rename: video-orchestrator → kanban-video-orchestrator

The kanban prefix makes the skill discoverable alongside `kanban-orchestrator` and `kanban-worker`, and signals up front that this skill drives the kanban plugin rather than being a generic video tool. Updated: - directory rename - SKILL.md frontmatter `name:` and H1 - setup.sh.tmpl header
2026-05-07 02:51:50 +00:00 · 2026-05-03 12:10:38 -04:00 · 2026-05-03 12:10:38 -04:00 · 0dd8e3f8d8
commit 0dd8e3f8d8
parent 511add7249
12 changed files with 3 additions and 3 deletions
--- a/optional-skills/creative/kanban-video-orchestrator/references/examples.md
+++ b/optional-skills/creative/kanban-video-orchestrator/references/examples.md
@ -0,0 +1,227 @@
+# Worked Examples
+
+Six concrete pipelines covering different video styles. Each shows the team
+composition, task graph, and skill/tool choices the orchestrator would make
+for that brief. **These are illustrative, not templates** — adapt to the
+actual brief.
+
+## Example 1 — Narrative short film (text-to-image → image-to-video → cut)
+
+**Brief:** A 90-second noir-style short. A detective walks through a rainy
+city. Voiceover narration. AI-generated visuals.
+
+**Team:**
+- `director` — vision, decomposition, approval
+- `writer` — script + voiceover copy (loads `humanizer` for natural voice)
+- `storyboarder` — beat-by-beat shot list (loads `excalidraw`)
+- `image-generator` — generates each shot's still via local ComfyUI workflows
+  (loads `comfyui`)
+- `image-to-video-generator` — animates each still (Runway/Kling, OR
+  ComfyUI's AnimateDiff/WAN workflows via `comfyui`)
+- `voice-talent` — narration via ElevenLabs
+- `audio-mixer` — VO + ambient pad
+- `editor` — assembly + transitions
+- `reviewer` — final QA
+
+**Task graph:**
+```
+T0  director         decompose
+T1  writer           script + voiceover.md                    (parent: T0)
+T2  storyboarder     shot list with framing per beat          (parent: T1)
+T3  image-generator  one still per shot (~12 shots)           (parent: T2)
+T4  image-to-video   animate each still                       (parent: T3)
+T5  voice-talent     generate narration audio                 (parent: T1)
+T6  audio-mixer      mix VO + ambient                         (parent: T5)
+T7  editor           cut + transitions + audio mux            (parents: T4, T6)
+T8  reviewer         final QA                                 (parent: T7)
+```
+
+**Key choices:**
+- Local ComfyUI via `comfyui` skill is preferred over external API for
+  cost/control — but external APIs are fine if ComfyUI isn't installed
+- `editor` profile is ffmpeg-only, no Hermes skill required beyond
+  `kanban-worker`
+- Storyboarder produces `storyboard.excalidraw` alongside the markdown
+
+## Example 2 — Product / marketing teaser
+
+**Brief:** A 30-second product teaser for a developer tool. Shows code +
+terminal + UI screen recordings, voiceover, CTA at end. Square 1:1.
+
+**Team:**
+- `director`
+- `copywriter` — taglines, voiceover script, CTA (loads `humanizer`)
+- `concept-artist` — style frames (loads `claude-design` for UI mockups)
+- `renderer-motion-graphics` — animated UI sequences (Remotion CLI)
+- `renderer-ascii` — terminal-style demo scenes (loads `ascii-video`)
+- `voice-talent` — VO via ElevenLabs
+- `editor` — assembly + brand-color treatment
+- `audio-mixer` — VO + light music bed
+- `captioner` — burned subtitles for muted-autoplay platforms
+- `masterer` — produces 1:1 + 9:16 + 16:9 variants
+
+**Task graph:**
+```
+T0  director              decompose
+T1  copywriter            copy.md + cta + vo script               (parent: T0)
+T2  concept-artist        visual-spec.md + style frames           (parent: T1)
+T3a renderer-motion-graphics  scene 1: UI sequence                (parent: T2)
+T3b renderer-ascii        scene 2: terminal demo                  (parent: T2)
+T3c renderer-motion-graphics  scene 3: feature highlight          (parent: T2)
+T3d renderer-motion-graphics  scene 4: CTA card                   (parent: T2)
+T4  voice-talent          narration                                (parent: T1)
+T5  audio-mixer           VO + music bed                          (parent: T4)
+T6  editor                cut + transitions                        (parents: T3*, T5)
+T7  captioner             SRT + burned subtitles                  (parent: T6)
+T8  masterer              1:1, 9:16, 16:9 variants                (parent: T7)
+```
+
+**Key choices:**
+- Multiple specialized renderers (motion-graphics + ASCII) coexist
+- Captioner is included because muted autoplay is the norm on social
+- `claude-design` skill for UI mockups maps directly to the product video idiom
+
+## Example 3 — Music video (synced to provided track)
+
+**Brief:** A 3-minute music video for a provided lo-fi hip-hop track. Visuals
+should pulse with the beat. Generative + ASCII hybrid. Vertical 9:16.
+
+**Team:**
+- `director`
+- `music-supervisor` — analyze track, emit `audio/beats.json` (loads `songsee`)
+- `storyboarder` — beat-aligned shot list (loads `excalidraw`)
+- `renderer-ascii` — ASCII scenes synced to bass kicks (loads `ascii-video`)
+- `renderer-p5js` — generative particle scenes synced to highs (loads `p5js`)
+- `editor` — beat-cut assembly using `beats.json`
+- `reviewer` — sync QA
+
+**Task graph:**
+```
+T0  director              decompose
+T1  music-supervisor      analyze track → beats.json + spectrogram  (parent: T0)
+T2  storyboarder          shot list aligned to beats                (parents: T1, T0)
+T3a renderer-ascii        scene 1: bass-driven ASCII                (parent: T2)
+T3b renderer-p5js         scene 2: high-end particle field          (parent: T2)
+... (more scenes)
+T4  editor                cut to beats + mux track                  (parents: T3*, T1)
+T5  reviewer              sync QA + final approval                  (parent: T4)
+```
+
+**Key choices:**
+- `music-supervisor` runs FIRST — `beats.json` gates the renderers
+- `editor` uses `beats.json` directly to align cuts to bass kicks
+- No voice-talent — music is the audio
+- Two specialized renderers (`ascii-video` + `p5js`) for visual variety
+
+## Example 4 — Math/algorithm explainer
+
+**Brief:** A 2-minute explainer of an algorithm. 3Blue1Brown-style. Animated
+diagrams, equations, narration. Square 1:1.
+
+**Team:**
+- `director`
+- `writer` — narration script (loads `humanizer`)
+- `cinematographer` — visual spec (loads `manim-video`)
+- `renderer-manim` — all animated scenes (loads `manim-video`)
+- `voice-talent` — narration via ElevenLabs
+- `editor` — assembly + audio mux
+- `captioner` — burned subtitles
+
+**Task graph:**
+```
+T0  director           decompose
+T1  writer             script + narration                  (parent: T0)
+T2  cinematographer    visual spec for all scenes           (parent: T1)
+T3a-Tn renderer-manim  scenes 1..N                          (parents: T2)
+T4  voice-talent       narration audio                      (parent: T1)
+T5  editor             cut + mux                            (parents: T3*, T4)
+T6  captioner          SRT + burn                           (parent: T5)
+```
+
+**Key choices:**
+- `manim-video` skill drives both the cinematographer (visual language) and
+  the renderer (actual scene production)
+- The `manim-video` skill's reference docs (animation-design-thinking,
+  scene-planning, equations) auto-load when needed via the renderer's pinned skill
+
+## Example 5 — ASCII video, music-track-only
+
+**Brief:** A 60-second pure-ASCII video reactive to an existing track. No
+voiceover, no other tools. Square 1:1.
+
+**Team:**
+- `director`
+- `music-supervisor` — track analysis (loads `songsee`)
+- `renderer-ascii` — all visuals (loads `ascii-video`)
+- `editor` — assembly + audio mux
+
+**Task graph:**
+```
+T0  director           decompose
+T1  music-supervisor   analyze track                       (parent: T0)
+T2a renderer-ascii     scene 1                             (parents: T1, T0)
+T2b renderer-ascii     scene 2                             (parents: T1, T0)
+T2c renderer-ascii     scene 3                             (parents: T1, T0)
+T3  editor             stitch + mux audio                  (parents: T2*)
+```
+
+**Key choices:**
+- Minimal team (4 profiles) for a focused single-tool project
+- No reviewer — short experimental piece, director approves directly
+- All scenes run through one `renderer-ascii` profile because the `ascii-video`
+  skill covers everything
+
+This example illustrates the rule: **don't over-decompose**. Three scenes
+through one renderer is fine. Don't spawn three renderer profiles.
