Setup

Interactive Setup for sparX Integrations

Walk the user through setting up optional integrations that enhance sparX skills. Each integration is independent — install only what you need.

Available Integrations

Present this menu if no specific integration is requested:

Which integration would you like to set up?

1. Remotion     — Programmatic video/GIF generation for posts
2. OpenTweet    — Direct posting, scheduling, analytics, voice learning via MCP
3. last30days   — Real-time trend research across X, Reddit, HN, YouTube
4. X API        — Direct X/Twitter API access for custom workflows
5. All          — Set up everything

Type a number or name to get started.

Integration: Remotion

Prerequisites Check

node --version   # 18+ required
pnpm --version   # must be available

Installation Steps

This is an interactive install — the user must run it themselves.

Tell the user:

Run this in your terminal:

pnpm create video --blank marketing

When prompted, answer Yes to all three questions:

1. Continue inside existing Git repo? → Yes
2. Add TailwindCSS? → Yes
3. Add agent skills? → Yes

For the skills installer, choose:

• Claude Code as the agent
• Project scope
• Symlink (recommended)

After it finishes, run:

cd marketing && pnpm i && pnpm run dev

This opens the Remotion preview studio in your browser.

Do NOT attempt to run pnpm create video yourself — it's interactive and requires user input at multiple prompts.

Post-Install

The installer creates:

• marketing/ — Remotion project with blank canvas
• marketing/.agents/skills/remotion-best-practices — agent skills (symlinked to Claude Code)
• Tailwind CSS pre-configured for styling compositions

Key commands:

cd marketing
pnpm run dev              # Preview in browser (hot-reloads)
pnpm exec remotion render # Render to MP4

Do NOT attempt to run pnpm create video yourself — it requires interactive input (prompts for styling choice, etc.) that cannot be automated.

4. Create X-optimized templates directory:

mkdir -p marketing/src/templates

Post-Setup

After installation, the /media skill will detect Remotion and offer to generate video compositions. Common workflows:

• /compose [topic] → draft post → /media → generate complementary video
• /media benchmark animation comparing [A] vs [B] → generates and renders
• Edit templates in marketing/src/templates/ for recurring content

Template Starter

Create a base dark-theme composition that matches X's aesthetic. After setup, try:

Create a Remotion composition for a 10-second benchmark bar race animation
with a dark background (#15202b) using X's color scheme

Integration: OpenTweet MCP

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+
• X/Twitter account

Installation Steps

1. Create OpenTweet account: Direct the user to sign up at opentweet.io (7-day free trial, $5.99/mo after)

2. Get API key: Dashboard → Developer → API Key → Copy

3. Add MCP server to Claude Code:

claude mcp add opentweet -- npx -y @opentweet/mcp-server

4. Set API key (add to shell profile for persistence):

echo 'export OPENTWEET_API_KEY="PASTE_KEY_HERE"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

5. Verify: Restart Claude Code and ask "What OpenTweet tools are available?"

Post-Setup

• /compose and /thread will offer to schedule content directly
• /review can auto-fetch analytics
• /schedule can batch-schedule a week of content
• Activate Voice Learning in the OpenTweet dashboard to match your writing style

Voice Learning Setup

1. Go to OpenTweet Dashboard → Settings → Voice Learning
2. Enable — it analyzes your last 10-50 tweets to build a style profile
3. Takes ~30 seconds to process
4. All AI-generated content will match your voice

Integration: last30days

Prerequisites

• OpenAI API key (for Reddit search via Responses API)
• xAI API key (for X/Twitter search via Responses API)

Installation Steps

1. Get API keys:

   • OpenAI: https://platform.openai.com/api-keys
   • xAI: https://console.x.ai

2. Install the skill:

cd ~/.claude/skills
git clone https://github.com/mvanhorn/last30days-skill.git last30days

3. Set environment variables:

echo 'export OPENAI_API_KEY="your-openai-key"' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'export XAI_API_KEY="your-xai-key"' >> ~/.zshrc
source ~/.zshrc

4. Verify: Restart Claude Code and run /last30days test query

Post-Setup

The /research skill will leverage last30days for real-time data when available. Use it to:

• Find what's trending in your niche right now
• Discover what prompts and techniques people are discussing
• Surface content opportunities from across Reddit, X, HN, YouTube, and more

Cost Awareness

• Each research query uses API credits from OpenAI and xAI
• A typical query costs $0.02-0.10 depending on depth
• Results are cached — repeated queries for the same topic don't re-query

Integration: X API Direct Access

Prerequisites

• X/Twitter account
• Developer account application

Tier Selection

Recommendation: Start with Free tier for posting. Use OpenTweet ($5.99/mo) instead of Basic ($200/mo) for analytics — dramatically better value.

Installation Steps

1. Apply for developer access: https://developer.x.com/en/portal/dashboard

2. Create a Project and App in the developer portal

3. Generate credentials:

   • OAuth 2.0 Client ID and Secret (recommended)
   • Or OAuth 1.0a API Key + Secret + Access Token + Access Secret

4. Install the TypeScript client:

cd path/to/sparX
npm init -y
npm install twitter-api-v2

5. Create credentials file (NEVER commit this):

echo 'TWITTER_API_KEY=your-key
TWITTER_API_SECRET=your-secret
TWITTER_ACCESS_TOKEN=your-token
TWITTER_ACCESS_SECRET=your-token-secret' > .env
echo '.env' >> .gitignore

6. Verify with a test script:

import { TwitterApi } from 'twitter-api-v2';

const client = new TwitterApi({
  appKey: process.env.TWITTER_API_KEY!,
  appSecret: process.env.TWITTER_API_SECRET!,
  accessToken: process.env.TWITTER_ACCESS_TOKEN!,
  accessSecret: process.env.TWITTER_ACCESS_SECRET!,
});

const me = await client.v2.me();
console.log('Connected as:', me.data.username);

Post-Setup

Direct API access enables custom workflows beyond what OpenTweet provides:

• Custom analytics dashboards
• Automated posting pipelines
• Webhook-driven content triggers
• Advanced search and monitoring

Verification

After setting up any integration, verify it works:

/compose test post about setting up sparX

If MCP is configured, you should see scheduling options. If Remotion is installed, the /media skill will offer video generation.

Notes

• All integrations are optional — sparX works fully without any of them
• API keys are stored locally and never committed (remind user about .gitignore)
• OpenTweet is the best value for most users ($5.99/mo vs $200/mo for X Basic API)
• Remotion is free for personal use, paid for commercial ($)