app-store-screens

App Store Screens

Take a brand plus real product screens and produce a 5–6 screen App Store campaign at iPhone 6.9" size (1290×2796). The product screens can come from raw exports, Figma/source files, or a public App Store listing fetched through Pika MCP. Story-driven, splashy, strict to the brand.

This is a sister skill to build-a-brand — it consumes that skill's brand.md spec, but works equally well with any brand spec the user supplies.

The deliverable

5 or 6 PNGs, numbered, saved to ~/Desktop/[app-name]-app-store-screens/ (or wherever the user prefers):

01_hook.png            ← biggest claim, works as a search-result thumbnail
02_value.png           ← the one thing the app does best
03_feature_a.png       ← specific capability
04_feature_b.png       ← another specific capability
05_proof.png           ← social proof, awards, "loved by", differentiator
06_close.png           ← optional 6th — closer / CTA / brand flourish

Plus a contact sheet (_preview.png) showing all 6 at a glance.

Workflow

Step 0 — Intake and style choice

If invoked with empty args and no usable brand/screenshot/demo context, print this menu verbatim and stop. Do not generate imagery or render HTML until the required inputs are present.

What App Store screenshot set should I make? Required:

• Brand spec — brand.md or equivalent brand notes with name, palette, fonts, voice, and imagery direction; or an App Store URL/app name if you want me to fetch the listing and draft the brand read first
• Raw product screenshots — exported PNGs, a Figma/source file that can export them, a folder of screenshots, or an App Store URL/app name I can fetch with Pika MCP
• Or a fictional app demo brief — only for launch demos/concepts where no real product exists; say demo_mode: true and provide what the fake app does

Optional: reference App Store screenshot, moodboard, preferred screen count (5 or 6), output folder.

In interactive mode, if the user has supplied partial input, ask only for the missing required items and stop. If the non-interactive fast lane applies, use Step 0.5 instead. Required inputs:

• brand.md or an equivalent brand spec with name, palette, fonts, voice, and imagery direction; if the user gives an App Store URL and asks you to "help create it", fetch the listing first and draft an inferred brand spec from the listing/icon/screenshots for approval
• one product source: raw product screenshots, a Figma/source file that can export them, or an App Store URL/app name that can be fetched through Pika MCP
• for fictional launch demos only, demo_mode: true with demo_brief is an alternative to real product screenshots; use the Fictional app demo mode path below
• optional reference screenshot or moodboard if they want a specific App Store style

Step 0.5 — Non-interactive fast lane

Use this path when the caller passes --quick or --config <path>, or when the caller states they are running from CI, a subagent, a batch job, or any other non-interactive harness.

This section has precedence over the interactive ask/wait instructions below. When it applies, use this fast lane and do not fall through to the multi-turn intake unless the required brand and either product screenshots or explicit demo mode inputs are truly unavailable.

• --config <path> points to a JSON file with pre-baked choices: brand_spec, product_screenshots, app_store_url, website_url, reference, style, screen_count, narrative_arc, demo_mode, demo_brief, and output_folder.
• --quick means choose the default style unless a reference is supplied, infer the brand read from the provided brand spec or App Store listing, draft the 5-6 screen arc yourself, and proceed.
• For --quick or --config, do not stop for confirmation at the style choice, brand-read playback, reference-rule playback, or 5-6 screen strategy pitch. Record assumptions inline and continue to design/render.
• If neither real product screenshots nor explicit demo_mode: true with demo_brief is available, stop once with a single compact missing-fields list instead of starting a multi-turn Q&A loop.

Fictional app demo mode

Use this only when the caller explicitly says this is a fictional app, fake app, launch demo, concept demo, or passes demo_mode: true in config. Do not use demo mode for real products.

Demo mode is allowed to create representative UI mocks in the brand voice when no real product screenshots exist, but the output must be labeled as demo-only concept work, not production assets. Treat the invented screens as a storyboarded QRT/demo artifact, not App Store Connect-ready evidence of a real product.

