eikon-create

name	eikon-create
description	Use when generating or adopting source images/videos for a Herm eikon so Eikon Studio can tune, bake, and optionally share it.
tags	["eikon","avatar","image-gen","video-gen","herm"]
related_skills	["eikon"]

/eikon-create — generate eikon source files interactively

You are producing source files, not the packed .eikon. Studio owns crop, tone (contrast/invert/flip), rasterizer choice, and baking. Your deliverable is one or more images/videos under the active Hermes profile:

~/.hermes/eikons/<name>/source/

Studio resolves base.* for the default source and <state>.* for per-state overrides (idle listening thinking speaking working error). Direct source/ discovery supports png jpg jpeg webp gif bmp mp4 webm mov mkv; Studio's Local file picker currently accepts png jpg jpeg webp gif mp4 webm mov, so copy bmp/mkv into source/ manually if needed.

Studio bakes with Ctrl+S without activation; Ctrl+U bakes and uses the eikon as the active avatar.

What survives rasterization

Output is 48×24, one theme color, braille/block glyphs. The one-line brief (say once, don't repeat):

48×24, one color. Best results: light subject on black background, high contrast, strong silhouette.

Outline carries everything — facial detail, fine texture, and tonal gradients mostly vanish.

What Studio fixes for you (don't regenerate for these)

Studio adjusts these live on any source without a new generation:

• Aspect / framing — Studio crops to a square window; zoom + pan pick which square. A 16:9 or portrait source is fine.
• Contrast — slider, mean-centered. Flat or over-bright sources are usually salvageable.
• Invert — light↔dark swap. A dark-subject-on-light source works with invert off.
• Flip — horizontal/vertical mirror.

So: regenerate for subject, pose, silhouette, background clutter. Don't regenerate for crop, exposure, polarity, orientation.

Flow

0. Name

If the user passed an argument (/eikon-create <name>), slug it (lowercase, [^a-z0-9-] → -, collapse runs, trim). Otherwise ask once. Make the folder immediately so Studio's picker lists it:

n="<slug>"; mkdir -p "${HERMES_HOME:-$HOME/.hermes}/eikons/$n/source"

1. Subject

Ask what the eikon is. One line is enough. If they drop an image instead of describing one, skip to §3 adopt-only.

2. Generate base

Call image_generate with the subject on line 1 and Studio's fixed style hint on line 2:

<subject>, close-up portrait emphasizing the face/head, looking slightly left, stark black and white, bold silhouette, simple uncluttered shape
high contrast, light subject on dark, black background

Keep this general: replace face/head with the subject's most readable feature if it is not a character or creature. Prefer aspect_ratio="square" if the tool takes it; if it doesn't, don't worry — Studio crops.

After every candidate, adopt it into source/base.<ext> before handoff or iteration. Show the result inline with ![base](<path>) and a 48-wide terminal preview:

chafa --size=48x24 --symbols=braille --colors=none --format=symbols --stretch "<path>" 2>/dev/null || true

Ask: keep, regenerate, or adjust? On adjust, fold their note into the subject line and leave the style hint alone. If two rounds fail on background clutter, silently append , isolated on pure black, no floor, no environment and try again.

Overwrite the same role file (base.<ext> for the default source, <state>.<ext> for overrides) so candidates do not drift across filenames. If Studio is already open after an external write, tell the user to press reload (r) or reopen the eikon; dirty drafts must be saved or reverted before reload. A candidate left only in temp/cache or in an unselected filename is invisible.

3. Adopt

Use this for generated files, downloaded URLs, or a user-supplied local path. Set role=<state> for per-state overrides; default is base.

role="${role:-base}"
src="<path-or-downloaded-tmp>"
base="${src##*/}"
ext="${base##*.}"
[ "$ext" = "$base" ] && ext="png"
ext=".${ext,,}"
case "$ext" in .png|.jpg|.jpeg|.webp|.gif|.bmp|.mp4|.webm|.mov|.mkv) ;; *) ext=".png" ;; esac
dst="${HERMES_HOME:-$HOME/.hermes}/eikons/$n/source/$role$ext"
cp "$src" "$dst" && ls -l "$dst"

URL return → download to /tmp/<n>-<role>.<ext> first, preserving the media extension when known. Ambiguous image URL → .png; ambiguous video URL → .mp4.

4. Per-state sources (optional)

Base covers all six states by default. If the user wants distinct ones, repeat §2–3 per state, saving as <state>.<ext>. Nudge the subject line with pose intent:

state	pose nudge
listening	head turned slightly toward viewer
thinking	head tilted back, contemplative
speaking	mouth open mid-word
working	head bowed forward
error	recoiling, startled

5. Video (optional, only if asked)

Use video_generate if available. Studio's Generate video row appears only when the installed Hermes Agent video backend passes its requirement check; this skill may also use any available agent video_generate tool. If video generation is unavailable, adopt a local file or URL result instead.

Before prompting motion for a character/creature, establish a one-line persona: temperament, bearing, and what an "idle" moment means for this subject. It keeps motion specific instead of generic breathing/bobbing.

Motion discipline: animate only what the user asked for. Do not add ambient breathing, swaying, shimmer, cloth ripple, or body motion unless requested; small artifacts become obvious at 48×24. Prefer one deliberate motion plus one blink over many tiny movements. Put unwanted motion in the negative prompt or prompt body when the provider supports it.

What matters for an eikon video source:

• Duration — 1–4 s; Studio defaults to 2 s. Longer usually inflates the bake without improving readability.
• Aspect — prefer 1:1 if accepted; otherwise use an accepted aspect and let Studio crop.
• Resolution — low is fine; the target is 48×24. Don't ask for HD.
• Start image — if the tool accepts it, pass base.* / the effective idle source as image_url so frame 0 anchors on the still pose. Studio's current bridge does not provide an end-frame handoff; skip unsupported knobs.
• Loop — useful but not required. If the provider has loop/seamless flags, set them; otherwise do not chase a perfect loop by prompting.
• Model tier — if a lite/fast tier warps the subject, switch to a better tier if the tool exposes model=. Don't burn iterations fighting artifacts a tier bump fixes.

Providers vary. Pass what the tool accepts, skip what it doesn't, and don't apologize for the gaps. None of them block a usable eikon.

Adopt as <state>.mp4 (or base.mp4 for an animated idle).

6. Hand off

Once source files are in place:

Open Eikon → Studio → eikon row → . Tune zoom / contrast / invert / symbols there, then Ctrl+S to bake or Ctrl+U to bake and use. After a saved bake, press u in Studio for the Submit eikon dialog or s in Library for Share to catalog; Herm previews the bundle and GitHub PR target before submission.

Stop there. Studio writes <name>.eikon and studio.json.

Don'ts

• Don't write .eikon or studio.json.
• Don't pick contrast, invert, zoom, or rasterizer values — name the knob, the user turns it in Studio.
• Don't regenerate for things Studio can fix (see table above).
• Don't enumerate provider capabilities to the user; just use what's there.
• Don't repeat the 48×24 brief.