generate-short

name	generate-short
description	Build a full short from brief to reviewed MP4 while keeping script, audio, visuals, captions, and validation aligned as one edit.
allowedTools	["shell","read","write"]
model	inherit
argumentHint	{"topic":"Redis vs PostgreSQL for caching","archetype":"versus","outputDir":"output/content-machine/generate-short","render":{"fps":30,"downloadAssets":true},"publishPrep":{"enabled":true,"platform":"tiktok"}}
entrypoint	node --import tsx scripts/harness/generate-short.ts
inputs	[{"name":"topic","description":"Short-form video topic or brief.","required":true},{"name":"outputDir","description":"Directory that will receive the generated stage artifacts.","required":false},{"name":"archetype","description":"Optional script archetype such as story, listicle, versus, howto, or product-demo.","required":false},{"name":"laneId","description":"Optional visual/editing lane such as reddit-post-over-gameplay, stock-b-roll-explainer, or gameplay-confession-split.","required":false},{"name":"referenceVideoPath","description":"Optional reference short to reverse-engineer before generation.","required":false}]
outputs	[{"name":"script/script.json","description":"Generated script artifact."},{"name":"audio/audio.wav","description":"Generated voiceover audio."},{"name":"audio/timestamps.json","description":"Word and scene timing artifact."},{"name":"visuals/visuals.json","description":"Visual plan for the render step."},{"name":"visuals/visual-quality.json","description":"Metadata preflight report for visual readiness."},{"name":"render/video.mp4","description":"Final rendered short."},{"name":"render/captions.remotion.json","description":"Remotion-compatible caption export."},{"name":"render/captions.srt","description":"Plain SRT caption sidecar."},{"name":"render/captions.ass","description":"ASS karaoke-style caption sidecar."},{"name":"quality-summary.json","description":"Combined visual and caption quality readiness summary."},{"name":"provenance/asset-ledger.json","description":"Generated asset ledger for publish-prep provenance review."}]

Generate Short

Use When

• The user wants the default skills-first path from topic to video files in one call.
• Claude Code or Codex should hand back the full file set instead of manually coordinating each stage itself.
• A reference winner should be ingested first so script generation can inherit blueprint and archetype hints.
• The run should use the pack's built-in audio, captions, visuals, Remotion render, and publish review steps.
• Reference shorts are for reverse-engineer-winner style analysis. Do not feed already-captioned published shorts back in as raw visuals or gameplay.

What This Skill Owns

• Brief-to-script fit for short-form pacing.
• Audio and timestamp generation that the caption system can actually use.
• Visual planning that respects caption space instead of fighting it.
• Overall editorial judgment from short-form-production-playbook.
• Caption-treatment choice through short-form-captions.
• Final render and review gating.
• Optional hook packaging, virality review, retention pass, platform packaging, and metrics feedback as agent-facing quality layers around the runtime path.

Workflow

1. Start with the brief, not the render flags.
2. Use hook-packaging before scripting when the title, cover, opening frame, or platform promise matters.
3. Pick laneId separately from archetype when the brief implies a visual/editing lane. archetype is the script shape; laneId is the video format.
4. Generate a script with enough punch to support chunked reading.
5. Generate audio and timestamps cleanly enough that captions will not be forced to compensate.
6. Build visuals that leave caption room and avoid baked-in source text.
7. Choose the caption family before render.
8. Use short-form-production-playbook when you need hook, pacing, visual-assembly, or rejection guidance instead of only stage execution.
9. Use virality-review and retention-pass before final approval when the hook, retention, or payoff is a risk.
10. Render.
11. Use platform-packaging for platform-specific metadata and upload checklist work.
12. Review. Reject bad outputs instead of rebranding them as acceptable.

Optional Runtime Surface

• Repo-side runner when you want the package to execute the path directly: node --import tsx scripts/harness/generate-short.ts
• Supporting code: src/harness/generate-short.ts, src/render/captions/*, src/visuals/*, src/validate/*

Output Contract

• Writes a bounded output tree under outputDir.
• If referenceVideoPath is supplied, writes ingest files under outputDir/ingest unless referenceOutputDir is overridden.
• referenceVideoPath is analyzed into blueprint/theme files. It is not treated as render-ready source footage.
• Always writes script, audio, timestamps, visuals, render metadata, and final video files.
• Writes quality sidecars when the default stage settings are used: visuals/visual-quality.json, render/captions.remotion.json, render/captions.srt, render/captions.ass, and quality-summary.json.
• Writes provenance/asset-ledger.json for every completed run. The ledger records generated script/audio/render artifacts, visual scene assets, gameplay backgrounds, caption sidecars, file hashes when local files exist, and review status for assets that still need rights evidence.
• The default review path should carry render/captions.remotion.json into publish-prep so the final MP4 is checked for actual rendered caption sync, not just for a valid caption plan on disk.
• Unless publishPrep.assetLedgerPath overrides it, the generated asset ledger is passed into publish-prep. publishPrep.mediaIndexPath adds reusable media-index evidence. Any rights/provenance error fails the final publish-ready result.
• Runs publish-prep by default and writes its bundle unless publishPrep.enabled is false.
• Fails closed by default when the review bundle reports passed: false. Set publishPrep.requirePass to false only when you explicitly want files written even though the review gate failed.
• The point of the skill is the finished edit and review outcome, not just the fact that files were produced.

Validation Checklist

• script/script.json exists and has at least one scene.
• audio/audio.wav and audio/timestamps.json exist and agree on duration.
• visuals/visuals.json exists and matches the timestamps file.
• visuals/visual-quality.json exists and reports whether metadata preflight passed.
• render/video.mp4 and render/render.json exist.
• render/captions.remotion.json, render/captions.srt, and render/captions.ass exist when caption export is enabled.
• quality-summary.json exists and reports known visual and caption readiness signals.
• provenance/asset-ledger.json exists and has entries for generated assets plus any visual, gameplay, audio mix, and caption assets that entered the render.
• The caption treatment matches the script and platform instead of using a random default.
• If publishPrep.enabled is true, publish-prep/ exists and reports a clear pass/fail outcome.