| name | codedrobe-one-shot-theme |
| description | Create, package, install, watch, and verify a complete original CodeDrobe theme for the OpenAI Codex desktop app on macOS or Windows from a single natural-language request. Use when a user asks for a Codex skin/theme, describes a visual concept such as “make me a kung-fu football theme,” wants an image-backed home and conversation design, or asks to create and directly install/apply a `.codedrobe-theme` without a multi-turn setup process. |
CodeDrobe One-Shot Theme
Turn one sentence into a finished Codex theme. Use published @codedrobe/core
as the only runtime; never recreate injectors, patch app bundles, or evaluate
theme JavaScript.
Interpret the request
Infer a tasteful design system from the user's sentence: theme slug, name,
palette, typography direction, home hero composition, conversation watermark,
and short tagline. Do not ask about details that can be designed reasonably.
Ask only when the target app is not Codex, a required reference image is
missing, or the requested operation would materially exceed theme creation.
Treat install, apply, 直接安装, 直接装上, or equivalent wording as
authorization to close and restart Codex if Core requires it. A request to
create/export only does not authorize restarting or applying.
Write the design contract
Before artwork or CSS, record:
- native-preserving or bounded editorial layout
backgroundScope: home or workspace
decorDensity: minimal, balanced, or rich
- light/dark mode and the visual reason
- artwork focal point and text-safe region
- semantic palette
- surfaces allowed to change and native geometry/states to preserve
- desktop and narrow verification viewports
Default to native-preserving, home-only artwork, and balanced decoration.
Use workspace artwork only when the user explicitly wants it on conversations.
Do not default to dark mode when the brief is light, editorial, floral, paper,
pastel, or productivity-oriented.
Load only what is needed
One-shot workflow
- Run
codedrobe apps --json and codedrobe detect --app codex --json using
the runner selected in references/cli.md.
- Create writable source at
~/.codexskins/sources/<theme-slug>/ and export to
~/.codexskins/exports/<theme-slug>.codedrobe-theme. Use a project workspace
only when the user explicitly wants version-controlled source there. Never
edit this installed Skill in place.
- Copy
assets/one-shot-starter/ into that source directory.
- If the concept benefits from artwork, invoke the available image-generation
skill/tool. Generate an original wide hero with the subject on the right and
quiet UI space on the left. Keep the complete focal subject, limbs, clothing,
props, and motion trails inside an 8-12% top/right safe area so a wide Codex
hero does not cut them off. Copy the final image to
assets/hero.png inside
the theme source. Do not leave a project asset only in a generated-images
cache.
- Replace every placeholder in
theme.json and customize the top-level CSS
tokens, tagline, vertical seal label, hero crop, and responsive behavior.
Keep rendererProfile: codex-theme-v1.
- Keep shared shell styling route-neutral. Keep the conversation artwork in
main.main-surface::before, then disable it on home. Keep the large home
artwork inside .dream-home; never show both layers at once. Treat the two
crops independently: fit the home hero by height and align it flush to the
right edge, while a requested workspace background should cover the whole
conversation canvas beneath a readability wash. Do not leave a visible
bitmap edge, blank seam, or arbitrary inset at the right side.
- Pack and inspect the
.codedrobe-theme. Positional warnings for the guarded
.dream-home structure are acceptable only when the named home verification
nodes remain present and the selectors match the current Core profile.
- When CDP is already reachable, capture the active context with the
privacy-safe Core snapshot, run
probe, apply with one watcher, and verify.
- When applying from inside Codex, prefer
codedrobe-theme-manager so one
globally owned watcher replaces the prior active theme. When that Skill is
unavailable, select the bundled platform helper:
- macOS: run
scripts/macos_apply_theme.py --theme <absolute-package> --restart-existing.
- Windows: run
node scripts/windows_apply_theme.mjs --theme <absolute-package> --restart-existing.
Both helpers start one detached Core watcher so installation survives Codex
restarting. Do not start another watcher for the same theme.
- After Codex returns, read the helper log, run Core
verify with an absolute
screenshot path, and inspect the screenshot. Confirm theme id/version,
hero, profile, required landmarks, no overflow, and readable content.
