| name | comic-asset-review-loop |
| description | Phase-1 (S5) UPSTREAM ref-asset gate โ the bounded cross-model adversarial loop that LOCKS one reusable identity-locked asset (character sheet / location plate / prop cutout / text-panel / logo-free symbol) BEFORE it can be composited into any panel. This is NOT the panel_gate (composed-output) or the assembly_gate (cross-panel) โ it gates the refs that FEED both, so identity drift is caught at the source, not downstream. Two layers: (1) a MANDATORY static single-source collision check (check_asset_collisions.py โ 'one visual dialect, never two', enforced by tool) + zero-text/literal build-asserts; (2) a per-round 3-reviewer panel (Claude narrative โ Gemini visual โ Codex synth) that blind-scores 5 dims and LOCKS only at ๅร3 unanimity (prior_lock_count>=3 approvals in the SAME round) โ else regenerate (route to comic-asset-ref-generator) or, at MAX_REVIEW_ROUNDS, escalate the asset REQUIREMENT back to outline/storyboard. Hard IP veto. Use when you say 'lock this character ref', 'asset gate', 'ref review', 'is this sheet reusable', '้่ง่ฒ ref', before any metered panel bake. |
| argument-hint | ["asset_id | --batch-from-outline | --lite"] |
| allowed-tools | Bash(*), Read, Write, Edit, Grep, Glob, mcp__codex__codex, mcp__codex__codex-reply, mcp__gemini__analyzeFile, mcp__gemini-cli__ask-gemini, mcp__oracle__consult |
comic-asset-review-loop โ the UPSTREAM ref gate (Phase 1 ยท S5)
The ref gate the comic side was missing. comic-director's panel_gate reviews composed output; the
assembly_gate reviews cross-panel consistency. Neither gates the identity refs that feed both โ so
without this skill, identity drift is only caught downstream, after credits are spent on a panel bake. This
skill is the Layer-2 gate on a SINGLE reusable reference asset (the character sheets / location plates /
prop cutouts the ART_BIBLE.md points every bake at), run before any panel composition.
A reusable asset is a one-way door: once a hundred panels condition on duo_canonical_ref_v001.png, you cannot
quietly swap it. So the lock must be earned cross-model, never self-certified by the generator. This skill
locks an asset only at ๅร3 โ Claude and Gemini and Codex each independently pass the same review
round โ or it sends the asset back to be regenerated, or (at the round ceiling) escalates the asset
requirement itself back to the outline/storyboard layer. The executor (and the generation model family)
never acquit their own ref.
Pipeline position (the Phase-1 asset DAG โ the documented contract): this lock runs AFTER the
human-approved outline (OUTLINE_DRAFT_VALID only requires every referenced asset to be DECLARED with a
complete, generatable request โ never pre-locked assets) and the provisional storyboard's
consolidated_asset_requests, and BEFORE OUTLINE_FINAL_LOCK (cheap re-check that the locked assets still
match the approved outline) โ storyboard FINAL asset-resolution validation โ blueprint authoring, where the
hard locked-asset barrier sits. (The old single-stage contract โ outline gate demanding locked assets โ
deadlocked and is retired.)
asset (review_status:"pending") โโโ comic-asset-ref-generator (S4: generates, NEVER self-locks)
โ
โผ
LAYER 1 โ STATIC CI GATE (deterministic, zero credits)
check_asset_collisions.py (one canonical owner per filename โ "one visual dialect, never two")
+ build asserts: zero-text contract ยท literal contract ยท raster-ref 6-field completeness
โ pass
โผ
LAYER 2 โ VISUAL LOOP (round R = 1 โฆ MAX_REVIEW_ROUNDS=3)
โ Claude narrative โ โก Gemini visual (primary: identity/iso) โ โข Codex synth (policy/semantic)
each reads the REAL asset file ยท scores 5 dims (0โ5 ints) ยท flags failure_modes from the fixed vocab
โ
โผ Codex synthesises: MIN-fuse per dim (max for inverted) ยท threshold ยท per-reviewer unanimity
ๅร3 ? โโ no, a family HARD-FAILS a floor โโถ comic-asset-ref-generator --regenerate (bump version) โโถ โ R+1
โ no, third family just ABSENT (e.g. Gemini down) โโถ re-VOTE (re-collect the missing reviewer; NO re-bake)
โ no (safety_ip<3) โโถ HARD abandon_shot (IP veto, no retries)
โ no (R == MAX_REVIEW_ROUNDS) โโถ ESCALATE the asset REQUIREMENT to outline/storyboard (abandon_shot)
โ yes
โผ
LOCK โ asset.status=locked + payload.review_status=locked (ONE-WAY DOOR, immutable for the rest of Phase 1)
+ score_progression audit table (ASSET_REVIEW.md) + decision/review/failure_mode wiki nodes + edges
Constants
- REVIEWERS = Claude (this agent, narrative) โ
mcp__gemini__analyzeFile (model: "auto-gemini-3", NEVER
raw gemini-3.1-pro โ 429 silent-downgrade to 2.5) โ mcp__codex__codex r1 / mcp__codex__codex-reply r2+
(model_reasoning_effort: "xhigh", save the threadId; pin no model โ Codex reviewer calls follow the
local codex config, currently gpt-5.6-sol, exactly like the shipped Codex CLI reviewers in run_comic.py,
which pass no -m; only the upstream BAKE payload pins gpt-5.5 + xhigh, the run_comic.get_bake_plan()
compat default โ a config-driven override there is planned, not yet implemented).
