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.