Slack GIF Creator: Turn Flat Messages into Moments People Remember

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Official Anthropic skill on GitHub

Summary

Your big announcement gets buried in 47 unread messages. The quarterly win? Three thumbs-up emojis and silence. Important updates feel like shouting into a void.

Instead, make messages impossible to scroll past. Claude creates custom GIFs that match your message, your brand, and your team's vibe—so your announcements actually land.

Stop sending text walls. Start sending moments that stick.

Celebration GIFs That Feel Personal

Launch party? Sales milestone? Team anniversary? Get animated celebrations with your team's inside jokes, not generic confetti from Giphy.

Announcement Animations That Stop the Scroll

Product updates, policy changes, deadline reminders—turn forgettable text into eye-catching visuals people actually notice in a busy channel.

Custom Reactions for Your Culture

Build a library of team-specific reaction GIFs. The running joke from last quarter's offsite. The CEO's favorite phrase. GIFs that make your Slack feel like your Slack.

Pros

  • Turn forgettable announcements into messages people actually notice
  • Create team culture artifacts—inside jokes that live in your emoji picker
  • No design software or animation experience required
  • Brand-matched animations that feel custom, not clip-art
  • Build a library of reusable team GIFs for common moments
  • Works for celebrations, announcements, reminders, and reactions

Cons

  • Complex character animations (walking people, detailed mascots) work best as simple, stylized graphics
  • Very long text may need to be shortened for readability at Slack preview sizes
  • Custom emoji uploads require Slack admin permissions for your workspace

How to Use Slack GIF Creator Skill

Skill command:
1

Install the Skill

Download the skill file directly, or install via the plugin marketplace. Skills auto-activate when relevant—no manual invocation needed.

Option 1: Direct Download
curl -o .claude/skills/slack-gif-creator.md https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anthropics/skills/main/skills/slack-gif-creator/SKILL.md
Option 2: Plugin Marketplace
/plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills
/plugin install example-skills@anthropic-agent-skills
2

Describe Your Moment

Tell Claude what you are celebrating, announcing, or reacting to. Include the tone you want—professional, playful, sarcastic, hype. Context helps.

Example Prompt
Create a GIF celebrating our Q4 sales record. We hit $2.3M against a $2M target. Make it feel like confetti and champagne but keep it professional enough for the all-hands channel.
3

Add Brand or Team Context (Optional)

Share your brand colors, mascot, or inside jokes. Claude can incorporate team culture that makes the GIF feel custom, not clip-art.

Example Prompt
Use our brand purple (#6B46C1) and include our rocket mascot. The team calls big wins "moon shots" so play off that.
4

Preview and Adjust

Claude generates the animation. Watch the preview and ask for changes. Faster animation? Different text? More subtle? Iterate until it hits.

Example Prompt
Love the rocket but slow down the animation—it feels frantic. Make the text bigger and add a subtle glow effect.
5

Export and Share

Download the GIF and drop it into Slack. Works in channels, threads, and custom emoji uploads for reactions.

Example Prompts

Real-world scenarios showing how to use Slack GIF Creator effectively

Scenario: Exploring styles before committing

Your Prompt

Before we build the full GIF, show me 4 different animation styles for announcing our Series B funding. Give each a name and describe the vibe: one corporate, one playful, one minimal, one over-the-top celebration.

Expected Outcome

Claude presents four distinct concepts with names like "Boardroom Elegant," "Startup Party," "Clean & Modern," and "Champagne Explosion"—letting you pick the right tone before execution.

Scenario: Celebrating a team milestone

Your Prompt

Create a celebration GIF for our engineering team shipping v2.0 after 6 months of work. Include the text "WE SHIPPED IT" with animated confetti. Make it feel triumphant but not cheesy. Our brand color is #10B981.

Expected Outcome

A polished celebration animation with brand-matched colors, satisfying confetti physics, and text that builds anticipation.

Scenario: Making a policy update noticeable

Your Prompt

I need to announce new PTO policy changes in #general. Nobody reads these. Create an animated banner that says "New PTO Policy - Check Your Email" with a subtle pulse effect that catches attention without being annoying.

Expected Outcome

An attention-grabbing but professional animation that stops the scroll without feeling like spam.

Scenario: Building team reaction GIFs

Your Prompt

Our team says "ship it" constantly. Create a reaction GIF with a cargo ship sailing across the screen and the text "SHIP IT" appearing dramatically. I want to upload this as a custom Slack emoji.

Expected Outcome

A compact, looping GIF optimized for Slack emoji size (128x128) that captures the inside joke perfectly.

Scenario: Deadline reminder that lands

Your Prompt

Create an animated reminder for our Friday 5pm expense report deadline. It should feel urgent but not stressful. Include a ticking clock element and the text "Expense Reports Due Friday 5PM."

Expected Outcome

A clear, visually engaging reminder animation that communicates urgency through motion, not anxiety.

Frequently Asked Questions

It helps Claude create custom animated GIFs specifically designed for Slack—celebrations, announcements, reminders, and custom reactions. Instead of searching Giphy for something close enough, you get animations that match your exact message and brand.
No. Describe what you want in plain English. Claude handles the animation timing, color choices, and visual design. You iterate by describing what you want different.
Yes. Tell Claude you want a Slack emoji and it will optimize the size and loop behavior. You will need Slack admin permissions to upload custom emoji to your workspace.
Giphy gives you generic reactions. This creates custom animations with your brand colors, team inside jokes, and specific message. A "congratulations" GIF from Giphy is forgettable. A custom GIF with your team mascot hitting a sales goal is memorable.
Standard GIF format that works everywhere—Slack, email, presentations. Claude can also suggest optimal file sizes for different uses like custom emoji (smaller) vs. channel posts (larger).
Yes. Share your brand colors (hex codes work best), fonts, and any mascot or logo elements. Claude will create animations that look like they came from your marketing team.

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