+
+## Example 6 — Real-time / installation art
+
+**Brief:** A 2-minute audio-reactive visual for a gallery installation. Driven
+by an audio input feed. TouchDesigner-based. 16:9 4K.
+
+**Team:**
+- `director`
+- `cinematographer` — visual language spec (loads `touchdesigner-mcp`)
+- `renderer-touchdesigner` — all visuals + record-to-disk
+  (loads `touchdesigner-mcp`)
+- `audio-mixer` — final loudness pass on the captured audio (optional if
+  pre-mixed source)
+- `editor` — assemble final clip from TouchDesigner recording
+- `reviewer` — visual QA
+
+**Task graph:**
+```
+T0  director                decompose
+T1  cinematographer         TD operator graph spec           (parent: T0)
+T2  renderer-touchdesigner  build TD network + record output (parent: T1)
+T3  editor                  trim + audio mux                 (parent: T2)
+T4  reviewer                final QA                         (parent: T3)
+```
+
+**Key choices:**
+- `touchdesigner-mcp` controls a running TouchDesigner instance — the
+  cinematographer designs the operator graph, renderer builds it
+- Output is a recording from the running TD network, not a render-to-frames
+  process; editor mostly just trims
+
+## Pattern recognition
+
+When the user describes a video, look for these signals to map to an example:
+
+- **Plot, characters, scripted dialogue** → Example 1 (narrative)
+- **Specific product, CTA, brand colors, voiceover** → Example 2 (marketing)
+- **Track file provided, "synced to music"** → Example 3 (music video)
+- **"Explain how X works", math/algorithm/concept walkthrough** → Example 4 (manim explainer)
+- **Terminal aesthetic, ASCII, retro pixel** → Example 5 (ASCII)
+- **"Audio-reactive", "real-time", "installation"** → Example 6 (TouchDesigner)
+- **Comic-style narrative** → use `renderer-comic` (`baoyu-comic` skill)
+- **Retro game / pixel-art aesthetic** → use `renderer-pixel` (`pixel-art` skill)
+- **3D scene, photoreal environment** → use `renderer-3d` (`blender-mcp`)
+- **Generative art, particle system, shader** → use `renderer-p5js` (`p5js`)
+- **AI-generated photoreal stills + animation** → use `renderer-comfyui`
+  (`comfyui`) for both stills and image-to-video
+- **"video about how the system works", recursive demo** → composable from
+  any of the above; the recursion is a rendering technique, not a style
+
+The actual team should be derived from the specific brief — these examples are
+starting points, not endpoints.
--- a/optional-skills/creative/kanban-video-orchestrator/references/intake.md
+++ b/optional-skills/creative/kanban-video-orchestrator/references/intake.md
@ -0,0 +1,166 @@
+# Intake — Discovery Question Banks
+
+The discovery process is **adaptive**. Always start with three baseline
+questions to identify the broad style category, then drill into a per-style
+question bank. Ask 2-4 questions at a time, listen, then proceed. Make
+reasonable assumptions whenever the user implies an answer.
+
+## Tier 0 — Baseline (always ask)
+
+1. **What is the video?** — One-sentence pitch
+2. **How long?** — Approximate duration
+3. **Aspect ratio + target platform?** — 16:9 / 9:16 / 1:1 / 4:5; X, IG, YouTube, internal, etc.
+
+From these answers, classify the style category and pick the relevant Tier 1
+follow-ups. **Do not** continue asking until you have at least these three.
+
+## Style classification
+
+Map the brief to one of these archetypes (or a hybrid):
+
+| Archetype | Tells |
+|-----------|-------|
+| **Narrative film** | Plot, characters, scenes-with-events, dialogue, location |
+| **Product / marketing** | A specific product or feature being shown / sold; CTA at end |
+| **Music video** | A specific track exists; visuals sync to music |
+| **Explainer / educational** | A concept being taught; voiceover-driven |
+| **Tutorial / changelog** | Software demo, terminal-heavy, technical |
+| **ASCII / terminal art** | Retro terminal aesthetic explicit, character-grid |
+| **Abstract / loop** | Generative, no plot, often perfect-loop |
+| **Documentary / interview cut** | Real footage, transcription-driven |
+| **Real-time / installation** | Audio-reactive, gallery installation, VJ output |
+
+If ambiguous, **ask** which category fits — don't guess. Hybrids are common
+(e.g., a product video with a narrative arc); decompose into the dominant
+mode + secondary modifiers.
+
+**Recursive / meta** ("a video that shows its own production") is a
+*rendering technique*, not a separate style — compose it from any of the
+above by adding a two-pass render step where pass 2 uses pass 1's output as
+texture inside the final scene.
+
+## Tier 1 — Per-style follow-ups
+
+### Narrative film
+
+- **Setting / world?** — When and where the story takes place
+- **Characters?** — How many, archetypes, who carries dialogue
+- **Beat list or full script?** — Has the user written the story or do we draft it
+- **Dialogue language?** — Spoken lines, on-screen subs only, silent
+- **Visual generation approach?** — Text-to-image (FAL/Midjourney/Imagen) →
+  image-to-video (Runway/Kling), 3D animation (Blender), 2D animation,
+  procedural, or hybrid
+- **Voice approach?** — TTS (which voice), recorded VO, no dialogue
+- **Music / score?** — Commissioned (via `songwriting-and-ai-music` Suno
+  prompts, or local `heartmula`), licensed track provided, silent
+
+### Product / marketing
+
+- **Product?** — Name, what it does, key feature being shown
+- **Target audience?** — Who's watching, what they care about
+- **CTA?** — Visit URL, install, sign up, etc.
+- **Tone?** — Serious, playful, technical, premium, edgy
+- **Brand assets available?** — Logo files, color palette, fonts, existing footage
+- **Animation style?** — Motion graphics (Remotion / AE-style), screen recording,
+  generative, illustrated
+- **Voiceover?** — Yes (which voice / language) or text-only
+- **Music?** — Track provided, license-free needed, custom-composed
+
+### Music video
+
+- **Track file?** — Path to the audio (essential — we'll analyze BPM + beats)
+- **Track length to use?** — Full song or a section
+- **Genre / energy?** — Tells what visual rhythm and density to use
+- **Lyric / narrative content?** — Are there lyrics to render on screen,
+  or is it purely visual?
