Salmon (#E8B4A8)
Typography	Playfair Display
Branding	Yudame logo + series/episode text
Format	PNG, ~500KB-1MB

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Workflow Integration

Cover art runs during the publishing phase (Phase 12) alongside feed.xml updates:

Phase 12: Publishing
├── Generate cover art (can run in parallel with metadata)
├── Create logs/metadata.md
├── Update feed.xml
└── Validate with podcast-feed-validator

This allows cover art to generate while other publishing tasks proceed.