# Instagram Carousel Maker for Your AI Agent > The Orshot carousel skill (`orshot-carousel`) gives an AI agent one job: swipeable Instagram and LinkedIn carousels from any idea or post, rendered from templates on your brand through the Orshot MCP server or API. ## Key facts - Skill: `orshot-carousel` v1.2.1, MIT, https://github.com/Orshot-HQ/orshot-agent-skills/tree/main/skills/orshot-carousel - A hook on the cover, one slide per point and a CTA last, every inside slide in the same layout, rendered in one call and posted as a draft for you to check. - Renders through the hosted MCP server https://mcp.orshot.com/mcp (OAuth) or `POST https://api.orshot.com/v1/studio/render` - Plans with `orshot_plan_design`: the formats real brands run for the job, then the palette and type - Spec topics it reads with `orshot_get_design_spec`: `template-json` - MCP tools it calls: `orshot_list_studio_templates`, `orshot_list_social_accounts`, `orshot_publish_social_post`, `orshot_plan_design`, `orshot_get_design_spec`, `orshot_get_brand_kit`, `orshot_create_template_design`, `orshot_update_template_design`, `orshot_get_studio_template_modifications`, `orshot_render_template`, `orshot_search_stock_media`, `orshot_get_social_post`, `orshot_publish_social_draft`, `orshot_update_social_post`, `orshot_list_social_posts`, `orshot_get_social_analytics` - 100 free credits a month, no card - Not for single posts (use orshot-social-media-content) or video reels and MP4 slideshows with a song (use orshot-video-generator). ## Real outputs | Group | What it shows | URL | | --- | --- | --- | | Covers | LinkedIn list carousel cover: 5 mistakes that make weekly status meetings useless | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-meetings-1.webp | | Covers | Market update cover with the median sale price over an aerial photo of the city | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-portland-1.webp | | Covers | TikTok slideshow hook: 3 days in Lisbon for under 200 euros, over a tram photo | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-lisbon-1.webp | | Covers | Myth vs fact cover for a family dental clinic | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-whitening-1.webp | | Covers | Recipe carousel cover with the finished dish and a 25 minute badge | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-orzo-1.webp | | A LinkedIn list, slide by slide | Slide 1: the hook, with no brand name | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-meetings-1.webp | | A LinkedIn list, slide by slide | Slide 2: mistake one, reading updates out loud | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-meetings-2.webp | | A LinkedIn list, slide by slide | Slide 3: no agenda sent before the call | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-meetings-3.webp | | A LinkedIn list, slide by slide | Slide 4: everyone is invited to everything | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-meetings-4.webp | | A LinkedIn list, slide by slide | Slide 5: decisions never get written down | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-meetings-5.webp | | A LinkedIn list, slide by slide | Slide 6: next steps have no owner | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-meetings-6.webp | | A LinkedIn list, slide by slide | Slide 7: the brand and one button | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-meetings-7.webp | | A TikTok slideshow, slide by slide | Slide 1: the hook over a photo | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-lisbon-1.webp | | A TikTok slideshow, slide by slide | Slide 2: day one with what it cost | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-lisbon-2.webp | | A TikTok slideshow, slide by slide | Slide 3: day two | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-lisbon-3.webp | | A TikTok slideshow, slide by slide | Slide 4: day three | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-lisbon-4.webp | | A TikTok slideshow, slide by slide | Slide 5: the total against the budget | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-lisbon-5.webp | | A TikTok slideshow, slide by slide | Slide 6: save this for your trip | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-lisbon-6.webp | | A market update, slide by slide | Slide 1: the median price and its change | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-portland-1.webp | | A market update, slide by slide | Slide 2: days on market | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-portland-2.webp | | A market update, slide by slide | Slide 3: homes sold | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-portland-3.webp | | A market update, slide by slide | Slide 4: inventory | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-portland-4.webp | | A market update, slide by slide | Slide 5: book a free valuation | https://orshot.com/agents/skill-outputs/carousel/qa-portland-5.webp | ## When to use it - "make a tiktok slideshow about this" - "automate tiktok slideshows" - "faceless tiktok carousel" - "instagram carousel from this blog post" - "turn this post into slides" - "carousel generator" - "linkedin carousel" ## Get started 1. Connect Orshot: `https://mcp.orshot.com/mcp` (OAuth, no key). Without it the resources and tools below are not there. 