Zebrafish Long-Form Animated Video

Follow the phases in order. Do not skip a phase or a gate. The zebrafish router skill's Setup and Gates (spend, claim, identity, publish) apply before and during this playbook.

Preconditions (MUST)#

• Router setup is complete: context script ran, campaign/product knowledge loaded, and ../zebrafish/references/tool-belt.md read (hosted: https://zebrafish.dev/skills/zebrafish/references/tool-belt.md).

• Required inputs, all present:

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    Goal and audience.

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    Target duration.

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    Platform and aspect ratios, usually 16:9 plus optional 9:16 and 1:1 cutdowns.

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    Brand/project context or campaign ID.

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    Source references: product, website, script, deck, outline, or existing assets.

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    Tone, pacing, and approval requirements.

• If a required input is missing, STOP and ask for it. Do not guess.

Phase 1 - Intake and Brief (gate: brief confirmed)#

Restate the brief back to the user before any planning work:

• Outputs: final video plus any cutdowns, with platform, aspect ratio, and target duration for each.

• Audience, goal, tone, and pacing.

• Voiceover, captions, music, and sound design: requested or not.

• Allowed and forbidden claims; brand rules and hard constraints.

• Approval needs.

Write the BRIEF artifact. STOP until the user confirms scope. Do not plan or spend against an unconfirmed brief.

Phase 2 - Plan (gate: spend approved)#

1. Write STORY_BIBLE and EPISODE_OUTLINE, then the full SCRIPT.

2. Split the script into SCENE_LIST and SHOT_LIST with per-shot duration, framing, and motion notes.

3. Decide per shot: generated still, animated clip, deterministic composition, b-roll, captions, voiceover, or sound design. Record in STYLE_FRAME_PLAN, VOICEOVER_PLAN, MUSIC_SFX_PLAN, ASSET_PLAN, and TIMELINE_PLAN.

4. End with a production plan: which artifacts get generated, which models (chosen via list_models), unit counts, and estimated cost.

STOP for spend approval per the router spend gate before any paid generation. Approval covers the stated batch only; scope growth re-asks.

Phase 3 - Produce#

1. Generate style frames or keyframes with approved Studio image models.

2. Generate animated clips or deterministic segments through approved runtime paths only.

3. Generate voice, audio, or captions if requested and approved.

4. Assemble the timeline; use a repeatable workflow when assembly has many steps or will be reused.

5. Poll every generation and run to a terminal state.

6. As each output completes, record its provenance fields (provider, model, prompt, generation/run IDs, references, cost) into the delivery document. Draft the delivery document during this phase, not after.

Phase 4 - Verify#

Apply the video gates from ../zebrafish/references/verification.md (hosted: https://zebrafish.dev/skills/zebrafish/references/verification.md):

• Inspect actual frames: first, middle, end, and every scene transition.

• Check shot order against SHOT_LIST and SCRIPT.

• Check captions, voiceover, and music timing against the script.

• Check aspect ratio and duration per platform, for the long version and every cutdown.

• Confirm every URL is reachable and cost evidence is captured.

Run node ../zebrafish/scripts/verify.mjs --strict <delivery file> (the router skill ships the same script; agents may use either copy). A non-zero exit fails the gate: fix findings or move them to ## Unverified with a reason, then re-run until it exits clean.

Phase 5 - Deliver#

MUST use the delivery template from ../zebrafish/references/delivery.md (hosted: https://zebrafish.dev/skills/zebrafish/references/delivery.md): a # Delivery: title, then ## Outputs, ## Provenance, ## Verification, ## Unverified, in that order. URLs first.

After the template sections, append the skill's extra artifacts: script link or text, scene list summary, and timeline notes. Update the PROVENANCE and VERIFY_REPORT artifacts to match.

Studio Artifacts#

Create or maintain BRIEF, STORY_BIBLE, EPISODE_OUTLINE, SCRIPT, SCENE_LIST, SHOT_LIST, STYLE_FRAME_PLAN, VOICEOVER_PLAN, MUSIC_SFX_PLAN, ASSET_PLAN, TIMELINE_PLAN, PROVENANCE, and VERIFY_REPORT.

Provider Policy#

• Production provider path: Zebrafish/FAL-approved models and existing Zebrafish tools.

• Research-only provider candidates: HyperFrames, Remotion, Higgsfield, RunComfy, GPT Image 2, Nano Banana, and Seedance-style workflows.

• Do not present research-provider output as production-integrated unless it was produced through an approved Zebrafish runtime path.

Stop Conditions#

STOP and ask before:

• spending through Studio generation that is not already approved;

• publishing a workflow;

• using identity or persona generation;

• making unverified product or legal claims;

• switching to an unapproved external provider.