ads-dna

name	ads-dna
description	Brand DNA extractor for paid advertising: scans a website URL for visual identity, tone of voice, colors, typography, imagery; outputs brand-profile.json. Run before /ads create or /ads generate. Use when user says brand DNA, brand profile, extract brand, brand identity, or brand style guide.
user-invokable	false
tested_date	"2026-05-17T00:00:00.000Z"
tested_with	claude-code v2.x

Ads DNA: Brand DNA Extractor

Extracts brand identity from a website and saves it as brand-profile.json for use by /ads create, /ads generate, and /ads photoshoot.

Brand DNA extraction is OBSERVE and LISTEN made concrete (see the 10-Principle Thinking Framework in ads/references/thinking-framework.md). The website is the input; the brand profile is what the site is saying about itself when no one is curating the message. Listen to the voice before you label it. Observe the visual choices before you classify them.

Quick Reference

Command	What it does
/ads dna <url>	Full brand extraction → brand-profile.json
/ads dna https://acme.com --quick	Fast extraction (homepage only)

Process

Step 1: Collect URL

If the user hasn't provided a URL, ask:

"What website URL should I analyze for brand DNA? (e.g. https://yoursite.com)"

Step 2: Fetch Pages

Use the WebFetch tool to retrieve each page. For each URL, use this fetch prompt:

"Return all visible text content, the full contents of any <style> blocks, inline style= attributes, <meta> tags, Google Fonts @import URLs, and any og:image values found on this page."

Fetch in this order:

1. Homepage (<url>)
2. About page: try <url>/about, then <url>/about-us, then <url>/our-story
3. Product/Services page: try <url>/product, then <url>/products, then <url>/services

If --quick flag was provided: fetch the homepage only; skip steps 2 and 3.

If a secondary page returns a 404 or redirect error, continue with fewer pages and note: "Secondary pages unavailable; extraction based on homepage only. Confidence may be lower."

Step 2b: Capture Brand Screenshots

After fetching pages, capture 3 screenshots for comprehensive brand anchoring. These serve as visual style references during /ads generate; the same approach Pomelli uses to anchor ad images to the actual brand aesthetic.

Capture the following:

1. Homepage hero section (above the fold):

python ../ads/scripts/capture_screenshot.py [url]

Saves: ./brand-screenshots/{domain}_homepage.png

2. Product or services page:

python ../ads/scripts/capture_screenshot.py [url]/products

Saves: ./brand-screenshots/{domain}_product.png

3. About page (brand personality):

python ../ads/scripts/capture_screenshot.py [url]/about

Saves: ./brand-screenshots/{domain}_about.png

If a page is not found or returns an error, skip it gracefully and continue with the remaining pages.

If --quick flag was provided: skip screenshot capture entirely.

If capture fails (Playwright not installed, network error, JS-heavy SPA that times out):

• Log: "Screenshot capture skipped; run: python3 -m playwright install chromium"
• Continue without screenshots
• Do NOT set the screenshots field in brand-profile.json

Step 3: Extract Brand Elements

From the fetched HTML, extract:

Colors:

• og:image meta tag → analyze dominant colors (note 2-3 prominent hex values)
• CSS background-color on body, header, .hero, .btn-primary
• CSS color on h1, h2, .btn
• CSS border-color or background on .cta, .button
• Identify: primary (most prominent brand color), secondary (supporting colors), background, text

Typography:

• @import url(https://fonts.googleapis.com/...) → extract font names from URL path
• CSS font-family on h1, h2, body, .headline
• If Google Fonts URL contains family=Inter:wght@..., heading_font = "Inter"

Voice: Analyze hero headline, subheadline, About page intro, and CTA button text. Score each axis 1-10 using these heuristics:

Signal	Score direction
Uses "you/your" frequently	formal_casual → casual (+2)
Uses technical jargon	expert_accessible → expert (-2)
Short punchy sentences (≤8 words)	bold_subtle → bold (+2)
Data/stats in hero	rational_emotional → rational (-2)
"Transform", "revolutionize", "disrupt"	traditional_innovative → innovative (+2)
Customer testimonials lead	rational_emotional → emotional (+2)
Industry awards, "trusted by X"	traditional_innovative → traditional (-1)

Confidence Scoring

Each voice axis gets a confidence rating based on signal count:

• High (3+ signals): strong evidence for axis position
• Medium (2 signals): moderate evidence, may need validation
• Low (1 signal): weak evidence, treat as estimate

Also extract structured data when available: schema.org markup, Open Graph tags (og:title, og:description, og:image), Twitter Card metadata.

