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pexels-media

Source royalty-free images and videos from Pexels API for design, placeholders, or content. Supports search, curated/popular content, collections, multiple resolutions, and ALWAYS creates detailed sidecar metadata files.

allowed_tools: Bash, Write, WebFetch
model: opus

$ Installieren

git clone https://github.com/troykelly/claude-skills /tmp/claude-skills && cp -r /tmp/claude-skills/skills/pexels-media ~/.claude/skills/claude-skills

// tip: Run this command in your terminal to install the skill

SKILL.md
View on GitHub →

name: pexels-media description: Source royalty-free images and videos from Pexels API for design, placeholders, or content. Supports search, curated/popular content, collections, multiple resolutions, and ALWAYS creates detailed sidecar metadata files. allowed-tools:

  • Bash
  • Write
  • WebFetch model: opus

Pexels Media Sourcing

Source high-quality, royalty-free images and videos from Pexels for design work, placeholders, or content creation.

Prerequisites

This skill requires the PEXELS_API_KEY environment variable to be set.

# Check if API key is available
echo $PEXELS_API_KEY

If not set, obtain a free API key from Pexels API.

API Base URLs

  • Photos: https://api.pexels.com/v1/
  • Videos: https://api.pexels.com/videos/

Authentication

All requests require the Authorization header:

curl -H "Authorization: $PEXELS_API_KEY" "https://api.pexels.com/v1/search?query=nature"

Photo Endpoints

Search Photos

curl -H "Authorization: $PEXELS_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.pexels.com/v1/search?query=QUERY&orientation=ORIENTATION&size=SIZE&color=COLOR&locale=LOCALE&page=PAGE&per_page=PER_PAGE"

Parameters:

ParameterRequiredValues
queryYesSearch term
orientationNolandscape, portrait, square
sizeNolarge (24MP), medium (12MP), small (4MP)
colorNored, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, violet, pink, brown, black, gray, white, or hex code (e.g., #ffffff)
localeNoen-US, pt-BR, es-ES, de-DE, fr-FR, ja-JP, zh-CN, ko-KR, etc.
pageNoPage number (default: 1)
per_pageNoResults per page (default: 15, max: 80)

Curated Photos

Trending photos curated by the Pexels team (updated hourly):

curl -H "Authorization: $PEXELS_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.pexels.com/v1/curated?page=1&per_page=15"

Get Photo by ID

curl -H "Authorization: $PEXELS_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.pexels.com/v1/photos/PHOTO_ID"

Video Endpoints

Search Videos

curl -H "Authorization: $PEXELS_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.pexels.com/videos/search?query=QUERY&orientation=ORIENTATION&size=SIZE&min_width=MIN_WIDTH&min_height=MIN_HEIGHT&min_duration=MIN_DURATION&max_duration=MAX_DURATION&page=PAGE&per_page=PER_PAGE"

Additional Video Parameters:

ParameterDescription
min_widthMinimum width in pixels
min_heightMinimum height in pixels
min_durationMinimum duration in seconds
max_durationMaximum duration in seconds

Popular Videos

curl -H "Authorization: $PEXELS_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.pexels.com/videos/popular?min_width=1920&min_duration=10&max_duration=60&page=1&per_page=15"

Get Video by ID

curl -H "Authorization: $PEXELS_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.pexels.com/videos/videos/VIDEO_ID"

Collections

Featured Collections

curl -H "Authorization: $PEXELS_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.pexels.com/v1/collections/featured?page=1&per_page=15"

Collection Media

curl -H "Authorization: $PEXELS_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.pexels.com/v1/collections/COLLECTION_ID?type=TYPE&page=1&per_page=15"

Type parameter: photos, videos, or omit for both.

Photo Sizes Available

When downloading photos, these sizes are available in the API response:

KeyDescription
originalOriginal size uploaded by photographer
large2xWidth 940px, height doubled
largeWidth 940px
mediumHeight 350px
smallHeight 130px
portraitWidth 800px, height 1200px
landscapeWidth 1200px, height 627px
tinyWidth 280px, height 200px

Video Files Available

Videos include multiple quality files in the response:

QualityTypical Resolution
hd1280x720
sd640x360
hlsAdaptive streaming
VariousFull HD, 4K when available

MANDATORY: Sidecar Metadata Files

CRITICAL REQUIREMENT: For EVERY downloaded file, you MUST create a sidecar metadata file.

Sidecar File Naming

For a downloaded file mountain-sunset.jpg, create mountain-sunset.jpg.meta.json.

