video/skills/INDEX.md

OpenMontage â€" Skill Index

For the full agent onboarding guide, see AGENT_GUIDE.md in the project root.

This file lists all available Layer 2 skills and documents the 3-layer knowledge architecture.

Knowledge Architecture

Layer 1: tools/tool_registry.py          "What tools exist and what they can do"
         tools/base_tool.py               Each tool declares: capabilities, tier, status,
                                          dependencies, cost, and agent_skills[]

         â†" agent_skills[] points to â†"

Layer 2: skills/                          "How OpenMontage uses these tools"
         Project-specific conventions:     Pipeline integration, artifact mappings,
         {core,creative,meta,pipelines}/   enhancement chain order, quality checklists

         â†" references underlying tech in â†"

Layer 3: .agents/skills/                  "How the technology itself works"
         Generic API knowledge from        Correct import paths, code patterns,
         skills.sh (47 installed skills)   constraints, parameters â€" tech-agnostic

How the agent uses this:

1. The orchestrator queries Layer 1 (tool_registry.support_envelope()) to see what's available
2. Each tool's agent_skills[] field names the Layer 3 skills it relies on
3. Layer 2 skills (this directory) teach the agent OpenMontage-specific conventions
4. Layer 3 skills (.agents/skills/) provide generic API knowledge, loaded on-demand

Capability Families & Tool Discovery

Every tool declares a capability (what it does) and a provider (who/what powers it). The registry groups tools by capability so agents can discover all options for a given task.

Selector / Provider Pattern

For capability families with multiple providers (TTS, video generation), the architecture uses:

• Selector tool (tts_selector, video_selector, image_selector) — routes to the best available provider based on requirements, API key availability, and cost. Selectors auto-discover providers from the registry. Agents should default to selectors when the user hasn't specified a provider.
• Provider tools — call a specific provider directly. Agents use these when the user explicitly requests a provider or when the selector's routing isn't appropriate.

Capability Family Reference

Do not maintain a hardcoded tool list. The registry is the single source of truth. Query it at runtime:

python -c "from tools.tool_registry import registry; import json; registry.discover(); print(json.dumps(registry.capability_catalog(), indent=2))"

Key capability families to look for in the output:

Capability	Selector	Discovery
tts	tts_selector	Auto-discovers all capability="tts" tools
video_generation	video_selector	Auto-discovers all capability="video_generation" tools
image_generation	image_selector	Auto-discovers all capability="image_generation" tools
audio_processing	—	FFmpeg-based local tools
enhancement	—	Mixed providers
analysis	—	Mixed providers
graphics	—	Local rendering tools
music_generation	—	Single-provider
subtitle	—	Pure Python
avatar	—	Local GPU models
video_post	—	FFmpeg-based local tools

Adding New Tools

1. Place the tool in the correct capability folder (or create a new one under tools/)
2. Set capability and provider in the class definition
3. If joining a multi-provider family, the existing selector discovers it automatically
4. Attach relevant Layer 2 and Layer 3 skills via agent_skills[]
5. The registry discovers tools automatically — no manual registration needed
6. No other files need updating — selectors, manifests, and instructions all derive from the registry

Core Skills

Skill	File	Trigger	Agent Skills (Layer 3)
FFmpeg	core/ffmpeg.md	Video encoding, filtering, composition	ffmpeg, video_toolkit
Remotion	core/remotion.md	React-based composition, Phase 3+	remotion-best-practices, remotion
HyperFrames	core/hyperframes.md	HTML/CSS/GSAP composition runtime — kinetic typography, product promos, website-to-video, registry blocks	hyperframes, hyperframes-cli, hyperframes-registry, website-to-hyperframes, gsap-core, gsap-timeline
WhisperX	core/whisperx.md	Transcription with word-level timestamps	speech-to-text
Subtitle Sync	core/subtitle-sync.md	Subtitle timing and alignment	remotion-best-practices
Color Grading	core/color-grading.md	FFmpeg color profiles, LUT workflow, accessibility	ffmpeg

