Redlamp Blog

Announcing a post: its kit

1. The card's words go in docs/blog/social/<slug>/card.json. title is the post's title in lines broken at phrases, two or three of them. subtitle is two plain sentences in the owner's voice: a fact from the post, then "This is how I …". titleSize (128 pixels by default) only when three lines don't fit. A [bracketed] part of the subtitle is picked out in white; the owner prefers none (5 October). eyebrow and url default to "From the blog" and "redlamp.app/blog".
2. Render it. Make the venv its docstring gives, then /tmp/rl-card/bin/python .cursor/skills/redlamp-blog/card/render.py docs/blog/social/<slug> --still and look at card.png. Then render it all with --downloads, which takes a minute or two, and look at a few of the GIF's frames as well. It stops when a line runs past the margins or the text comes within 40 px of the lockup, and warns when the GIF is over the 5 MB X allows from a phone.
3. The copy goes in posts.md, laid out as the existing kits are:
   • X: it opens with "Redlamp is a free, open-source raw editor for the Mac that works like Lightroom.", the owner's line, so people who don't know Redlamp have the context. Then a plain line on what the post is about, then "New post: …" and the link. Under 280 characters, counting a link as 23 (count with code, not by eye), with an alternative. No hashtags, emoji or exclamation marks.
   • LinkedIn: longer and in the first person, in short paragraphs: what Redlamp is, the problem the post takes on and what it shows, the link, and a question to close. About 150 to 200 words. It takes card.mp4, which LinkedIn plays, or card.png.
   • Alt text for the card, and the post's own images that would work as a second picture.
4. In the room: the post's shares, word for word from posts.md, each with an ID (x-<slug>, linkedin-<slug>); upNext set to the post; a Needs you item for each share, naming it in share so the item takes the share's buttons; then python3 .cursor/skills/redlamp-blog/room.py thumbs.

Recording what's posted

posted lists everything posted to announce Redlamp or a post, newest first: the blog's shares and the rest, such as Reddit, Product Hunt or a promo. Each row says what it rests on: a link, the owner's mark, his word in a chat (with the chat's ID), or only a draft. A share that was planned or scheduled but never confirmed is unconfirmed, with a Needs you item asking. Nothing is recorded as having gone out on less than the owner's word or a link.

Writing in the owner's voice

The site's prose is largely agent-written, so take the owner's voice from his own messages in the agent transcripts (~/.cursor/projects/Users-pedrogomes-src-darkroom/agent-transcripts/*/*.jsonl, the "role":"user" lines), not from the posts. He writes plainly, in the first person, with phrases such as "a bunch of", "essentially", "Ideally" and "to be honest", and short sentences for emphasis. No em or en dashes, no superlatives the README doesn't make, and none of the usual tells ("delve", "seamless", "game-changer", "unlock", a closing moral). British spelling (docs/brand/README.md). He has turned copy down as "too AI slop-py"; when in doubt, write it plainer.

Claim only what the post or the README says, checked against them.

Evolving the room

The owner shapes the room as needs come up. A new list, state or button goes into the template and this skill in the same change, and the room picks it up. Commit both on main: Blog room: ….