• Require a demo_brief or enough user-provided product concept detail to define the app's core job, audience, 3-5 features, and proof/CTA angle.
• Generate UI states that are internally consistent with that brief; do not imply real customers, real reviews, real metrics, or real integrations unless the prompt explicitly provides them.
• Add a demo-only disclosure in the delivery notes and contact sheet label: "Demo UI concept — not production assets and not real product screenshots."
• In non-interactive mode, proceed only if config sets demo_mode: true and provides demo_brief; otherwise stop with a compact missing-fields list.

In interactive mode, when the required inputs are present, open with a brief agenda and ask one upfront style question. This is the cheapest moment to learn whether the user wants the default or a specific reference. In the non-interactive fast lane, choose the default style unless reference or style is supplied, record that assumption inline, and continue.

here's how this works:
1. **Read your brand + screenshots** — i absorb the brand voice, palette, type, and figure out what the app actually does
2. **Strategy** — i pitch a 5–6 screen narrative arc (hook → value → features → proof → close) with headlines for each, before any design
3. **Design + generate** — i design each layout, composite at 1290×2796
4. **Preview** — i deliver the PNGs + a contact sheet so you can see the whole campaign at once

quick question before i start — **do you want the default style, or something specific?**

- **Default** — clean, restrained, screens shown untouched. Full-frame device, headline + sub above, solid brand-color backgrounds, brand-voice copy. Codified in `references/default-layout.md`. This is what i deliver well.
- **Something specific** — share a clear reference: a screenshot of an App Store page you love (Notion, Calm, Things, Headspace, anything), a figma file, a moodboard image. I'll study it, extract the compositional rules (device size + position, headline treatment, background, any signature flourishes), pitch back what i read before designing, then build the campaign — **with your brand's palette, fonts, voice, and photography style swapped in**. So if the reference uses an over-the-shoulder photo, i'll generate one in your brand's photo style (`gpt-image-2` accepts the reference as a style input). The reference dictates the composition; your brand dictates the look.

if you don't tell me, i'll go with default.

Why no "jazzed up" auto-mode. Doing rich/varied/dramatic compositions well requires visual-judgment calls (perspective, layering, typography hierarchy, color balance) that don't have a programmatic answer. When users want richness without a reference, my approximations tend to look amateur. Asking for a concrete reference lets me extract specific rules to replicate instead of inventing freely — and the user has a way to verify i'm aiming at the right thing.

Two downstream paths based on the answer:

• Default → follow references/default-layout.md end-to-end. Same composition skeleton on every screen; variety from color + content. This produces consistent, brand-disciplined work.
• Replicate a reference → study the reference, extract the rules, swap in the user's brand. See "Reference-driven path" below for the full process.

If the user can't or won't supply a reference but still wants more than default, push back gently — explain that without a reference you'll deliver default plus their brand color, and that's better than a guessing-game iteration loop. Don't invent a "jazzed" style on the fly.

Step 1 — Read the brand and the product

App Store listing path

If the user supplies an apps.apple.com URL, numeric App Store app ID, or app-name search term as the product source, try Pika MCP mcp__pika__fetch_appstore_screens first because it is faster, more stable, and returns hosted screenshot/icon assets ready for later render steps:

fetch_appstore_screens(
  query: <app_store_url | numeric_app_id | search_term>,
  country: "us",
  max_screens: 10,
  include_icon: true
)

Use the returned metadata, icon, and screenshots as the product source. The returned screenshot url values are already Pika-hosted HTTPS assets and can be used directly in later mcp__pika__html_to_png stages.

If the user provided a country-specific App Store URL, preserve that storefront country when calling the tool when possible. If the country is unclear, default to "us" unless the user asked for another storefront.

If the MCP tool is unavailable, unauthenticated, or returns no screenshots, say what happened and then use the least fragile fallback available: other read/fetch tools, official App Store/iTunes metadata endpoints, or user-provided screenshots. Keep the fallback grounded in real listing assets; do not invent product UI.