Creative Skills

Skill	File	Trigger	Agent Skills (Layer 3)
Video Editing	creative/video-editing.md	Cut decisions, pacing, rhythm	ffmpeg, video_toolkit
Enhancement Strategy	creative/enhancement-strategy.md	Overlay placement and density	ffmpeg
Data Visualization	creative/data-visualization.md	Chart type selection, animation, label placement	d3-viz, remotion-best-practices
Video Stitching	creative/video-stitching.md	Multi-clip assembly, AI clip chaining, spatial composition	ffmpeg, video_toolkit
Video Gen Prompting	creative/video-gen-prompting.md	Universal video generation prompt vocabulary	ai-video-gen, ltx2, create-video
↳ Seedance Prompting	creative/prompting/seedance-prompting.md	Preferred premium default. Seedance 2.0 8-component structure, multi-shot, lip-sync, reference-to-video	seedance-2-0, ai-video-gen
↳ Grok Prompting	creative/prompting/grok-prompting.md	Grok image/video prompting, edit flows, reference-image video	grok-media
↳ Sora Prompting	creative/prompting/sora-prompting.md	Sora 2 structured template, advanced fields	ai-video-gen
↳ VEO Prompting	creative/prompting/veo-prompting.md	VEO 3.1 14-component structure, art movements	ai-video-gen
↳ LTX Prompting	creative/prompting/ltx-prompting.md	LTX-2 6-element structure, audio prompting	ltx2
↳ HunyuanVideo Prompting	creative/prompting/hunyuan-prompting.md	HunyuanVideo formula, I2V best practices	â€"
Storytelling	creative/storytelling.md	Narrative structure, hooks, pacing, Mayer's principles	â€"
Sound Design	creative/sound-design.md	Audio ducking, LUFS targets, SFX timing, AI TTS mixing	elevenlabs
Typography	creative/typography.md	Font selection, text sizing, safe zones, caption styling	â€"
ManimCE Usage	creative/manim-usage.md	Scene composition, animation timing, color usage	manimce-best-practices
Image Gen Usage	creative/image-gen-usage.md	Prompt consistency, hero reference, batch strategy	flux-best-practices, bfl-api
Image Provider Usage	creative/image-provider-usage.md	Provider selection (FLUX/Grok/OpenAI/Recraft/stock), cost-quality tradeoffs	flux-best-practices, bfl-api, grok-media
B-Roll Planning	creative/broll-planning.md	Stock vs. generated decision, query construction, footage evaluation	—
Stock Sourcing Usage	creative/stock-sourcing-usage.md	Pexels/Pixabay usage, parameters, licensing, integration	—
Scene Detect Usage	creative/scene-detect-usage.md	Threshold tuning, algorithm selection, content presets	â€"
Diagram Gen Usage	creative/diagram-gen-usage.md	Complexity limits, progressive building, themes	beautiful-mermaid
Music Gen Usage	creative/music-gen-usage.md	BPM selection, prompt engineering, duration matching	music, elevenlabs
Background Removal	creative/bg-remove-usage.md	Model selection, alpha matting, compositing workflows	â€"
Upscaling	creative/upscale-usage.md	Scale factor, model selection, face-aware upscaling	â€"
Face Restoration	creative/face-restore-usage.md	CodeFormer/GFPGAN selection, fidelity tuning, vs face_enhance	â€"
Lip Sync	creative/lip-sync-usage.md	Wav2Lip model selection, dubbing workflows, input requirements	faceswap
Talking Head Gen	creative/talking-head-gen-usage.md	SadTalker/MuseTalk, photo-to-video, expression tuning	avatar-video
Video Understanding	creative/video-understand-usage.md	Visual QA, quality gating, scene classification	video-understand

Pipeline Type Skills

Pipeline type skills provide production guidance for specific video formats, independent of the animated-explainer or talking-head pipeline.

Skill	File	When to Use
Short-Form	creative/short-form.md	TikTok, Reels, Shorts â€" vertical 9:16, under 60s
Long-Form	creative/long-form.md	YouTube 10+ min â€" chapters, retention, end screens
Screen Recording	creative/screen-recording.md	Code walkthroughs, tutorials, software demos
Animation Pipeline	creative/animation-pipeline.md	Motion graphics, easing, transitions, composition
Cinematic	creative/cinematic.md	Letterbox, film pacing, layered audio, color grading

Pipeline Stage Director Skills

Stage director skills teach the agent HOW to execute each pipeline stage. Each skill is a detailed markdown file with process steps, quality rubrics, and self-evaluation criteria.

Animated Explainer Pipeline (pipelines/explainer/) — v2.0

Skill	File	Stage	Key Capabilities
Executive Producer	pipelines/explainer/executive-producer.md	all	8-stage serial orchestration, quality gates, cross-stage checks, send-back
Research Director	pipelines/explainer/research-director.md	research	Web research methodology, 5 search batches, landscape/trending/data/audience/expert analysis
Proposal Director	pipelines/explainer/proposal-director.md	proposal	Concept options from research, production plan, cost estimate, approval gate
Script Director	pipelines/explainer/script-director.md	script	Narrative architecture, timing, enhancement cues, research integration
Scene Director	pipelines/explainer/scene-director.md	scene_plan	Visual planning, technique library, feasibility
Asset Director	pipelines/explainer/asset-director.md	assets	TTS, image gen, diagram gen, music, budget
Edit Director	pipelines/explainer/edit-director.md	edit	Timeline assembly, subtitles, audio ducking
Compose Director	pipelines/explainer/compose-director.md	compose	FFmpeg/Remotion render, audio mixing
Publish Director	pipelines/explainer/publish-director.md	publish	SEO metadata, chapters, export packaging

Note: The old idea-director.md still exists for reference but is superseded by the research + proposal two-stage flow in v2.0. The talking-head pipeline continues to use its own idea-director.

