| name | design-twitter-card |
| description | Generate a Twitter/X card artifact — pixel-exact HTML canvas at 1600×900 (in-feed image) by default, with 1200×630 (Open Graph link card) opt-in. Reads ./design/<brand-slug>/DESIGN.md, tokens.css, and components.html. Triggers include "twitter card for X", "x card for X", "twitter post about X", "OG card", "/twitter-card", "/x-card". |
Skill: twitter-card
Produces a pixel-exact HTML canvas for Twitter/X. Two canvas modes:
feed (default, 1600×900) — in-timeline post image at the recommended max-quality 16:9 ratioog (1200×630) — Open Graph link card for shared URLs from your site
Plus an optional companion tweet (280-char limit) or thread starter.
When to use
- User wants a visual asset for a tweet, an X thread cover, or an Open Graph card on their site
- A
DESIGN.md exists for the brand
Inputs
- Required: brand slug, post headline / title (1 line)
- Optional: mode (
feed | og, default feed), supporting line, attribution, companion tweet style
Output
./design/<brand-slug>/artifacts/twitter-<mode>-YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.html
Steps
1. Verify brand exists
test -f ./design/<brand-slug>/tokens.css
If missing, stop and instruct the user to build the design system first.
2. Pick the canvas mode
If user said "OG card" or "link card", use og (1200×630).
Otherwise default to feed (1600×900) — sharper, larger, displays better in-timeline.
3. Gather the brief
Ask in one message:
1. Headline — the dominant text on the canvas (max 10 words for feed mode, max 6 for OG)
2. Optional supporting line
3. Attribution — name + role, or leave blank
4. Companion tweet style: claim | thread-starter | quote | question | none
4. Pick variation — ARCHITECTURE FIRST
Pick ONE architecture archetype before any other axis. The single biggest cause of AI-editorial output is reaching for chrome-led by default.
- Architecture archetype (pick FIRST):
chrome-led — eyebrow + headline + footer band. Last resort. AI-editorial default; structural sameness across artifacts.type-only — type only, no chrome.number-led — single oversized number/stat dominates the canvas; rest is caption.object-of-content — the artifact IS the thing being said (transcript, list, fake printed page, receipt).pattern-led — typographic repetition fills the canvas; one element breaks the pattern.inverse-text — text becomes surface (carved-out headline, body wrapping negative space).
After archetype, pick ONE per axis:
- Layout:
symmetric | asymmetric | off-grid | full-bleed | split
- Type pressure:
display-dominant | body-dominant | mono-led | mixed-weight
- Color usage:
monochrome | single-accent | duotone | inverted
- Composition focus:
headline-led | quote-led | mark-led | data-led
Cross-artifact rule: read variation comments in the most recent 2–3 artifacts under ./design/<brand-slug>/artifacts/. Different archetype than recent. Different axis combos.
5. Generate the canvas HTML
Template (swap dimensions based on mode):
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title><Brand> — Twitter — <topic></title>
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com">
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=<families>&display=swap">
<style>
<contents of tokens.css>
html, body { margin: 0; padding: 0; background: #2a2a2a; min-height: 100vh; display: grid; place-items: center; font-family: var(--type-body-md-family); }
.canvas {
width: <1600 | 1200>px;
height: <900 | 630>px;
background: var(--color-surface);
color: var(--color-ink);
position: relative;
overflow: hidden;
padding: var(--space-3xl);
box-sizing: border-box;
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;
justify-content: <by variation>;
}
.eyebrow {
font: var(--type-label-caps-weight) var(--type-label-caps-size)/var(--type-label-caps-leading) var(--type-label-caps-family);
letter-spacing: var(--type-label-caps-tracking);
text-transform: uppercase;
color: var(--color-ink-soft);
}
.headline {
font: var(--type-display-xl-weight) var(--type-display-xl-size)/var(--type-display-xl-leading) var(--type-display-xl-family);
letter-spacing: var(--type-display-xl-tracking);
margin: var(--space-md) 0 0;
font-size: clamp(48px, 6vw, 96px);
}
.footer {
display: flex;
justify-content: space-between;
align-items: baseline;
border-top: 1px solid var(--color-rule);
padding-top: var(--space-md);
font: var(--type-label-caps-weight) var(--type-label-caps-size)/var(--type-label-caps-leading) var(--type-label-caps-family);