+- **Visual reference style?** — Existing music videos / artists for reference
+- **Performer footage?** — None, has clips, will provide
+- **Visual generation approach?** — Per-beat generative, edit-driven cuts of stock
+  footage, illustrated, hybrid
+
+### Explainer / educational
+
+- **What concept is being taught?** — One-sentence concept, key takeaway
+- **Audience expertise?** — Beginner / intermediate / expert
+- **Diagram density?** — Heavy math / formulas / code / abstract concepts
+- **Voiceover?** — TTS / recorded / on-screen text only
+- **Tool preference?** — `manim-video` (math), `p5js` (generative),
+  Remotion (UI motion graphics), `comfyui` (AI-generated visuals),
+  `ascii-video` (technical/retro), hybrid
+- **Pacing?** — Fast and dense (3Blue1Brown) or slow and contemplative
+
+### Tutorial / changelog / software demo
+
+- **Software being demonstrated?** — Name, what it does
+- **Demo script?** — Sequence of commands / screens to show
+- **Terminal-only or with GUI?**
+- **Voiceover for narration?**
+- **Diagram support needed?** — Often these benefit from a diagram skill
+  alongside the screen-capture/render step (`excalidraw`,
+  `architecture-diagram`, `concept-diagrams`)
+
+### ASCII / terminal art
+
+- **Source material?** — Generative / driven by audio / converting existing
+  video / static image starting point
+- **Color palette?** — Brand-driven (gold/black/blue), Matrix green, full
+  rainbow, monochrome
+- **Audio reactivity?** — None / loose mood / tight beat sync / FFT-driven
+- **Character set?** — ASCII only / Unicode block-drawing / mystic glyphs
+- **Loop or narrative?** — Perfect loop or one-shot
+
+### Abstract / loop
+
+- **Mood / emotion?** — One word that captures the feel
+- **Motion type?** — Zoom-into-itself, particle drift, wave, geometric, organic
+- **Loop required?** — Perfect loop (Droste-style) or just satisfying ending
+- **Audio?** — Silent, ambient pad, beat-synced
+
+### Documentary / interview cut
+
+- **Source footage?** — Provided clips, length per clip
+- **Transcript / subtitles?** — Provided or to be generated
+- **Story structure?** — Chronological / thematic / arc
+- **B-roll approach?** — Generated, stock library, none
+
+### Real-time / installation
+
+- **Output environment?** — Gallery wall, projector, screen, web embed
+- **Audio source?** — Live audio input, pre-recorded track, both
+- **Reactivity tightness?** — Mood-level (loose) vs. tight beat-sync vs. live
+  parameter control
+- **Tool preference?** — `touchdesigner-mcp` for full TD operator graphs;
+  `p5js` for web-canvas; `comfyui` for generative-AI fed by audio features
+
+## Tier 2 — Always ask near the end
+
+- **Brand assets path?** — Where logo / color palette / fonts / music library lives
+- **Output format requirements?** — Codec preference, target file size, accepted
+  alternates (vertical cut, GIF, audio-only)
+- **Deadline?** — Affects task `max_runtime_seconds` and acceptable scope
+- **Quality bar?** — Rough draft for review / polished final / archival
+- **Existing footage / assets to reuse?** — Anything that should appear, not just inform
+
+## Reasonable assumption defaults
+
+When the user under-specifies, fill in these defaults rather than asking:
+
+| Question | Default |
+|----------|---------|
+| Frame rate | 30 fps for X / IG; 60 fps for tutorials/explainers; 24 fps for narrative film |
+| Resolution | 1080×1080 for square, 1920×1080 for 16:9, 1080×1920 for 9:16 |
+| Codec | H.264 / yuv420p, CRF 18 |
+| Audio codec | AAC 192 kbps |
+| Voice | Provider's mid-range neutral voice unless brand calls for distinctive timbre |
+| Music | Silent (require user to specify if music is wanted) |
+| Captions | On for explainer/tutorial; off for narrative/abstract unless requested |
+| Quality bar | Polished final unless user says draft |
+
+State the assumption explicitly: *"Assuming 30fps and AAC audio unless you say otherwise — proceed?"*
+
+## Anti-patterns
+
+- **Asking 10 questions at once.** Maximum 4 per turn.
+- **Asking for things the brief already implies.** If the user said "music video for my track," do not ask "is there a track?"
+- **Failing to classify before drilling in.** Tier-1 questions depend on classification; mixing them up wastes turns.
+- **Treating "make a video" as enough to proceed.** Always confirm the three baseline questions.
--- a/optional-skills/creative/kanban-video-orchestrator/references/kanban-setup.md
+++ b/optional-skills/creative/kanban-video-orchestrator/references/kanban-setup.md
@ -0,0 +1,276 @@
+# Kanban Setup — Project Bootstrap & Profile Configuration
+
+Once the brief is locked and the team is designed, the next step is producing
+the actual `setup.sh` that creates the project workspace, configures Hermes
+profiles, and fires the initial kanban task.
+
+This file documents the patterns. The companion script
+`scripts/bootstrap_pipeline.py` automates most of it from a structured input
+JSON.
+
+> **Credit:** the single-project-workspace layout, profile-config patching
+> approach, SOUL.md-per-profile convention, and `--workspace dir:<path>` rule
+> are adapted from alt-glitch's original multi-agent video pipeline:
+> [NousResearch/kanban-video-pipeline](https://github.com/NousResearch/kanban-video-pipeline).
+> This skill generalizes those patterns across video styles and replaces the
+> string-replacement config patcher with a PyYAML-based one.
+
+## Project workspace structure
+
+Every video project gets one workspace under `~/projects/video-pipeline/<slug>/`:
+
+```
+~/projects/video-pipeline/<slug>/
+├── brief.md                       ← the contract; all tasks reference
+├── TEAM.md                        ← team composition + task graph (director reads this)
+├── taste/
+│   ├── brand-guide.md             ← color, typography, motion rules
+│   ├── emotional-dna.md           ← what the piece should FEEL like
+│   └── style-frames/              ← optional: visual references
+├── audio/
+│   ├── track.mp3                  ← provided music (if any)
+│   ├── voiceover/                 ← per-line TTS clips
+│   └── sfx/                       ← sound effects
+├── assets/
+│   ├── logos/
+│   ├── fonts/
+│   └── existing-footage/          ← reusable provided clips
+├── scenes/
+│   ├── scene-01/
+│   │   ├── VISUAL_SPEC.md         ← cinematographer's per-scene spec
+│   │   ├── render.py              ← renderer's code (or sketch.html, etc.)
+│   │   ├── checkpoints/           ← preview frames for QA
+│   │   └── clip.mp4               ← the deliverable for this scene
+│   ├── scene-02/...
+│   └── ...
+├── checkpoints/                   ← global review frames
+├── tools/                         ← optional project-local helpers
+└── output/
+    ├── final.mp4                  ← stitched + audio
+    ├── final-noaudio.mp4
+    ├── final-9x16.mp4             ← optional: vertical alternate
+    └── captions.srt               ← optional: subtitle file
+```
+
+**The slug** is derived from the brief title: lowercase, hyphen-separated.
+Example: `q3-product-teaser`, `ascii-mood-loop`, `interview-cut-2026-q1`.
+
+## The setup.sh script
+
+The setup script does six things in order:
+
+1. **Create workspace tree** — all directories above
+2. **Create profiles** — `hermes profile create <name> --clone`
+3. **Configure profiles** — patch each profile's
+   `~/.hermes/profiles/<name>/config.yaml` to set toolsets, always_load skills,
+   and `cwd`
+4. **Write SOUL.md per profile** — the personality + role definition
+5. **Copy any provided assets + write `brief.md`, `TEAM.md`, and `taste/`**
+6. **Fire the initial kanban task** — `hermes kanban create` assigned to the director
+
+See `assets/setup.sh.tmpl` for the skeleton.
+
+### Profile creation pattern
+
+```bash
+hermes profile create director --clone 2>/dev/null || true
+```
+
+The `--clone` flag clones from the active profile (preserving model, base
+config). The `|| true` makes the script idempotent — re-running won't error if
+the profile already exists.
+
+### Profile config patching
+
+Each profile has a YAML config at `~/.hermes/profiles/<name>/config.yaml`. The
+setup script edits exactly two keys:
+
+1. `toolsets:` — replace the default with the role's required toolsets
+2. `skills.always_load:` — list the role's must-load skills (may be empty)
+
+**Do NOT** modify `approvals.mode` (controls user-confirmation of tool calls
+— a security setting that must stay as the user configured it). **Do NOT**
+modify `terminal.cwd` — the kanban dispatcher overrides cwd per-task via
+`--workspace dir:<path>`, so the profile's cwd is irrelevant to the kanban
+work and changing it could break the user's interactive use of the profile.
+
+Use **PyYAML**, not string replacement, so the patch is robust against
+default-config schema drift:
+
+```bash
+configure_profile() {
+    local profile="$1"
+    local toolsets_json="$2"     # JSON array, e.g. '["kanban","terminal","file"]'
+    local skills_json="$3"       # JSON array, e.g. '["kanban-worker","ascii-video"]'
+    python3 - "$profile" "$toolsets_json" "$skills_json" <<'PY'
+import json, os, sys, yaml
+profile, ts_json, sk_json = sys.argv[1:4]
+p = os.path.expanduser(f"~/.hermes/profiles/{profile}/config.yaml")
+with open(p) as f:
+    cfg = yaml.safe_load(f) or {}
+cfg["toolsets"] = json.loads(ts_json)
+cfg.setdefault("skills", {})["always_load"] = json.loads(sk_json)
+with open(p, "w") as f:
+    yaml.safe_dump(cfg, f, sort_keys=False)
+PY
+}
+```
+
+PyYAML must be installed in the user's Python (it ships with most Hermes
+installs). If absent: `pip install pyyaml`.
+
+The setup script should also **validate** the patch by re-reading the file
+and comparing — see `assets/setup.sh.tmpl` for the validation pattern.
