merch-pimp

Active router for ALL merch requests — classifies and routes to the correct merch skill before any response. Use when anything involves merchandise, t-shirts, stickers, apparel, mockups, Printful, POD, blanks, DTG, DTF, or merch production.

Model	Source
sonnet	pack: merch

Full Reference

If the request involves merch in ANY way — merchandise, t-shirts, stickers, apparel, mockups, Printful, POD, blanks, DTG, DTF, screen print, gang sheets, premium gear, expo merch, die-cut, kiss-cut, sticker design, product listings, or anything else merch-related — you MUST route through this skill FIRST.

This is not optional. This is not negotiable. You cannot skip this.

Merch Pimp

The orchestration layer for all merch expertise. Not documentation — an active router. Every merch request flows through this routing table before any response.

Mandatory Announcement — FIRST OUTPUT before anything else:

┏━ 🎽 merch-pimp ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
┃ [one-line description of what request/routing]  ┃
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛

No exceptions. Box frame first, then route.

Quick Context

The merch pack covers three lanes of merchandise production: sell online via Printful/POD, produce physical sticker files for print shops, and source premium blanks for team gear or events. 6 skills covering product setup, sticker file creation, blank sourcing, mockup generation, API integration, and QA — everything from first design to final product.

Routing Table

Classify the request. Invoke the matching skill. No response before invocation.

Request Pattern	Skill
Printful, POD, sell merch, online store, product listings, fulfillment	printful-pod
Die-cut sticker, sticker design, sticker file, kiss-cut, gang sheet	sticker-forge
Premium blanks, team gear, expo merch, DTG, DTF, screen print, bulk order	premium-gear
Generate mockup, product mockup, t-shirt mockup, sticker mockup, preview	mockup-generator
Printful API, Printful auth, Printful endpoints, webhook, API integration	printful-api
Merch quality check, visual QA, inspect output, review file, check mockup	merch-qa

Cross-Cutting Rules

• If a request spans multiple skills, invoke the PRIMARY skill first (the one closest to the core question)
• If unclear which skill fits, ask ONE clarifying question — “Selling online, producing for print, or sourcing blanks?” — then route
• QA is automatic: after any production skill completes, invoke merch-qa before declaring done
• Never respond about merch before invoking the target skill

Three Lanes

Lane	When	Primary Skill	Production	Quality
Sell Online	POD store, Printful catalog, customer orders	printful-pod	printful-api	merch-qa
Sticker Files	Die-cut, kiss-cut, gang sheets, print-ready files	sticker-forge	mockup-generator	merch-qa
Team Gear	Blanks, DTG, DTF, screen print, bulk, events	premium-gear	mockup-generator	merch-qa

Full Pipeline Mode

When the request is “set up our merch” or “build a merch line from scratch,” chain by lane:

Sell Online lane:

1. printful-pod — set up products, configure variants, write listings
2. printful-api — connect store, configure webhooks, test fulfillment
3. mockup-generator — generate product preview images
4. merch-qa — validate listings, mockups, and fulfillment flow

Sticker Files lane:

1. sticker-forge — create die-cut or kiss-cut sticker files
2. mockup-generator — generate sticker mockups for preview
3. merch-qa — inspect file specs, bleed, resolution, color mode

Team Gear lane:

1. premium-gear — source blanks, select print method, spec order
2. mockup-generator — generate wearable mockups
3. merch-qa — review print specs, color accuracy, placement

Independent lanes can run in parallel. Do not chain across lanes unless the user requests cross-lane work.

State Detection

Before routing, check project state to inform the recommendation:

• printful-token or PRINTFUL_API_KEY in .env → Printful integration exists; route to printful-pod or printful-api
• brand.json at project root → brand assets available; sticker-forge and mockup-generator can pull from it
• merch/ or stickers/ directory → existing merch work; audit before starting fresh

State	Recommendation
No merch setup found	Ask which lane — sell online, sticker files, or team gear
Printful token present	Route to printful-pod or printful-api based on request
Sticker files exist	Route to merch-qa first to assess existing output
Brand assets present	Inform all production skills — pull colors, logos from brand.json

What This Skill Does NOT Route

• General e-commerce work without merch context (product pages, checkout flows) → let armadillo-shepherd handle
• Logo design or brand identity → brand-pimp first, then return for merch
• Photography or photo editing without merch context → not merch-specific

Hard Rules

• Never respond about merch before invoking the target skill
• No summarizing, planning to invoke, or explaining what you’re about to do
• If unclear, ask ONE clarifying question, then route
• The skill’s content has the verified facts — always defer to it