2. Follow the skill below, or install it: `npx skills add orshot-hq/orshot-agent-skills --skill orshot-carousel`. Every client's install command: https://orshot.com/agents/skills.md. 3. Raw file: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Orshot-HQ/orshot-agent-skills/main/skills/orshot-carousel/SKILL.md. Reference files the skill names are linked in place below. ## Links - [Social Media Content](https://orshot.com/agents/skills/social-media-content.md): On-brand Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook posts from one prompt - [Social Media Scheduler](https://orshot.com/agents/skills/social-media-scheduler.md): Social posting and scheduling to Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and 12 more from one chat - [Blog and Marketing Images](https://orshot.com/agents/skills/blog-images.md): Blog covers, OG images and in-article graphics for every post - [All Orshot skills](https://orshot.com/agents/skills.md) - [MCP server docs](https://orshot.com/docs/integrations/mcp-server.md) - [Template JSON](https://orshot.com/docs/definitions/template-json.md) --- ## SKILL.md # Orshot Carousel: six slides, one call A carousel is six images with the same layout and different words. That is a template render, not an image-editing job. The template holds the fonts, colors and text sizing once. Every post only sends six lines of copy and six background images. No canvas code, no font files. ## What people ask for - "Make a faceless TikTok slideshow for our habit app Loopday: 6 slides, a hook on the first, the app only on the last." - "Turn this blog post into an Instagram carousel." - "Write 30 slideshow hooks for a plant-care account and render the first 10 as drafts." - "'Layout 1 or layout 2?' Make that slideshow with photos from our brand kit." - "Which hooks got the most views this week? Write the next five from the winners." - "Take the photos in my Drive folder and make a slideshow video with our track." This one is a video: see Slideshow as a video. ## Setup 1. Connect the Orshot MCP server at `https://mcp.orshot.com/mcp` (OAuth, no key): https://orshot.com/docs/integrations/mcp-server.md. Headless jobs use `ORSHOT_API_KEY` over REST. The `orshot` skill covers both. 2. Find a carousel template: `orshot_list_studio_templates` with a search for "carousel". None? Create one (below). Already have it in Canva? The user imports it in Orshot Studio from a public share link, and each page comes in with `pageN@` keys: https://orshot.com/docs/importing-templates/import-from-canva.md. 3. Decide where it posts: Orshot social accounts (`orshot_list_social_accounts`) or Postiz. ## Music - **TikTok:** `tiktokSettings: { autoAddMusic: true }` asks TikTok to add its recommended music to the photo post, so no one has to open the app to add a sound. Over MCP it goes on `orshot_publish_social_post` (see Post it). Field: https://orshot.com/docs/publish/publish-from-api.md. - **Instagram:** Orshot has no music option for Instagram posts. Tell the user before you post instead of trying. If the post needs sound, make it a video (see Slideshow as a video). ## The 6-slide formula ``` Slide 1 Hook, full sentence, biggest text, never split across slides Slide 2 The problem the viewer has Slide 3 The discovery or the turn Slide 4 Proof 1 (number, screenshot, quote) Slide 5 Proof 2 or the how Slide 6 CTA (follow, link in bio, app name) ``` Hook rule: person + doubt or conflict + specific detail beats a feature line. "my trainer asked me to log a week of meals, she wasn't ready" beats "track calories in seconds". Do not name the product on slide 1. Six is the default. A list gets one slide per point plus the cover and the CTA (5 mistakes is 7 slides), and a data update gets one number per slide. Two other formulas that keep working, each as its own template with its own page count: - Question hook, 3 to 5 tips, CTA (5 to 7 slides). - This or that: two options, and the viewer picks ("layout 1 or layout 2?"). ## Create the template once 1. Load the `orshot-design` skill for type, color and layout rules. `orshot_plan_design` with the brief, `job` ("tiktok slideshow with 5 tips"), the page size and `pages` (the slide count) returns the plan and the inside-slide system. Read `orshot_get_design_spec` topic `template-json` once per session (same content as https://orshot.com/docs/definitions/template-json.md) and topic `social-pack` for safe areas. 