- ๅร3 UNANIMITY โ the lock predicate. A Codex-synth
approve is NOT enough: cc_approves AND gemini_approves AND codex_approves must ALL be true in the same round (each reviewer's own dim scores
must independently clear threshold). Codex-approve-without-unanimity is DOWNGRADED to revise (the "ๅร3
bite"). prior_lock_count = the count of approvals accumulated this round; lock iff prior_lock_count >= 3.
- MAX_REVIEW_ROUNDS = 3 (hard ceiling). Even if Codex keeps saying
regenerate, the loop STOPS at 3 and
routes back to outline/storyboard โ the requirement changes; the gate does not grind an image forever.
- CROSS-MODEL ACQUITTAL โ Codex is the synth/policy reviewer and (in the broader pipeline) the
generation family for raster refs. A Codex
approve can diagnose/veto but is never the sole acquitter;
the lock needs Gemini approve + Claude approve too (acceptance-gate.md: the loop DRIVES, it can't ACQUIT).
- SAFETY_IP SINGLE-VOTE VETO โ
safety_ip < 3 from ANY reviewer = immediate HARD abandon_shot, no
retries (generalises comic-director's anatomy single-vote veto to IP/likeness).
--lite is NON-ACQUITTING โ when Gemini is unavailable it may set only a PROVISIONAL
status: under_review (tag lite_provisional: true), NEVER a root status: locked. The one-way LOCK
requires the THIRD family (Gemini) to lock-pass in a later round: ๅร3 is CC AND Gemini AND Codex same-round
unanimity (canon), and the only sanctioned relaxation is the gate's "a model is UNAVAILABLE โ threshold-only
PROVISIONAL, exit 2" โ never a Gemini-absent lock. Use --lite only to keep progress while Gemini is down;
never the default; it can never write the locked one-way door.
- OUTPUT =
examples/<project>/story/ASSET_REVIEW.md (the human score-progression audit) + wiki nodes/edges
under wiki/nodes/ + per-reviewer trace under .aris/traces/comic-asset-review-loop/.
Input contract / what this skill owns
The contract boundary is the asset wiki node authored by comic-asset-ref-generator (S4) at
review_status: "pending" โ generated, never self-locked. This skill is pure verify + lock:
- It never edits the asset's pixels or geometry โ on
regenerate/revise it routes a โค140-char
repair_instruction back to S4, which bumps the version and emits a new file.
- It never invents scores or a verdict on behalf of an absent reviewer โ a dim no reviewer scored is
not_scored and EXCLUDED from the threshold, never substituted with 0 (the v1.0 bug; see Hard do/don't).
- It writes back only
status: "locked" + payload.review_status: "locked" on a ๅร3 approve, plus the
review/decision/failure_mode trace. locked is the one-way door โ immutable for the rest of Phase 1.