+
+### SOUL.md per profile
+
+Each profile gets a `SOUL.md` at `~/.hermes/profiles/<name>/SOUL.md` that
+defines its role, voice, and rules. See `assets/soul.md.tmpl` for the
+template. Customize per role and per project.
+
+The director's SOUL.md should be the most opinionated — its voice flavors
+the entire production. **Critical content for the director's SOUL.md:**
+
+- **Anti-temptation rules:** "Do not execute the work yourself. For every
+  concrete task, create a kanban task and assign it. Decompose, route, comment,
+  approve — that's the whole job." (The `kanban-orchestrator` skill provides
+  the deeper playbook; load it.)
+- **Decomposition steps:** Read `brief.md`, `TEAM.md`, `taste/`. Use the team
+  graph in `TEAM.md` to fan out tasks.
+- **The workspace_path rule** (see below).
+
+Other profiles' SOUL.md is briefer; mostly mechanical: who you are, what you
+read, what you produce, what skills/tools to use, where to write outputs.
+Most non-director profiles should `always_load: kanban-worker` for the
+deeper-than-baseline kanban guidance.
+
+### Initial kanban task
+
+The final action of setup.sh is firing the kanban:
+
+```bash
+hermes kanban create "Direct production of <video title>" \
+    --assignee director \
+    --workspace dir:"$HOME/projects/video-pipeline/${PROJECT_SLUG}" \
+    --tenant ${PROJECT_SLUG} \
+    --priority 2 \
+    --max-runtime 4h \
+    --body "$(cat <<EOF
+Read brief.md, TEAM.md, and taste/.
+Decompose into the team graph defined in TEAM.md.
+All child tasks MUST use:
+  workspace_kind="dir"
+  workspace_path="$HOME/projects/video-pipeline/${PROJECT_SLUG}"
+  tenant="${PROJECT_SLUG}"
+EOF
+)"
+```
+
+The `--workspace dir:<path>` flag is **critical** — it tells the kanban that
+all child tasks share this workspace. Skipping or using `worktree` will
+isolate profiles and break artifact sharing.
+
+## The TEAM.md file
+
+Alongside `brief.md`, write a `TEAM.md` that the director reads. It documents
+the team composition + task graph the orchestrator should follow. This
+removes ambiguity and prevents the director from inventing extra steps.
+
+Example structure (for an ASCII video with a music supervisor and editor):
+
+```markdown
+# Team & Task Graph — <video title>
+
+## Team
+
+- `director` (this profile) — vision, decomposition, approval
+- `cinematographer` — visual spec, quality review (loads `ascii-video`)
+- `renderer-ascii` — ASCII scenes (loads `ascii-video`)
+- `music-supervisor` — track analysis (loads `songsee`)
+- `voice-talent` — narration (uses ElevenLabs API)
+- `audio-mixer` — final mix (ffmpeg)
+- `editor` — assembly (ffmpeg)
+- `reviewer` — final QA gate
+
+## Task Graph
+
+T0: this task — decompose
+ │
+ ├── T1: cinematographer  "Design visual language"            (parent: T0)
+ │    │
+ │    ├── T2a: renderer-ascii   "Scene 1 — title card"        (parent: T1)
+ │    ├── T2b: renderer-ascii   "Scene 2 — main beat"         (parent: T1)
+ │    ├── T2c: renderer-ascii   "Scene 3 — outro"             (parent: T1)
+ │
+ ├── T3: music-supervisor "Analyze track + emit beats.json"   (parent: T0)
+ │
+ ├── T4: voice-talent     "Generate narration"                (parent: T0)
+ │
+ ├── T5: audio-mixer      "Mix VO + bg music"                 (parents: T3, T4)
+ │
+ ├── T6: editor           "Assemble cut + mux audio"          (parents: T2*, T5)
+ │
+ └── T7: reviewer         "Final QA"                          (parent: T6)
+```
+
+The director turns this into actual `kanban_create` calls.
+
+## API-key prerequisites check
+
+Before firing the kanban, verify required keys are available. Check both
+`~/.hermes/.env` and macOS Keychain (if on macOS):
+
+```bash
+check_key() {
+    local var="$1"
+    local kc_account="$2"
+    local kc_service="$3"
+    if grep -q "^${var}=" ~/.hermes/.env 2>/dev/null && \
+       [ -n "$(grep "^${var}=" ~/.hermes/.env | cut -d= -f2-)" ]; then
+        return 0
+    fi
+    if command -v security >/dev/null 2>&1 && \
+       security find-generic-password -a "${kc_account}" -s "${kc_service}" -w >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        return 0
+    fi
+    echo "ERROR: ${var} not set in ~/.hermes/.env or Keychain (${kc_account}/${kc_service})"
+    return 1
+}
+
+check_key ELEVENLABS_API_KEY hermes ELEVENLABS_API_KEY || exit 1
+check_key OPENROUTER_API_KEY hermes OPENROUTER_API_KEY || exit 1
+# ...
+```
+
+If a key is missing, the script aborts with a clear message rather than
+firing a kanban that will hit credential errors mid-execution.
+
+## Critical rules
+
+1. **`workspace_kind="dir"` + `workspace_path="<absolute>"` on every kanban_create.** Otherwise profiles can't share artifacts.
+
+2. **Tenant every task.** `--tenant <project-slug>` keeps the dashboard scoped
+   and prevents cross-pollination with other ongoing kanbans.
+
+3. **Idempotency keys.** For tasks that should not duplicate on re-run (e.g.,
+   setup creating profiles), use the `idempotency_key` argument or check
+   existence first.
+
+4. **`max_runtime_seconds` per task.** Renderers that get stuck eat compute.
+   Standard defaults:
+   - Renderer task: 1800s (30min)
+   - Editor task: 600s (10min)
+   - Voice-talent task: 300s (5min)
+   - Image-generator task: 600s (10min)
+   - Image-to-video-generator task: 900s (15min)
+
+5. **Heartbeats for long renders.** Tasks expected to run >5min should emit
+   `kanban_heartbeat` periodically with progress. Renderers should report
+   frame counts; the editor should report assembly progress.
+
+6. **The `audio/` and `taste/` dirs are populated BEFORE firing the kanban.**
+   Don't ask the director's pipeline to source these — copy at setup time.
+
+7. **`brief.md` is read-only after setup.** If the brief changes during
+   execution, that's a significant pivot — re-fire the kanban rather than edit
+   live.
--- a/optional-skills/creative/kanban-video-orchestrator/references/monitoring.md
+++ b/optional-skills/creative/kanban-video-orchestrator/references/monitoring.md
@ -0,0 +1,180 @@
+# Monitoring — Watch the Pipeline + Intervene
+
+After `setup.sh` fires the kanban, the work runs autonomously. The role of
+this skill in the execution phase is to help the user (and the AI overseeing
+the session) detect problems early and intervene effectively.
+
+## Live monitoring commands
+
+```bash
+# Live event stream — task spawns, status changes, heartbeats, completions
+hermes kanban watch --tenant <project-slug>
+
+# Snapshot of the board
+hermes kanban list --tenant <project-slug>
+hermes kanban list --tenant <project-slug> --json     # machine-readable
+
+# Per-status counts + oldest-ready age
+hermes kanban stats --tenant <project-slug>
+
+# Visual dashboard (browser)
+hermes dashboard
+
+# Inspect a specific task (includes comments + events)
+hermes kanban show <task-id>
+
+# Follow a single task's event stream
+hermes kanban tail <task-id>
+```
+
+Verify available subcommands with `hermes kanban --help` — the kanban CLI
+ships with `init / create / list / show / assign / link / unlink / claim /
+comment / complete / block / unblock / archive / tail / dispatch / watch /
+stats / heartbeat / log / runs / context / gc`.
+
+The companion `scripts/monitor.py` polls the kanban via the CLI and surfaces
+common issues (stuck tasks, missing heartbeats, repeated retries, dependency
+deadlocks).
