# AI Thumbnail Generator - Faces + Hook Headlines (`dami_studio/viral-thumbnail-generator`) Actor

Ship a click-worthy thumbnail for every video in seconds. Give it a title or story and it detects the emotion, writes an all-caps hook, renders a hyper-real close-up face with gpt-image-1, then burns the headline on with a real font so the type stays crisp. 9:16, 16:9 or 1:1. BYO OpenAI key.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/dami\_studio/viral-thumbnail-generator.md
- **Developed by:** [Dami's Studio](https://apify.com/dami_studio) (community)
- **Categories:** For creators, Marketing, AI
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $150.00 / 1,000 thumbnail generateds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## AI Thumbnail Generator

Turn a title or a story into a thumbnail people actually click: an AI-generated emotional close-up face with a bold hook headline burned across the lower third. Built for YouTube, Shorts and Reels covers, TikTok, and ad creative, where the thumbnail does most of the work and you need a new one for every video.

### How it works

It scans your title and story for emotional cues (betrayal, rage, shock, heartbreak, and a few others), picks the strongest match, and writes a short all-caps hook from the same text. That feeds a prompt to gpt-image-1, which renders a hyper-realistic face with deliberately empty space at the bottom. The image comes back text-free on purpose, then the hook is overlaid afterward with a real font so the type stays crisp instead of being mangled by the image model.

### Input

You can run it with nothing but a title. Everything else is an override or a knob.

| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| `title` | No\* | The video title or story headline. Drives both the detected emotion and the hook. AITA/TIFU shorthand gets expanded automatically. |
| `story` | No\* | Full script or story text. Gives the emotion detection and hook extraction more to work with. |
| `aspectRatio` | No | `9:16` (Shorts/Reels/TikTok, default), `16:9` (YouTube long-form), or `1:1` (square). |
| `emotion` | No | Force the facial emotion instead of auto-detecting. One of betrayal, rage, shock, disgust, heartbreak, fear, guilt, defiance. |
| `hookText` | No | Force the burned-in headline. Leave empty to derive it from the title or story. |
| `gender` | No | Bias the face, e.g. `feminine` or `masculine`. Empty uses the model default. |
| `burnText` | No | Overlay the hook on the image. Default true. Turn off to get the raw face only. |
| `openaiApiKey` | No | Your OpenAI key for gpt-image-1. Bring your own. Marked secret. Leave it empty for a labeled SAMPLE run: you get one example thumbnail-metadata record (no image rendered, no charge) so you can preview the output shape; add your key to render a real thumbnail PNG. |
| `imageQuality` | No | gpt-image-1 quality: low, medium, or high. Default high. This is what moves your OpenAI bill. |

\*At least one of `title` or `story` is needed, otherwise there's nothing to work from.

### Output

One PNG per run, saved to the key-value store, with a record pushed to the dataset. The record includes `output.imageUrl` and `output.imageKey` for the file, plus `emotion`, `hookText`, `aspectRatio`, and `size` so you can see what it decided. If the text overlay fails for any reason, you still get the face image back without the headline rather than an error.

If you run without an `openaiApiKey` (the default keyless run), you get one clearly-labeled SAMPLE record instead — marked with `_sample: true` and a `note` explaining that no image was rendered and no charge was made. It carries the same fields (`emotion`, `hookText`, `aspectRatio`, `size`, `imagePrompt`) so you can preview the exact output shape before bringing your own key.

### Example

```json
{
  "title": "AITA for refusing to pay for my sister's wedding?",
  "aspectRatio": "9:16",
  "imageQuality": "high",
  "openaiApiKey": "sk-..."
}
```

### Pricing

$0.15 per thumbnail, pay per result, no subscription. The image generation runs on your own OpenAI key, so that usage is billed to you separately by OpenAI.

### Notes

It needs an OpenAI key with gpt-image-1 access. Emotion detection is keyword-based, so it lands well on emotionally loaded story titles (relationship drama, AITA-style posts) and is less sure on dry or abstract ones. When auto-detection guesses wrong, set `emotion` and `hookText` directly.

# Actor input Schema

## `title` (type: `string`):

The video title or story headline (e.g. an AITA/TIFU title). Drives emotion + hook text.

## `story` (type: `string`):

Full story or script text for richer emotion detection and hook extraction.

## `subreddit` (type: `string`):

If 'amitheasshole', the hook is fixed to 'AM I THE A-HOLE ?'. Otherwise informs hook style.

## `aspectRatio` (type: `string`):

9:16 for Shorts/Reels/TikTok, 16:9 for YouTube long-form, 1:1 for square.

## `emotion` (type: `string`):

Force a facial emotion instead of auto-detecting from the text.

## `hookText` (type: `string`):

Force the burned-in headline text. Leave empty to auto-derive from the title/story.

## `gender` (type: `string`):

Bias the generated face, e.g. 'feminine' or 'masculine'. Leave empty for model default.

## `burnText` (type: `boolean`):

Overlay the bold hook headline on the lower third. Turn off to get the raw face image only.

## `openaiApiKey` (type: `string`):

Your OpenAI key for image generation (gpt-image-1). Kept private. Leave empty to get a labeled SAMPLE thumbnail-metadata record (no image is rendered and you are not charged) — add your key to render a real thumbnail PNG.

## `imageModel` (type: `string`):

Image model name. Default gpt-image-1.

## `imageQuality` (type: `string`):

gpt-image-1 quality: low / medium / high.

## `imageBaseUrl` (type: `string`):

OpenAI-compatible images base URL. Default https://api.openai.com/v1.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "title": "AITA for refusing to pay for my sister's wedding?",
  "aspectRatio": "9:16",
  "burnText": true,
  "imageModel": "gpt-image-1",
  "imageQuality": "high"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Result rows / metadata are stored in the default dataset (one row per item).

## `files` (type: `string`):

Generated media/files (video, audio, images, captions) are stored in the default key-value store.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "title": "AITA for refusing to pay for my sister's wedding?"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("dami_studio/viral-thumbnail-generator").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "title": "AITA for refusing to pay for my sister's wedding?" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("dami_studio/viral-thumbnail-generator").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "title": "AITA for refusing to pay for my sister'\''s wedding?"
}' |
apify call dami_studio/viral-thumbnail-generator --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=dami_studio/viral-thumbnail-generator",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/gGbmaM9JuaJflZ47M/builds/1w3oOJvlgZVdb64zS/openapi.json