Image Prompt (brief · craft · router)

The foundation of the visual cluster. When a post needs an image, this skill decides what image (the brief), describes it with model-agnostic craft, and routes to the right tool — then hands off. It sits above the tool-specific mini-skills (nano-banana, ideogram, flux, veo-3), which own their model's specific tricks.

Think of it as the visual equivalent of brand-profile/content-pillars: the shared decision layer the tool skills assume you've already worked through.

Step 0 — Gate: should this even be AI-generated?

AI generation is one option, not the default. A real photo (your actual product/space/team), a screenshot, UGC, or a chart often wins on authenticity and clarity — and AI must never fabricate your real people/place. Reach for generation when you need something that doesn't exist, must match a brand look, needs legible in-image text, or a consistent series — and no real asset fits. If a real asset is better, say so. (See references/the-image-brief.md.)

Step 1 — Write the brief