ads-generate

name	ads-generate
description	AI image generation for paid ad creatives: reads campaign-brief.md and brand-profile.json to produce platform-sized ad images via banana-claude (v1.4.1+ with nanobanana-mcp). Use when user says generate ads, create ad images, make ad creatives, generate visuals, or generate from brief.
user-invokable	false
tested_date	"2026-05-17T00:00:00.000Z"
tested_with	claude-code v2.x

Ads Generate: AI Ad Image Generator

Generates platform-sized ad creative images from your campaign brief and brand profile. Uses banana-claude as the image generation provider.

Quick Reference

Command	What it does
/ads generate	Generate all images from campaign-brief.md
/ads generate --platform meta	Generate Meta assets only
/ads generate --prompt "text" --ratio 9:16	Standalone generation without brief

Environment Setup

Required before running:

• Requires banana-claude (v1.4.1+) with nanobanana-mcp configured
• Run /banana setup to configure API key and MCP
• Fallback: if banana is not available, use scripts/generate_image.py (deprecated)

If banana-claude is not installed, this skill will display setup instructions and stop. It will never fail silently.

If banana-claude is unavailable, alternatives include: OpenAI gpt-image-1 ($0.040/image), Stability SD 3.5 ($0.065), or Replicate FLUX.1 Pro ($0.055). Configure via ADS_IMAGE_PROVIDER env var.

Process

Step 1: Verify banana-claude

Verify banana-claude is installed (run /banana setup to check). If not installed, display setup instructions and exit.

Step 2: Locate Source Files

Check for:

• campaign-brief.md → primary source for prompts and dimensions
• brand-profile.json → brand color/style injection (optional but recommended)

If campaign-brief.md is found: Use ## Image Generation Briefs section as the generation job list.

If no campaign-brief.md: Enter standalone mode (Step 2b).

Step 2b: Standalone Mode

Ask the user:

1. Generation prompt (what should the image show?)
2. Target platform (to set correct dimensions)
3. Output filename (optional)

Then skip to Step 5.

Step 3: Read Provider Config

Load ../ads/references/image-providers.md to confirm:

• Active provider pricing (show user the cost estimate)
• Rate limits for current tier
• Batch API availability

Step 4: Read Platform Specs

For each platform in the campaign brief, load the relevant spec reference:

• ../ads/references/meta-creative-specs.md
• ../ads/references/google-creative-specs.md
• ../ads/references/tiktok-creative-specs.md
• ../ads/references/linkedin-creative-specs.md
• ../ads/references/youtube-creative-specs.md
• ../ads/references/microsoft-creative-specs.md

Step 5: Prepare banana Configuration

Create banana brand preset from brand-profile.json if one does not already exist at ~/.banana/presets/{brand-slug}.json.

Select banana domain mode based on campaign brief content:

• Product: e-commerce, packshots
• Editorial: brand awareness, lifestyle
• Cinema: video thumbnails, dramatic
• UI/Web: app install, SaaS
• Portrait: testimonials, people

Step 6: Spawn Visual Designer Agent

Spawn the visual-designer agent using the Task tool with context: fork, passing the selected domain mode and preset name.

The agent will:

• Parse the image generation briefs from campaign-brief.md
• Inject brand colors and mood from brand-profile.json
• Use banana-claude with the configured domain mode for each asset
• Save to ./ad-assets/[platform]/[concept]/ directory structure
• Write generation-manifest.json

Step 7: Validate with Format Adapter

After the visual-designer completes, spawn the format-adapter agent with context: fork to validate dimensions and report missing formats.

Step 8: Quality Gate

Use Claude vision to assess each generated image against the brief (score 1 to 10 on brand alignment, composition, platform fit). If any image scores below 6, regenerate once with an adjusted prompt.

Quality Gate Rubric:

• 9-10: Professional quality, brand-aligned, platform-optimized, no issues
• 7-8: Good quality, minor composition or brand alignment improvements possible
• 5-6: Acceptable but needs regeneration. Text readability issues, poor composition, or brand mismatch
• Below 5: Reject. Regenerate with adjusted prompt

Step 9: Aggregate Costs

Read banana cost data from ~/.banana/costs.json and include total creative spend in generation-manifest.json.

Step 10: Report Results

Present a summary:

Generation complete:

  Generated assets:
    ✓ ./ad-assets/meta/concept-1/feed-1080x1350.png
    ✓ ./ad-assets/tiktok/concept-1/vertical-1080x1920.png
    ✗ ./ad-assets/google/concept-1/landscape-1200x628.png [error reason]

  Format validation: See format-report.md

  Cost: $[N] total creative spend (from ~/.banana/costs.json)

  Next steps:
    1. Review assets in ./ad-assets/
    2. Check format-report.md for any missing formats
    3. Upload to your ad platform managers

Cost Transparency

Before generating, estimate and show the cost:

• Count the number of image briefs in campaign-brief.md
• Show estimated cost based on banana pricing tiers
• If >$1.00, ask for confirmation before proceeding

Standalone Mode (No campaign-brief.md)

When running without a campaign brief:

Platform target → dimensions used:
  meta-feed     → 1080×1350 (4:5)
  meta-reels    → 1080×1920 (9:16)
  tiktok        → 1080×1920 (9:16)
  google-pmax   → 1200×628 (1.91:1)
  linkedin      → 1080×1080 (1:1)
  youtube       → 1280×720 (16:9)
  youtube-short → 1080×1920 (9:16)

Use /banana generate directly with the specified prompt and aspect ratio.

Reference Files

• ../ads/references/image-providers.md: provider config, pricing, limits
• ../ads/references/[platform]-creative-specs.md: per-platform specs
• ../ads/references/brand-dna-template.md: brand injection schema