How do I install the Recreate Thumbnails skill?

Run npx skillmds@latest add mhassan0000/recreate-thumbnails in your terminal (requires Node.js), paste this page's agent-chat prompt into Claude, Cursor, or any MCP-connected agent, or download the SKILL.md file and copy it into your agent's skills directory.

Is Recreate Thumbnails safe to use?

This skill has not completed SkillMD's automated safety review yet. Independent scanners report: SkillSpector: PASS, Skill Scanner: PASS. Capability flags: executes scripts, makes network calls. SkillMD never runs a skill's scripts for you; review the SKILL.md before installing.

Which AI agents work with Recreate Thumbnails?

This skill is tagged as working with Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex. SKILL.md is an open format, so most agents that read a skills directory can load it too.

Is Recreate Thumbnails free to use?

Yes. Installing skills from SkillMD is free, and the skill stays under its author's original license.

Who published Recreate Thumbnails?

MHassan0000 (@mhassan0000) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Recreate Thumbnails by mhassan0000 — Agent Skill

Name: Recreate Thumbnails
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: MHassan0000

File contents

Recreate YouTube Thumbnails

Goal

Face-swap YouTube thumbnails to feature Your Name using Gemini image model. The system analyzes face direction, matches reference photos by pose, and generates variations.

Scripts

./scripts/recreate_thumbnails.py - Main generation script
./scripts/analyze_face_directions.py - Reference photo analyzer

Quick Start

# From YouTube video (auto-downloads thumbnail)
python3 ./scripts/recreate_thumbnails.py --youtube "https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"

# From local thumbnail
python3 ./scripts/recreate_thumbnails.py --source ".tmp/thumbnails/source.jpg"

# Edit pass on generated thumbnail
python3 ./scripts/recreate_thumbnails.py --edit ".tmp/thumbnails/recreated_v3.png" \
  --prompt "Change colors to teal. Change 'AI GOLD RUSH' to 'AGENTIC FLOWS'."

Full Workflow

Step 1: Build Reference Photo Bank (One-time)

# Drop 30-40 photos of Nick into raw folder
mkdir -p .tmp/reference_photos/raw

# Analyze and rename with face direction metadata
python3 ./scripts/analyze_face_directions.py

Creates files like:

nick_yawL30_pitchU10.jpg — looking 30° left, 10° up
nick_yawR45_pitch0.jpg — looking 45° right, level

Step 2: Generate Thumbnails

# From YouTube URL (analyzes face, finds best reference, generates 3 variations)
python3 ./scripts/recreate_thumbnails.py --youtube "VIDEO_URL"

# Custom variation count
python3 ./scripts/recreate_thumbnails.py --source "thumbnail.jpg" -n 5

# Skip direction matching
python3 ./scripts/recreate_thumbnails.py --source "thumbnail.jpg" --no-match

Step 3: Edit & Refine

# Single edit
python3 ./scripts/recreate_thumbnails.py --edit ".tmp/thumbnails/recreated_v3.png" \
  --prompt "Change colors to teal brand colors."

# Chain multiple edits
python3 ./scripts/recreate_thumbnails.py --edit ".tmp/thumbnails/edited_1.png" \
  --prompt "Make text bigger. Change background to white."

CLI Reference

Flag	Description
`--youtube`, `-y`	YouTube video URL
`--source`, `-s`	Source thumbnail path or URL
`--edit`, `-e`	Image to edit (enables edit mode)
`--prompt`, `-p`	Edit instructions (required for edit mode)
`--variations`, `-n`	Number of variations (default: 3)
`--refs`	Number of reference photos (default: 2)
`--no-match`	Skip face direction matching

Output Organization

.tmp/thumbnails/
├── 20251205/              # Date folder
│   ├── 104016_1.png       # Variation 1
│   ├── 104016_2.png       # Variation 2
│   ├── 104016_3.png       # Variation 3
│   └── 104532_edited.png  # Edit pass

API Details

Model: gemini-3-pro-image-preview (Nano Banana Pro)
Cost: ~$0.14-0.24 per generation/edit
Latency: 10-60+ seconds per image
Output: ~1376x768 (close to 16:9)