Read the asset node payload (per schemas/node_schema.json, node_type: "asset",
payload.required = [asset_kind, name, visual_description, identity_lock, ref_requirements, review_status, version]):
asset_kind โ {character, scene, prop, text_panel, logo_free_symbol} โ routes the per-reviewer query
(see ยง"Asset-kind specialisation").
identity_lock.{must_preserve[], must_avoid[]} โ the per-asset rubric (e.g. from ART_BIBLE.md ยง1:
executor = blue hoodie #1D4684 + brown hair + no beard; reviewer = green hoodie #30582D + near-black
hair + beard; "้ข่ฒ/่กๅญ/ไฝๅ่ฝฎๅปไธๅฏๅ").
ref_requirements.{aspect_ratio, background (white|transparent), pose, isolated_reference}.
output_ref.{file_path, data_url, sha256, width, height, mime} for a raster ref (all 6 fields, else schema
violation) OR {generator_script, owner_script, file_sha256} for a deterministic SVG/JSON source.
The EXACT gate (ported from asset-review-loop)
Layer 1 โ static CI gate (deterministic, MANDATORY, zero credits)
Run before any visual reviewer call (and re-run before lock). Fail-closed; correctness costs no credits.
- single-source collision check โ
check_asset_collisions.py static-scans every gen_*.py with the regex
\bw\(\s*["']([^"']+\.(?:svg|json|png))["'] and asserts each output filename has EXACTLY ONE generator
owner. len(writers) > 1 โ exit 1. This is the tool that enforces "one visual dialect, never two":
two generators writing the same path with different content is a silent, run-order-dependent corruption
(whoever runs last wins). It is deliberately NOT a "skip if file exists" guard โ that would hide the
order bug instead of surfacing it. Verdict: exit 0 (clean) is a precondition for entering Layer 2;
exit 1 blocks the round and routes to S4 to rename/delete the duplicate. (Verified clean at 26 outputs in
the worked example.)
- zero-text contract โ for any asset that must contain no glyphs (e.g. the S22 constellation):
assert "<text" not in svg in the emitter. A zero-text asset that contains text fails the round.
- literal contract โ for a deterministic SVG/JSON source, its
_contract field forbids re-layout-by-eye;
the JSON is the single coordinate truth (e.g. wiki_starmap_nodes_v1.json for S16b labeled + S22 wordless).
- raster 6-field completeness โ a raster
output_ref has all of file_path, data_url, sha256, width, height, mime; sha256 matches the file on disk (a partial write is a schema violation, not a lockable ref).
Layer 2 โ the 5-dim visual rubric (0โ5 integers each)
Each reviewer reads the real asset file (image bytes via Read / analyzeFile) and scores all five; the
Primary reviewer's score is authoritative for that dim, the Secondary corroborates.
- identity_lock_satisfied โ preserves EVERY
must_preserve trait, avoids EVERY must_avoid.
Primary = Gemini (visual), Secondary = Codex (semantic). character โ face/age/hair/costume/beard;
scene โ layout + lighting-type + era.
- ref_quality โ sharp, well-framed, correctly exposed, artefact-free. Primary = Gemini,
Secondary = Claude. (text_panel โ glyph crispness weighted.)
- bg_isolation โ background is EXACTLY the required colour, isolated, no halo / shadow-spill / other
subjects. Primary = Gemini ONLY. For a scene this dim becomes scene_emptiness (no characters or
props sneaked into a location plate), same 0โ5 scale.
- reuse_readiness โ compositable into multiple downstream conditions without per-shot rework.
Primary = Claude (usage_fit), Secondary = Gemini (composability).
- safety_ip โ no celebrity likeness / copyrighted character / brand logo. HIGHER = SAFER (5 = clean).
Primary = Codex (policy), Secondary = Gemini (recognition).
EXACT verdict thresholds (Codex synth) + the ๅร3 bite
These are THIS skill's pre-gate routing thresholds (the asset-gate step-3 routing this skill OWNS), and
they are written to MATCH comic-cross-layer-gate's --gate asset
LOCK predicate verbatim. The gate's LOCKED condition is identity_lock_satisfied >= 4 AND ref_quality >= 4 AND bg_isolation >= 4 AND safety_ip >= 4 AND the ๅ ร3 same-round cross-model unanimity rule โ
reuse_readiness is ADVISORY at the gate and does not block the lock. The approve rule below uses
exactly those four floors; reuse_readiness only feeds revise/regenerate routing, never blocks the lock.
