explainer

Original🇺🇸 English
Translated

Create explainer videos with narration and AI-generated visuals. Triggers on: "解说视频", "explainer video", "explain this as a video", "tutorial video", "introduce X (video)", "解释一下XX(视频形式)".

4installs
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NPX Install

npx skill4agent add marswaveai/skills explainer

When to Use

  • User wants to create an explainer or tutorial video
  • User asks to "explain" something in video form
  • User wants narrated content with AI-generated visuals
  • User says "explainer video", "解说视频", "tutorial video"

When NOT to Use

  • User wants audio-only content without visuals (use
    /speech
    or
    /podcast
    )
  • User wants a podcast-style discussion (use
    /podcast
    )
  • User wants to generate a standalone image (use
    /image-gen
    )
  • User wants to read text aloud without video (use
    /speech
    )

Purpose

Generate explainer videos that combine a single narrator's voiceover with AI-generated visuals. Ideal for product introductions, concept explanations, and tutorials. Supports text-only script generation or full text + video output.

Hard Constraints

  • No shell scripts. Construct curl commands from the API reference files listed in Resources
  • Always read
    shared/authentication.md
    for API key and headers
  • Follow
    shared/common-patterns.md
    for polling, errors, and interaction patterns
  • Always read config following
    shared/config-pattern.md
    before any interaction
  • Never hardcode speaker IDs — always fetch from the speakers API
  • Never save files to
    ~/Downloads/
    — use
    .listenhub/explainer/
    from config
  • Explainer uses exactly 1 speaker
  • Mode must be
    info
    (for Info style) or
    story
    (for Story style) — never
    slides
    (use
    /slides
    skill instead)
<HARD-GATE> Use the AskUserQuestion tool for every multiple-choice step — do NOT print options as plain text. Ask one question at a time. Wait for the user's answer before proceeding to the next step. After all parameters are collected, summarize the choices and ask the user to confirm. Do NOT call any generation API until the user has explicitly confirmed. </HARD-GATE>

Step -1: API Key Check

Follow
shared/config-pattern.md
§ API Key Check. If the key is missing, stop immediately.

Step 0: Config Setup

Follow
shared/config-pattern.md
Step 0.
If file doesn't exist — ask location, then create immediately:
bash
mkdir -p ".listenhub/explainer"
echo '{"outputDir":".listenhub","outputMode":"inline","language":null,"defaultStyle":null,"defaultSpeakers":{}}' > ".listenhub/explainer/config.json"
CONFIG_PATH=".listenhub/explainer/config.json"
# (or $HOME/.listenhub/explainer/config.json for global)
Then run Setup Flow below.
If file exists — read config, display summary, and confirm:
当前配置 (explainer):
  输出方式:{inline / download / both}
  语言偏好:{zh / en / 未设置}
  默认风格:{info / story / 未设置}
  默认主播:{speakerName / 未设置}
Ask: "使用已保存的配置?" → 确认,直接继续 / 重新配置

Setup Flow (first run or reconfigure)

Ask these questions in order, then save all answers to config at once:
  1. outputMode: Follow
    shared/output-mode.md
    § Setup Flow Question.
  2. Language (optional): "默认语言?"
    • "中文 (zh)"
    • "English (en)"
    • "每次手动选择" → keep
      null
  3. Style (optional): "默认风格?"
    • "Info — 信息展示型"
    • "Story — 故事叙述型"
    • "每次手动选择" → keep
      null
After collecting answers, save immediately:
bash
# Follow shared/output-mode.md § Save to Config
NEW_CONFIG=$(echo "$CONFIG" | jq --arg m "$OUTPUT_MODE" '. + {"outputMode": $m}')
echo "$NEW_CONFIG" > "$CONFIG_PATH"
CONFIG=$(cat "$CONFIG_PATH")
Note:
defaultSpeakers
are saved after generation (see After Successful Generation section).

Interaction Flow

Step 1: Topic / Content

Free text input. Ask the user:
What would you like to explain or introduce?
Accept: topic description, text content, or concept to explain.

Step 2: Language

If
config.language
is set, pre-fill and show in summary — skip this question. Otherwise ask:
Question: "What language?"
Options:
  - "Chinese (zh)" — Content in Mandarin Chinese
  - "English (en)" — Content in English

Step 3: Style

If
config.defaultStyle
is set, pre-fill and show in summary — skip this question. Otherwise ask:
Question: "What style of explainer?"
Options:
  - "Info" — Informational, factual presentation style
  - "Story" — Narrative, storytelling approach

Step 4: Speaker Selection

Follow
shared/speaker-selection.md
for the full selection flow, including:
  • Default from
    config.defaultSpeakers.{language}
    (skip step if set)
  • Text table + free-text input
  • Input matching and re-prompt on no match
Only 1 speaker is supported for explainer videos.

Step 5: Output Type

Question: "What output do you want?"
Options:
  - "Text script only" — Generate narration script, no video
  - "Text + Video" — Generate full explainer video with AI visuals

Step 6: Confirm & Generate

Summarize all choices:
Ready to generate explainer:

  Topic: {topic}
  Language: {language}
  Style: {info/story}
  Speaker: {speaker name}
  Output: {text only / text + video}

  Proceed?
Wait for explicit confirmation before calling any API.