+
+## What to watch for
+
+### Healthy pipeline indicators
+
+- Tasks transition `READY → RUNNING → DONE` in roughly the expected order
+- Renderers emit periodic `kanban_heartbeat` events with progress (e.g. "frame
+  240/720")
+- Each task's runtime is well under its `max_runtime_seconds` cap
+- No task accumulates more than 1 retry
+- Dependency arrows resolve (children unblock as parents complete)
+
+### Warning signs
+
+| Symptom | Likely cause | Action |
+|---------|--------------|--------|
+| Task RUNNING but no heartbeat in 2+ min | Worker stuck, infinite loop, blocked on input | `hermes kanban show <id>` — read the worker's last events. The dispatcher SIGTERMs tasks that exceed their `max-runtime`; if you need to stop one earlier, `hermes kanban block <id>` then `hermes kanban archive <id>`, and create a re-run task. |
+| Same task retried 2+ times | Reproducible failure (missing key, bad spec, broken tool) | `hermes kanban show <id>` to read failure events. Fix root cause before re-running. |
+| RUNNING longer than max_runtime | Task is slow but progressing OR genuinely stuck | Check heartbeats with `hermes kanban tail <id>`. If progressing, the dispatcher will SIGTERM eventually anyway — raise `max-runtime` on a re-created task. |
+| Child task READY but parents still RUNNING for >2× expected | Cascade slow, dependency miswired | Check the dependency graph. Inspect the parent: sometimes it completed but its handoff fields (summary, metadata) were empty so the child has nothing to consume. |
+| New tasks not appearing | Director is hung in decomposition | Inspect director task with `kanban show`. Often a malformed `kanban_create` call. |
+| Specialist tasks completing instantly | Decomposition created tasks without bodies | Director didn't pass enough context. Re-create with explicit body content. |
+| Tasks created but never picked up | Profile not running, or tenant mismatch, or dispatcher not running | Check `hermes profile list` (profile exists?), `hermes status` (gateway/dispatcher up?), and verify tenant. |
+| Specific renderer task fails → review note → renderer redoes → fails again | Brief is asking for the impossible | Pivot the brief, not the renderer. |
+
+## Intervention recipes
+
+### Rejecting bad output
+
+When a renderer ships a clip that doesn't pass review:
+
+```bash
+# 1. Comment on the renderer's task with specific feedback
+hermes kanban comment <renderer-task-id> "Scene 3 looks too sparse \
+— increase visual density. Tighten color palette to brand spec."
+
+# 2. Create a re-render task with the original as parent
+hermes kanban create "Scene 3 — re-render with feedback" \
+    --assignee renderer-ascii \
+    --parent <renderer-task-id> \
+    --workspace dir:"$HOME/projects/video-pipeline/<slug>" \
+    --tenant <slug> \
+    --skill ascii-video \
+    --max-runtime 30m
+```
+
+### Adding a new dependency mid-flight
+
+When the editor needs an asset that wasn't originally planned (e.g., a captions
+file):
+
+```bash
+# 1. Create the new task and capture its id
+NEW_TASK_ID=$(hermes kanban create "Generate SRT captions from voiceover" \
+    --assignee captioner \
+    --workspace dir:"$HOME/projects/video-pipeline/<slug>" \
+    --tenant <slug> \
+    --json | python3 -c "import json,sys;print(json.load(sys.stdin)['id'])")
+
+# 2. Wire it as a parent of the editor's task with `kanban link`
+hermes kanban link "$NEW_TASK_ID" <editor-task-id>
+```
+
+`kanban link` takes `parent_id child_id` (parent first). Use `kanban unlink`
+to remove a dependency.
+
+### Stopping a worker that's stuck
+
+The kanban dispatcher will SIGTERM (then SIGKILL) any task that exceeds its
+`--max-runtime` automatically. To stop one sooner:
+
+```bash
+# Mark blocked so the dispatcher leaves it alone, then archive
+hermes kanban block <task-id>
+hermes kanban archive <task-id>
+
+# Diagnose what happened
+hermes kanban show <task-id>      # task body, comments, recent events
+hermes kanban tail <task-id>      # follow the live event stream
+hermes kanban log <task-id>       # worker process log
+```
+
+After stopping, decide: fix root cause + re-create the task, or skip and
+adjust dependent tasks.
+
+### Pivoting the brief
+
+If during execution the user wants something fundamentally different:
+
+1. Cancel the active director task and all RUNNING children
+2. Edit `brief.md` and `TEAM.md`
+3. Re-fire the initial `hermes kanban create` for the director
+
+Don't try to "edit while running" — the kanban's audit trail makes a clean
+pivot more legible than mid-stream changes.
+
+## Periodic check-in script
+
+A simple polling pattern for hands-off monitoring:
+
+```bash
+while true; do
+    clear
+    hermes kanban list --tenant <slug>
+    echo "---"
+    hermes kanban stats --tenant <slug>
+    sleep 30
+done
+```
+
+For a live event feed, run `hermes kanban watch --tenant <slug>` in a
+separate terminal — it streams task lifecycle events as they happen.
+
+For automated intervention (auto-restart stuck tasks, auto-create re-render on
+review failure), see the `scripts/monitor.py` patterns.
+
+## When to call it done
+
+The pipeline is finished when:
+
+1. All RENDER tasks complete and pass review
+2. The editor's `output/final.mp4` exists and `ffprobe` confirms expected
+   duration + streams
+3. The reviewer (if present) has approved
+4. Optional masterer variants exist
+
+At this point, present the final.mp4 path to the user along with any review
+notes. Do NOT delete the workspace — the user may want to iterate on a single
+scene without re-running the whole pipeline.
+
+## Common gotchas
+
+- **Tenant mismatches.** A task created with the wrong tenant won't appear in
+  monitoring. Always pass `--tenant <slug>` consistently.
+- **Profile process not running.** Tasks queue indefinitely in READY if no
+  worker for that profile is online. Check `hermes profile list` and start
+  any missing profiles.
+- **Workspace permissions.** All profiles need read+write to the workspace
+  directory. `chmod -R u+rw <workspace>` if any worker reports permission
+  errors.
+- **Audio/visual sync.** The editor's clip stitching must match the
+  renderer's actual output durations. Don't hardcode scene durations in
+  the editor — read from the renderer's handoff metadata.
--- a/optional-skills/creative/kanban-video-orchestrator/references/role-archetypes.md
+++ b/optional-skills/creative/kanban-video-orchestrator/references/role-archetypes.md
@ -0,0 +1,298 @@
+# Role Archetypes
+
+The library of role archetypes for video production. **Compose a team from this
+list, don't clone a fixed roster.** Most videos need 4-7 profiles. The director
+is always present; everything else is conditional on the brief.
+
+Each role's profile name is by convention `kebab-case` (e.g. `creative-director`,
+`image-generator`). Multiple instances of the same role get descriptive suffixes
+when they need different focus (e.g., `renderer-ascii`, `renderer-3d`).
+
+For toolset + skill mapping per role, see [tool-matrix.md](tool-matrix.md).
+
+## Always present
+
+### director
+
+The vision-holder. Reads the brief and brand guide, decomposes into a task
+graph, comments to steer creative direction, approves the final cut.
+
+- **Toolsets:** kanban, terminal, file
+- **Skills:** `kanban-orchestrator`. The kanban plugin auto-injects baseline
+  orchestration guidance for free; `kanban-orchestrator` is the deeper
+  decomposition playbook. Add `creative-ideation` if the brief is wide-open
+  and needs framing help.
+- **Personality:** Tied to the brand voice — see `assets/soul.md.tmpl`
+
+The director has the same toolset as everyone else, but its `SOUL.md` rules
+**forbid** execution. The "decompose, don't execute" discipline is enforced
+by personality + the kanban-orchestrator skill, not by missing tools.
+
+## Pre-production roles
+
+Pick based on what the brief needs.
+
+### writer / screenwriter
+
+Writes scripts, dialogue, voiceover copy, narration. Use for any video with
+spoken or written words beyond a tagline.
+
+- **Toolsets:** kanban, file
+- **Skills:** `kanban-worker`, `humanizer` (post-process to strip AI-tells)
+- **Outputs:** `script.md`, `narration.md`, `dialogue/scene-NN.md`
+
+### copywriter
+
+Like `writer` but specifically for marketing copy: taglines, CTAs, voiceover
+scripts for product videos.
+
+- **Toolsets:** kanban, file
+- **Skills:** `kanban-worker`, `humanizer`
+- **Outputs:** `copy.md`
+
+### concept-artist / visual-designer
+
+Develops the visual identity: mood board, style frames, color palette
+rationale, typography choices. Produces a `visual-spec.md` that all generators
+follow. Often produces still reference frames using image-generation APIs or
+local skills.