Talking Head Pipeline (pipelines/talking-head/)

Skill	File	Stage	Key Capabilities
Idea Director	pipelines/talking-head/idea-director.md	idea	Footage inspection, content assessment
Script Director	pipelines/talking-head/script-director.md	script	Transcription, section segmentation
Scene Director	pipelines/talking-head/scene-director.md	scene_plan	Enhancement planning, overlay placement
Asset Director	pipelines/talking-head/asset-director.md	assets	Subtitle gen, audio extraction
Edit Director	pipelines/talking-head/edit-director.md	edit	Cut assembly, subtitle config
Compose Director	pipelines/talking-head/compose-director.md	compose	Enhancement chain, render
Publish Director	pipelines/talking-head/publish-director.md	publish	Metadata, export packaging

Screen Demo Pipeline (pipelines/screen-demo/) — v2.0

Skill	File	Stage	Key Capabilities
Executive Producer	pipelines/screen-demo/executive-producer.md	all	7-stage serial orchestration, legibility gates, audio clarity, pacing checks
Idea Director	pipelines/screen-demo/idea-director.md	idea	Workflow scoping, UI density assessment, output-shape choice
Script Director	pipelines/screen-demo/script-director.md	script	Action mapping, procedural narration, speed planning
Scene Director	pipelines/screen-demo/scene-director.md	scene_plan	Crop planning, callout restraint, aspect-ratio viability
Asset Director	pipelines/screen-demo/asset-director.md	assets	Subtitle-first asset kit, audio cleanup, reusable overlays
Edit Director	pipelines/screen-demo/edit-director.md	edit	Tight timeline planning, speed notes, subtitle zone control
Compose Director	pipelines/screen-demo/compose-director.md	compose	Legibility-first render, crisp screen output, verification
Publish Director	pipelines/screen-demo/publish-director.md	publish	Searchable metadata, chapter packaging, thumbnail concepts

Clip Factory Pipeline (pipelines/clip-factory/) — v2.0

Skill	File	Stage	Key Capabilities
Executive Producer	pipelines/clip-factory/executive-producer.md	all	7-stage serial orchestration, clip selection gates, batch consistency, hook placement
Idea Director	pipelines/clip-factory/idea-director.md	idea	Batch strategy, clip families, yield planning
Script Director	pipelines/clip-factory/script-director.md	script	Transcript mining, ranking, standalone validation
Scene Director	pipelines/clip-factory/scene-director.md	scene_plan	Platform framing, safe zones, crop-viability planning
Asset Director	pipelines/clip-factory/asset-director.md	assets	Shared brand kit, rebased subtitles, batch audio consistency
Edit Director	pipelines/clip-factory/edit-director.md	edit	Hook-first mini-edits, series consistency
Compose Director	pipelines/clip-factory/compose-director.md	compose	Multi-job rendering, batch resilience, per-output verification
Publish Director	pipelines/clip-factory/publish-director.md	publish	Posting order, platform copy, batch cataloging

Podcast Repurpose Pipeline (pipelines/podcast-repurpose/) — v2.0

Skill	File	Stage	Key Capabilities
Executive Producer	pipelines/podcast-repurpose/executive-producer.md	all	7-stage serial orchestration, audio preservation gates, clip quality, multi-deliverable
Idea Director	pipelines/podcast-repurpose/idea-director.md	idea	Deliverable mix by source mode, realistic long-form planning
Script Director	pipelines/podcast-repurpose/script-director.md	script	Diarized transcript truth, highlight ranking, chapter mapping
Scene Director	pipelines/podcast-repurpose/scene-director.md	scene_plan	Source-faithful treatments, audiogram vs quote vs companion planning
Asset Director	pipelines/podcast-repurpose/asset-director.md	assets	Subtitle-first packaging, speaker assets, optional topic art
Edit Director	pipelines/podcast-repurpose/edit-director.md	edit	Hook-led podcast clips, quote hold time, companion simplicity
Compose Director	pipelines/podcast-repurpose/compose-director.md	compose	Audio-first rendering, deliverable prioritization
Publish Director	pipelines/podcast-repurpose/publish-director.md	publish	Episode cross-linking, guest attribution, staggered release logic