Codex MIN-fuses each dim across the reviewers who scored it (the gate's deterministic rule: min per dim,
max for an inverted dim, single scorer โ use it, NO scorer โ not_scored EXCLUDE โ never 0-substitute,
never average: averaging {5,3}โ4 would slip a sub-floor ref past the >=4 lock; min=3 correctly fails). So
this inline routing can only be stricter, never weaker, than --gate asset. The legal asset verdict set is
{approve, regenerate, locked, abandon_shot} (gate-enforced); the internal revise below is an alias that
routes a regenerate. Then:
approve โ identity_lock_satisfied >= 4 AND ref_quality >= 4 AND bg_isolation >= 4
AND safety_ip >= 4 (the four gate floors). asset_kind == "character" override:
identity_lock_satisfied == 5 is REQUIRED (a raster character ref locks only at a perfect identity score โ
4 is not enough for a face hundreds of panels condition on); the other three floors stay >= 4. (ๅร3
same-round unanimity still applies on top โ see the LOCK note below.)
regenerate โ identity_lock_satisfied < 4 (or < 5 for a character) OR bg_isolation < 4 OR
ref_quality < 4 OR safety_ip โ [3, 4) OR reuse_readiness < 3 (advisory: routes a regen hint, does not
itself block a lock that already clears the four floors).
revise โ mid-band, a single targeted edit likely fixes it (softer hint, still routes a regenerate
with a focused repair_instruction).
abandon_shot โ safety_ip < 3 (HARD STOP, IP) OR round >= MAX_REVIEW_ROUNDS without convergence.
Deterministic-SVG / JSON asset branch (a parametric builder, NOT a raster ref โ the visual 5-dim rubric
does not apply). A deterministic-SVG source locks iff ALL FOUR hold (Layer-1 asserts + a 3-dim 0โ5 read):
single_source_owner == pass (Layer-1 check_asset_collisions.py exit 0 โ exactly one generator owns the
filename) AND render_preview_legible >= 4 (the SVG/JSON rasterizes to a non-empty, on-spec preview PNG โ
a RAW render pre-check, not a vote) AND literal_contract >= 4 (the _contract field is honored: literals
are ascii-tokenizable, the JSON is the single coordinate truth, no eyeball re-layout) AND
style_family_consistency >= 4 (one visual dialect โ palette/stroke/grid match the ART_BIBLE.md family).
Plus the zero-text / non-gated-text asserts: a wordless source contains no <text> (assert "<text" not in svg); a labeled source's glyphs are exactly the contract's literals. Same ๅร3 same-round unanimity gates
the SVG lock as the raster lock. (Gemini PRIMARY on render_preview_legible + style_family_consistency;
Codex PRIMARY on literal_contract; single_source_owner is the Layer-1 tool, not a reviewer vote.)
LOCK requires ๅร3 UNANIMITY, not Codex-synth-approve. Even on a Codex approve, the lock fires iff
cc_approves AND gemini_approves AND codex_approves in the same round (each reviewer's own 5 scores
independently clear the per-reviewer thresholds โ including the identity_lock_satisfied == 5 floor for a
character ref / the four-dim SVG floors for a deterministic source). A Codex approve with any reviewer below
threshold is DOWNGRADED to revise. (--lite is non-acquitting: with Gemini absent it may only write
provisional status: under_review + lite_provisional: true, and can NEVER satisfy the LOCK predicate or reach P6.) This same-round
unanimity rule is exactly comic-cross-layer-gate's ๅ ร3 for
--gate asset (this skill is the OWNER of that convention) โ NOT "three consecutive rounds".
Veto rules (hard, non-negotiable)
- safety_ip < 3 from ANY reviewer โ immediate
abandon_shot (single-vote IP veto, no retries).
- Layer-1 fail (collision / missing literal / partial raster / zero-text breach) โ block the round, route
to S4, do not enter Layer 2.
- round >= MAX_REVIEW_ROUNDS without ๅร3 โ ESCALATE the asset requirement to
comic-outline-creator / comic-storyboard-creator
(the spec/outline must change; stop re-baking the image). Mutual recursion is bounded by this ceiling.
Controlled failure-mode vocabulary (the FIXED set reviewers draw tags from)
face_drift, age_drift, costume_drift, pose_off, multi_subject_leak, halo_artifact, shadow_spill, non_white_bg, jpeg_artifact, glyph_break, unintended_text, watermark_present, contact_sheet, celeb_likeness, copyrighted_character, brand_logo_present, collage_grid, low_resolution, melted_anatomy. Every reject mints a
failure_mode wiki node fail:<asset-slug>_<tag> tagged from this set (the <tag> must match [a-z0-9_]+ โ
strip any stray punctuation before assembling the node_id; maps to comic-director's anatomy/identity vetoes) and routes
its tag into the S4 repair_instruction. The node MUST carry the schema-required shape (copy the fail:*
skeleton in "Wiki node skeletons" below verbatim): root status: "active" + payload {layer, affected_shot_ids, active, repair_pattern}. Because this is an upstream asset gate with no shots yet,
affected_shot_ids is [] (empty) โ never invented. NB the shipped example failure nodes are FILES named
fail_*.json (the colon lives only inside the node_id, e.g. fail:s09_a01) and are ALL downstream
shot-level nodes (layer:"panel_visual", non-empty affected_shot_ids โ fail_s09_a01.json carries
["S09"]); no asset_ref-layer example exists in the repo, so do NOT copy the example nodes for this gate โ
the skeleton below is the authoritative shape.