+
+- **Toolsets:** kanban, terminal, file
+- **Skills:** `kanban-worker` plus any project-specific design skill —
+  `claude-design` (UI/web), `sketch` (quick mockup variants),
+  `popular-web-designs` (matching known web aesthetic), `pixel-art` (retro),
+  `ascii-art` (terminal/retro), `excalidraw` (hand-drawn frames),
+  `design-md` (text-based design docs)
+- **Outputs:** `visual-spec.md`, `taste/style-frames/*.png`
+
+### storyboarder
+
+Maps the brief to a beat-by-beat shot list with timing. Critical for narrative
+film and music video. Often pairs with a diagramming tool.
+
+- **Toolsets:** kanban, file
+- **Skills:** `kanban-worker` plus a diagram skill — `excalidraw` (sketch),
+  `architecture-diagram` (technical/system), `concept-diagrams` (educational/
+  scientific)
+- **Outputs:** `storyboard.md` with one row per scene/shot, optional
+  storyboard sketches
+
+### cinematographer / dp
+
+Designs the visual language: framing, color, motion, transitions. Reviews
+generator output for visual consistency. Hands off per-scene `VISUAL_SPEC.md`.
+
+- **Toolsets:** kanban, terminal, file
+- **Skills:** `kanban-worker` plus the visual skill that matches the project
+  (e.g., `ascii-video` for ASCII work, `manim-video` for explainers,
+  `touchdesigner-mcp` for real-time visuals, etc.)
+- **Outputs:** `scenes/scene-NN/VISUAL_SPEC.md`, review comments on renderer
+  tasks
+- **Reviews via:** any media-analysis approach (Gemini multimodal, manual
+  inspection of clip thumbnails, ffprobe summaries)
+
+## Production roles
+
+### renderer (generic)
+
+A worker that produces visual content for one or more scenes. Loaded with
+whichever creative skill fits the scene's style. Multiple renderers can run in
+parallel, each pinned to a different skill via `always_load` in their profile
+or `--skill` on the task.
+
+- **Toolsets:** kanban, terminal, file
+- **Skills:** one creative skill (see specialized variants below)
+- **Outputs:** `scenes/scene-NN/clip.mp4`
+
+### Specialized renderer variants
+
+When scenes need very different tools, create specialized renderer profiles
+instead of overloading one. Each loads a different creative skill.
+
+| Variant | Skill | Best for |
+|---------|-------|----------|
+| `renderer-ascii` | `ascii-video` | Terminal aesthetic, retro pixel, audio-reactive grid, video-to-ASCII conversion |
+| `renderer-manim` | `manim-video` | Math, algorithms, 3Blue1Brown-style explainers, equation derivations |
+| `renderer-p5js` | `p5js` | Generative art, particles, shaders, organic motion, web-canvas content |
+| `renderer-comfyui` | `comfyui` | AI-generated stills + video using local ComfyUI workflows (img-to-img, img-to-video, etc.) |
+| `renderer-touchdesigner` | `touchdesigner-mcp` | Real-time, audio-reactive, installation art, VJ-style content |
+| `renderer-3d` | `blender-mcp` *(optional)* | 3D modeling, animation, photoreal environments, character animation |
+| `renderer-pixel` | `pixel-art` | Retro game aesthetic with era-correct palettes |
+| `renderer-comic` | `baoyu-comic` | Knowledge-comic style narrative scenes |
+| `renderer-meme` | `meme-generation` *(optional)* | Meme-style stills for satirical/social content |
+| `renderer-procedural` | (none — Python with PIL + ffmpeg directly) | Custom procedural content where no skill fits |
+| `renderer-video` | (external image-to-video API: Runway / Kling / Luma) | Animating still images in narrative film |
+| `renderer-motion-graphics` | (external — Remotion CLI) | Motion graphics, kinetic typography, UI animations |
+
+For external-API renderers, the profile holds the API client logic; only
+`kanban-worker` is loaded, plus the terminal toolset and the API key.
+
+### image-generator
+
+Specifically for text-to-image generation. Often produces stills that go to
+`renderer-video` for animation.
+
+- **Toolsets:** kanban, terminal, file
+- **Skills:** `kanban-worker`, optionally `comfyui` (drives a local
+  ComfyUI install for image generation)
+- **External APIs (alternative to local ComfyUI):** FAL, Replicate, OpenAI
+  Images, Midjourney
+- **Outputs:** `scenes/scene-NN/stills/*.png`
+
+### image-to-video-generator
+
+Takes still images and animates them via Runway/Kling/Luma APIs, or via
+ComfyUI's image-to-video workflows locally. Almost always follows
+`image-generator` in narrative film pipelines.
+
+- **Toolsets:** kanban, terminal, file
+- **Skills:** `kanban-worker`, optionally `comfyui` (for local image-to-video
+  workflows like AnimateDiff or WAN)
+- **External APIs:** Runway, Kling, Luma, Pika
+- **Outputs:** `scenes/scene-NN/clip.mp4`
+
+### music-supervisor
+
+Sources, analyzes, and prepares the music track. For music videos, also
+produces a beat/BPM map and key-moment timestamps. Uses `songsee` for
+spectrograms when the editor or renderer needs a visual reference of the
+audio's energy.
+
+- **Toolsets:** kanban, terminal, file
+- **Skills:** `kanban-worker`, `songsee` (audio visualization), plus one of:
+  - `songwriting-and-ai-music` — when commissioning lyrics + Suno prompts
+  - `heartmula` — when generating music with the open-source local model
+  - `spotify` — when sourcing existing tracks
+- **Outputs:** `audio/track.mp3`, `audio/beats.json`, optional
+  `audio/track-spectrogram.png`
+
+### voice-talent / narrator
+
+Generates voiceover audio. Calls a TTS API directly; no Hermes skill required
+beyond `kanban-worker`. The user can also supply pre-recorded VO instead of
+generation.
+
+- **Toolsets:** kanban, terminal, file
+- **Skills:** `kanban-worker`
+- **External APIs:** ElevenLabs, OpenAI TTS, etc.
+- **Outputs:** `audio/voiceover/line-NN.mp3`, `audio/voiceover/timeline.mp3`
+
+### foley / sfx-designer
+
+Sound effects and ambient design. Often optional unless the brief calls for
+sound design specifically.
+
+- **Toolsets:** kanban, terminal, file
+- **Skills:** `kanban-worker`, `songsee` for audio-feature visualization when
+  designing to a track
+- **Outputs:** `audio/sfx/*.mp3`
+
+## Post-production roles
+
+### editor
+
+Assembles the final cut from clips. Uses ffmpeg for stitching, fades,
+transitions. Reviews each clip for pacing and quality before assembly.
+
+- **Toolsets:** kanban, terminal, file
+- **Skills:** `kanban-worker`
+- **External tools:** ffmpeg, ffprobe
+- **Outputs:** `output/final.mp4`, `output/final-noaudio.mp4`
+
+### colorist
+
+Color grading. Usually optional — if the renderers already produce
+brand-consistent output and the editor just stitches, the colorist is overkill.
+Worth including for narrative film with hero shots.
+
+- **Toolsets:** kanban, terminal, file
+- **Skills:** `kanban-worker`
+- **Outputs:** `output/final-graded.mp4`
+
+### audio-mixer
+
+Mixes voiceover + music + SFX into a final audio track. Sets levels, ducks
+music under VO, normalizes loudness (LUFS).
+
+- **Toolsets:** kanban, terminal, file
+- **Skills:** `kanban-worker`
+- **External tools:** ffmpeg with `loudnorm` filter, optional `sox`
+- **Outputs:** `audio/final-mix.mp3`
+
+### captioner
+
+Burns subtitles into the video, generates SRT, handles accessibility. Can also
+generate captions from audio via Whisper.
+
+- **Toolsets:** kanban, terminal, file
+- **Skills:** `kanban-worker`
+- **External tools:** Whisper (CLI or API), ffmpeg subtitle filters
+- **Outputs:** `output/captions.srt`, `output/final-captioned.mp4`
+
+### masterer
+
+Final encode + format variants. Produces deliverables for each platform target
+(square for IG, vertical for TikTok, full HD for YouTube, etc.).
+
+- **Toolsets:** kanban, terminal, file
+- **Skills:** `kanban-worker`
+- **Outputs:** `output/final-1080.mp4`, `output/final-9x16.mp4`, etc.
