Threads Carousel

Threads Carousel Generator

Converts a text post into a set of visual carousel slides for Threads, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Stories, YouTube, or a standalone presentation deck. Composable design system with three independent style axes (font × color × purpose) and 12 slide types.

Invocation

/threads-carousel <post text>
/threads-carousel path/to/post.md

Format presets (choose target platform)

Slide types (12)

points shape: Array<{ type: "plus" | "minus"; text: string }> — green ✓ for plus, muted ✗ for minus. Adaptive sizing (44–62px) based on item count and longest line.

All types also support optional:

• badge — small outlined tag above title (e.g. "01", "TIP")
• highlight — a word or phrase within text/title that will be colored in the preset's highlight color (yellow for dark themes)
• highlightStyle: "italic-box" — renders the highlighted word in Playfair italic on a colored rectangle (instead of plain color)

Images in slides

image slides expect imageSrc as a path served by Next.js under /public/. Workflow when a user gives you a local file:

1. User drops a file path like /Users/me/Desktop/screenshot.png (or passes a file via the chat).
2. Copy it into template/public/images/ with a safe, lowercase filename — e.g. cp "$USER_PATH" template/public/images/screenshot.png.
3. In slides.ts reference it as imageSrc: "/images/screenshot.png" (absolute from /public/).

Same-origin serving avoids CORS errors in the PNG export pipeline. Do not use external URLs — html-to-image will often blank them out.

Background decorations (8 types)

Switchable via toolbar in preview. Default: glow.

Style system (3 independent axes)

The final style is composed at runtime from three axes via composePreset(font, color, purpose):

Font axis (DEFAULT_FONT), 5 typefaces:

Surface axis (DEFAULT_SURFACE) — bg + text neutrals, 8 options:

Accent axis (DEFAULT_ACCENT) — pop color for highlighted words, 8 options:

Total combinations: 8 surfaces × 8 accents × 5 fonts × 2 purposes = 640 valid styles. Pick surface for neutral base, accent for pop color — independently.

Reference combos (inspired by design refs):

• dark + teal — noir / minimalist tech
• paper + orange — literary warm
• ember + lime — dramatic announcement
• white + coral — sharp editorial
• light + teal — calm informational

Purpose axis (DEFAULT_PURPOSE):

Pick purpose: "presentation" + format: "wide-16x9" for a desktop / YouTube presentation deck. Any 3 × 8 × 2 = 48 combinations are valid.

Workflow

Step 1 — Get the text

• If passed inline — use it.
• If a file path (.md, .txt) — read it.
• If text is long (>500 chars) — confirm it's complete before planning.

Step 2 — Clarify parameters (optional, can assume defaults)

Ask once, combined:

1. Number of slides (3–10, default 6)
2. Format (see table above, default threads-4x5; use wide-16x9 for a presentation deck)
3. Purpose (carousel or presentation, default carousel)
4. Font (minimal / editorial / clean, default minimal)
5. Color (8 palettes, default dark)
6. Handle for CTA slide (e.g. @username)

Shortcut: if user says "presentation" / "презентация" / "slide deck" → default to purpose: presentation, format: wide-16x9, font: clean, color: white.

If user says "your call" — apply defaults, do not block.

Step 3 — Plan the slide breakdown

Show the user a preview list before generation:

Slide 1 (hook): "Headline..."  [highlight: "word"]
Slide 2 (body): badge 01 — "Title" / "Text..."
Slide 3 (list): badge 02 — "iOS stack" / 3 items
Slide 4 (stats): badge 03 — "Growth" / 3 stats
Slide 5 (quote): "Quote..." — Author
Slide 6 (cta): "Final message" @username

Rules for splitting text into slides

1. Hook = single most intriguing line from the post. 1–3 short lines. Works as a standalone thumbnail.
2. Body slides = one idea each. Max 40 words. Max 5 lines. Never join two ideas with "and".
3. Mix slide types for visual variety: prefer list for enumerations, stats for numbers, quote for direct speech, comparison for VS/before-after. Don't make every slide a body.
4. CTA = conclusion + follow handle. Centered, short.

