# Complete Guide to gpt-image-2 Prompt Template Categories in Garden Skills

> Explore the 18 gpt-image-2 prompt template categories within Garden Skills, from UI Mockups to Technical Diagrams. Find inspiration and enhance your image generation.

- Repository: [ConardLi/garden-skills](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills)
- Tags: how-to-guide
- Published: 2026-09-02

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**The gpt-image-2 skill organizes its prompt templates into 18 distinct categories—ranging from UI Mockups and Product Visuals to Academic Figures and Technical Diagrams—each stored as subdirectories under the `references/` folder and enumerated in [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/SKILL.md).**

The `gpt-image-2` skill in the [ConardLi/garden-skills](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills) repository provides a structured framework for AI image generation through categorized prompt templates. Understanding these **gpt-image-2 prompt template categories** is essential for developers who want to programmatically select the right visual context for generation tasks or extend the skill with new template types.

## How Template Categories Are Defined

The category system is declared in [`skills/gpt-image-2/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/skills/gpt-image-2/SKILL.md), which serves as the skill's central manifest. According to the source code, the runtime uses this manifest to determine which subdirectory under `references/` to load for a specific task, avoiding unnecessary file system scans across the entire template tree.

Each category maps to a dedicated subdirectory following the pattern `references/<category-folder>/`. This hierarchical structure allows the skill to load only the most relevant template files required for the current execution mode.

## The 18 gpt-image-2 Prompt Template Categories

The skill defines exactly 18 top-level categories, each targeting a specific visual use case:

- **UI Mockups** (`references/ui-mockups/`): Templates for interface designs including live-commerce screens and chat UIs.
- **Product Visuals** (`references/product-visuals/`): Product-centric renders such as exploded-view posters and white-background shots.
- **Maps** (`references/maps/`): Geographic and route visualizations including food maps and travel itineraries.
- **Slides & Visual Docs** (`references/slides-and-visual-docs/`): One-page explainer slides and dense policy documents.
- **Poster & Campaigns** (`references/poster-and-campaigns/`): Branding-focused marketing materials and campaign layouts.
- **Portraits & Characters** (`references/portraits-and-characters/`): Professional headshots, founder portraits, and character designs.
- **Scenes & Illustrations** (`references/scenes-and-illustrations/`): General illustration contexts including healing scenes and concept art.
- **Editing Workflows** (`references/editing-workflows/`): Image manipulation templates for background replacement and object removal.
- **Avatars & Profile** (`references/avatars-and-profile/`): Profile image templates including style-transfer selfies and 3D icons.
- **Storyboards & Sequences** (`references/storyboards-and-sequences/`): Sequential storytelling formats like comics and cinematic storyboards.
- **Grids & Collages** (`references/grids-and-collages/`): Multi-panel layouts including banner grids and look-book arrangements.
- **Branding & Packaging** (`references/branding-and-packaging/`): Brand identity systems and packaging design templates.
- **Typography & Text Layout** (`references/typography-and-text-layout/`): Text-centric posters and bilingual typography layouts.
- **Assets & Props** (`references/assets-and-props/`): Collections of isolated assets such as icon sets or game screenshot mock-ups.
- **Academic Figures** (`references/academic-figures/`): Scientific visualizations including method pipelines and neural-network architectures.
- **Infographics** (`references/infographics/`): Data-driven visualizations like KPI dashboards and step-by-step diagrams.
- **Technical Diagrams** (`references/technical-diagrams/`): Engineering schematics including system architecture and ER diagrams.

## Directory Structure and Template Files

Each category subdirectory contains individual markdown files representing specific prompt templates. As documented in [`references/prompt-writing.md`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/references/prompt-writing.md), every template follows a standardized "single-template file" structure that includes parameter definitions and prompt formatting rules.

For example, the UI Mockups category contains files like [`live-commerce-ui.md`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/live-commerce-ui.md), which can be loaded directly by the runtime scripts to generate specialized prompts for e-commerce interfaces.

## Programmatic Access to Template Categories

Developers can extract category metadata directly from [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/SKILL.md) using standard file system operations. The manifest uses a consistent naming convention where each category line matches the pattern `### N. Category Name (`references/folder-name/`)`.