+
+## QA roles
+
+### reviewer
+
+A neutral quality gate. Reads the brief, watches the cut, comments
+specifically on what's off (pacing, sync, brand alignment, technical
+quality). Distinct from the cinematographer (who reviews visuals during
+production) and the editor (who reviews for assembly).
+
+- **Toolsets:** kanban, terminal, file
+- **Skills:** `kanban-worker`
+- **External tools:** any media-analysis approach (Gemini multimodal,
+  ffprobe, manual frame extraction)
+- **Outputs:** `review-notes.md`, comments on tasks
+
+### brand-cop
+
+Reviews specifically for brand compliance — colors, typography, voice. Use
+when the brand guidelines are detailed and a generic reviewer might miss
+violations.
+
+- **Toolsets:** kanban, file
+- **Skills:** `kanban-worker`
+- **Outputs:** comments + `brand-review.md`
+
+## Composing teams — heuristics
+
+- **Always:** director + at least one renderer + editor.
+- **Add writer** if scripted dialogue / narration / on-screen text exceeds a
+  tagline.
+- **Add storyboarder** if the brief has more than 5 distinct beats and the
+  director hasn't already laid out a beat list.
+- **Add cinematographer** if multiple renderer instances need consistent
+  visual language. (For a single-tool video, the renderer's own skill spec
+  is enough.)
+- **Add image-generator + image-to-video-generator pair** for narrative film
+  with photorealistic visuals.
+- **Add music-supervisor** when music is provided and rhythm matters
+  (music videos always; explainers sometimes).
+- **Add voice-talent** for any voiceover / narrative dialogue.
+- **Add audio-mixer** when there are 2+ audio sources (VO + music, music + SFX).
+- **Add captioner** for accessibility-priority projects (explainer, tutorial,
+  any platform that defaults to muted playback).
+- **Add reviewer** for high-stakes projects. Skip for quick experimental loops.
+- **Add masterer** when multiple platform deliverables are needed.
+
+## Anti-patterns
+
+- **One renderer doing everything.** If scenes use very different tools
+  (ASCII + 3D + motion graphics), use specialized renderer variants. The
+  renderer loads ONE creative skill at a time; mixing styles in a single
+  renderer causes thrashing.
+- **A separate profile per scene.** No. Profiles are per-role, not per-scene.
+  Eight scenes use one or two renderer profiles, not eight.
+- **A "general" profile that does everything.** Worse than no specialization.
+  The kanban routing breaks down if every task fits every profile.
+- **No reviewer for important deliverables.** Saves an hour of pipeline time
+  but ships flaws.
--- a/optional-skills/creative/kanban-video-orchestrator/references/tool-matrix.md
+++ b/optional-skills/creative/kanban-video-orchestrator/references/tool-matrix.md
@ -0,0 +1,305 @@
+# Tool Matrix — Skills + Toolsets per Role
+
+Maps each role archetype to the Hermes skills it should `always_load` and the
+toolsets it needs. Only references skills that ship in the public hermes-agent
+repository (under `skills/` or `optional-skills/`). External APIs and CLIs are
+called from the terminal toolset; they don't appear in `always_load`.
+
+## Hermes skills relevant to video production
+
+### Visual / rendering skills (`hermes-agent/skills/creative/`)
+
+| Skill | What it does | Best fit for |
+|-------|--------------|--------------|
+| `ascii-video` | Production pipeline for ASCII art video — generative, audio-reactive, video-to-ASCII | Renderer for ASCII / terminal / retro pixel content; cinematographer for ASCII projects |
+| `ascii-art` | Static ASCII art generation | Concept artist for ASCII style frames; secondary tool for ASCII renderer |
+| `manim-video` | Manim CE animations — math, algorithms, 3Blue1Brown-style explainers | Renderer for math, algorithm walkthroughs, technical concept explainers |
+| `p5js` | p5.js sketches — generative art, shaders, interactive, 3D | Renderer for generative art, particle systems, organic motion, web-canvas content |
+| `comfyui` | Generate images, video, audio with ComfyUI workflows (image-to-image, image-to-video, etc.) | image-generator, image-to-video-generator, or general renderer for AI-generated content |
+| `touchdesigner-mcp` | Control a running TouchDesigner instance — real-time visuals, audio-reactive installation art, VJ | Renderer for real-time/audio-reactive content; installation art; live performance |
+| `blender-mcp` *(optional)* | Control Blender 4.3+ via MCP — 3D modeling, animation, rendering | Renderer for 3D scenes, photoreal environments, character animation |
+| `pixel-art` | Pixel art with era palettes (NES, Game Boy, PICO-8) | Renderer for retro game aesthetic; concept artist for pixel-style frames |
+| `baoyu-comic` | Knowledge-comic generation (educational, biography, tutorial) | Renderer for comic-style narrative; explainer in panel form |
+| `baoyu-infographic` | Infographic generation | Renderer for data-driven explainer scenes |
+| `meme-generation` *(optional)* | Generate meme images by overlaying text on templates | Generator for satirical/social content; meme-style stills |
+
+### Design / pre-production skills (`hermes-agent/skills/creative/`)
+
+| Skill | What it does | Best fit for |
+|-------|--------------|--------------|
+| `claude-design` | Design one-off HTML artifacts (landing, deck, prototype) | Concept artist for product video style frames; storyboarder for UI-heavy content |
+| `design-md` | Design markdown docs | Concept artist documenting visual specs |
+| `popular-web-designs` | Reference patterns for popular web designs | Concept artist; cinematographer when matching a known UI aesthetic |
+| `sketch` | Throwaway HTML mockups (2-3 design variants to compare) | Concept artist exploring directions; storyboarder for UI flows |
+| `excalidraw` | Excalidraw-style hand-drawn diagrams | Storyboarder; concept artist for sketch-style frames |
+| `architecture-diagram` | Software architecture diagrams | Storyboarder for technical content; explainer scenes about systems |
+| `concept-diagrams` *(optional)* | Flat, minimal SVG diagrams (educational visual language; physics, chemistry, math, anatomy, etc.) | Renderer / storyboarder for explainer scenes with clean educational diagrams |
+| `pretext` | Mathematical/scientific content authoring | Writer / cinematographer for technical-explainer pretexts |
+| `creative-ideation` | Constraint-driven project ideation | Director / cinematographer when the brief is wide-open and needs framing |
+| `humanizer` | Strip AI-isms from text, add real voice | Writer / copywriter post-process to avoid AI-tells in scripts and VO copy |
+
+### Audio / media skills (`hermes-agent/skills/creative/` + `skills/media/`)
+
+| Skill | What it does | Best fit for |
+|-------|--------------|--------------|
+| `songwriting-and-ai-music` | Songwriting craft + Suno prompt patterns | Music supervisor when commissioning a track via Suno |
+| `heartmula` | Open-source music generation (Apache-2.0, Suno-like) | Music supervisor generating bespoke tracks without external APIs |
+| `songsee` | Spectrograms, mel/chroma/MFCC of audio files | Music supervisor analyzing tracks; foley-designer designing to a beat; editor visualizing a mix |
+| `spotify` | Spotify control — play, search, queue, manage playlists | Music supervisor sourcing existing tracks; reference research |
+| `youtube-content` | Fetch transcripts + transform to chapters/summaries/posts | Documentary cut, content adaptation, research for explainers |
+| `gif-search` | Find existing GIFs | Editor / concept artist sourcing references |
+| `gifs` | GIF tooling | Masterer producing GIF deliverables |
+
+### Kanban infrastructure (`hermes-agent/skills/devops/`)
+
+| Skill | What it does | When to load |
+|-------|--------------|--------------|
+| `kanban-orchestrator` | Decomposition playbook + anti-temptation rules for orchestrator profiles | Director only |
+| `kanban-worker` | Pitfalls, examples, edge cases for kanban workers (deeper than auto-injected guidance) | Any profile — load when handling tricky multi-step workflows |
+
+The kanban plugin auto-injects baseline orchestration guidance into every
+worker's system prompt — the `kanban_create` fan-out pattern, claim/handoff
+lifecycle, and the "decompose, don't execute" rule for orchestrators.
+`kanban-orchestrator` and `kanban-worker` are deeper playbooks loaded when a
+profile needs them.
+
+## External tools (called from terminal toolset)
+
+These are **not** Hermes skills but external CLIs / APIs that profiles invoke.