Cinematic Pipeline (pipelines/cinematic/) — v2.0

Skill	File	Stage	Key Capabilities
Executive Producer	pipelines/cinematic/executive-producer.md	all	7-stage serial orchestration, emotional pacing gates, color consistency, audio dynamics
Idea Director	pipelines/cinematic/idea-director.md	idea	Emotional arc selection, source truth, delivery-shape planning
Script Director	pipelines/cinematic/script-director.md	script	Beat mapping, dialogue selects, title-card restraint
Scene Director	pipelines/cinematic/scene-director.md	scene_plan	Hero-frame planning, reveal structure, transition limits
Asset Director	pipelines/cinematic/asset-director.md	assets	Source selects, support-insert discipline, music/ambience planning
Edit Director	pipelines/cinematic/edit-director.md	edit	Emotion-first pacing, reveal timing, audio-driven rhythm
Compose Director	pipelines/cinematic/compose-director.md	compose	Grade and mix finishing, frame-treatment judgment
Publish Director	pipelines/cinematic/publish-director.md	publish	Hero vs teaser packaging, poster-frame concepts

Animation Pipeline (pipelines/animation/) — v2.0

Skill	File	Stage	Key Capabilities
Executive Producer	pipelines/animation/executive-producer.md	all	8-stage serial orchestration, quality gates, motion consistency, math accuracy checks
Research Director	pipelines/animation/research-director.md	research	Topic + animation technique research, visual reference scan, mode-informed angles
Proposal Director	pipelines/animation/proposal-director.md	proposal	Animation mode selection (Manim/Remotion/AI/diagram), reuse strategy, cost estimate, approval gate
Script Director	pipelines/animation/script-director.md	script	Animation-ready beats, text restraint, research integration, mode-aware writing
Scene Director	pipelines/animation/scene-director.md	scene_plan	Animatic planning, transition systems, tool-path mapping
Asset Director	pipelines/animation/asset-director.md	assets	Deterministic asset choice, reusable motifs, feasibility truth
Edit Director	pipelines/animation/edit-director.md	edit	Hold timing, stagger rules, readable motion planning
Compose Director	pipelines/animation/compose-director.md	compose	Sharp render output, timing integrity, safe-zone checks
Publish Director	pipelines/animation/publish-director.md	publish	Animation-mode packaging, thumbnail-system alignment

Note: The old idea-director.md still exists for reference but is superseded by the research + proposal two-stage flow in v2.0.

Hybrid Pipeline (pipelines/hybrid/) — v2.0

Skill	File	Stage	Key Capabilities
Executive Producer	pipelines/hybrid/executive-producer.md	all	7-stage serial orchestration, source/support balance gates, overlay density, coherence
Idea Director	pipelines/hybrid/idea-director.md	idea	Anchor-medium selection, support-layer planning, fallback visibility
Script Director	pipelines/hybrid/script-director.md	script	Source-vs-support beat mapping, dialogue retention, support justification
Scene Director	pipelines/hybrid/scene-director.md	scene_plan	Source-primary layout rules, overlay density control, variant-safe planning
Asset Director	pipelines/hybrid/asset-director.md	assets	Shared support kits, source-vs-generated asset tracking
Edit Director	pipelines/hybrid/edit-director.md	edit	Anchor-cut-first workflow, layered support timing, readable variants
Compose Director	pipelines/hybrid/compose-director.md	compose	Source/support balance checks, variant verification, coherent mix
Publish Director	pipelines/hybrid/publish-director.md	publish	Master-vs-derivative packaging, source-mix metadata

Avatar Spokesperson Pipeline (pipelines/avatar-spokesperson/) — v2.0

Skill	File	Stage	Key Capabilities
Executive Producer	pipelines/avatar-spokesperson/executive-producer.md	all	7-stage serial orchestration, lip-sync quality gates, presenter framing, CTA landing
Idea Director	pipelines/avatar-spokesperson/idea-director.md	idea	Avatar-path classification, CTA scoping, capability truth
Script Director	pipelines/avatar-spokesperson/script-director.md	script	Spoken-copy shaping, scene-safe pacing, text restraint
Scene Director	pipelines/avatar-spokesperson/scene-director.md	scene_plan	Presenter layout, background discipline, variant realism
Asset Director	pipelines/avatar-spokesperson/asset-director.md	assets	Avatar-path locking, narration resolution, minimal support kits
Edit Director	pipelines/avatar-spokesperson/edit-director.md	edit	Presenter-first cut planning, overlay timing, CTA landing
Compose Director	pipelines/avatar-spokesperson/compose-director.md	compose	Lip-sync verification, subtitle-safe framing, clean render checks
Publish Director	pipelines/avatar-spokesperson/publish-director.md	publish	Audience-led packaging, presenter-first thumbnail concepts