Expected result shape:

{
  "app_url": "https://apps.apple.com/...",
  "metadata": { "name": "...", "subtitle": "...", "description": "...", "category": "...", "icon_url": "https://..." },
  "icon": { "url": "https://cdn.pika.art/...", "source_url": "https://is...mzstatic.com/...", "filename": "appstore-icon.png", "mime_type": "image/png", "width": 1024, "height": 1024 },
  "screenshots": [
    { "url": "https://cdn.pika.art/...", "source_url": "https://is...mzstatic.com/.../1290x2796bb.png", "filename": "appstore-screen-01.png", "mime_type": "image/png", "width": 1290, "height": 2796 }
  ],
  "count": 1
}

Thin App Store listing guardrail

After mcp__pika__fetch_appstore_screens, count usable screenshots that show real product UI. If the listing returns fewer than 3 real product screenshots, treat it as a thin App Store listing.

• Do not create a 5-6 screen campaign by hallucinating UI. Real product UI is the default requirement for device frames.
• Interactive mode: stop before strategy and offer two choices:
  1. Website-capture path — use mcp__pika__capture_website or supplied website/onboarding URLs to capture real product surfaces, then continue with those captures as product screenshots.
  2. Real screenshot path — ask for simulator exports, Figma frames, or other product UI captures before continuing. Do not offer synthesized device UI for real products. If the user explicitly pivots to a fictional launch/concept demo, route to Fictional app demo mode and require demo_mode: true with demo_brief.
• Non-interactive fast lane: prefer the website-capture path when website_url or an obvious product website is available. If there is no captureable product surface, stop once with a compact missing-fields list unless config explicitly sets demo_mode: true and provides demo_brief.

After fetching, infer only a draft brand read from the listing and visuals: app name, category, visible palette, likely type direction, voice from subtitle/description, and notable UI moments. In interactive mode, read it back as a provisional brand spec and ask the user to correct it before pitching the 5-6 screen arc. In the non-interactive fast lane, record it as the provisional brand spec and continue.

Reference-driven path: how to apply the user's brand to the reference's style

The reference describes WHAT THE LAYOUT/STYLE LOOKS LIKE. The brand describes WHAT COLORS/FONTS/VOICE/PHOTOGRAPHY TO USE. The skill's job is to combine them: replicate the reference's visual structure, but render it with the user's brand. Two things to extract from the reference, two from the brand:

From the reference, extract structural rules:

• Device size (as % of canvas) and tilt angle
• Headline treatment (size, position, color logic — accent on key word? tinted bg pill?)
• Background treatment (solid color, photo, gradient, abstract elements)
• Hero imagery pattern (hand holding phone, over-the-shoulder, real subject breaking out of phone, 3D objects floating, etc.)
• Callout / pull-out pattern (speech bubbles with arrows, floating cards, polaroid frames, etc.)
• Repetition rules: same layout every screen, or varied per slot?

From the brand, apply specifics:

• Palette (substitute brand colors wherever the reference uses solid color blocks)
• Fonts (substitute brand display + body fonts everywhere the reference uses type)
• Voice (rewrite all headlines/subs in brand voice — don't copy the reference's words)
• Photography direction (any generated imagery follows the brand's photo rules — for DeltaStream that's documentary 35mm, golden hour, real apartments, butter accent in every frame, real cast diversity)
• Mood (warm vs. clinical, playful vs. expert, etc.)

For generated hero imagery: pass the reference as reference_images to gpt-image-2. The tool supports up to 16 reference images. Use this when the reference uses a distinctive photo composition (hand-holding-phone, over-the-shoulder, person breaking out of screen, 3D character emerging). Combine with the brand's photography rules in the prompt:

Reference: [user's reference photo — e.g., insect app's hand-holding-phone with butterfly]

Prompt: "In the EXACT composition and lighting style of the reference image — hand
holding a phone at the same angle and scale — but render the subject and scene
per [BRAND] photography rules: documentary 35mm, golden hour window light, real
apartment, butter-yellow ceramic mug visible, mid-30s mixed-race cast, 35mm film
grain. Vertical 9:16 portrait."

This is how you get the reference's STYLE without copying its CONTENT. The hand+phone composition transfers; the lighting/cast/setting comes from the brand.