Workflow

  1. Submit (foreground):
    POST /storybook/episodes
    with content, speaker, language, mode → extract
    episodeId
  2. Tell the user the task is submitted
  3. Poll (background): Run the following exact bash command with
    run_in_background: true
    and
    timeout: 600000
    . Do NOT use python3, awk, or any other JSON parser — use
    jq
    as shown:
    bash
    EPISODE_ID="<id-from-step-1>"
    for i in $(seq 1 30); do
      RESULT=$(curl -sS "https://api.marswave.ai/openapi/v1/storybook/episodes/$EPISODE_ID" \
        -H "Authorization: Bearer $LISTENHUB_API_KEY" 2>/dev/null)
      STATUS=$(echo "$RESULT" | tr -d '\000-\037\177' | jq -r '.data.processStatus // "pending"')
      case "$STATUS" in
        success|completed) echo "$RESULT"; exit 0 ;;
        failed|error) echo "FAILED: $RESULT" >&2; exit 1 ;;
        *) sleep 10 ;;
      esac
    done
    echo "TIMEOUT" >&2; exit 2
  4. When notified, download and present script:
    Read
    OUTPUT_MODE
    from config. Follow
    shared/output-mode.md
    for behavior.
    inline
    or
    both
    : Present the script inline.
    Present:
    解说脚本已生成!
    
    「{title}」
    
    在线查看:https://listenhub.ai/app/explainer/{episodeId}
    download
    or
    both
    : Also save the script file.
    • Create
      .listenhub/explainer/YYYY-MM-DD-{episodeId}/
    • Write
      {episodeId}.md
      from the generated script content
    • Present the download path in addition to the above summary.
  5. If video requested:
    POST /storybook/episodes/{episodeId}/video
    (foreground) → poll again (background) using the exact bash command below with
    run_in_background: true
    and
    timeout: 600000
    . Poll for
    videoStatus
    , not
    processStatus
    :
    bash
    EPISODE_ID="<id-from-step-1>"
    for i in $(seq 1 30); do
      RESULT=$(curl -sS "https://api.marswave.ai/openapi/v1/storybook/episodes/$EPISODE_ID" \
        -H "Authorization: Bearer $LISTENHUB_API_KEY" 2>/dev/null)
      STATUS=$(echo "$RESULT" | tr -d '\000-\037\177' | jq -r '.data.videoStatus // "pending"')
      case "$STATUS" in
        success|completed) echo "$RESULT"; exit 0 ;;
        failed|error) echo "FAILED: $RESULT" >&2; exit 1 ;;
        *) sleep 10 ;;
      esac
    done
    echo "TIMEOUT" >&2; exit 2
  6. When notified, download and present result:
Present result
Read
OUTPUT_MODE
from config. Follow
shared/output-mode.md
for behavior.
inline
or
both
: Display video URL and audio URL as clickable links.
Present:
解说视频已生成!

视频链接:{videoUrl}
音频链接:{audioUrl}
时长:{duration}s
消耗积分:{credits}
download
or
both
: Also download the audio file.
bash
DATE=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
JOB_DIR=".listenhub/explainer/${DATE}-{jobId}"
mkdir -p "$JOB_DIR"
curl -sS -o "${JOB_DIR}/{jobId}.mp3" "{audioUrl}"
Present the download path in addition to the above summary.

After Successful Generation

Update config with the choices made this session:
bash
NEW_CONFIG=$(echo "$CONFIG" | jq \
  --arg lang "{language}" \
  --arg style "{info/story}" \
  --arg speakerId "{speakerId}" \
  '. + {"language": $lang, "defaultStyle": $style, "defaultSpeakers": (.defaultSpeakers + {($lang): [$speakerId]})}')
echo "$NEW_CONFIG" > "$CONFIG_PATH"
Estimated times:
  • Text script only: 2-3 minutes
  • Text + Video: 3-5 minutes

API Reference

  • Speaker list:
    shared/api-speakers.md
  • Speaker selection guide:
    shared/speaker-selection.md
  • Episode creation:
    shared/api-storybook.md
  • Polling:
    shared/common-patterns.md
    § Async Polling
  • Config pattern:
    shared/config-pattern.md

Composability

  • Invokes: speakers API (for speaker selection); may invoke
    /speech
    for voiceover
  • Invoked by: content-planner (Phase 3)

Example

User: "Create an explainer video introducing Claude Code"
Agent workflow:
  1. Topic: "Claude Code introduction"
  2. Ask language → "English"
  3. Ask style → "Info"
  4. Fetch speakers, user picks "cozy-man-english"
  5. Ask output → "Text + Video"
bash
curl -sS -X POST "https://api.marswave.ai/openapi/v1/storybook/episodes" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $LISTENHUB_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "sources": [{"type": "text", "content": "Introduce Claude Code: what it is, key features, and how to get started"}],
    "speakers": [{"speakerId": "cozy-man-english"}],
    "language": "en",
    "mode": "info"
  }'
Poll until text is ready, then generate video if requested.