Wiki node skeletons (the EXACT shape each minted node MUST carry โ validated by cli/validate_wiki.py)
Every node this skill writes obeys schemas/node_schema.json: the root carries node_id, node_type, title, status, created_at, payload (all six required), the node_id matches ^(โฆ|review|decision|fail):[a-z0-9_-]+$,
and the payload carries every field in validate_wiki.py PAYLOAD_REQUIRED for that type. The canonical root
status for each runtime type (schema $comment; the real example nodes carry exactly these): review โ "complete", decision โ "final", failure_mode โ "active". Copy these skeletons verbatim:
{ "node_id": "review:duo_canonical_ref_v001_cc_round1", "node_type": "review", "status": "complete",
"title": "CC narrative asset review duo_canonical_ref v1 r1", "created_at": "<ISO-8601>",
"payload": { "target_node_id": "asset:<asset-slug>", "reviewer": "cc", "gate_kind": "asset",
"review_scores": { "identity_lock_satisfied": 5, "ref_quality": 4, "bg_isolation": 4,
"reuse_readiness": 4, "safety_ip": 5 },
"failure_modes_flagged": [], "timed_out": false } }
{ "node_id": "decision:asset_duo_canonical_ref_v001_round1", "node_type": "decision", "status": "final",
"title": "asset_gate duo_canonical_ref v1 r1 -> locked", "created_at": "<ISO-8601>",
"payload": { "target_node_id": "asset:<asset-slug>", "gate_kind": "asset", "verdict": "approve",
"reasoning": "LOCK ๅร3 โ identity=5 ref=4 bg=4 safety=5 reuse=4; cc&gemini&codex approve r1",
"repair_instruction": "", "prior_lock_count": 3 } }
{ "node_id": "fail:duo_canonical_ref_v001_costume_drift", "node_type": "failure_mode", "status": "active",
"title": "asset_gate duo_canonical_ref costume_drift", "created_at": "<ISO-8601>",
"payload": { "layer": "asset_ref", "affected_shot_ids": [], "active": true,
"repair_pattern": "executor ่่กฃๆฃๅๆ ้กป (must_preserve); ๅฝๅ็ปฟ่กฃๆผ็งป โ ้็ไธบ #1D4684 hoodie" } }
After any lock (P6), run python3 cli/validate_wiki.py examples/<project> โ it MUST PASS (root status enum,
node_id form, payload invariants). A node missing root status or target_node_id / layer /
affected_shot_ids / active is the exact failure the validator catches.
The two fail-closed engine contracts (where they bite here)
This is an upstream gate, so it enforces the preconditions the downstream engine fail-closes on. Do NOT
conflate the three SVG fields (per schemas/node_schema.json + the engine): the wiki
blueprint.payload.content_svg (top-level on the blueprint payload), the panel_spec.payload.content_blueprint
(the panel_spec's own field โ there is NO content_svg on a panel_spec), and the comic.json panel's
runtime condition.content_svg (the field the engine reads at spiral_engine.js .condition.content_svg).
- Every panel needs a renderable blueprint SVG. A locked asset is only useful if a panel can condition on
it โ so when locking a deterministic SVG/JSON source, verify it rasterizes to a non-empty PNG (a
blueprint
node would carry it as blueprint.payload.content_svg), because at bake time the engine refuses a
comic.json panel whose condition.content_svg is null/absent. A ref that cannot become a content-SVG
condition is not "reuse-ready" โ score reuse_readiness (and, for an SVG source, render_preview_legible)
accordingly. Never condition.content_svg: null.
