Claude slack-gif-creator skill

A custom emoji for a team win or a launch is a small job that usually ends up in an image editor. Anthropic's slack-gif-creator skill lets you ask Claude for it in a sentence: "make me a GIF of X doing Y for Slack". It is an open-source example skill under the Apache 2.0 license, and a compact example of a skill that ships its own helper code. For how skills load, see how Claude Skills work.

What the skill does

The SKILL.md holds Slack's practical limits and a small Python toolkit:

• Sizes: 128 x 128 pixels for emoji GIFs and 480 x 480 for message GIFs.
• Settings: 10 to 30 frames per second and 48 to 128 colors, with fewer of each for smaller files. Emoji GIFs stay under 3 seconds.
• GIFBuilder assembles frames and optimizes them for Slack.
• Validators check a finished file against the emoji or message rules.
• Easing functions make motion speed up and slow down smoothly instead of moving at a fixed rate.

Claude draws frames with the PIL imaging library: thick outlines, gradients, layered shapes and contrasting colors, as the skill's style notes ask. If you upload an image, Claude decides whether you want it animated directly or used as inspiration. The skill tells Claude not to rely on emoji fonts, because they render differently across platforms.

When to use it

• A custom reaction emoji for a team channel.
• A small celebration GIF for a launch or milestone post, alongside an update written with internal-comms.
• Animating a simple logo or icon you already have.

For a still poster, canvas-design fits better, and for real video clips see our guide to AI video generators. Our fun prompts have ideas for the GIF itself.

How to install it

Claude.ai: the anthropics/skills README says its example skills are already available on paid plans. Turn on code execution and check Customize > Skills.

Claude Code:

/plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills
/plugin install example-skills@anthropic-agent-skills

Example request

Make me a Slack emoji GIF of [object or character] doing [action], [colors]. 128 x 128, under 3 seconds, looping. Check it against the emoji rules before you send it.

Limits

• Unless you upload an image, graphics are drawn from shapes in code. Expect simple, bold animations.
• You upload the result to Slack yourself. The skill does not connect to your workspace.
• Anthropic labels its example skills as demonstrations and advises testing before you rely on them.

FAQ

What size should a Slack emoji GIF be?

The skill uses 128 x 128 pixels for emoji and 480 x 480 for GIFs posted in messages.