guided-launch-announcement by bintzgavin/helios-skills

You may be operating inside the brand's repository, or working from an external context.

Do not guess brand identity. Either analyze the codebase or research the provided URL.

EXECUTION PIPELINE

STEP 1 — Gather Context

⛔ STOP. Ask the user these two questions:

"Are we inside your brand's repository, or would you like to provide a URL (e.g. your marketing site) so I can research your brand online?"
"Would you like generated background music? If yes, you'll need an ELEVEN_LABS_API_KEY in your environment. You can get one at https://elevenlabs.io → Profile → API Keys."

Wait for the user to respond to both questions.

Do not attempt to read .env files or verify keys yourself. Trust the user's responses.

If the user provides a URL, use it for brand research in STEP 3 instead of analyzing the codebase. If the user declines music, skip STEP 4 and STEP 5.

STEP 2 — Ensure Helios Runtime Dependencies

Install required packages:

npm install @helios-project/core @helios-project/renderer @helios-project/cli

You will render using DOM mode.

STEP 3 — Extract Brand Intelligence From Repo

If the user provided a URL instead of a repo, fetch that URL and extract the same brand signals from the live site. Skip codebase-specific items (Tailwind config, design tokens, etc.) and focus on visible brand elements.

Analyze:

• Tailwind config or CSS variables • Global stylesheets • Design tokens • Logo assets • Favicon • Changelog or release notes • Version numbers and release history • New feature implementations (recent commits, new files) • Hero sections • Marketing copy • Product name and tagline • Announcement or blog post components • UI components • Existing motion usage

Construct internal brand profile:

• Core value proposition • Target audience • Tone of voice (exciting, confident, momentous) • Visual density • Primary palette • Accent palette (highlight/celebration colors) • Typography character • Product maturity (v1 launch vs iterative release) • Announcement magnitude (major vs minor)

All creative decisions must align with this.

STEP 4 — Generate Original Music (Skip if no music)

Use ElevenLabs with existing ELEVEN_LABS_API_KEY.

Generate instrumental track matching:

• Cinematic build-up energy • Clear crescendo moment (for the reveal) • Triumphant resolution • Target runtime

Save audio locally.

STEP 5 — Analyze Audio With ffmpeg (Skip if no music)

Extract:

• BPM • Beat timestamps • Downbeats • Energy peaks • Crescendo peak timestamp

Create beat timing map.

The reveal moment must land on the crescendo peak. Feature highlights must align to beats after the reveal.

STEP 6 — Read Motion Design Rules

Before producing the creative specification, read and internalize:

skills/guided/motion-design-rules

Every rule in that skill is mandatory for this composition.

STEP 7 — Produce Creative Specification

You are a senior creative director and launch event architect designing for Helios using motion.dev.

Input example: make a 30 second launch announcement for v2.0

Output:

• One structured creative specification • Wrapped in a single code block • No explanation outside it

The specification must include:

• Duration • Aspect ratio (16:9) • Brand summary • What is being launched (version, feature, product) • Motion language (cinematic, dramatic, celebratory) • Beat synchronized scene breakdown • Exact timestamps • Voiceover script (announcement-style, confident) • On screen text (version number, feature names, tagline, date) • Visual composition (countdown elements, reveal animations, feature cards) • Explicit motion.dev animation behavior • Transition logic (build tension → reveal → celebrate → details) • Layering order (dark background → particles/atmosphere → text → product reveal → feature cards) • Audio direction • Asset requirements

Use motion.dev compatible terminology only.

Launch structure requirements:

• Act 1 — Tension (first 30% of duration) Atmospheric build, teaser text, countdown energy • Act 2 — Reveal (next 20% of duration) Product name or version number dramatic reveal on crescendo • Act 3 — Showcase (next 35% of duration) Key features/changes highlighted with rapid-fire cards • Act 4 — CTA (final 15% of duration) Call to action, availability date, brand sign-off

STEP 8 — Implement DOM Based Helios Composition

Using the creative specification:

Create a composition.html file that:

• Uses HTML + CSS + motion.dev • Implements animations using WAAPI / CSS / motion.dev • Aligns reveal moment to audio crescendo • Uses dramatic scale and opacity transitions for the reveal • Includes atmospheric elements (particles, glows, gradients) • Includes generated audio file • Has exact duration

Expose Helios runtime:

import { helios } from "@helios-project/core";

window.helios = helios;

helios.bindToDocumentTimeline({
  autoSyncAnimations: true
});

Requirements:

• window.helios must be defined • helios.bindToDocumentTimeline() must be called • autoSyncAnimations: true must be enabled • All CSS and WAAPI animations must sync correctly • No randomness • Deterministic timing • Reveal moment must feel impactful — use scale, glow, and flash • Feature cards must animate sequentially, not simultaneously

STEP 9 — Render Using Official Helios CLI (DOM Mode)

Render with:

npx helios render ./composition.html -o output.mp4

Requirements:

• 16:9 aspect ratio • Correct duration • Audio attached • CSS and WAAPI fully synchronized • High quality MP4 output

Output file must be:

output.mp4

RUNTIME RULES

If duration ≤ 15 seconds Skip Act 1. Open with immediate reveal. Show max 2 features.

If no duration specified Default to 30 seconds.

Maximum 5 feature highlights for any duration. The reveal moment is the emotional peak — everything builds toward it. Version numbers and dates must be visually prominent.

Never restate the original prompt. Never explain reasoning. Creative specification must be output inside a single code block only.