Style playbooks are YAML definitions that establish the visual language, typography, motion rules, audio treatment, and asset generation constraints for a production. They keep generated images, video clips, charts, subtitles, and the final composition visually consistent.

Built-in Playbooks#

OpenMontage includes three built-in playbooks:

• clean-professional — polished, trustworthy look for corporate, educational, and SaaS videos.
• flat-motion-graphics — energetic, bold style for social media, TikTok, and startup content.
• minimalist-diagram — focused, technical style for architecture deep-dives and data visualizations.

Pipelines declare which playbooks they support in their manifest:

compatible_playbooks:
  recommended:
    - flat-motion-graphics
  also_works:
    - clean-professional
    - minimalist-diagram
  custom_allowed: true

See Pipeline System for the full manifest structure and Available Pipelines for which pipelines support which playbooks.

Schema and Validation#

Every playbook is validated against the JSON schema for playbooks. The schema requires sections covering:

• Identity (name, category, mood, pace, best_for)
• Visual language (color_palette, composition, texture)
• Typography (headings, body, code, stat_card, scale_system)
• Motion (transitions, animation_style, pacing_rules)
• Audio (voice_style, music_mood, music_volume)
• Asset generation (image_prompt_prefix, consistency_anchors)
• Quality rules and chart_palette

Validation occurs before a playbook can be used in any stage.

See Schemas and Artifacts for the complete schema definition.

Selection and Locking#

You choose a playbook during the proposal stage. The choice is recorded in the proposal_packet under production_plan.playbook and carried unchanged into edit_decisions and the final render. This locking prevents style drift across revisions or between team members.

Integration with Composition Runtimes#

The selected playbook directly influences rendering in the available composition engines.

Remotion resolves the playbook name to a theme that controls React components such as text cards, stat cards, charts, and image scenes.

HyperFrames converts playbook values into CSS custom properties and a design specification that drives HTML/CSS/GSAP timelines.

See Composition Runtimes for how to evaluate and lock a runtime alongside the playbook at proposal time.

Custom Playbooks#

When a pipeline manifest sets extensions.custom_playbooks: true, you may supply additional playbooks. These must still pass schema validation and are referenced the same way as built-in playbooks once selected.

Playbooks are one of the first decisions locked in a production. They affect every downstream asset and composition step, so review the compatible options and the delivery promise before approving the proposal.