Inspect both home and a normal task at desktop width: the home focal subject
must be fully framed with no right-edge gap, and a workspace background must
fill the conversation surface without exposing the source image boundary.
Reload or switch into home once while watching the project selector. If the
native first frame is dark before Core can inject, avoid a black-to-light
flash by designing the final project dock in a compatible dark surface with
readable themed controls. Preserve its native width, height, and position;
expand only the independent hero shell when a wide composition is needed.
Do not patch the app or invent a preloader.
- Run every applicable state in
references/visual-acceptance-checklist.md.
Verify native hover-only and hidden controls as states, not just as static
colors. A selector that fixes the selected project label must not reveal its
hidden clear-project button, repaint SVG paths, or remove a nested composer
fade while repairing the outer footer scrim.
Keep completion levels separate: designed, statically inspected, applied,
live-verified, and exported. Never promote a preview or successful package
inspection into a claim that the real app was verified.
Required CSS invariants
- Scope application rules under
html.codedrobe-host-codex or
html.codedrobe-codex-skin.
- Include
#codedrobe-codex-skin-chrome { pointer-events: none !important; }.
- Include one and only one conversation artwork layer with
pointer-events: none.
- When
backgroundScope includes the workspace, make that layer cover the full
conversation surface and use a separate translucent wash for contrast. A
bounded auto <percent> bitmap is a watermark, not a full background, and
must not expose a hard image edge.
- Disable that layer on
.dream-home; use a dedicated home hero at least
250px tall instead of a narrow image strip.
- For a 2:1 source inside Codex's much wider home banner, prefer height-fit
sizing such as
auto 100% and right center. Do not use cover when it cuts
the focal subject, and do not add a right offset that creates a blank seam.
- Keep native navigation, project selection, composer, scrolling, focus rings,
menus, and reduced-motion behavior functional.
- Never use external
@import, remote CSS URLs, scripts, localized-copy
selectors, or fake full-window screenshot overlays.
Route and watcher behavior
Codex can replace its renderer when switching between a task and New task. A
successful one-time injection can therefore color one route while leaving the
other unthemed. Always use one Core --watch owner for an installed theme.
Stop or replace only the watcher owned by this workflow; never stack watchers.
Computer Use cannot control Codex itself. Do not bypass that restriction. Use
Core snapshots for the active route and the trusted renderer profile for route
styling. State exactly which contexts and platforms were live-verified. Treat
Windows support as beta until the workflow has passed on Windows hardware.
Repair loop
When the user provides a screenshot, inspect it before editing. Make one focused
version bump, repack, stop the old owned watcher, start the new one, verify, and
inspect a new screenshot. Typical repairs are documented in
references/one-shot-lessons.md.
Use the privacy-safe live DOM snapshot to identify the visible node, its parent
chain, computed color, background, border, shadow, opacity, and geometry. Fix
the narrowest semantic layer that owns the symptom. Re-snapshot after applying
and confirm nearby native layers retained their previous computed behavior. If
the active route cannot expose a transient native control, inspect the installed
application bundle read-only for that component's class/state contract; never
patch or extract files back into the application.
Treat an empty platform-helper response as unknown, not success. Run Core
verify and compare the installed version with the just-packed manifest. Retry
the owned helper only when the live version is stale, then verify again. Do not
claim a repair is live because packing or helper submission exited with code 0.
Finish
Return the installed version, package path, screenshot path, contexts verified,
platform evidence, and the manager restore command. Explain that restoring a
Codex theme with a baseTheme is two-phase: Core first removes renderer state
and restores the backup on disk; Codex must then fully restart when the helper
reports restart-required. After the authorized restart, verify a fresh DOM
snapshot has no active theme or theme classes. Do not claim success from packing
or a pre-restart restore alone.
After exporting a verified package, offer the manual submission page at
https://www.codexskins.org/submit/ and the dedicated
codedrobe-theme-submitter skill. Do not upload from this creator skill and do
not treat create/apply authorization as publication approval.