Photo Sidecar Content

{
  "source": "pexels",
  "type": "photo",
  "id": 12345,
  "url": "https://www.pexels.com/photo/12345/",
  "download_url": "https://images.pexels.com/photos/12345/pexels-photo-12345.jpeg",
  "downloaded_size": "large",
  "width": 1920,
  "height": 1080,
  "photographer": "John Doe",
  "photographer_url": "https://www.pexels.com/@johndoe",
  "photographer_id": 67890,
  "avg_color": "#7E5835",
  "alt": "Brown mountain during sunset",
  "license": "Pexels License - Free for personal and commercial use",
  "attribution": "Photo by John Doe on Pexels",
  "attribution_html": "<a href=\"https://www.pexels.com/photo/12345/\">Photo</a> by <a href=\"https://www.pexels.com/@johndoe\">John Doe</a> on <a href=\"https://www.pexels.com\">Pexels</a>",
  "downloaded_at": "2025-12-02T14:30:00Z",
  "api_response": {
    // Full original API response for this photo
  }
}

Video Sidecar Content

{
  "source": "pexels",
  "type": "video",
  "id": 12345,
  "url": "https://www.pexels.com/video/12345/",
  "download_url": "https://videos.pexels.com/video-files/12345/...",
  "downloaded_quality": "hd",
  "width": 1920,
  "height": 1080,
  "duration": 30,
  "user": {
    "id": 67890,
    "name": "John Doe",
    "url": "https://www.pexels.com/@johndoe"
  },
  "video_files": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "quality": "hd",
      "file_type": "video/mp4",
      "width": 1920,
      "height": 1080,
      "link": "https://..."
    }
  ],
  "video_pictures": [
    {
      "id": 1,
      "picture": "https://...",
      "nr": 0
    }
  ],
  "license": "Pexels License - Free for personal and commercial use",
  "attribution": "Video by John Doe on Pexels",
  "downloaded_at": "2025-12-02T14:30:00Z",
  "api_response": {
    // Full original API response for this video
  }
}

Download Workflow

1. Search and Select

# Search for photos
RESPONSE=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: $PEXELS_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.pexels.com/v1/search?query=office+workspace&orientation=landscape&per_page=5")

# Parse and display results
echo "$RESPONSE" | jq '.photos[] | {id, photographer, alt, url: .src.large}'

2. Download with Sidecar

# Get photo details
PHOTO_ID=12345
PHOTO_DATA=$(curl -s -H "Authorization: $PEXELS_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.pexels.com/v1/photos/$PHOTO_ID")

# Extract download URL (choose size)
DOWNLOAD_URL=$(echo "$PHOTO_DATA" | jq -r '.src.large')
FILENAME="pexels-$PHOTO_ID-large.jpg"

# Download the image
curl -L -o "$FILENAME" "$DOWNLOAD_URL"

# Create sidecar metadata (MANDATORY)
echo "$PHOTO_DATA" | jq '{
  source: "pexels",
  type: "photo",
  id: .id,
  url: .url,
  download_url: .src.large,
  downloaded_size: "large",
  width: .width,
  height: .height,
  photographer: .photographer,
  photographer_url: .photographer_url,
  photographer_id: .photographer_id,
  avg_color: .avg_color,
  alt: .alt,
  license: "Pexels License - Free for personal and commercial use",
  attribution: ("Photo by " + .photographer + " on Pexels"),
  downloaded_at: (now | todate),
  api_response: .
}' > "$FILENAME.meta.json"

Rate Limits

  • Default: 200 requests/hour, 20,000 requests/month
  • Check response headers for current limits:
    • X-Ratelimit-Limit
    • X-Ratelimit-Remaining
    • X-Ratelimit-Reset

Attribution Best Practices

While not legally required by the Pexels license, attribution is encouraged:

  • Minimal: "Photo by [Photographer] on Pexels"
  • With link: "Photo by Photographer on Pexels"
  • HTML: Use the attribution_html from the sidecar file

Example Use Cases

Placeholder Images for UI Design

# Get 5 abstract/minimal images for placeholders
curl -s -H "Authorization: $PEXELS_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.pexels.com/v1/search?query=minimal+abstract&orientation=square&size=small&per_page=5"

Hero Background Video

# Find short, wide landscape videos
curl -s -H "Authorization: $PEXELS_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.pexels.com/videos/search?query=nature+aerial&orientation=landscape&min_width=1920&min_duration=5&max_duration=15"

Product Photography Backgrounds

# Search for clean, neutral backgrounds
curl -s -H "Authorization: $PEXELS_API_KEY" \
  "https://api.pexels.com/v1/search?query=white+background+texture&color=white&size=large"

Checklist

When using this skill:

  • Verify PEXELS_API_KEY is set
  • Choose appropriate endpoint (search, curated, popular, collection)
  • Apply relevant filters (orientation, size, color, duration)
  • Select appropriate resolution for use case
  • Download file to appropriate location
  • CREATE SIDECAR METADATA FILE (mandatory)
  • Consider attribution in final use

References

Repository

troykelly
troykelly
Author
troykelly/claude-skills/skills/pexels-media
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Updated21h ago
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