2. Pick the page size from a render preset, for example `instagram-post-portrait` for Instagram and LinkedIn or `tiktok-video` for TikTok. Sizes: https://orshot.com/docs/api-reference/render-from-studio-template.md#smart-resize. 3. Build the pages: slide 1 is a cover, the inside slides share one layout, the last slide is the CTA. - one text layer per page with `parameterId: "title"`, set to fit its box (https://orshot.com/docs/orshot-studio/text-modes.md); - one image layer per page with `parameterId: "bg_image"`, full bleed or framed; - more fields only where the format needs them, named the same on every page: `body`, `number`, `cost`, `time`, `cta`; - fixed wording (page counters, "Swipe", labels) gets `parameterizable: false`; - a scrim or a text box so the words read on any photo; - a button is a shape with the text on top, because a text background only hugs the words; - brand fonts and colors from `orshot_get_brand_kit`, logo small on the last page only. Colors, fonts or photos the user names win over the kit and over any plan the server suggests. - TikTok (1080x1920): keep text out of the top 250px, the bottom 320px (caption) and the right 140px (buttons). Let a photo fill the bottom band so it is not empty. 4. `orshot_create_template_design` with all pages and `includeThumbnails: true`. Name it "Carousel 6 (Instagram)" or "Carousel 6 (TikTok)". Fix what the thumbnails show with one `orshot_update_template_design` call. A design warning that the preview does not bear out (a shared texture counted as a repeated picture, a big slide number counted as a second headline) can stay; tell the user which ones you left. 5. `orshot_get_studio_template_modifications` returns the exact render keys. On a multi-page template they carry the page prefix: `page1@title`, `page1@bg_image`, `page2@title`, and so on. Template design runs over MCP. The REST create endpoint is Enterprise only: https://orshot.com/docs/api-reference/enterprise-template-create.md. Keep the template and reuse it for every post. ## Render the carousel REST body (https://orshot.com/docs/api-reference/render-from-studio-template.md): ```bash curl -s -X POST https://api.orshot.com/v1/studio/render \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $ORSHOT_API_KEY" -H "Content-Type: application/json" \ -d '{ "templateId": 123, "modifications": { "page1@title": "nobody told me the 3pm slump was my breakfast", "page1@bg_image": "https://.../1.jpg", "page2@title": "I was eating 60g of sugar before 9am", "page2@bg_image": "https://.../2.jpg", "page3@title": "then I logged one week, every meal", "page3@bg_image": "https://.../3.jpg", "page4@title": "swapped the juice, kept the toast", "page4@bg_image": "https://.../4.jpg", "page5@title": "two weeks later the slump was gone", "page5@bg_image": "https://.../5.jpg", "page6@title": "the app is free, link in bio", "page6@bg_image": "https://.../6.jpg" }, "response": { "type": "url", "format": "png" } }' ``` Over MCP, `orshot_render_template` takes the same `templateId` and `modifications`, with `format` as a flat argument instead of a `response` object. A multi-page render returns one URL per page, in page order. Background images can come from the brand kit, stock search (`orshot_search_stock_media`), an image model the user already pays for, or the user's own files. Any public URL works. Use only images the user has the rights to: never download Pinterest pins or other accounts' posts to repost. Keep a log of the image URLs already used and skip them in the next batch. ## Post it **Through Orshot, REST.** Add `publish` to the render body. Each page becomes one image of the post. ```json "publish": { "accounts": [7], "content": "the hook, then hashtags", "isDraft": true, "tiktokSettings": { "autoAddMusic": true } } ``` The render `publish` object reads `isDraft` and `schedule.scheduledFor` for timing; with neither it posts immediately. Full object: https://orshot.com/docs/publish/publish-from-api.md. **Through Orshot, MCP.