Pitch the extracted rules back before designing in interactive mode. Write them out as a short bullet list ("device 75% canvas tilted -8°, headline-on-yellow-pill above device, over-the-shoulder hero, ink callouts with curved arrows") and confirm with the user that you read the reference correctly. In the non-interactive fast lane, record the extracted rules inline and continue. Then build all 6 screens applying those rules consistently. Don't deviate mid-campaign.

Then actually read:

• brand.md — extract: brand name, tagline, palette (with hex), display font + body font, voice adjectives, voice examples, forbidden words, photography/illustration direction, mood words. If the file is a different format (PDF, plain notes), parse what's there and ask about gaps in interactive mode. In the non-interactive fast lane, record reasonable assumptions for non-critical gaps — don't invent a brand.
• Product screenshots — open each one and form an honest mental model: what does this app actually do? Note the core UI patterns (feed, chat, canvas, list, map, etc.), the primary action surface, and any "wow moment" screens (a generative result, a beautiful state, a unique interaction).
• If you can use mcp__pika__analyze_media to inspect screenshots without loading them as images, do — it's faster for a quick scan.

Then read back what you found (3-5 lines, conversational):

ok — reading [brand name]: [tagline]. palette: [colors]. voice: [adjectives]. the app looks like
it does [X] — i see [specific UI cue 1] and [specific UI cue 2]. the standout screen is [screen
N] because [reason]. correct me where i'm wrong, otherwise i'll pitch the 6-screen arc.

Interactive mode: wait for confirmation before pitching strategy. Catches misreads cheaply. In the non-interactive fast lane, treat the brand read as provisional, record the assumption inline, and continue to the strategy.

Step 2 — Pitch the 6-screen strategy

Before designing anything, write out the narrative arc as plain text. Each screen needs:

• Role (hook / value / feature / proof / close)
• Headline (5–8 words, in brand voice — see "Copy" below)
• Optional subhead (one short line)
• Layout archetype (see below — name it, don't draw it yet)
• Which raw screenshot it features (filename) — or "none, full-bleed typography"

Present it like:

**Screen 1 — HOOK**
Headline: "Sleep like you mean it."
Sub: (none — let the headline carry)
Layout: full-bleed UI with bold typography overlay
Featured screenshot: home_screen.png

**Screen 2 — VALUE**
Headline: "One tap. Then quiet."
...

Interactive mode: ask the user to sign off on the arc before you generate or composite anything. Iterate on copy here — it's the cheapest moment to fix it. In the non-interactive fast lane, generate from the configured or inferred arc without stopping for signoff.

Step 3 — Generate brand-world imagery

For any screen that calls for splashy background/hero imagery, generate it with mcp__pika__generate_image.

Defaults that work for App Store splash:

• provider: gpt-image-2
• quality: medium for finished screenshots; low only when the user explicitly wants fast iteration
• aspect_ratio: 9:16 for full-bleed backgrounds (matches the iPhone canvas)
• 1K is the default. If a screen genuinely needs higher res (e.g. a hyper-detailed background that gets blown up), bump gpt-image-2 to its 2K/4K tier (9:16 backgrounds support both) or escalate to seedream — surface the tradeoff and ask first

Prompt structure for brand-world imagery:

1. Subject + composition ("a wide cinematic shot of a single ceramic mug on weathered oak…")
2. Brand palette as named colors ("limited to ink black #0E0E10, oat #F5F0E6, and a single accent of rust #C84B2F")
3. Light + mood ("soft overcast window light, slight film grain, documentary feel")
4. Negative cues ("no text, no logos, no people unless specified, no stock-photo gloss")
5. Aspect for 9:16 backgrounds: "vertical composition with negative space in upper third for headline"

Reserve upper third for the headline. Tell the image model where the type will go so it leaves room.

Keep generated image URLs as HTTPS/CDN URLs for server-side rendering. If the user provides local product screenshots or background images, upload them with mcp__pika__upload_asset first and use the returned public_url; mcp__pika__html_to_png cannot read local file:// paths.

