invalidandnull/article-figure-spot-skill

Overview

This skill scans a full article, finds every position that benefits from an illustration, and then either inserts inline image-generation prompt placeholders for the author or generates all figures and saves them to disk. It produces a placement list, prompt files, and an output article with image references so authors can quickly add or accept illustrations.

How this skill works

The skill reads the article from a file path or pasted text, analyzes structure and language, and applies rules to identify places where figures add clarity (concepts, processes, comparisons, timelines, data). It can run in two modes: Prompts-only (inserts inline prompt blocks at each chosen spot) or Generate-all (writes prompt files, calls the built-in Node image script to produce images, and writes an article with image links).

When to use it

• You want to add explanatory visuals to a technical or long-form article.
• You need an audit of where images would improve comprehension or flow.
• You prefer to generate all illustrations in one automated run.
• You want ready-to-run prompt files for your image pipeline.
• You need a clear map of which image goes where in the text.

Best practices

• Choose density: sparse (2–3), medium (4–6), or rich (7+) to control number of figures.
• Review and confirm the suggested placement list before generating images.
• Keep each prompt focused: one subject, clear composition, and aspect ratio (e.g. 16:9).
• Set OPENAI_API_KEY in .env when using generate-all mode.
• Use concise alt text and match prompt language to the article language.

Example use cases

• Convert a long how-to into a version with diagrams for each major step.
• Automatically generate concept diagrams for an academic explainer.
• Add comparison charts and timelines to a product retrospective article.
• Produce all illustrations for a blog post in one batch and get ready-to-paste image files.
• Create prompt files so a designer can review and refine visuals before final insertion.