Imagery style (from og:image and any visible hero image descriptions):

• Photography vs. illustration vs. flat design
• Subject matter (people, product, abstract, data)
• Composition style (clean/minimal vs. busy/editorial)

Forbidden elements (infer from brand positioning):

• Enterprise/B2B brands → add "cheesy stock photos", "consumer lifestyle imagery"
• Healthcare → add "unqualified medical claims", "before/after imagery"
• Finance → add "get rich quick imagery", "unrealistic wealth displays"
• Consumer brands → usually no forbidden elements

Step 4: Build brand-profile.json

Read ../ads/references/brand-dna-template.md for the exact schema.

Construct the JSON object following the schema precisely. Use null for any field that cannot be confidently extracted; do not guess.

Example of a low-confidence field:

"typography": {
  "heading_font": null,
  "body_font": "system-ui",
  "pairing_descriptor": "system default (Google Fonts not detected)"
}

Step 5: Write brand-profile.json

Write the JSON to ./brand-profile.json in the current working directory (where the user is running Claude Code).

If screenshots were captured successfully in Step 2b, include a screenshots field:

"screenshots": {
  "homepage": "./brand-screenshots/{domain}_homepage.png",
  "product": "./brand-screenshots/{domain}_product.png",
  "about": "./brand-screenshots/{domain}_about.png"
}

Include only the screenshots that were successfully captured. If a page was not found or errored, omit that key. Omit the screenshots field entirely if Step 2b was skipped or all captures failed.

Step 6: Confirm and Summarize

Show the user:

✓ brand-profile.json saved to ./brand-profile.json

Brand DNA Summary:
  Brand: [brand_name]
  Voice: [descriptor 1], [descriptor 2], [descriptor 3]
  Primary Color: [hex]
  Typography: [heading_font] / [body_font]
  Target: [age_range] [profession]
  Screenshots: [N captured (homepage, product, about) in ./brand-screenshots/] OR [skipped]

Run `/ads create` to generate campaign concepts from this profile.

Visual Designer Integration

The visual-designer agent uses the most relevant screenshot per concept as a style reference when generating images via banana. For example, a product-focused concept references the product page screenshot, while a brand awareness concept references the homepage or about page screenshot.

Limitations

• Sparse content: Sites with <200 words of body text produce lower-confidence profiles. Note: "Low confidence extraction; limited content available for analysis."
• Dynamic sites: JavaScript-rendered content may not be captured. Playwright is not used by default. If the site appears to be SPA/React with no static HTML, note this.
• Multi-brand enterprises: This tool creates one profile per URL. Run separately for each brand/product line.
• Dark mode sites: If body background is #333 or darker, swap background/text values.
• CSS-in-JS: Modern React sites may not have extractable CSS. Use og:image colors as fallback.

brand-profile.json Schema

{
  "schema_version": "1.0",
  "brand_name": "string",
  "website_url": "string",
  "extracted_at": "ISO-8601",
  "voice": {
    "formal_casual": 1-10,
    "rational_emotional": 1-10,
    "playful_serious": 1-10,
    "bold_subtle": 1-10,
    "traditional_innovative": 1-10,
    "expert_accessible": 1-10,
    "descriptors": ["adjective1", "adjective2", "adjective3"]
  },
  "colors": {
    "primary": "#hexcode or null",
    "secondary": ["#hex1", "#hex2"],
    "forbidden": ["#hex or color name"],
    "background": "#hexcode",
    "text": "#hexcode"
  },
  "typography": {
    "heading_font": "Font Name or null",
    "body_font": "Font Name or system-ui",
    "pairing_descriptor": "brief description"
  },
  "imagery": {
    "style": "professional photography | illustration | flat design | mixed",
    "subjects": ["subject1", "subject2"],
    "composition": "brief description",
    "forbidden": ["element1", "element2"]
  },
  "aesthetic": {
    "mood_keywords": ["keyword1", "keyword2", "keyword3"],
    "texture": "minimal | textured | mixed",
    "negative_space": "generous | moderate | dense"
  },
  "brand_values": ["value1", "value2", "value3"],
  "target_audience": {
    "age_range": "e.g. 25-45",
    "profession": "brief description",
    "pain_points": ["pain1", "pain2"],
    "aspirations": ["aspiration1", "aspiration2"]
  }
}