Pixel GIF Maker Skill

The most-reacted message in any Slack channel is never the status update — it's the GIF. This skill makes custom ones in a retro pixel style: your words, four animations, eight colors, and a file small enough to drag anywhere. The whole encoder is a bundled pure-stdlib Python script — this library's calculators are dependency-free and deterministic, and so is its confetti.

What This Skill Produces

• A .gif file (GIF89a, looping) with the user's text in chunky 5×7 pixel type
• One of four animations: scroll (marquee), pulse (heartbeat zoom), party (hue-cycling text + confetti), sparkle (twinkling stars)
• Sized for chat: typically 10–60KB, well under any upload limit

Required Inputs

Ask for (if not already provided):

• The text — under 24 characters; pixel fonts are for punchlines ("SHIP IT", "1000 STARS", "GG TEAM", "V63 IS LIVE"). Type * for a ♥.
• The mood → mode: victory lap = party · announcement = scroll · emphasis = pulse · appreciation = sparkle
• Optional: colors (night, plum, teal, mint, gold, coral, white, ink, violet) and --scale 1-4 (default 3)

Process

1. Run the bundled script — no installs, Python 3 stdlib only:

   python3 scripts/pixel_gif.py --text "SHIP IT" --mode party --out shipit.gif
   python3 scripts/pixel_gif.py --text "GG TEAM *" --mode sparkle --fg gold --bg night --out gg.gif
   python3 scripts/pixel_gif.py --self-test    # verify all four modes, print hashes
   

2. Uppercase renders best (the font is A–Z, 0–9, and common punctuation; unknown characters become ? — warn the user rather than surprise them).
3. Same arguments + same --seed → byte-identical file; change --seed to reshuffle confetti/star positions.
4. Hand back the file path and one line on which mode was chosen and why.

Output Format

The .gif itself, plus:

🎉 shipit.gif — 159×57, 10 frames, party mode (confetti for a launch).
Drag it into Slack. Want it calmer (sparkle) or bigger (--scale 4)?

Quality Checks

• Text length checked BEFORE generating — over 24 characters, ask them to cut (offer the punchline edit: "SHIPPED THE MIGRATION" → "SHIPPED IT")
• Mode matches the moment — a layoff-week channel does not get confetti; when in doubt, sparkle
• Script ran without error and the reported file size is under ~200KB
• Any character outside the font set was flagged to the user, not silently turned into ?

Anti-Patterns

• Do not reach for image libraries or external services — the point of the bundled encoder is zero dependencies and deterministic output
• Do not generate GIFs containing colleagues' names in mocking contexts — celebration tool, not a roast tool; decline and suggest the kind version
• Do not cram sentences in — if the user insists past 24 characters, use scroll mode and say why
• Do not promise Slack emoji-size rendering — this makes message GIFs; custom emoji have their own size rules the user handles in Slack settings