Step 4 — Composite each screen at 1290×2796

Write one HTML stage per screen, then render to PNG via Pika MCP mcp__pika__html_to_png. See references/render-pipeline.md for:

• The exact mcp__pika__html_to_png request shape
• Server-side asset/font rules
• Safe-zone guides
• Common gotchas (font loading, retina text sharpness, mid-curve crop)

Each HTML stage should be exactly 1290×2796px. Use @font-face with HTTPS raw font URLs or inline data:font/... sources. Local brand-kit font files must be exposed through a public HTTPS URL or inlined; mcp__pika__upload_asset does not accept font mime types.

After each render, run a pre-delivery QA pass before accepting the PNG. Use mcp__pika__analyze_media on the rendered image and inspect the authored HTML positions when available. Reject and rerender any screen whose text block bounding boxes put load-bearing headline, eyebrow, subhead, CTA, or product UI outside the safe content area documented in references/render-pipeline.md.

Step 5 — Build the contact sheet + deliver

Once all 6 PNGs render cleanly:

1. Build a _preview.png contact sheet with mcp__pika__html_to_png — 6 thumbnails in a 3×2 grid at ~25% size, on a neutral background, labeled by role.
2. Present the contact sheet URL plus each individual screenshot file_url. If you also saved local copies, include those local paths separately.
3. Ask: anything to revise? Common revisions are copy tweaks (cheap) or layout swaps (medium) or new imagery (most expensive).

Do not report the screenshot set complete until _preview.png exists and is included in the delivery. If the contact sheet render fails, fix the sheet HTML or rerender the missing PNGs first; do not deliver only the individual PNGs and call the campaign finished.

The 5 layout archetypes

Use one per screen. Don't stack devices. One bold idea per screen.

See references/layout-archetypes.md for full CSS skeletons and visual examples. Quick reference:

1. Floating device — tilted phone on a splash background. The workhorse. Best for value/feature screens.
2. Full-bleed UI — phone canvas fills the frame; typography overlays at top or bottom. Best for the hook.
3. Side-by-side — device on one side, generated lifestyle imagery on the other. Best for emotional features.
4. Parallax stack — phone in front, branded shape/imagery floating behind. Best for "wow moment" feature screens.
5. Quote card — big pulled quote with a small device tucked in a corner. Best for the proof screen.

Copy — non-negotiable

App Store headlines are tested in a tiny window. They must:

• Be 5–8 words. Anything longer dies on a 6.1" phone in search results.
• Echo the brand voice exactly. If brand.md says voice is "dry, deadpan, never exclamatory," the headlines never end in !. If voice is "warm and a little teasing," the headlines have rhythm.
• Make a claim, not a description. "Sleep like you mean it" > "Track your sleep". "Built for one quiet hour a day" > "Productivity app".
• First two screens work as standalone thumbnails. Bigger type, clearest hook. App Store search shows the first 2-3 expanded; the rest only render if a user taps through.

Banned (these are the App Store equivalent of "crafted with love"):

• "Stay organized."
• "Your daily companion."
• "All-in-one [category]."
• "Designed to help you [verb]."
• "Track. Plan. Achieve."
• Anything with "seamlessly", "effortlessly", "powerful", "smart", "intelligent".

If the headline could appear on 500 other apps without anyone noticing — rewrite.