Learnings

2 reference photos is optimal (1 loses likeness, 3+ causes regeneration)
Must explicitly request 16:9 format in prompt
Label images in prompt: "IMAGE 1: Reference, IMAGE 2: Thumbnail"
"100% exact duplicate except face" instruction works well
Edit passes work for text, colors, graphs, backgrounds

Environment

NANO_BANANA_API_KEY=your_key

---name: recreate-thumbnailsdescription: Face-swap YouTube thumbnails to feature Your Name using AI. Use when user asks to recreate thumbnails, face swap images, generate YouTube thumbnails, or create thumbnail variations.---# Recreate YouTube Thumbnails## GoalFace-swap YouTube thumbnails to feature Your Name using Gemini image model. The system analyzes face direction, matches reference photos by pose, and generates variations.## Scripts- `./scripts/recreate_thumbnails.py` - Main generation script- `./scripts/analyze_face_directions.py` - Reference photo analyzer## Quick Start```bash# From YouTube video (auto-downloads thumbnail)python3 ./scripts/recreate_thumbnails.py --youtube "https://youtube.com/watch?v=VIDEO_ID"# From local thumbnailpython3 ./scripts/recreate_thumbnails.py --source ".tmp/thumbnails/source.jpg"# Edit pass on generated thumbnailpython3 ./scripts/recreate_thumbnails.py --edit ".tmp/thumbnails/recreated_v3.png" \ --prompt "Change colors to teal. Change 'AI GOLD RUSH' to 'AGENTIC FLOWS'."```## Full Workflow### Step 1: Build Reference Photo Bank (One-time)```bash# Drop 30-40 photos of Nick into raw foldermkdir -p .tmp/reference_photos/raw# Analyze and rename with face direction metadatapython3 ./scripts/analyze_face_directions.py```Creates files like:- `nick_yawL30_pitchU10.jpg` — looking 30° left, 10° up- `nick_yawR45_pitch0.jpg` — looking 45° right, level### Step 2: Generate Thumbnails```bash# From YouTube URL (analyzes face, finds best reference, generates 3 variations)python3 ./scripts/recreate_thumbnails.py --youtube "VIDEO_URL"# Custom variation countpython3 ./scripts/recreate_thumbnails.py --source "thumbnail.jpg" -n 5# Skip direction matchingpython3 ./scripts/recreate_thumbnails.py --source "thumbnail.jpg" --no-match```### Step 3: Edit & Refine```bash# Single editpython3 ./scripts/recreate_thumbnails.py --edit ".tmp/thumbnails/recreated_v3.png" \ --prompt "Change colors to teal brand colors."# Chain multiple editspython3 ./scripts/recreate_thumbnails.py --edit ".tmp/thumbnails/edited_1.png" \ --prompt "Make text bigger. Change background to white."```## CLI Reference| Flag | Description ||------|-------------|| `--youtube`, `-y` | YouTube video URL || `--source`, `-s` | Source thumbnail path or URL || `--edit`, `-e` | Image to edit (enables edit mode) || `--prompt`, `-p` | Edit instructions (required for edit mode) || `--variations`, `-n` | Number of variations (default: 3) || `--refs` | Number of reference photos (default: 2) || `--no-match` | Skip face direction matching |## Output Organization```.tmp/thumbnails/├── 20251205/ # Date folder│ ├── 104016_1.png # Variation 1│ ├── 104016_2.png # Variation 2│ ├── 104016_3.png # Variation 3│ └── 104532_edited.png # Edit pass```## API Details- **Model:** `gemini-3-pro-image-preview` (Nano Banana Pro)- **Cost:** ~$0.14-0.24 per generation/edit- **Latency:** 10-60+ seconds per image- **Output:** ~1376x768 (close to 16:9)## Learnings- 2 reference photos is optimal (1 loses likeness, 3+ causes regeneration)- Must explicitly request 16:9 format in prompt- Label images in prompt: "IMAGE 1: Reference, IMAGE 2: Thumbnail"- "100% exact duplicate except face" instruction works well- Edit passes work for text, colors, graphs, backgrounds## Environment```NANO_BANANA_API_KEY=your_key```

Frequently asked questions

Recreate Thumbnails