To list all 18 categories programmatically:

```javascript
const fs = require('fs');
const path = require('path');

const skillRoot = path.resolve(__dirname, '../../skills/gpt-image-2');
const skillMd = fs.readFileSync(path.join(skillRoot, 'SKILL.md'), 'utf8');

// Extract lines that match the pattern "### N. <Name> (`references/...`)"

const catLines = skillMd
  .split('\n')
  .filter(l => /^\s*###\s+\d+\./.test(l));

const categories = catLines.map(l => {
  const [, name, folder] = l.match(/###\s+\d+\.\s+(.+)\s+\(`([^`]+)`\)/);
  return { name: name.trim(), folder };
});

console.log('gpt-image-2 template categories:');
categories.forEach(c => console.log(`- ${c.name} → ${c.folder}`));

```

To load a specific template file for use in generation workflows:

```javascript
const templatePath = path.join(
  skillRoot,
  'references',
  'ui-mockups',
  'live-commerce-ui.md'
);
const template = fs.readFileSync(templatePath, 'utf8');
console.log(template);

```

## Key Implementation Files

The template category system relies on several critical files within the `skills/gpt-image-2/` directory:

- **[`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/SKILL.md)**: The central manifest enumerating all 18 categories and defining runtime execution modes.
- **[`references/prompt-writing.md`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/references/prompt-writing.md)**: Methodology document specifying folder-tree conventions and template formatting standards.
- **`references/<category>/<template>.md`**: Individual prompt template files (e.g., [`ui-mockups/live-commerce-ui.md`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/ui-mockups/live-commerce-ui.md)).
- **[`scripts/check-mode.js`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/scripts/check-mode.js)**: Runtime detection script that determines which execution mode (A, B, or C) to invoke based on input parameters.
- **[`scripts/generate.js`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/scripts/generate.js)** and **[`scripts/edit.js`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/scripts/edit.js)**: API wrapper scripts that utilize categorized templates when calling OpenAI-compatible image generation or editing endpoints in Mode A.

## Summary

- The gpt-image-2 skill organizes templates into **18 distinct categories** spanning UI design, academic visualization, and technical documentation.
- Category definitions live in **[`skills/gpt-image-2/SKILL.md`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/skills/gpt-image-2/SKILL.md)**, with each category mapped to a dedicated subdirectory under `references/`.
- Individual templates are stored as markdown files within their respective category folders, following standardized formatting rules defined in [`prompt-writing.md`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/prompt-writing.md).
- The runtime uses **[`scripts/check-mode.js`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/scripts/check-mode.js)** to determine execution context, then loads only the relevant category templates to optimize performance.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How many prompt template categories does gpt-image-2 support?

The skill supports exactly **18 categories**, ranging from UI Mockups and Product Visuals to Academic Figures and Technical Diagrams. This number is hard-coded in the [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/SKILL.md) manifest and represents the complete taxonomy of visual generation tasks the skill handles.

### Where are the prompt template files physically stored?

Template files reside in the `references/` directory within the skill root (`skills/gpt-image-2/references/`). Each category has its own subdirectory (e.g., `references/infographics/`), containing individual markdown files for specific template variants. The folder structure mirrors the category enumeration in [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/SKILL.md).

### How does the skill determine which template category to use?

The runtime evaluates input parameters through **[`scripts/check-mode.js`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/scripts/check-mode.js)** to determine the execution mode (A, B, or C). Based on the detected mode and user intent, the system loads the appropriate category subdirectory from `references/`, selecting the specific template file that matches the requested visual output type.

### Can I add custom template categories to gpt-image-2?

While the source code defines 18 standard categories, extending the system requires modifying [`SKILL.md`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/SKILL.md) to register the new category and creating the corresponding subdirectory under `references/`. New templates must follow the "single-template file" structure documented in [`references/prompt-writing.md`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/references/prompt-writing.md) to ensure compatibility with the generation scripts ([`generate.js`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/generate.js) and [`edit.js`](https://github.com/ConardLi/garden-skills/blob/main/edit.js)).