Asset Seeker — Online Creative Asset Search

Overview

Search free commercial-use creative assets across the internet from curated, high-quality sources. Covers photos, illustrations, icons, video footage, music, sound effects, and fonts — all vetted for license safety (CC0 / free commercial use).

Backed by the research from the "创作者素材库大盘点" video — every source has been verified for license terms, China accessibility, and API availability.

When to Use This Skill

Activate when the user needs to find online assets for content creation:

• "Find me a photo of mountains for a video thumbnail"
• "Search for laptop icons in outline style"
• "I need drone footage of city traffic for B-roll"
• "Find calm piano background music"
• "Search for a bold Chinese font for my title"
• "找一张科技感的图片" / "帮我搜个图标" / "有没有免费商用的视频素材"

Do NOT use for: local file search, video editing, or asset management tools (Eagle/Billfish).

Supported Sources

Photos

Source	API	Free Tier	China Access	License
Pexels (default)	✅ Photos + Videos	200 req/hr, 20k/month	✅ Direct	No attribution required
Unsplash	✅ Photos	50 req/hr (demo)	✅ Direct	Attribution appreciated
Pixabay	✅ Photos + Videos	Free	✅ Direct	No attribution required

Illustrations & Vectors

Source	API	Notes
unDraw	❌	One-click recolor; all free
Storyset	❌ (Freepik API paid)	Editable characters + animations
Humaaans / Open Doodles / Open Peeps	❌	Direct download from site

Icons

Source	API	Free Tier	Notes
Iconify (default)	✅ Open API	No key needed	200+ icon sets, 300k+ icons
Noun Project	✅	5,000/month free	Needs OAuth

Video Footage

Source	API	Free Tier	China Access
Pexels Video (default)	✅	200 req/hr, 20k/month	✅ Direct
Pixabay Video	✅	Free	✅ Direct
Mixkit	🎭 Playwright scraper	Free, no attribution	✅ Direct
Coverr	✅	Needs application	✅ Direct

Music & Sound Effects

Source	API	Notes
Freesound (default for SFX)	✅	OAuth, community-largest SFX library
Pixabay Music	❌ Music API unavailable	Web download only; no attribution
YouTube Audio Library	❌	Manual; some need attribution

Fonts

Source	API	Notes
Google Fonts (default)	✅ Metadata API	1,500+ font families, OFL
100font	❌	Best CN free font directory

Workflow

Step 1 — Understand the request

Determine:

• Asset type: photo / icon / video / music / sfx / font / illustration
• Keywords: what the user is searching for
• Style hints: orientation, color, mood, style

If the type is ambiguous, ask briefly. Otherwise proceed.

Step 2 — Check API keys

Run the prerequisite check:

SKILL_DIR="${SKILL_DIR:-${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}}"
python3 "${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/seek_assets.py" sources

This lists all available sources and whether their API keys are configured. Without any API key, only Iconify (icons) will work — tell the user and suggest setting up at least PEXELS_API_KEY (free, most versatile).

Step 3 — Search

# Photo search (searches Pexels + Pixabay + Unsplash in parallel when keys are set)
python3 "${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/seek_assets.py" search photo "mountain sunset"

# Icon search (Iconify — always works, no key needed)
python3 "${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/seek_assets.py" search icon "laptop"

# Video search (via Pexels API)
python3 "${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/seek_assets.py" search video "city traffic"

# Video search (via Mixkit Playwright scraper — no API key needed)
python3 "${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/seek_assets.py" search video "sunset" --source mixkit

# Sound effect search
python3 "${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/seek_assets.py" search sfx "whoosh"

# Font search
python3 "${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/seek_assets.py" search font "bold sans-serif"

# Limit results
python3 "${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/seek_assets.py" search photo "cat" --max 10

# Filter by orientation
python3 "${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/seek_assets.py" search photo "landscape" --orientation landscape

# Human-readable output
python3 "${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/seek_assets.py" search icon "arrow" --format text

Step 4 — Present results

For each result, show:

• Thumbnail/preview URL (when available)
• Source name + license
• Download link or instructions
• Any attribution requirements

For Iconify, also show the icon set name and suggest usage (e.g., <span class="iconify" data-icon="mdi:laptop">).