+They don't appear in `always_load`; instead the role's terminal commands hit
+them directly.
+
+| Tool | What it does | Profile that uses it |
+|------|--------------|----------------------|
+| `ffmpeg` | Video / audio encode, splice, mux | renderer, editor, audio-mixer, masterer |
+| `ffprobe` | Inspect media | All media-touching profiles |
+| Whisper (CLI or API) | Speech-to-text for captions | captioner |
+| Text-to-image API (FAL / Replicate / OpenAI / Midjourney) | Stills generation | image-generator (alternative to local `comfyui`) |
+| Image-to-video API (Runway / Kling / Luma / Pika) | Animate stills | image-to-video-generator |
+| Text-to-speech API (ElevenLabs / OpenAI TTS / etc.) | Voiceover generation | voice-talent |
+| Suno API or web | Track composition (paired with `songwriting-and-ai-music`) | music-supervisor |
+| Remotion CLI (`npx remotion render`) | React-based motion graphics | renderer-motion-graphics |
+| Manim CE (`manim`) | Math animation render (driven by `manim-video` skill's recipes) | renderer-manim |
+| Blender (`blender -b`) | 3D rendering (alternative to `blender-mcp`) | renderer-3d |
+| Gemini multimodal / Claude vision | AI review of clips | reviewer, cinematographer, editor |
+
+## Standard toolset configurations per role
+
+### director
+
+```yaml
+toolsets:
+  - kanban
+  - terminal
+  - file
+skills:
+  always_load:
+    - kanban-orchestrator
+```
+
+The director's terminal access is conventional but the SOUL.md rules forbid
+execution. Audit logs catch violations.
+
+### writer / copywriter
+
+```yaml
+toolsets:
+  - kanban
+  - file
+skills:
+  always_load:
+    - kanban-worker
+    - humanizer            # post-process scripts to strip AI-tells
+```
+
+No terminal — writers don't need it.
+
+### concept-artist
+
+```yaml
+toolsets:
+  - kanban
+  - terminal
+  - file
+skills:
+  always_load:
+    - kanban-worker
+    # plus one or more (style-dependent):
+    # - claude-design       (UI / web product video)
+    # - sketch              (quick mockup variants)
+    # - excalidraw          (hand-drawn frames)
+    # - ascii-art           (ASCII style frames)
+    # - pixel-art           (retro/game aesthetic)
+    # - popular-web-designs (matching known web aesthetic)
+    # - design-md           (text-based design docs)
+```
+
+### storyboarder
+
+```yaml
+toolsets:
+  - kanban
+  - file
+skills:
+  always_load:
+    - kanban-worker
+    # one of:
+    # - excalidraw              (sketch storyboards)
+    # - architecture-diagram    (technical/system content)
+    # - concept-diagrams        (educational / scientific content)
+```
+
+### cinematographer
+
+```yaml
+toolsets:
+  - kanban
+  - terminal
+  - file
+skills:
+  always_load:
+    - kanban-worker
+    # the visual skill that matches the project, e.g.:
+    # - ascii-video            (ASCII projects)
+    # - manim-video            (math/explainer)
+    # - p5js                   (generative)
+    # - comfyui                (AI-generated visuals)
+    # - blender-mcp            (3D)
+    # - touchdesigner-mcp      (real-time/installation)
+```
+
+### renderer (specialized variants)
+
+```yaml
+toolsets:
+  - kanban
+  - terminal
+  - file
+skills:
+  always_load:
+    - kanban-worker
+    # ONE skill per renderer variant (or empty for external-API renderers):
+    # - ascii-video               (renderer-ascii)
+    # - manim-video               (renderer-manim)
+    # - p5js                      (renderer-p5js)
+    # - comfyui                   (renderer-comfyui — img/video AI gen)
+    # - touchdesigner-mcp         (renderer-touchdesigner)
+    # - blender-mcp               (renderer-3d)
+    # - pixel-art                 (renderer-pixel)
+    # - baoyu-comic               (renderer-comic)
+    # - meme-generation           (renderer-meme)
+```
+
+For external-API renderers (image-to-video-generator using Runway, voice-talent
+using ElevenLabs, renderer-motion-graphics using Remotion), `always_load` only
+contains `kanban-worker` — the role's work is API-driven and the API key +
+terminal commands suffice.
+
+For multi-skill renderer setups (rare — usually one variant per skill is
+cleaner) use `--skill <name>` on individual `kanban_create` calls to override
+which skill loads for that specific task.
+
+### image-generator / image-to-video-generator / voice-talent
+
+```yaml
+toolsets:
+  - kanban
+  - terminal
+  - file
+skills:
+  always_load:
+    - kanban-worker
+    # for image-generator that drives ComfyUI locally:
+    # - comfyui
+env_required:
+  # populate based on the chosen API:
+  - FAL_KEY                 # or REPLICATE_API_TOKEN, OPENAI_API_KEY for image-gen
+  - RUNWAY_API_KEY          # or KLING_API_KEY, LUMA_API_KEY for image-to-video
+  - ELEVENLABS_API_KEY      # or OPENAI_API_KEY for TTS
+```
+
+If the user's setup has ComfyUI installed locally, the `comfyui` skill can
+replace the external image-gen API entirely (cheaper, more control, supports
+custom workflows for image-to-video too).
+
+### music-supervisor
+
+```yaml
+toolsets:
+  - kanban
+  - terminal
+  - file
+skills:
+  always_load:
+    - kanban-worker
+    - songsee                         # spectrograms / audio analysis
+    # plus (depending on what the project needs):
+    # - songwriting-and-ai-music      (commissioning Suno tracks)
+    # - heartmula                     (commissioning open-source local generation)
+    # - spotify                       (sourcing existing tracks)
+```
+
+### editor / audio-mixer / captioner / masterer
+
+```yaml
+toolsets:
+  - kanban
+  - terminal
+  - file
+skills:
+  always_load:
+    - kanban-worker
+```
+
+These are mostly ffmpeg-driven; no special skill needed beyond `kanban-worker`.
+For captioner add Whisper invocation patterns to the SOUL.md.
+
+### reviewer / brand-cop
+
+```yaml
+toolsets:
+  - kanban
+  - terminal           # for media inspection
+  - file
+skills:
+  always_load:
+    - kanban-worker
+env_required:
+  - OPENROUTER_API_KEY    # if using Gemini multimodal review
+  # or ANTHROPIC_API_KEY if using Claude vision (already required globally)
+```
+
+## API key requirements
+
+Track these in the project setup. The setup script should verify each required
+key is present in `~/.hermes/.env` (or macOS Keychain) before firing the kanban.
+
+| Service | Env var | Used by |
+|---------|---------|---------|
+| ElevenLabs | `ELEVENLABS_API_KEY` | voice-talent |
+| OpenAI | `OPENAI_API_KEY` | image-generator (DALL-E), voice-talent (TTS) |
+| OpenRouter | `OPENROUTER_API_KEY` | reviewer, cinematographer, editor (Gemini multimodal review) |
+| FAL | `FAL_KEY` | image-generator (FAL flux models) |
+| Replicate | `REPLICATE_API_TOKEN` | image-generator (alternate provider) |
+| Runway | `RUNWAY_API_KEY` | image-to-video-generator |
+| Kling | `KLING_API_KEY` | image-to-video-generator (alternate) |
+| Luma | `LUMA_API_KEY` | image-to-video-generator (alternate) |
+| Suno | `SUNO_API_KEY` | music-supervisor (paired with `songwriting-and-ai-music`) |
+| Spotify | `SPOTIFY_CLIENT_ID` + `SPOTIFY_CLIENT_SECRET` | music-supervisor (paired with `spotify` skill) |
+| Anthropic | `ANTHROPIC_API_KEY` | every Hermes profile (Claude) |
+
+If a key is missing, prompt the user to add it. Storage methods, in order of
+preference: macOS Keychain → `~/.hermes/.env` → environment variable.
+
+## Skill version pinning
+
+If a specific skill version is desired, pass it via the per-task
+`--skill <name>=<version>` flag. The default is whatever's installed.
+
+## Adding a new skill to the matrix
+
+When a new Hermes-public video skill ships:
+
+1. Add a row to the relevant table at the top of this file
+2. If it warrants a specialized renderer variant, add to `role-archetypes.md`
+3. Update relevant per-style examples in `examples.md`