- A baked figure-panel needs
condition.expected_literals. If the asset is a text_panel / figure
source whose downstream panels bake numbers (e.g. a wandb curve, a verdict stamp, a DDL widget), its lock
MUST verify the literal contract holds (the literals are ascii-tokenizable and the JSON _contract forbids
eyeball re-layout) โ because comic-director's gate refuses to run a baked figure-panel whose comic.json
condition.expected_literals is empty. Locking a figure source that cannot supply gateable literals would
strand the panel; a scene panel with no audited numbers takes text_mode: "html" instead.
Numbered procedure (per round R, start R = 1, loop until ๅร3 or R = 3)
P0 โ Resolve + Layer-1 gate. Resolve the target asset node (single asset_id, or fan out one branch per
asset under --batch-from-outline). Assert review_status == "pending"; abort if already locked (one-way
door). Route by asset_kind (visual raster kinds โ the raster 5-dim branch; a deterministic SVG/JSON source โ
the SVG 4-dim branch; an audio kind would take the audio branch โ out of scope for the comic). Run Layer 1
(check_asset_collisions.py + build-asserts + raster 6-field check); on any failure, write a failure_mode
node (root status: "active", payload {layer:"asset_ref", affected_shot_ids:[], active:true, repair_pattern: <the Layer-1 tag-derived hint>} per the fail:* skeleton) + a failure_of edge fail:<โฆ> โ asset:<asset-slug>,
route to S4, and stop โ do not spend a visual reviewer call.
P1 โ Claude narrative review. Read the PNG (image bytes). Score all 5 dims (Claude PRIMARY on
reuse_readiness; Codex is PRIMARY on safety_ip per the rubric), emit failure_modes_flagged[] (from the
fixed vocab) + narrative_notes. Write a review-stage scratch JSON and a wiki review node
review:<asset-slug>_cc_round{R} with root status: "complete" and payload carrying the three
PAYLOAD_REQUIRED fields target_node_id: "asset:<asset-slug>", reviewer: "cc", gate_kind: "asset" plus
review_scores keyed by the 5 dims (see the review:* skeleton above). Append a reviews edge
review:<โฆ> โ asset:<asset-slug> (review โ target โ the direction the gate walks; NEVER reviewed_by).
Atomic write (.tmp โ mv).
P2 โ Gemini visual review (skip iff --lite). Call mcp__gemini__analyzeFile with model: "auto-gemini-3" (NEVER raw gemini-3.1-pro), the PNG path, and a strict-JSON-only template that asks for
the 5 dim scores (Gemini PRIMARY on identity_lock_satisfied, ref_quality, bg_isolation) +
failure_modes drawn from the fixed vocab. Retry once on non-JSON, then log a gemini_parse_failure and
treat those scores as null (not 0). Optional focused follow-up if identity_lock_satisfied < 3. Write the
review node review:<asset-slug>_gemini_round{R} with root status: "complete" and payload
target_node_id: "asset:<asset-slug>", reviewer: "gemini", gate_kind: "asset" + review_scores; append
the reviews edge review:<โฆ> โ asset:<asset-slug> (review โ target). On a parse failure mint a fail:*
node per the fail:* skeleton (root status: "active", payload {layer:"asset_ref", affected_shot_ids:[], active:true, repair_pattern:"gemini_parse_failure โ re-elicit strict JSON"}).
P3 โ Codex synth gate. mcp__codex__codex (r1) / mcp__codex__codex-reply (r2+ with the saved
threadId), effort xhigh, no model pin (follows the local codex config โ currently gpt-5.6-sol). Pass
ONLY numeric scores + failure_modes + asset_metadata + file paths
- (optional) numeric prior-round deltas โ NEVER any reviewer
narrative_notes/prose (reviewer-independence;
a prose leak ABORTS the call with a loud error). Codex adds its OWN safety_ip (PRIMARY) + semantic
identity_lock_satisfied + reuse_readiness scores. First persist Codex's OWN reviewer node (mirroring P1
cc / P2 gemini): review:<asset-slug>_codex_round{R} (root status: "complete", payload {target_node_id: "asset:<asset-slug>", reviewer: "codex", gate_kind: "asset", review_scores: {the 5 dims Codex scored}}) + a
reviews edge review:<โฆ>_codex_round{R} โ asset:<asset-slug> โ so all THREE reviewer families exist as
first-class collected nodes (ๅร3 needs Codex as one of the three the gate walks). THEN synthesise: MIN-fuse
each dim across the reviewers who scored it (max for an inverted dim; single scorer โ use it; no scorer โ
not_scored, EXCLUDE โ never average / 0-substitute) โ verdict + per_reviewer_unanimity{cc,gemini,codex} +
repair_instruction (โค140 chars) + rationale (โค300 chars โ the ONLY Codex prose allowed out).
