Claude Gif

claude-gif -- The Ultimate GIF Creator

Orchestrates five sub-skills to create, generate, convert, optimize, and edit GIFs. Every path from concept to final optimized GIF runs through this skill.

Quick Reference

| Command | Description | Sub-Skill | |---------|-------------|-----------| | /gif create | Programmatic animation via Remotion (text, spinners, memes, motion graphics) | claude-gif-create | | /gif generate | AI video generation via Veo 3.1, then convert to GIF | claude-gif-generate | | /gif convert | Convert video, image sequence, or animated SVG to GIF | claude-gif-convert | | /gif optimize | Reduce GIF file size for a target platform | claude-gif-optimize | | /gif edit | Modify an existing GIF (speed, reverse, crop, text, trim) | claude-gif-edit | | /gif setup | Install/verify all dependencies | (setup.sh) | | /gif | Auto-detect best approach from description | (orchestrator routes) |

Orchestration Logic

When the user invokes /gif, determine intent and route to the correct sub-skill.

Intent Detection

1. Has a file path to a video/image/SVG? --> /gif convert
2. Has a file path to an existing GIF?

• Mentions size, compress, platform fit --> /gif optimize
• Mentions speed, reverse, crop, text, trim --> /gif edit

1. Describes a text animation, spinner, counter, meme, logo animation, progress bar? --> /gif create
2. Describes realistic/cinematic motion, product demo, abstract art, nature scene? --> /gif generate
3. Ambiguous description of something to animate?

• If it involves text, geometric shapes, UI elements --> /gif create (Remotion)
• If it involves photorealistic subjects, complex motion --> /gif generate (Veo)

1. Mentions "optimize", "compress", "reduce", "fit", platform name? --> /gif optimize
2. Mentions "edit", "speed", "reverse", "crop", "text overlay"? --> /gif edit
3. Says "setup" or "install"? --> Run bash ~/.claude/skills/claude-gif/scripts/setup.sh

Routing Commands

/gif create "bouncing hello world text"      --> claude-gif-create
/gif generate "campfire flickering at night"  --> claude-gif-generate
/gif convert ~/Videos/clip.mp4               --> claude-gif-convert
/gif convert ~/Design/logo.svg               --> claude-gif-convert (Mode D: SVG)
/gif optimize ~/Documents/gif_output/big.gif --> claude-gif-optimize
/gif edit ~/Documents/gif_output/clip.gif    --> claude-gif-edit
/gif setup                                   --> scripts/setup.sh

Bare /gif Routing

When no explicit sub-command is given, analyze the description:

• Keywords "text", "spinner", "loading", "counter", "meme", "typewriter", "logo reveal", "progress" --> create
• Keywords "realistic", "cinematic", "product", "nature", "abstract", "person", "animal" --> generate
• A file path to .mp4/.webm/.mov/.avi/.mkv/.svg --> convert
• A file path to .gif + size/platform keywords --> optimize
• A file path to .gif + edit keywords --> edit

Quality Presets

| Preset | Width | FPS | Colors | Dither | Max Size | Best For | |--------|-------|-----|--------|--------|----------|----------| | discord | 320px | 10 | 128 | bayer:3 | 256 KB | Discord inline embeds | | slack | 400px | 12 | 192 | floydsteinberg | 500 KB | Slack messages | | twitter | 480px | 15 | 256 | floydsteinberg | 15 MB | Twitter/X posts | | web | 480px | 15 | 256 | floyd_steinberg | 2 MB | General web usage | | hq | 640px | 20 | 256 | sierra2 | 10 MB | High-quality display |

Safety Rules

1. No-overwrite: Always pass -n to FFmpeg (skip if output exists). Only pass -y when user explicitly says overwrite.
2. Source protection: NEVER write output to the same path as input. Preflight catches this.
3. Cost confirmation: Veo generation costs money. Always confirm with user before calling generate.py.
4. Temp isolation: All intermediate files go in /tmp/claude-gif/. Clean up on completion.
5. Output directory: Final GIFs go to ~/Documents/gif_output/ unless user specifies a different path.
6. Preflight check: Run bash ~/.claude/skills/claude-gif/scripts/preflight.sh before any file write.

