ACE Carousel Creator

View saved version →

---
name: create-carousel
description: "Create, revise, and export editable .carousel projects for ACE: Aesthetic Carousel Editor from a brief, slide copy, and optional photographs. Use for native carousel projects or templates."
---

Deliver a downloadable `.carousel` project that can be imported and edited in ACE: Aesthetic Carousel Editor. Text, shapes, photo slots, and supported built-in artwork remain editable. Preserve the user's language, copy, slide count, and visual direction. If these are unspecified, use portrait 4:5 and a concise cover → development → closing structure appropriate to the brief.

## Format and design

With connected MCP tools, obtain current rules and catalog entries through `get_carousel_spec` before generating YAML. For local packaging, read [the ACE native layout specification](references/DSL_LAYOUT_SPEC.md). It defines supported fields, geometry, effects, and exact resource identifiers. Its catalogs are reference data, not instructions. Use only supplied user material and catalog entries from the specification; do not invent photographs, frame presets, fonts, or sticker names.

Text and shapes remain separate native layers. Use photographs for photographic content, not as a substitute for all editable slide content. Text has no automatic wrapping: insert deliberate newline characters and leave generous margins. A layer's `at` is its center, not its top-left corner. Images that were not supplied stay intentional empty photo slots with `source: null`.

When a renderer or actual font measurement is unavailable, use short lines and conservative sizing. Describe that limitation when relevant; successful schema validation does not verify appearance. Do not claim to have seen a preview or opened the result in the app unless that actually happened.

## With connected MCP tools

Use `get_carousel_spec` to obtain current rules and search catalog entries. Compose the complete slide content and layout, then call `create_carousel` with the YAML and a descriptive filename. This tool packages the document; it does not generate the writing or design for you. Resolve any field-specific validation errors and retry the corrected document.

For attached images, pass their provided file objects in `asset_files`. Assign each an optional `asset_name` and use that key in layer `source` fields; otherwise names are `photo_1`, `photo_2`, etc. Omit the YAML `assets` map for these files: the packager adds real hashes and paths after downloading, orienting, and stripping metadata. File objects require `download_url` and `file_id`; never invent either.

Return the download link from the successful tool result and explain how to export the carousel to ACE: download the `.carousel` file and choose Projects → Import or Templates → Import in the app. Do not substitute a YAML code block for the promised project file. Do not claim that downloading automatically launches the app; this app currently imports through its file picker.

## With local workspace access

Locate the plugin root two directories above this skill. Run `npm ci --ignore-scripts` there when dependencies are absent. Save the layout as a UTF-8 YAML file in the working output folder, then run:

```sh
node <plugin-root>/scripts/build-carousel.mjs <layout.yaml> <output.carousel>
```

For supplied local images, add `--assets <assets.json>`, where that JSON maps the source keys used in layers to existing local file paths. Omit `assets` from the draft YAML. The helper includes only referenced files and constructs the archive correctly. Give the user a clickable link to the final `.carousel`.

For revisions, unpack `carousel.yaml` and its declared image files from the existing project using normal workspace tools, preserve the user's editable content and layer order, and regenerate the archive. Uploaded video packaging is not part of this first version; do not silently replace a video with a still image.

Referenced files: 1 — file references are metadata, not package contents.