/Headshot

metadata:
  short-description: "Generate the principal's professional headshots from reference photos and stage them for review. Use Art for other portraits or illustrations."
name: Headshot
evals:
  manual:
    reason: "Headshots are identity-bearing visual outputs; face fidelity and professional suitability require review against the supplied reference images."
    falsifier: "The staged image does not preserve the supplied subject's identity, has visible generation defects, or fails the requested professional framing."
version: 1.2.3
description: Generates professional AI headshots of the principal via Nano Banana Pro from 1-3 reference images, staged to Downloads for review. USE WHEN headshot, profile picture, avatar, photo of me, LinkedIn photo, profile image, new headshot, portrait, generate my photo, professional photo, casual headshot, update profile pic. NOT FOR general art or diagrams (Art), non-headshot images of the principal (Art with reference images), video avatars (HyperFrames), headshots of anyone else.

Headshot Skill

Generates professional AI headshots of the principal with `Tools/Headshot.ts`, which calls the Gemini image model named `geminiImage` in `LIFEOS/TOOLS/models.ts`. Matches facial structure from approved reference photos (which ones go in is the CreateHeadshot rule), and defaults to 2K resolution and 1:1 square (3:4 for portrait). A real photoshoot is slow and expensive to redo every time the look needs to change, and generic AI image tools drift off the actual face; anchoring generation to approved reference photos keeps the output recognizably the subject, at the size and ratio each use (LinkedIn, profile pics, publication bios) needs.

Ideal State

• Every headshot is recognizably the subject, because its face comes from approved real reference photos whose energy matches the requested expression.
• Each output lands at the size and ratio its use needs and is saved in the subject's USER data, never in the skill tree.
• Nothing reaches the principal as a first draft, and nothing public ships until the principal has picked it.

Intent Routing

| Intent | Trigger | File | |----------|---------|------| | **CreateHeadshot** | "headshot", "profile picture", "LinkedIn photo", "professional photo", "update profile pic" | `Intents/CreateHeadshot.md` |

| File | Read when | |------|-----------| | `References/ReferenceLibrary.md` | choosing references: the approved pool, scene plates, energy-matching rules, growing the pool | | `Setup.md` | first-time setup, or `Headshot.ts check` exits non-zero | | `Tools/` | `Tools/headshot.help.md` holds the full CLI flag reference |

Data & Config

Everything about the subject lives in `<configRoot>/LIFEOS/USER/CUSTOMIZATIONS/SKILLS/Headshot/Config.md` (configRoot is `$CLAUDE_CONFIG_DIR` when set, else `~/.claude`): the directory of approved reference photos with a sentiment for each, the default look (attire, backdrop, mood), and optional scene plates. This skill body is generic and ships no photos or looks; first-time setup is `Setup.md`.

• `Tools/Headshot.ts check` verifies the config, that the listed photos exist, and that `GOOGLE_API_KEY` is set. Run it before any generation; when it exits non-zero, stop and report what it printed, which points at `Setup.md`.
• Generated headshots (the subject's face) are written to `LIFEOS/USER/CUSTOMIZATIONS/SKILLS/Headshot/generated-headshots/`, never into the skill tree. API keys come from the env file: `GOOGLE_API_KEY` (from `<configRoot>/.env`).

Quality loop

Nothing this skill produces reaches the owner as a first draft. The artifact goes through `Skill("ArtDirection")`: a direction council before new or large work, then the cross-vendor critique panel (`skills/ArtDirection/Tools/Critique.ts`) scores it against the rubric and names defects, then this skill iterates on those defects until the bar or reports the shortfall. Hand-over is `skills/ArtDirection/Tools/Deliver.ts`, which refuses without a passing critique. Record the owner's verdict with `skills/ArtDirection/Tools/Calibrate.ts`.

Gotchas

• **Consent.** Use only photos of yourself or of people who agreed to have their likeness used. Never generate a headshot of anyone else from their photo without their consent.
• **Generation never writes to ~/Downloads/ (ArtDirection, 2026-09-17).** Output goes to `generated-headshots/`; a copy reaches ~/Downloads/ only through `Deliver.ts` after a passing critique. This replaces the 2026-03-22 rule to output there first, as all Art outputs once did.
• **Edits inherit the base image's energy.** An expression-only edit keeps the mood of the image it starts from, so a tired-looking base (a paused video frame, say) stays tired through any number of expression prompts. If the base's energy is wrong, no prompt fixes it: add a reference photo that already has the energy you want (for example one tagged with an upbeat sentiment in your config) and let it own the face.
• **Edit vs regenerate tradeoff.** Full regeneration invents the scene and tends to look generated; strict single-image edits inherit the base's flaws. What usually works is a composite: an approved reference for the face, a real background plate, and an instruction to place the subject in that scene.
• **Likeness for video thumbnails or posters must match the footage.** Details visible in the video (clothing, accessories, grooming) and a background taken from the video itself should be checked against real frames, not approved by eye alone. If your install has a thumbnail or video workflow that checks likeness against the footage, use it for this case.

Examples

**Example 1: LinkedIn Profile Update**

User: "Generate a headshot for my LinkedIn profile"
→ CreateHeadshot
→ A critiqued 2K 1:1 headshot in the default look, delivered to ~/Downloads, original kept under generated-headshots/

**Example 2: New profile image for a public site**

User: "Make me a new profile picture for the site"
→ Cr