Step 5 — Download (if needed)

python3 "${SKILL_DIR}/scripts/seek_assets.py" download <url> --output poster_bg.jpg

For sources without direct API download, open the page URL in browser or instruct the user to download manually.

Commands

search — Find assets

python3 seek_assets.py search <type> <keyword> [options]

Types: photo, icon, video, music, sfx, font

Options:

• --max N — Results per source (default: 10)
• --source S — Specific source (e.g., --source pexels, --source iconify)
• --orientation landscape|portrait|square — Photo/video orientation
• --color red|orange|yellow|green|... — Photo color filter (Pexels/Pixabay)
• --format json|text — Output format (default: json)

sources — List available sources

python3 seek_assets.py sources
python3 seek_assets.py sources --type photo

Shows each source's status: API key configured, free tier limits, China accessibility.

download — Download a single asset

python3 seek_assets.py download <url> --output <path>

Environment Variables

# Photo & Video (get free key at pexels.com/api)
export PEXELS_API_KEY="your-pexels-api-key"

# Photo (get free key at unsplash.com/developers)
export UNSPLASH_ACCESS_KEY="your-unsplash-access-key"

# Photo & Video (get free key at pixabay.com/api/docs)
export PIXABAY_API_KEY="your-pixabay-api-key"

# Sound Effects (get key at freesound.org/apiv2/apply)
export FREESOUND_API_KEY="your-freesound-api-key"
# Optional: OAuth token for higher rate limits
export FREESOUND_TOKEN="your-oauth-token"

# Fonts (get key at console.cloud.google.com)
export GOOGLE_FONTS_API_KEY="your-google-fonts-api-key"

# Noun Project icons (get key at thenounproject.com/developers)
export NOUN_PROJECT_KEY="your-noun-project-key"
export NOUN_PROJECT_SECRET="your-noun-project-secret"

Priority order: At minimum, set PEXELS_API_KEY (free, covers photos + videos). Iconify works without any key.

Get API Keys

Service	Signup URL	Time to get key
Pexels	https://www.pexels.com/api/	~2 min
Unsplash	https://unsplash.com/developers	~5 min (needs app registration)
Pixabay	https://pixabay.com/api/docs/	~2 min
Freesound	https://freesound.org/apiv2/apply/	~1 day (manual approval)
Google Fonts	https://console.cloud.google.com/	~5 min

Requirements

# Core (stdlib, no pip needed for photos/icons/fonts)
pip install requests

# Optional: for Mixkit Playwright scraper
pip install playwright && python -m playwright install chromium

Manual Sources (no API — agent provides direct guidance)

These sources are documented in the skill's knowledge base but have no programmatic API. When the user asks for these types, the agent provides curated recommendations with direct links:

• Illustrations: unDraw, Storyset, ManyPixels, DrawKit, IRA Design, Open Doodles
• Video (no API): Mixkit, Coverr, Mazwai, Videvo
• Music (no API): Pixabay Music, YouTube Audio Library, Freepd, Uppbeat
• Fonts (no API): 100font (100font.com), 猫啃网 (maoken.com)
• Emoji: Fluent Emoji, Twemoji, OpenMoji, Noto Emoji
• AI Tools: remove.bg, Suno, 即梦, 可灵 Kling

When the user needs these, the agent should consult references/asset_catalog.md for the full curated list.

References

• references/asset_catalog.md — Complete curated source catalog with URLs, licenses, China accessibility, and notes (extracted from the creator-assets research)

Project Structure

assetseeker/
├── SKILL.md                   # This file (in skills/assetseeker/)
├── README.md                  # English README
├── README_CN.md               # Chinese README
├── references/
│   └── asset_catalog.md       # Full curated source catalog
└── skills/
    └── assetseeker/
        ├── SKILL.md
        ├── references/
        │   └── asset_catalog.md
        └── scripts/
            └── seek_assets.py # Main CLI

Related Skills

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• imagencn — AI image generation when real photos don't fit the need