Orshot Social Media Content Generator: design Instagram post, LinkedIn post, TikTok, story, ad and carousel templates on brand

Social media content generator and social media design for AI agents. Create on-brand Instagram post, LinkedIn post, TikTok, Reels, story, ad, banner, thumbnail and carousel templates with Orshot, then render them with new copy on every post. Use for content creation for Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X, Facebook, YouTube and Pinterest, for a content creator or marketing team that wants designed templates instead of one-off AI images, as a Canva alternative an agent can drive, and when refining a template that looks generic. Applies the craft rules (clear hierarchy, 2-font typography, 60-30-10 color, restrained motion), consults the brand kit first, varies layouts so designs never repeat, and runs a render-and-critique loop over the hosted Orshot MCP server.

Orshot Social Media Content: design the template once, post from it forever

Social media content from Orshot is a designed template plus fresh copy per post, not a new AI image every time. This skill makes Orshot studio templates that look professionally designed, not the generic centered-text "AI" look, for Instagram posts, LinkedIn posts, TikTok and Reels, stories, ads, banners, thumbnails and carousels. It is the knowledge layer on top of the Orshot MCP server's design tools (orshot_create_template_design, orshot_update_template_design, orshot_patch_template_elements, orshot_get_brand_kit).

Connect first

bash

openclaw mcp add orshot --url https://mcp.orshot.com/mcp --transport streamable-http --auth oauth
openclaw mcp login orshot

Design tools return inline thumbnails and design checks, so they are MCP only. The free plan (100 credits a month, no card) covers template creation and previews. Details and the REST fallback for rendering live in the orshot skill.

Generate a template for a platform

1. Pick the format. Pass the preset as size on create and render, or give width and height.

Platform	Preset	Pixels
Instagram post (portrait, the 2026 default)	instagram-post-portrait	1080x1350
Instagram square	instagram-post	1080x1080
Instagram story, Reels cover, TikTok, YouTube Short	instagram-story, tiktok-video, youtube-short	1080x1920
LinkedIn post	linkedin-post	1200x627
LinkedIn carousel (PDF or image pages)	linkedin-carousel	square or 4:5 pages
X post, X header	twitter-post, twitter-header	1200x675, 1500x500
Facebook post, story, cover	facebook-post, facebook-story, facebook-cover	1200x630, 1080x1920, 851x315
Pinterest pin	pinterest-pin	1000x1500
YouTube thumbnail	youtube-thumbnail	1280x720

Full list: the orshot://formats MCP resource.

2. Read the spec and the brand. orshot://template-design-spec (element schema, the animation gotchas), then orshot_get_brand_kit when the design should be on brand.
3. Read the pack references/social-media.md for safe areas, archetypes and a recipe. Pick an archetype different from the last template of this type.
4. Create with orshot_create_template_design, complete pages_data, every text element textMode: "fit" with minFontSize, dynamic fields marked parameterizable: true with snake_case parameterIds (headline, subtitle, product_image), includeThumbnails: true.
5. Critique the thumbnail and the design check, fix with orshot_update_template_design or orshot_patch_template_elements. Never ship the first pass unseen.
6. Render it with real copy (orshot_render_template) and show the user the output. One design, every size: extraSizes: ["instagram-story", "linkedin-post", "1080x1080"].
7. Hand off. Posting, scheduling and analytics are in the orshot-social-media-scheduler skill; six-slide carousels in orshot-carousel. Keep the template; every future post is a render, not a redesign.

When to use

Use whenever you are designing or refining a visual template: a social post/story/carousel, an ad creative, a banner, a thumbnail, a launch graphic. For the studio element schema and render gotchas, also consult the MCP resource orshot://template-design-spec.

Boundaries

• This is design guidance, it does NOT replace the schema spec. Style values are always strings with units; position/dimensions are nested objects. See Compatibility below.
• It composes with the orshot skill (API/generation mechanics): use that to render.

Operating principle

Design serves the task. Decide the ONE thing the viewer must take away, then make everything support it. Respect the brand and the platform over generic prettiness. Prefer the deterministic rules below over subjective iteration.

Required workflow (in order)

1. Shape: restate the goal, audience, and the single key message before placing anything.
2. Inherit the brand (when on-brand): IF the design should match the user's brand/product (the prompt implies it, or asks for "our" style), call orshot_get_brand_kit (tag-filter to the purpose) and map brand colors/fonts/logo onto the roles in Systems. If the prompt asks for a generic/standalone look, use the pack defaults, don't force brand in.
3. Pick the vertical pack: read the matching file in references/ (e.g. references/social-media.md) for format, safe areas, archetypes, and a concrete recipe. Choose a DIFFERENT archetype from recent templates of this type.
4. Build: establish one focal element, then support it. Keep the design simple on the first create; refine in a follow-up update.
5. Critique: create/update with includeThumbnails:true, READ the thumbnail, and fix issues with orshot_update_template_design / orshot_patch_template_elements. Never ship the first pass unseen. (The create tool also returns a "🎨 Design check", resolve its ⚠s.)

