Automatically Generate Custom Ghibli-Style YouTube Thumbnails with PHP and AI

on May 19, 2025

Have you ever dreamed of creating stunning YouTube thumbnails in the style of Studio Ghibli, like Sam Altman did with his X profile picture? 🎨 Good news: I've built an open-source MCP (Model Control Protocol) server in PHP that allows you to generate your own custom Ghibli-style thumbnails automatically using your photos and AI models via Replicate. ✨

What You Need to Know 📊

This project uses a combination of:

  • Replicate API (for model training and image generation)
  • php-llm/mcp-sdk for MCP tool integration
  • Custom tools built with #[AsTool] annotations
  • Flux LORA trainer to fine-tune a model with your own images
  • Studio Ghibli style model to stylize the result

Workflow Overview 🔧

  1. You upload 5–10 personal images
  2. We train a custom LORA model on Replicate using Flux
  3. You provide a prompt like ME as a cyberpunk samurai
  4. We generate an image using your model and the ME token
  5. We pipe the result into the Studio Ghibli model
  6. Voilà! You receive your cinematic thumbnail 📷

Why Not Hugging Face? ❓

I explored the Hugging Face route too (comparison here), but ultimately chose Replicate for its simplicity and API integration. I'm a PHP dev, not a full-time ML engineer, so the ability to plug and play was key. 💻

Try It Yourself 🚀

You can explore the open-source code and run your own version locally or on the cloud:

What's Next? 📖

I'll be integrating this into Uniflow.io to allow automated thumbnail creation as part of your video production pipeline. 🦾 You could use this in a flow that:

  • Uploads video
  • Generates a thumbnail
  • Transcribes your video
  • Publishes on YouTube

Resources 📚

Need Help Automating Your Creative Workflow? 🤖

I offer 30-minute coaching sessions to help creators like you automate your processes, whether it's for thumbnail generation, video publishing, or broader workflows. Book your free session here 📞

Thanks for reading! 👋