** Render with `orshot_render_template`, then `orshot_publish_social_post` with the page URLs as `mediaUrls`, `accounts`, `content` and `status: "draft"` (add `tiktokSettings` for TikTok music). The render only renders; posting is always this second call. Keep it a draft until the user has seen the slides (`orshot_get_social_post` shows the post as a card). Then `orshot_publish_social_draft`, or schedule with `orshot_update_social_post`, `status: "scheduled"` and `scheduledFor`. No accounts connected yet? The user connects them in the dashboard (https://orshot.com/docs/publish/connect-account.md). It is a paid add-on: https://orshot.com/docs/publish/pricing.md. The `orshot-social-media-scheduler` skill covers the rest. Before posting, check the image count and caption length for each target platform: https://orshot.com/docs/publish/social-posting-guidelines.md. On TikTok photo posts the caption becomes the title, which has a much lower limit than a video caption. **Through Postiz.** Download the six URLs and post them with Postiz's own upload and post flow, as a draft. ## A month of slideshows in one session The user: "Write 30 slideshow hooks for a plant-care account and render the first 10 as drafts." 1. Write 30 hooks. Show them as a numbered list and let the user cut the weak ones. 2. Say the cost first: 10 carousels of 6 slides is 60 credits, because each page is one image. 3. For each of the first 10, write slides 2 to 6 and pick background images that are not in the used-image log. Render, then `orshot_publish_social_post` with the page URLs and `status: "draft"` (and `tiktokSettings` for TikTok music). 4. Show the batch together (`orshot_list_social_posts` with `status: "draft"`) and get one go-ahead for the whole batch, not one per post. 5. Schedule 1 to 3 a day at the best-time slots. The `orshot-social-media-scheduler` skill covers it. 6. Add each hook and image URL to the log. ## Slideshow as a video "Make a slideshow video from these photos with our track", "turn this carousel into a reel": that is one MP4, not a photo post. Load `orshot-video-generator` alongside this skill and use them as a pair: 1. This skill writes the carousel as usual: the hook slide, the slides, the CTA slide, the fields. 2. The video skill makes it a film: one scene per slide, laid out natively for 9:16, a segmented progress rail across the top, one cut family, the song under the whole thing (the "Carousel as a video" format from `orshot_plan_design`). 3. The film keeps the carousel's field names, prefixed per scene, so the same row renders the slides and the video. The photos and the song must be public URLs. ## Run it without the agent Once the user has approved the format and wants it daily, move it out of the chat. The `orshot` skill's [`references/recurring-automation.md`](https://github.com/Orshot-HQ/orshot-agent-skills/blob/main/skills/orshot/references/recurring-automation.md) builds it as an Orshot Workflow or in the user's own n8n, Make or Zapier. Examples: https://orshot.com/workflows/instagram-carousels-from-sheet, https://orshot.com/workflows/linkedin-carousels-from-sheet and, for a Drive folder of photos posted to TikTok, https://orshot.com/workflows/random-drive-photo-to-tiktok. ## Learning loop Daily, for posts made through Orshot: `orshot_get_social_analytics` with `source: "orshot"`, sorted by impressions or engagement. Compare hooks. - High views, low saves or clicks: wrong audience or weak CTA. Change slide 6. - Low views: change the hook style on slide 1 (question, confession, number). - Same hook style wins three times: make it the default and rotate the proof slides instead. Judge a hook after several posts, not one. Track saves and link clicks next to views: views alone often do not turn into installs or sales. Keep a short log the user can read: date, hook, views, change made. ## Safety - Never publish without the user seeing the slides. A batch can be shown and approved once as a whole. - Confirm the account (platform and username) and the caption before sending. - Say how many credits a batch costs before rendering more than ten posts: https://orshot.com/docs/definitions/credits-usage.md. ## Gotchas 1. On a multi-page template, a content key without a `pageN@` prefix changes no page; the response carries a warning. Send one prefixed key per page. A bare style key such as `title.color` does apply to every page that has a `title` layer. Details: https://orshot.com/docs/image-generation/multi-page-images.md. 2. Keep every slide under about 20 words so fit mode does not shrink the text too far. Lists (ingredients, a day plan) go in two short columns or one `body` field with one item per line. 3. PDFs cannot be posted. Render png, jpg or webp. 4. Reuse one template. A new template per post is slow and spends design effort twice. 5. Background photos must be public URLs. Orshot render URLs are. Related skills: `orshot` (connection, REST, render options), `orshot-design` (design craft), `orshot-social-media-scheduler` (scheduling and analytics), `orshot-social-media-content` (single posts), `orshot-video-generator` (the carousel as a video, used as a pair).