Image Caption Writer

What it does

Looks at each image alongside its surrounding post content and the site's established voice, then drafts a caption that adds context a reader wouldn't get from the image alone, not a restatement of the alt text. Distinguishes clearly between the caption (visible, editorial) and alt text (accessibility, often invisible), producing both where needed.

Install

This skill isn't packaged in an installable registry. It's a plain SKILL.md file you can copy directly. Copy it from the SKILL.md tab and save it at the path for your assistant:

Use it in your AI assistant

Claude Code

.claude/skills/image-caption-writer/ (or ~/.claude/skills/image-caption-writer/ for all projects)

GitHub Copilot (VS Code)

.github/skills/image-caption-writer/

OpenAI Codex

.codex/skills/image-caption-writer/

Cursor

.cursor/skills/image-caption-writer/ (or ~/.cursor/skills/image-caption-writer/ globally)

Compatibility

Any WordPress site. Requires the agent to view the actual image content, not just its filename or existing metadata.

The complete SKILL.md for this skill:

---
name: image-caption-writer
description: Use when a user wants captions written or improved for featured images or in-post photos, or asks for images to feel less bare or more "on-brand".
---

# Image Caption Writer

## When to use
A post or page has images with no caption, or captions that just restate the filename or the alt text, and the user wants them to add real editorial value.

## Procedure
1. Identify target images: a specific post's featured image and in-post photos, or a batch across recent posts.
2. Read the surrounding paragraph and the post's overall topic so the caption can add context rather than repeat what's already said.
3. Look at the actual image and note what's visible that's relevant: who's shown, what's happening, any detail that supports the post's point.
4. Draft a caption in the site's existing voice (check a few recent posts for tone), typically one sentence, sometimes a short fragment.
5. Keep captions distinct from alt text, if both are missing, write alt text separately and don't just duplicate the caption into it.
6. Present drafts for approval before publishing, since captions are visible to every reader.

## Guardrails
- Don't caption purely decorative or repeated images (icons, dividers, logo marks), skip those.
- Never invent details about people or events in the photo that aren't visually confirmable.