P4 โ Apply threshold + ๅร3 โ decision node. Apply the threshold, then the unanimity downgrade. Write a
decision node decision:asset_<asset-slug>_round{R} with root status: "final" and payload carrying the
three PAYLOAD_REQUIRED fields target_node_id: "asset:<asset-slug>", verdict, gate_kind: "asset" plus
reasoning, repair_instruction, prior_lock_count (see the decision:* skeleton above). approve +
prior_lock_count >= 3 (ๅร3) โ mark lock. approve without unanimity โ downgrade to revise, which is
persisted as verdict: regenerate โ the only legal decision.payload.verdict tokens are
{approve, regenerate, locked, abandon_shot} (a verdict outside the gate's set is a hard error); revise is an
internal route label kept in reasoning/repair_instruction, never written as the verdict. A TERMINAL
fail โ abandon_shot (IP veto) OR the R == MAX_REVIEW_ROUNDS escalation (P5) โ sets BOTH root
asset.status: "rejected" AND payload.review_status: "rejected" (canon D2/D3: terminal-fail โ root status
rejected; mirror the lock path, which sets both). A non-terminal revise/regenerate keeps root
status: "under_review" (provisional), never leaving an abandoned asset stuck at pending.
Gate handoff (this skill is the asset gate's review-producer). P1โP3 have now persisted the review:*
score-nodes + reviews edges that comic-cross-layer-gate --gate asset collects โ so the gate is never invoked cold. This skill runs the asset-gate synthesis inline (it
OWNS ๅร3); when the orchestrator defers acquittal to comic-cross-layer-gate <asset:<asset-slug>> --gate asset instead, it fuses the SAME review:* nodes via those reviews edges and re-derives the >=4-floor +
ๅร3 verdict. NOTE this skill applies an ADDITIONAL stricter pre-gate floor (character
identity_lock_satisfied == 5; the deterministic-SVG 4-dim branch for an identity-4 ref), so its inline
verdict can be stricter (never weaker) than the bare gate's >=4 floor โ the deferred gate does not
reproduce the ==5 character rejection byte-for-byte. The decides edge (P5) links this decision โ the asset.
P5 โ Edges + route. Write edges using ONLY validate_wiki.py EDGE_TYPES: a reviews edge
review:<โฆ> โ asset:<asset-slug> per reviewer (review โ target โ the direction --gate asset walks; NEVER
reviewed_by, the opposite direction, which the gate cannot follow), the decides edge
decision:asset_<โฆ> โ asset:<asset-slug>, and on a reject/abandon_shot a failure_of edge
{src: "fail:<asset-slug>_<tag>", dst: "asset:<asset-slug>", type: "failure_of"} (failure_mode โ target,
matching the real examples/comic_m3_audit/wiki/edges.jsonl). A regen that supersedes the prior version writes a
supersedes edge asset:<new> โ asset:<old> (bare node_ids, no @vN). Then route:
- third family merely ABSENT this round (a reviewer didn't vote โ e.g. Gemini down, or
--lite) and NO
family hard-failed a floor โ RE-VOTE: re-collect ONLY the missing reviewer (re-run that one family); do
NOT --regenerate (re-baking wastes a credit when the image is fine and only the third vote is missing).
regenerate/revise (a family HARD-FAILED a floor) and R < 3 โ call
comic-asset-ref-generator --regenerate with the
repair_instruction (it bumps the version, emits a new PNG with a supersedes self-edge, re-fires at R+1).
regenerate/revise and the re-bake count reaches MAX_ASSET_REGEN = 4 (the gate's re-bake cap,
comic-cross-layer-gate lines 70/184 โ a SEPARATE ceiling from this
skill's own MAX_REVIEW_ROUNDS = 3 visual review-round limit; either hitting its ceiling escalates) โ force
abandon_shot โ ESCALATE the requirement to outline/storyboard.
abandon_shot (IP) โ exit immediately.