letter-spacing: var(--type-label-caps-tracking);
text-transform: uppercase;
color: var(--color-ink-soft);
}
@page { size: <1600 | 1200>px <900 | 630>px; margin: 0; }
</style>
</head>
<body>
<article class="canvas">
<header>
<span class="eyebrow"><eyebrow text></span>
<h1 class="headline"><headline></h1>
</header>
<footer class="footer">
<span><Brand mark or @handle></span>
<span><YYYY.MM.DD></span>
<span><optional URL or topic tag></span>
</footer>
</article>
</body>
</html>
Layout adaptations (same options as linkedin-post):
- off-grid: anchor headline at the optical center (slightly above geometric center), shift left ~12% of canvas width
- split: divide vertically into two unequal panels (e.g. 60/40), headline in larger, supporting in smaller
- full-bleed: extend background color or single-accent block beyond default padding to canvas edge on one side
- mark-led: oversized typographic brand mark dominates upper region, headline reads as caption beneath
6. Generate companion tweet
Twitter/X rules:
- 280 character limit (count carefully; URL counts as 23)
- First 70 chars are the preview when quote-tweeted — front-load the claim
- Style by user choice:
- claim: declarative single-line punchline
- thread-starter: hook + "🧵 below" or "(1/X)" — but since no emojis by default, use "→" or numbering
- quote: pull quote from the artifact + attribution
- question: provocative ask + context
Append in an HTML comment at end of file:
7. Verify and report
Twitter artifact (<mode> mode) at ./design/<brand-slug>/artifacts/twitter-<mode>-YYYY-MM-DD-<slug>.html.
Variation: <layout> × <type-pressure> × <color> × <composition>.
Export as PNG: open in browser, DevTools → device toolbar → match canvas dims → screenshot. Or Cmd+P → save as PDF.
Companion tweet at the end of the file in an HTML comment.
Anti-Slop Rules
Governed by three shared canonical references — read them, do not restate them:
../design-anti-patterns.md — the hard floor. Wins every conflict.../design-principles.md — the craft floor (typographic hierarchy, spatial rhythm, color theory, layout logic, visual tension).../design-variation-sop.md — the named-aesthetic roster + the procedure for varying every invocation.
Forbidden (fast scan — the references hold the full list):
- Indigo/violet/purple as default accent or primary — the
hsl(230–280) family on a near-white surface. The single loudest AI tell.
- Purple→blue / "aurora" / gradient-mesh backgrounds; gradient-fill text.
- Glassmorphism without an explicit AA-contrast scrim; floating gradient "blobs" as atmosphere.
- The three-up icon-card feature grid; the "hero → 3 cards → CTA" median skeleton.
- One global border-radius on every element; timid evenly-weighted low-contrast palette.
- Inter / Roboto / Arial / Open Sans / Lato / Helvetica / system as the primary family (Space Grotesk = yellow flag). Use a category-matched stack from the variation roster.
- Value-free CTAs ("Get Started", "Learn More", "Sign Up"); the two-CTA hero. Name the real action and its value.
Required variation (every invocation):
- Make at least two intentional decisions that differ from the safe defaults (palette, layout structure, typographic voice, or spatial density) AND from the most recent artifact in this brand.
- Never default to "clean / minimal / modern" — that is the absence of a direction (variation-sop Rule 1).
- Sketch three distinct directions, offer them as a one-line menu, generate the best-fit by default, all three only if asked (variation-sop Rule 3).
Authenticity: prefer specific over generic everywhere — real datelines (not "today"), the brand's actual voice (not "build the future" filler), concrete CTAs over placeholders.
Rules
- Pixel exactness. No rounding, no scaling.
- Token-pure. No literal hex codes or font sizes outside
clamp() calls.
- No center-aligned safe layout unless the brand's plan explicitly calls for symmetry.
- Mode default is
feed (1600×900), not OG. Most users want in-timeline posts.
- Aliases: this skill answers to both
twitter-card and x-card. Trigger phrases work either way.
- Anti-pattern compliance. This skill defers to three shared canonical references:
../design-anti-patterns.md (the hard floor — wins every conflict), ../design-principles.md (the craft floor), and ../design-variation-sop.md (direction roster + offer-3 procedure). The anti-patterns file is the canonical anti-tell list. If you find a new tell in the output, add it there.
