Archetypes

Content Machine is a skill pack for making short-form videos. An archetype is the repeatable content shape an agent should choose before writing, sourcing media, rendering captions, or reviewing quality.

Use this page when deciding what kind of short to make.

The machine-readable production-lane source of truth is assets/archetypes/production/registry.v1.json. It is intentionally separate from the legacy script prompt files in assets/archetypes/*.yaml: a script archetype defines rhetorical structure, while a production archetype defines the media/edit composition, source and rights posture, cost class, caption/audio zones, implementation path, and a 1080x1920 phone-viewport example. Inspect the validated registry with:

echo '{}' | node --import tsx scripts/harness/archetype-lane-catalog.ts

Public creator videos remain pattern inspiration only. Registry source links never grant rights to reuse creator media, identity, scripts, gameplay, music, or interface assets.

For non-Reddit lanes that depend on designed graphics, cards, SVG, HTML/CSS, or Remotion-style motion, track polish work in the Graphics Archetype Remake Plan.

3D, procedural gameplay, generated loops, and similar motion systems are additive visual treatments. They should make a chosen lane more watchable; they should not replace the script archetype, captions, source-media workflow, cards, stock clips, local footage, or review gates.

Status Labels

Demo-backed status labels should match docs/demo/manifest.json. Run npm run showcase-status:check after changing maturity labels.

• golden showcase: promoted example with passing review gates.
• showcase candidate: real MP4 exists and the lane is usable, but it still has review or polish gaps.
• supporting showcase candidate: useful for explaining the repo or a secondary workflow, but not the main example to copy first.
• proving candidate: real MP4 exists, but the lane is not ready to promote as a default.
• experimental preview: useful direction or visual treatment, but below the public promotion bar until review caveats are resolved.
• skill-backed: skill/docs exist, but the lane still needs a stronger public example.
• backlog: useful archetype, not yet built as a first-class lane.

Default Choice

If the request is a Reddit story, confession, AITA-style post, or storytime over gameplay, choose reddit-post-over-gameplay unless the user explicitly asks for split-screen footage.

That default means:

• full-screen gameplay from frame one
• Reddit-style opener card for the first few seconds
• captions over gameplay after the opener
• no random stock clips or generated story shots

Proven And Proving Lanes

Lane	Status	Use When	Skill	Example	Demo
reddit-post-over-gameplay	golden showcase	Reddit/story post over full-screen gameplay; default story choice with passing publish-prep and OCR caption-sync	reddit-post-over-gameplay-short	Reddit Post Over Gameplay	demo-9
reddit-story-split-screen	workflow; rebuild demo	User explicitly wants top story footage plus bottom gameplay	reddit-story-short	Reddit Story Split-Screen	archived until gutter-free rebuild
stock-b-roll-explainer	showcase candidate	Topic or headline needs faceless stock-style narration	stock-footage-edutainment-short	Stock Footage Edutainment	demo-10
text-thread-reveal	showcase candidate	Chat logs, DMs, receipts, or message drama	text-message-drama-short	Text Message Drama	demo-11
saas-problem-solution	showcase candidate	Product, SaaS, offer, proof, demo, and CTA	saas-problem-solution-short	SaaS Problem Solution	demo-12
fast-facts-countdown	showcase candidate	Numbered facts, rankings, myths, or quick lessons	facts-listicle-short	Facts Listicle	demo-13
motion-card-lesson	showcase candidate	Concept explained through designed cards or diagrams	motion-card-lesson-short	Motion Card Lesson	demo-14
faceless-mixed-short	showcase candidate	Mixed stock, local clips, diagrams, UI, generated images, and captions	faceless-mixed-short	Faceless Mixed Short	demo-15
gameplay-confession-split	showcase candidate	Non-Reddit confession or storytime with support footage plus gameplay	gameplay-confession-short	Subway Confession Story	demo-16
micro-doc-breakdown	proving candidate	Mini documentary, myth correction, timeline, evidence inserts	micro-doc-breakdown-short	Micro-Doc Breakdown	demo-17

Source-Media Lanes

Use these when the content already exists in a source file or URL and the agent needs to find the best short-form moment.

Need	Use These Skills
Plan a longform clip run	longform-to-shorts and longform-to-shorts.flow
Analyze source file quality and signals	source-media-review, source-media-analyze
Select promising moments	longform-highlight-select, highlight-approval
Snap edit boundaries	boundary-snap, text-selection-to-timestamps
Extract approved clips	longform-clip-extract
Reframe to vertical	reframe-vertical, face-or-screen-reframe, scene-aware-smart-crop
Render and review	video-render, retention-pass, virality-review, publish-prep-review

Additive Visual Treatments

Use these after the lane has been chosen. They change the support visuals, not the content grammar.

Treatment	Status	Use When	Skill	Example	Demo
procedural-gameplay-backgrounds	supporting showcase candidate	The short needs gameplay-like motion without supplied gameplay; current demo is 1080x1920 with provenance attached	procedural-gameplay-backgrounds	Procedural Gameplay Backgrounds	demo-20
motion-design-code	skill-backed	The visual system is SVG, HTML/CSS, React, or Remotion motion	motion-design-coder	Motion Card Lesson	demo-14

Research-Backed Families

The vendor/repo research currently groups future work into six families:

Family	Local Research	Skill Surface
Reddit/story gameplay	01-reddit-story-gameplay	Reddit and gameplay story skills
Longform clip factory	02-longform-clip-factory	longform, highlight, crop, caption skills
Topic-to-faceless explainer	03-topic-to-faceless-explainer	brief, script, stock, mixed, render skills
UGC/avatar/product short	04-ugc-avatar-product-short	UGC/avatar and SaaS/product skills
Motion graphics lesson	05-motion-graphics-lesson	motion-card, animation, micro-doc skills
Captions/export primitives	06-caption-export-primitives	caption, timing, safe-zone, publish-prep skills

For deeper routing rules, use short-form-archetype-research.

Backlog Lanes

These should be built one at a time. Do not promote them to README showcase status until each has a skill, example request, user doc, demo MP4/GIF, and honest review result.

Lane	Why It Matters
comment-reply-short	Native TikTok/Reels pattern: answer a viewer comment first.
search-intent-short	Evergreen Shorts/search packaging with exact query as hook.
teardown-lab-short	Proof-first diagnosis of a failed screenshot, page, clip, or artifact.
saveable-framework-short	Builds toward a screenshotable checklist, prompt, or template.
review-mined-ugc-short	Turns reviews and complaints into stronger product proof.
document-to-brainrot-short	PDF/article/text transformed into narration over gameplay or satisfying footage.
ai-slideshow-microstory-short	Generated images plus TTS/music for fictional or cinematic microstories.
reaction-remix-short	React/stitch/remix pattern with source-rights guardrails.
custom-game-challenge-short	Gaming challenge or mod recap instead of generic gameplay filler.
platform-variant-packaging	Same thesis exported with TikTok, Reels, and Shorts-specific packaging.

The backlog source of truth is docs/direction/09-vendor-archetype-backlog-20260429.md.

Promotion Rule

A lane is not a showcase just because it renders. Before promotion, it needs:

• a named skill or skill family
• an example request
• a user-facing example page
• a tracked MP4 or GIF preview
• passing base publish-prep gates
• explicit notes for any remaining OCR/caption-sync, source-media, design, or platform-safe-zone gaps