Step 4 — Generate

Prepare working copy

WORK_DIR="/tmp/carousel-$(date +%s)"
rsync -a --exclude=node_modules ~/.claude/skills/threads-carousel/template/ "$WORK_DIR/"
ln -s ~/.claude/skills/threads-carousel/template/node_modules "$WORK_DIR/node_modules"
cd "$WORK_DIR"

Symlinking node_modules avoids the 350MB copy per run.

Inject content into src/slides.ts

All content + defaults live in src/slides.ts — never touch the engine (src/app/CarouselApp.tsx, src/lib/*). Edit the SLIDES array and the 5 default constants.

Full injection example:

import type { SlideData, BgType, FormatId, FontId, ColorThemeId, PurposeId } from "./lib/types";

export const SLIDES: SlideData[] = [
  { type: "hook", text: "Line one\nline two", highlight: "two" },
  { type: "body", badge: "01", title: "Title", text: "Body text...", highlight: "key" },
  { type: "body", badge: "02", title: "Pros & Cons", points: [
    { type: "plus",  text: "One click to register" },
    { type: "plus",  text: "Works on any background" },
    { type: "minus", text: "Requires provider setup" },
  ]},
  { type: "list", badge: "03", title: "Steps", items: ["First", "Second", "Third"] },
  { type: "stats", title: "Numbers", stats: [
    { value: "10×", label: "Faster" },
    { value: "50%", label: "Smaller" },
  ]},
  { type: "quote", text: "Big idea\nin few words", author: "Someone", role: "2026" },
  { type: "checklist", title: "Pre-flight", items: ["One", "Two", "Three"] },
  { type: "cta", text: "Last word", handle: "@username" },
];

export const DEFAULT_FONT: FontId = "minimal";
export const DEFAULT_COLOR: ColorThemeId = "dark";
export const DEFAULT_PURPOSE: PurposeId = "carousel";
export const DEFAULT_BG: BgType = "glow";
export const DEFAULT_FORMAT: FormatId = "threads-4x5";

Launch preview and export

bun dev --port 3333

Tell the user to open http://localhost:3333. They can:

• Switch Format / Mode / Font / Color / Background live via toolbar rows
• Toggle UI language RU / EN in the top-right
• Click PDF to download all slides in one file (JPEG-compressed, ~5–8 MB for 10 slides)
• Click PNG (a.k.a. "Export All") to download every slide as 01-hook.png, 02-body.png, …
• Click an individual slide thumbnail to export just that one as PNG

After export, stop the dev server.

Parallel carousels

If making multiple carousels at once: create multiple work dirs and launch on ports 3333, 3334, 3335 — they run side by side without conflict.

Design system

Canonical look (font: minimal, color: dark, purpose: carousel):

• Display typeface: Unbounded (Google Fonts), for hooks — applied only when the font axis provides hookFontFamily
• Body typeface: Space Grotesk (minimal) / Playfair (editorial) / Inter (clean) — everything else uses preset.fontFamily
• Palette (dark): #0A0A0A bg, #FFFFFF text, #FACC15 highlight
• Layout: 80px padding, left-aligned, slide counter bottom-center
• Title discipline: carousel purpose — title → a 96×4px accent divider → body, with ≥64px breathing room above body. Presentation purpose — no divider, sentence case, 72px.
• Hook size: 104–140px, adaptive by character/line count
• Body text size: 48–88px, adaptive
• Text balance: textWrap: "balance" on hook + title (no orphan words)

Typography table (carousel purpose)

The presentation purpose overrides titles to 72px / 700 / sentence case and body to 400 / textSecondary / line-height 1.45.

Common mistakes

Future work / TODOs

• Satori server-side export — replace browser-based html-to-image with Satori + Resvg for CLI export (bun run export → out/*.png). Enables headless runs. See Slashgear/linkedin-carousel-gen for reference.
• Per-slide background override — currently DEFAULT_BG is global; could accept a per-slide bg field to mix decorations across a deck.
• Cyrillic-optimized adaptive sizing — current thresholds are calibrated for Latin; Russian copy tends to be 20–30% longer at the same font size.
• Pencil MCP mode — previous skill version had a manual design mode via Pencil; not currently implemented in the template.