Visual standards

• The device is the hero — type is the caption. On a 1290×2796 canvas, the device should be 1050–1150px wide (≈ 81–89% of canvas). Anything smaller looks timid. Headlines support the screen content; they don't compete with it.
• Typography hierarchy. One thing dominates per screen — usually the device. Headline 100–140px Funnel-Display-class; subhead 36–44px; visible difference in weight and size. (Past 150px the headline starts fighting the device for the eye.)
• Skip SVG-stroke iPhone frames — they don't align with screenshot corners. Stroke-based SVG bezels sit half-inside/half-outside their path, and the radius/Dynamic Island proportions never quite match a real iPhone. Prefer transparent screenshot exports from Figma/simulator or a real iPhone mockup PNG with a transparent cutout. If only rectangular source screenshots are available, use a consistent CSS border-radius + overflow:hidden wrapper and visually QA the corners. The old local clean_phone_uniform() PIL recipe is now a documented MCP gap, not a default dependency.
• Pick one: bleed OR full-frame. Never mid-crop the bottom curve. Default is full-frame (device top at y=580 with width=1000, so the rounded bottom corners sit fully inside the canvas with ~48px breathing room below). Bleed variant (device top ≥ 819) pushes the rounded bottom corners entirely past y=2796 — useful for hook screens that want drama. Anything in between produces a visible half-cut curve where the canvas slices through the rounded corner mid-arc; this is the failure mode the rule prevents.
• Apple safe zones. Strict safe-zone rule: load-bearing text and product UI must stay inside y=180..2616. The top and bottom 100px bands are never for critical content, and the extra 80px buffer keeps App Store chrome, search-result cropping, and text ascenders from crowding the edge. Decoration is fine; critical claim and readable app UI are not.
• One bold device per screen. Massive type or generated imagery or a quote — not all three. Splashy ≠ chaotic.
• Color from the brand palette only. No new colors invented for the screenshots. If the palette feels too restrictive, that's the brand's problem to solve, not yours.

Sourcing the screens

The raw screens can come from anywhere — an App Store listing fetched through Pika MCP, a Figma frame, a Sketch export, a simulator screenshot, or local files. If the source is an App Store URL/app ID/app name, use the App Store listing path above. If the source is Figma and you have Figma MCP access:

• get_screenshot(fileKey, nodeId) returns the rendered PNG of a node. This works without needing the user to select anything in the Figma desktop app.
• For a strip-of-phones layout, prefer asking for individual phone exports. If only a strip is available, crop manually from the design source or use a future server-side crop/clean tool when exposed; don't make local PIL cropping a default dependency of this skill.
• The natural render is usually at logical-pixel size (e.g. 393×852 per iPhone 15 Pro phone). When you scale this to the default 1000px device width on the App Store canvas, the upscale is acceptable for non-pixel-critical content. For tighter fidelity, ask if there's a higher-resolution export.

Quality bar

Before delivering, do the squint test:

1. Squint at the contact sheet. Can you tell the 6 screens apart at a glance? (Different headlines, different layouts, different focal weight.) If they look like 6 versions of the same screen — redesign.
2. First-2-screens thumbnail test. Crop screens 1 and 2 to 25% size. Is the headline still legible? Is the hook still clear? If you have to lean in, the type is too small.
3. Brand-test. Cover the device on each screen. Does the surrounding design still feel like the brand? (Color, type, mood, voice in headlines.) If not, the screenshot is generic.
4. Anti-generic test (same as build-a-brand): could these screens belong to literally any other app in this category? If yes — rewrite the copy and rework the focal hierarchy.
5. Safe-zone audit. Check every rendered PNG and reject and rerender any screen with load-bearing text or product UI outside the safe content area.

Load-bearing phrases

These anchors keep the generated campaign legible and on-brand:

Phrase	Where	Why load-bearing
vertical composition with negative space in upper third for headline	Brand-world image prompts	Leaves usable space for real App Store headline type instead of forcing text over busy imagery.
The device is the hero — type is the caption	Visual standards	Prevents poster-like screens where copy overwhelms the product UI.
Apple safe zones	Visual standards / render QA	Keeps critical claims clear of status-bar and App Store overlay areas.
no text, no logos	Generated background prompts	Avoids unusable generated typography; real copy is added in HTML.
Pick one: bleed OR full-frame	Device layout rule	Prevents the half-cut rounded-corner crop that looks like a rendering bug.

Engine choice: HTML-first render, gpt-image-2 only for brand-world imagery

The final screenshots should be deterministic HTML/CSS composites rendered through mcp__pika__html_to_png, because App Store copy, device masks, safe zones, and brand typography need exact control. Use gpt-image-2 only for splash/background/brand-world imagery where generation adds visual richness; keep real product UI as screenshots. Bump gpt-image-2 to its 2K/4K tier (or escalate to seedream) only when a specific generated background genuinely needs higher resolution than 1K.