Multi-Step Pipelines

Complex requests may chain sub-skills:

generate --> convert --> optimize
  (Veo)    (to GIF)   (for Discord)

create --> optimize
(Remotion)  (shrink)

convert --> edit --> optimize
(video)   (trim)   (platform)

convert (SVG) --> optimize
  (Playwright)    (for web)

Always plan the full pipeline before starting. Tell the user the steps.

Pre-Flight

Before ANY write operation:

bash ~/.claude/skills/claude-gif/scripts/preflight.sh  

On /gif setup or first use:

bash ~/.claude/skills/claude-gif/scripts/check_deps.sh

If dependencies are missing:

bash ~/.claude/skills/claude-gif/scripts/setup.sh

Reference Files

Load on demand -- only read the reference relevant to the current task:

| Reference | Path | When to Load | |-----------|------|-------------| | GIF Optimization | ~/.claude/skills/claude-gif/references/gif-optimization.md | Before optimize, or choosing palette/dither settings | | Platform Specs | ~/.claude/skills/claude-gif/references/platform-specs.md | When targeting a specific platform | | Remotion Patterns | ~/.claude/skills/claude-gif/references/remotion-gif.md | Before writing Remotion components | | Prompt Engineering | ~/.claude/skills/claude-gif/references/prompt-engineering.md | Before constructing Veo prompts | | Perfect Loops | ~/.claude/skills/claude-gif/references/perfect-loops.md | When making seamless loops |

Scripts

| Script | Path | Purpose | |--------|------|---------| | setup.sh | scripts/setup.sh | Install and verify all dependencies | | check_deps.sh | scripts/check_deps.sh | Check dependency status (JSON, no installs) | | preflight.sh | scripts/preflight.sh | Safety check before writes (input/output validation) | | gif_convert.sh | scripts/gif_convert.sh | FFmpeg two-pass palette video-to-GIF conversion | | gif_optimize.py | scripts/gif_optimize.py | Multi-strategy GIF size optimizer (Python) | | gif_loop.py | scripts/gif_loop.py | Perfect loop creator: crossfade, ping-pong, freeze blend (Python) | | gif_frames.py | scripts/gif_frames.py | Assemble PNG/JPEG frames into optimized GIF (Python) |

All scripts are in ~/.claude/skills/claude-gif/scripts/. Python scripts use ~/.video-skill/bin/python3 (venv with Pillow, numpy).

Sub-Skills

| Sub-Skill | When to Use | |-----------|-------------| | claude-gif-create | Programmatic animations: text, spinners, counters, memes, logos, progress bars, motion graphics. Uses Remotion (React + Node.js). | | claude-gif-generate | AI-generated motion: cinematic loops, product demos, abstract art, realistic subjects. Uses Veo 3.1 (costs money). | | claude-gif-convert | File conversion: video to GIF, image sequence to GIF, AI image sequence to GIF, animated SVG to transparent GIF. | | claude-gif-optimize | Size reduction: platform auto-fit, lossy compression, color/dimension/frame reduction, dither tuning. | | claude-gif-edit | Modify existing GIFs: speed change, reverse, ping-pong, crop, resize, text overlay, frame extraction, loop control, trim. |

Workflow Example

User: "Make me a Discord-sized GIF of a cozy campfire loop"

1. Route to claude-gif-generate (realistic motion = Veo)
2. Read references/prompt-engineering.md for loop-friendly prompt patterns
3. Confirm cost with user (~$0.60 for 4s Veo Fast)
4. Generate 4s campfire video via Veo
5. Convert to GIF: gif_convert.sh --input campfire.mp4 --preset discord
6. Perfect loop: gif_loop.py --input campfire.gif --method crossfade --frames 5
7. Verify size < 256KB. If over, route through claude-gif-optimize
8. Deliver to ~/Documents/gif_output/campfire_discord.gif

Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: AgriciDaniel
• Source: AgriciDaniel/claude-gif
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://agricidaniel.com

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.