Localization Dub Pipeline (pipelines/localization-dub/) — v2.0

Skill	File	Stage	Key Capabilities
Executive Producer	pipelines/localization-dub/executive-producer.md	all	7-stage serial orchestration, translation accuracy gates, timing preservation, per-locale QA
Idea Director	pipelines/localization-dub/idea-director.md	idea	Scope definition, locale planning, glossary and review capture
Script Director	pipelines/localization-dub/script-director.md	script	Transcript truth, translated script packaging, term preservation
Scene Director	pipelines/localization-dub/scene-director.md	scene_plan	Dub-mode selection, timing-risk mapping, on-screen text planning
Asset Director	pipelines/localization-dub/asset-director.md	assets	Subtitle-first localization kit, dubbed audio generation, optional lip sync
Edit Director	pipelines/localization-dub/edit-director.md	edit	Locale-specific timelines, coverage planning, timing adjustments
Compose Director	pipelines/localization-dub/compose-director.md	compose	Per-locale rendering, subtitle-fit checks, output labeling
Publish Director	pipelines/localization-dub/publish-director.md	publish	Locale packaging, metadata precision, QA-note retention

Meta Skills

Cross-cutting skills that apply to all pipelines:

Skill	File	Purpose
Onboarding	meta/onboarding.md	First-interaction greeting, capability discovery, starter prompts
Reviewer	meta/reviewer.md	Self-review protocol after every stage
Checkpoint Protocol	meta/checkpoint-protocol.md	When/how to checkpoint and request human approval
Skill Creator	meta/skill-creator.md	Dynamically create new skills during pipeline runs

Style Playbooks

Style playbooks (styles/*.yaml) define visual language, typography, motion, audio, and asset generation constraints. They are validated against schemas/styles/playbook.schema.json.

Playbook	Category	Mood	Best For
clean-professional	motion-graphics	polished, trustworthy	Corporate, educational, SaaS
flat-motion-graphics	motion-graphics	energetic, bold	Social media, TikTok, startups
minimalist-diagram	whiteboard	focused, technical	Technical deep-dives, architecture

Load via styles/playbook_loader.py: load_playbook("clean-professional")

Installed Agent Skills (Layer 3)

All agent skills live in .agents/skills/ and are managed via npx skills add. Claude Code accesses them via symlinks in .claude/skills/.

Category	Installed Skills	Source
Video Composition	remotion-best-practices, remotion, hyperframes, hyperframes-cli, hyperframes-registry, website-to-hyperframes	remotion-dev/skills, digitalsamba/claude-code-video-toolkit, heygen-com/hyperframes
Video Processing	ffmpeg, video_toolkit	digitalsamba/claude-code-video-toolkit
TTS & Audio	text-to-speech, speech-to-text, music, sound-effects, elevenlabs, agents, setup-api-key	elevenlabs/skills, digitalsamba/claude-code-video-toolkit
Image Generation	flux-best-practices, bfl-api, grok-media	black-forest-labs/skills, local OpenMontage skill
Math Animation	manimce-best-practices, manimgl-best-practices, manim-composer	adithya-s-k/manim_skill
3D Graphics	threejs-animation, threejs-fundamentals, threejs-geometry, threejs-interaction, threejs-lighting, threejs-loaders, threejs-materials, threejs-postprocessing, threejs-shaders, threejs-textures	cloudai-x/threejs-skills
Diagrams	beautiful-mermaid, d3-viz	intellectronica/agent-skills, davila7/claude-code-templates
Animation	framer-motion, lottie-bodymovin	pproenca/dot-skills, dylantarre/animation-principles
Design	tailwind-design-system, web-design-guidelines, vercel-react-best-practices, vercel-composition-patterns	wshobson/agents, vercel-labs/agent-skills
AI Video (HeyGen)	heygen, avatar-video, create-video, faceswap, ai-video-gen, video-download, video-edit, video-translate, video-understand, visual-style	heygen-com/skills
AI Video (Premium)	seedance-2-0 — preferred premium default (cinematic, trailer, multi-shot, lip-sync, synced audio); accessed via seedance_video (fal.ai) or heygen_video Avatar Shots	Local OpenMontage skill
Infrastructure	acestep, ltx2, playwright-recording	digitalsamba/claude-code-video-toolkit