Runtime Expectations

Typical run time is 10-25 minutes, depending on how much user confirmation is needed:

Step	Wall clock	Notes
Intake + style choice	1-5 min	User-paced if a reference is needed
Brand/screenshot read	2-5 min	Includes visual inspection and feature mapping
Strategy pitch	2-5 min	Best place to iterate copy cheaply
Image generation	2-8 min	Only for backgrounds or reference-driven hero imagery
HTML composite + render	5-10 min	Six 1290x2796 PNGs plus contact sheet
QA revisions	variable	Copy tweaks are cheap; new imagery is slower

Failure Modes

Symptom	Cause	Fix
Screens look like six variants of the same layout	Default skeleton was repeated without enough content contrast	Reassign layout archetypes and rotate focal weight, color, and screenshot choice
Headlines are illegible in contact sheet	Type is too small for App Store thumbnail use	Increase headline size, shorten copy to 5-8 words, and rerender
Generated background contains text or fake UI	Prompt over-described brand/product specifics	Regenerate with a no-text/no-logo guardrail and reserve the real UI for screenshots
App Store listing has fewer than 3 usable screenshots	Thin App Store listing, often a companion app or early listing	Use the website-capture path, ask for real screenshots, or stop. For fictional launch-demo concepts only, use Fictional app demo mode with demo_mode: true, demo_brief, and the demo-only disclosure
Fictional app has no real product screenshots	Launch-demo concept needs representative UI, but production rules forbid hallucinated UI	Use Fictional app demo mode only with demo_mode: true, a concrete demo_brief, representative UI mocks, and a demo-only disclosure
Load-bearing text appears too close to the top or bottom edge	Safe-zone QA was skipped or checked only the rendered look, not text block bounding boxes	Reject and rerender with text block bounding boxes inside the strict safe-zone margin
Device corners look uneven	Source screenshot already contains background in the rounded corner area, or CSS radius does not match the source	Ask for transparent/high-res source exports, use a real mockup cutout, or apply one consistent CSS mask and visually QA. A server-side uniform corner cleaner is still a tool gap.
Brand feels generic after hiding the screenshots	Surrounding design ignores brand.md voice, palette, or imagery rules	Rebuild the screen shell from the brand spec before rerendering
Render is blurry or scaled	Stage dimensions or raster options are wrong	Verify 1290x2796 stage size and mcp__pika__html_to_png viewport_px:1290x2796, device_scale:1

When to push back on the user

• If they want a "jazzed up" version without supplying a reference → push back. Ask for a screenshot of an App Store page they love, a figma file, or a moodboard. Explain that without a reference, you'll deliver default plus their brand color, and that's better than guessing at "exciting." (This rule comes from real campaign work — auto-jazzing produced amateur output every time.)
• If they want a 10-screen campaign → push back. 5-6 is the sweet spot; more is fatigue.
• If the brand voice in brand.md is generic ("modern, friendly, intuitive") → flag it. You can still produce screens, but tell them the headlines will only be as distinctive as the voice spec. Offer to sharpen the voice first (it lives in brand.md's Voice & Tone section).
• If they have no real product screenshots and did not explicitly request fictional app demo mode → don't invent UI. Ask for screenshots, website/onboarding capture targets, or explicit demo_mode: true with a concrete demo_brief.
• If they don't have a brand at all → don't proceed on vibes. Route them to build-a-brand first, or have them write at minimum: name, palette hexes, display font, body font, one-line voice description.

References

• references/default-layout.md — the visual system the skill produces when the user supplies no reference. Read this first for any run. Codifies the headline-top + device-dominant + full-frame composition, color rotation, and squint-test checklist. This is what the skill delivers well.
• references/layout-archetypes.md — vocabulary list of layout patterns found in real App Store campaigns. Use only to analyze a user-supplied reference. Not a free-choice menu.
• references/render-pipeline.md — mcp__pika__html_to_png render request, server-side asset/font rules, safe-zone overlay, font-loading checklist, pre-delivery checklist.