Website · Examples · GitHub Social Preview guide
Many programmers are better at building projects than presenting them. I am one of them. As AI coding makes it easier to create more, giving people a clear reason to look twice may matter.
That is how RepoCover came to be. I made it in a day. It looked pretty good, so I started using it myself.
RepoCover is an open-source AI coding Skill that reads a repository before designing its GitHub Social Preview. It creates an editable SVG and an exact 1280×640 PNG under 1 MB.
- Reads before it designs: it looks at the README, code, interface, and project assets before deciding what the cover should show.
- Chooses a visual approach that fits the project: a working interface, an existing main visual, and a project with no suitable image each need a different treatment.
- Improves useful source material: recognizable screenshots, artwork, and brand elements can be kept, cleaned up, and recomposed instead of pasted into a fixed layout.
- Still works without a suitable image: when needed, it can derive a visual direction from what the project actually does rather than applying a template.
- Works with local and remote repositories: projects that can be previewed locally—especially web projects with an existing interface—usually provide the best source material.
- Ready for GitHub Social Preview: GitHub accepts PNG, JPG, or GIF files under 1 MB, recommends at least
640×320, and identifies1280×640as the best display size. See GitHub's Social Preview documentation.
Open your AI agent—Codex is recommended—and send these two messages in order:
Install the Skill from https://github.com/onovich/RepoCover.
Use $repo-cover to create a cover for the current project.
RepoCover writes:
docs/social-preview.svg
docs/social-preview.png
Creating the files does not authorize README edits, uploads, or repository-setting changes. Ask for those separately when you want them.
Browse the example gallery for more context. Each image below links to the public repository behind it.
| Research | PrismDraft | LittlePNG |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
| DeskMochi | AudioTrim | Beat |
 |
 |
 |
| JustGoal.skill | Knot | Ping |
 |
 |
 |
- Read the repository and identify what the project does.
- Check whether the available interface, artwork, or other project material is suitable for a small shared image.
- Keep what already works, remove distracting details, and add only what the composition needs. If no useful image exists, derive a visual direction from the project itself.
- Export an editable SVG and an exact
1280×640PNG under 1 MB. - Check the result at full size and thumbnail size on light and dark backgrounds.
Detailed Skill instructions live in skill/repo-cover/.
Requirements:
- Python 3.10+
- Node.js 20+
- Sharp available when rendering SVG to PNG
Run the repository checks:
python scripts/check.py
Release notes and project checks are documented in docs/RELEASE_CHECKLIST.md.
RepoCover is an independent open-source project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by GitHub, Inc. GitHub is a trademark of GitHub, Inc.