/meme-card-maker

name: meme-card-maker
description: "Meme-format graphic generator — top + bottom text + optional centerpiece image. Impact-style bold typography. 5 templates: drake, distracted-boyfriend, expanding-brain, two-buttons, custom. Optional --base-photo. Default gpt-image-2. Use when: 'meme', 'meme template', 'meme image', 'мем', 'сделай мем'."

license: MIT
allowed-tools:
  - Read
  - Write
  - Edit
  - Bash
  - Grep
  - Glob

<objective> Meme-format graphic generator. Input: top text + bottom text + optional centerpiece (template or user photo). Output: classic meme-aesthetic image with Impact-style typography.

Distinct from `quote-card-maker`:

• Two text blocks (top + bottom), not one quote + attribution
• Impact-font bold-with-stroke typography (the universal meme look)
• Often references a known meme template (drake, distracted-boyfriend, expanding-brain)
• Aesthetic: meme template, NOT editorial — uglier is often funnier

Distinct from `flyer-maker` / `cover-maker`:

• No event details, no creator metadata
• Different aesthetic vocabulary (Impact font, stroke outline, low-fidelity feel)
• Often references specific cultural meme formats

This skill does NOT:

• Generate animated GIF memes — use `gif-maker` separately
• Watermark / credit the original meme template creator — that's your responsibility
• Verify cultural appropriateness — your judgment
• Translate meme captions — pass in target language
• Place text at PIXEL-perfect template positions — model approximates

</objective>

ROLE

Read top text + bottom text + optional template hint + optional base photo → pick visual-integration-strong model → assemble prompt cueing Impact-style typography with stroke, meme aesthetic → batch execute → save PNGs.

PIPELINE

1. **Resolve text**:

• `--top "<text>"` — top caption (≤8 words, ALL CAPS rendered)
• `--bottom "<text>"` — bottom caption (≤8 words, ALL CAPS rendered)
• At least one of top / bottom required

2. **Resolve template** (optional):

• `--template drake|distracted-boyfriend|expanding-brain|two-buttons|change-my-mind|custom`
• `drake`: 2-panel "rejects / approves"
• `distracted-boyfriend`: 3-character composition
• `expanding-brain`: 4-panel ascending
• `two-buttons`: sweaty decision
• `change-my-mind`: seated man with sign
• `custom`: just the captions on whatever centerpiece the model generates
• Default: `custom`

3. **Resolve base photo** (optional):

• `--base-photo <path-or-url>` — use user image as centerpiece
• Implies `--template custom` (template hints are ignored when base photo is provided)

4. **Pick model**:

• With `--base-photo`: `nano-banana-pro` (preserves visual, adds caption layer)
• Template-based: `gpt-image-2` (best at illustration + text rendering)
• Override: `--model <slug>`

5. **Compose ONE LLM call** — load [`common/visual-prompt-library/system-prompt.md`](../../common/visual-prompt-library/system-prompt.md) (shared SYSTEM_PROMPT) and `buildUserMessage(opts)` with `Mode=meme-card`, `N=<variants>`, top + bottom captions + template + optional base photo. Spawn ONE Agent. Receives JSON `{"slides":[{"number":1,"prompt":"..."}]}` — 1–3 sentence prompts with template-specific composition + Impact-style typography cues + meme aesthetic ("white text with thick black stroke, all caps, low-fidelity, slight JPEG artifacts"). Captions in double quotes. See `references/templates.md` for template composition. Library styles via [`common/visual-prompt-library/styles/_index.md`](../../common/visual-prompt-library/styles/_index.md).

6. **Estimate cost + confirm** — inherits `SKILLS_CAROUSEL_BUDGET=1.50`.

7. **Batch execute** — `common.runners.batch.run_batch()`.

8. **Output**:

   ./generated/meme/<slug>/
     meme-v1.png
     meme-v2.png
     manifest.json
     prompts.md

MODES

Required

• `meme-card-maker --top "<text>"` (top) OR `--bottom "<text>"` (bottom; at least one required)

Optional content

• `--template drake|distracted-boyfriend|expanding-brain|two-buttons|change-my-mind|custom`
• `--base-photo <path-or-url>` — user image as centerpiece
• `--context "<note>"` — situational context to help the model interpret captions
• `--lang en|ru` — language hint (default: en)

Visual

• `--variants N` — variants (default 3)
• `--model auto|<slug>` — image provider
• `--style-mod "<override>"` — append tweak (e.g., "extra pixelated, deepfried meme aesthetic")
• `--aspect square|portrait|landscape` — composition aspect (default `square` 1080×1080)

Execution

• `--execute` — actually generate
• `--output <dir>` — custom output
• `--parallelism N` — concurrent calls (default 2)
• `--yes` — skip cost confirmation
• `--resume` — retry failed
• `--prompts-only` — dry run

REFERENCES (load on demand)

| File | When to load | |---|---| | [references/templates.md](references/templates.md) | Step 2 — meme template anatomy, composition cues per template | | [references/typography.md](references/typography.md) | Step 5 — Impact font conventions, stroke outline rules, when to deviate | | [references/troubleshoot.md](references/troubleshoot.md) | When text doesn't read, template doesn't recognize, etc. |

EXAMPLES

See [examples/before-after.md](examples/before-after.md) — 3 calibration runs: drake template developer joke, custom photo meme, expanding-brain progression.

CONSTRAINTS

• **Captions ≤8 words each.** Past 8, text overflows; Impact-style bold needs space.

• **ALL CAPS rendering.** All meme captions auto-uppercase. If you pass lowercase, it's rendered uppercase. Exception: `--lang ru` keeps mixed case for Cyrillic readability (Cyrillic ALL CAPS is harder to read).

• **Default model is `gpt-image-2`.** Best at illustration + integrated text. `nano-banana-pro` when base photo is provided.

• **Template recognition is approximate.** "Drake" template is approximated by the model — won't be pixel-identical to the original. For exact template: use a meme generator tool (Imgf