Systems

• Hierarchy: one clear focal point via size, weight, and position. Not everything centered.
• Typography: exactly 2 font families (display + body). Hierarchy from scale/weight. Tight lineHeight (1.0–1.15) and slightly negative letterSpacing on large display type. Heaviest brand font → display, lighter → body.
• Color, 60-30-10: 60% dominant, 30% secondary, 10% accent. Cohesive palette beats more colors. Clear WCAG AA contrast. Map brand colors to roles by USAGE, not by "primary" label.
• Composition & space: generous margins (≥ ~6% of canvas per edge), align to an implied grid, prefer off-center over dead-center stacking.
• Imagery: full-bleed or intentionally framed; objectFit:"cover" for photos; add a gradient scrim under text over busy photos.

Brand (contextual, not mandatory)

Use the brand kit WHEN the design should be on-brand (the prompt references the user's brand, product, or identity): colors → 60-30-10 roles, fonts → display/body, logo → a small corner/footer mark, images → hero/product. For a generic/exploratory/standalone look, the pack palette is fine, don't force brand assets in.

Variety

Never repeat a layout for the same content type. Vary archetype, focal placement, and color emphasis between designs of the same kind.

Compatibility (get these right or the render silently breaks)

• ALL style values are strings with units: "48px", "700", "12px": never bare numbers.
• position and dimensions are nested objects ({x,y}, {width,height}).
• Set textMode:"fit" + minFontSize on EVERY text element (floors: headline 48, subtitle 28, body 24, kicker 18, caption 14). The default "overflow" does not shrink or reflow, long/parameterized text spills out of its box.
• Line breaks: use \n, NEVER <br>; avoid multiple <p> blocks (they overlap). For a multi-line headline with one accent-colored word, use one text element per line.
• A background-highlight <span> (colored pill) forces the whole element to one line (white-space: nowrap) → overflow on long text. Highlight only 1–3 words; for long headlines use color emphasis (no background) or split per line.
• Parameterizable fields need parameterizable:true, a unique snake_case parameterId, and a parameterType matching the element (text→"text", image→"imageUrl", shape→"fill", canvas/container→"backgroundColor").
• Shapes with transparent fill + a border render nothing; SVG content must be a data-URI.

Motion & audio (video templates)

Making video look designed, not generated:

• Reveal in sections over ~4–5s. Elements that form one unit (icon+label, a spec row, the footer) share the SAME enter type and showAt; stagger ~0.3–0.5s BETWEEN sections in reading order. showAt/hideAt are siblings of enter/exit: never nested inside them.
• Every full-bleed photo gets a kenBurns ambient (zoom 1.08–1.15). A still photo held 3 seconds reads as a dead frame; a slow push reads as footage. Alternate panX direction between pages.
• Ambient stays subtle and SLOW: 6–10s cycles against a 0.5s enter. If the viewer can name the motion it is too strong, unless it is a deliberate accent (a badge that wiggles). shake/slowRotate need easing: "linear" or the loop seam shows.
• One pageTransition for the whole video, 0.3–0.5s. A different transition per cut is the clearest tell of an auto-generated edit.
• Sound default: narration track at volume 1 + a restrained generated ambient bed (sfx, volume 0.08–0.18, loop) + page.subtitle { source: "auto-audio" } with a caption preset (karaoke/bold) and strokeWidth 2–3 over busy footage. Budget narration at ~2 words/second with 1s headroom. Call orshot_get_audio_authoring_options before authoring generated audio; give tts.parameterId so spoken copy stays a render parameter.

Anti-patterns (the AI-slop tells, avoid)

• Everything centered and stacked; no focal point.
• 3+ fonts, or random sizes with no hierarchy.
• Low-contrast text on a busy photo with no scrim.
• Forcing brand assets when the prompt didn't ask for an on-brand design (or ignoring the kit when it clearly did).
• A tiny headline above a paragraph of body copy (a template is not a document).
• Re-emitting the previous layout for the same content type.

Vertical packs (progressive disclosure)

Read the one matching the task, each adds format/safe-areas, archetypes, and a recipe:

• references/social-media.md: posts, stories, carousels.
• (more verticals, ads, real-estate, e-commerce, added here over time.)

Examples

Example 1, "Make an Instagram post announcing our new feature"

1. orshot_get_brand_kit (tags: "social-media") → brand colors/fonts/logo.
2. Read references/social-media.md → default 4:5 portrait 1080×1350; pick the type-hero archetype (different from the last post).
3. orshot_create_template_design with brand display font for an oversized headline, brand dominant color as background, accent color on one word, logo + @handle footer, includeThumbnails:true.
4. Read the thumbnail + "🎨 Design check"; patch contrast/spacing as needed.

Example 2, "Refine this template, it looks generic"

1. orshot_get_studio_template to inspect the current design.
2. Diagnose against Anti-patterns (centered? 3+ fonts? no focal point? brand ignored?).
3. orshot_patch_template_elements to set one focal headline, trim to 2 fonts, apply brand 60-30-10, left/bottom-align. Re-render with includeThumbnails:true and verify.

Troubleshooting

Headline shows on one line / <br> ignored. Use \n, not <br>. For a colored word on a multi-line headline, split into one text element per line.

Colors/fonts look off-brand. You skipped step 2, call orshot_get_brand_kit and map the returned value (colors) and name (fonts) onto the design.

"🎨 Design check" warns about repetition. This layout matches a recent same-type template. Switch archetype and move the focal point.