twitter-cards

SEO On-Page: Twitter Cards

Owns X/Twitter Card writing and implementation rules. page-metadata owns the full-page lifecycle and release verification. Platforms may use Open Graph fallbacks, so define X-specific copy only when it adds value.

When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

Scope (Social Sharing)

• Twitter Cards: X-specific meta tags; control how links appear when shared on X/Twitter

Card Types

Type	Use case
summary	Small card with thumbnail
summary_large_image	Large prominent image (recommended; 1200×675px)
app	Mobile app promotion
player	Video/audio content

Recommended Tags (summary_large_image)

<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image">
<meta name="twitter:title" content="Your Title">
<meta name="twitter:description" content="Your description">
<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://example.com/image.jpg">
<meta name="twitter:site" content="@yourusername">
<meta name="twitter:creator" content="@authorusername">
<meta name="twitter:image:alt" content="Alt text for image">

Tag	Guideline
twitter:card	Required; summary_large_image for most pages
twitter:title	Concise social title; same page identity as SEO/OG copy, not necessarily identical text
twitter:description	Accurate social summary without unsupported claims
twitter:image	Absolute URL; unique per page
twitter:site	@username of website
twitter:creator	@username of content creator
twitter:image:alt	Alt text; max 420 chars; accessibility

Image Requirements

Item	Guideline
Aspect ratio	2:1
Minimum	300×157 px
Recommended	Use a high-resolution image suited to the selected card and verify current platform behavior
Delivery	Absolute HTTPS URL with a successful image response
Format and size	Verify against current X documentation when implementation depends on exact limits

Common Mistakes

• Missing Twitter Card tags (Twitter won't display images properly without them)
• Using relative image URLs instead of absolute https://
• Images too small or wrong aspect ratio
• Title/description too long (gets truncated)
• Mechanically copying SEO copy when the share context needs different wording
• Changing the product identity or promise between SEO, OG, and X metadata

Implementation

Next.js (App Router)

export const metadata = {
  twitter: {
    card: 'summary_large_image',
    title: '...',
    description: '...',
    images: ['https://example.com/twitter.jpg'],
    site: '@yourusername',
    creator: '@authorusername',
  },
};

HTML (generic)

<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image">
<meta name="twitter:title" content="Your Title">
<meta name="twitter:description" content="Your description">
<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://example.com/image.jpg">
<meta name="twitter:site" content="@yourusername">
<meta name="twitter:image:alt" content="Alt text">

Testing

Inspect the deployed initial HTML and test an actual share/preview workflow available to the current X product. Do not depend on the retired public Card Validator as a release gate. Allow for cached previews.

Related Skills

• social-share-generator: Share buttons use Twitter Cards for X previews when users share; Cards must be set for share buttons to show proper previews
• open-graph: OG tags; Twitter falls back to OG if Twitter tags missing
• title-tag, meta-description: Search copy; may differ while preserving page identity
• page-metadata: Full lifecycle, source-of-truth implementation, and production validation
• twitter-x-posts: X post copy and engagement (different from link previews)
• twitter-card-image-generator: Programmatic Twitter Card image generation — 1200×675px, 2:1 ratio, player card posters, dark mode adaptations for ~40% of X users, timeline-safe zone design for mobile 1:1 crop, all 6 visual styles from og-image-generator. This skill covers how to SET the twitter:image tag; twitter-card-image-generator covers how to CREATE the image.