Featured Image

Featured Image

Author a 1280×720 HTML card, render it to a 2× PNG with headless Chromium. HTML-first gives full layout control and pixel-perfect brand fidelity; the PNG is the deliverable the user uploads.

Workflow

1. Locate the project's image directory. Default infographics/ at the repo root. Confirm or detect it.

2. Check whether the project is configured. Configured = the image dir contains export.mjs, featured-image.json, and a brand-template.html.

   • If not configured → follow references/setup.md to set it up. Do this once per project, then continue.

3. Compose the post's card. Copy brand-template.html to <post-slug>-featured.html in the image dir, then edit:

   • Headline — short, fits two lines.
   • Subhead — optional, one line.
   • Visual — one supporting graphic that illustrates the post's core idea. Replace the template's example visual.
   • Put the brand accent color on the one key phrase only.

4. Preview in the browser BEFORE rendering. Always open <post-slug>-featured.html so the user sees the live HTML card and can request tweaks. Wait for their go-ahead (or apply their tweaks and re-open) before exporting the PNG. Never skip straight to the render.

5. Render. From the image dir: node export.mjs <post-slug>-featured → writes <post-slug>-featured.png at 2× (1280×720 → 2560×1440).

6. Review and deliver. Read the PNG to confirm fonts loaded and the layout reads cleanly; re-render after tweaks. Give the user the PNG path. If they'll upload it by hand, copy it to ~/Desktop.

Design

• Headline ≤ ~8 words, two lines max — the image is glanced at, not read.
• One accent color, on one key phrase. Everything else in the primary text color.
• One visual metaphor (a before/after pair, a single UI mock, an icon trio). Don't crowd it.
• 1280×720 (16:9) by default. Dimensions live in the template CSS, not the script.
• Generous margins; clear hierarchy (large headline, small uppercase label).

Notes

• Rendering needs Playwright's Chromium. Setup installs it in the image dir (node_modules is gitignored; the browser binary is cached globally and reused across projects).
• WordPress: the MCP/abilities plugin cannot upload media. Featured images and in-body screenshots are added manually in the editor — deliver the PNG path, don't try to push it through the API.

See references/setup.md for one-time per-project brand configuration.