P6 โ Lock (on approve + full ๅร3 = CC AND Gemini AND Codex same-round unanimity). Set status: "locked"
payload.review_status: "locked"; append tags [asset_gate_locked, round_{R}_approve]. (--lite can NOT
reach P6 โ with Gemini down it stays provisional under_review, never locked.) Validate against
schemas/node_schema.json (python3 cli/validate_wiki.py examples/<project>); append a log.md line; write
the final ASSET_REVIEW.md score_progression table (the human audit trail โ why it locked at r2 vs r3
vs abandoned). Lock = ONE-WAY DOOR, immutable for the rest of the pipeline.
Asset-kind specialisation (drives the per-reviewer query)
- character โ identity_lock weights face/age/hair/costume/beard (the
ART_BIBLE.md ยง1 iron law:
executor never bearded, reviewer always bearded; colours immutable, L/R position free).
- scene โ
bg_isolation becomes scene_emptiness (a location plate must carry no characters/props).
- prop โ standard 5 dims;
bg_isolation weighted (clean cutout, no spill).
- text_panel โ glyph crispness weighted into
ref_quality (maps to comic-director's
baked_text_quality); the literal contract (engine contract #2) is checked at lock.
- logo_free_symbol โ extra
safety_ip weight (the symbol must not resemble a real brand mark).
The judge-is-broken guard (battle lesson โ land it, don't just say it)
IDENTICAL scores across review rounds mean the rubric/judge is broken โ STOP regenerating and audit the
judge. If round R and round R+1 (on a regenerated asset) return the same per-dim vector from the same
reviewer, the artifact changed but the score did not โ the rubric (not the asset) is wrong. Concretely:
- Detect: after P4 on R+1, compare the per-reviewer dim vectors to round R's. If
cc/gemini/codex
return a byte-identical 5-vector on a new file (different sha256), flag judge_stuck.
- Halt the bake: do NOT route another
--regenerate. Two identical rounds is the ceiling for grinding
even before MAX_REVIEW_ROUNDS.
- Audit the judge instead: re-read
identity_lock.{must_preserve,must_avoid} and the ART_BIBLE.md carve-
outs โ is the gate flagging a by-design trait as drift? (The classic: the two-world warm/dark palette is
intentional โ ART_BIBLE.md ยง0.5 "ๅทๆๆฏ by-design ็,ไธๆฏๆผ็งป"; a naive gate scores it "style drift"
every round. The motif-vs-env disambiguation is the same lesson: the gate must know which instances are
continuity-bearing.) Fix the rubric (sharpen the per-dim definition / add the carve-out to the reviewer
query), record it as a decision trace node, then resume. A stuck score is a judge bug, not an asset bug.
Worked example
Ground every run in the real M3-audit comic asset set under examples/comic_m3_audit/ (repo-relative). The exact patterns to copy:
-
Layer-1 collision gate โ gen/check_asset_collisions.py (41 lines) is the single-source CI gate
verbatim: the WRITE = re.compile(r'\bw\(\s*["']([^"']+\.(?:svg|json|png))["']') scan over every gen_*.py,
the len(writers) > 1 collision rule, the exit 0/1 contract, and the load-bearing comment that it is
deliberately NOT a "skip if the file already exists" guard ("that would HIDE the order bug instead of
surfacing it"). Its message โ "Each asset must have ONE canonical owner ('one visual dialect, never two')"
โ is the literal embodiment of this skill's single-source rule. Verified clean at 26 outputs (exit 0).
Run this as Layer 1 of P0; do not enter Layer 2 until it returns 0.
-
The identity-lock rubric โ ART_BIBLE.md ยง1 (่ง่ฒ่บซไปฝ้) is the literal must_preserve/must_avoid
source for an identity_lock_satisfied score: authority ref duo_canonical_ref_v001.png; per-character hex
table (executor blue hoodie #1D4684 / brown hair #925935 / NO beard; reviewer green hoodie #30582D
/ near-black hair #0F0D16 / beard); the ้ๅพ "executor ๆฐธ่ฟ่+ๆฃๅ+ๆ ้กป;reviewer ๆฐธ่ฟ็ปฟ+้ปๅ+ๆ้กป โฆ
้ข่ฒ/่กๅญ/ไฝๅ่ฝฎๅปไธๅฏๅ". A Gemini visual reviewer cat's the PNG and scores it against this โ not by
vibes. ยง0.5 (the warm/dark two-world palette, "ๅทๆๆฏ by-design ็,ไธๆฏๆผ็งป") is the canonical carve-out
for the judge-is-broken guard above. ยง7 FORBIDDEN (no smooth gradients on character surfaces, no voxel, no
non-canonical mascot colours, no off-identity beard) is the must_avoid list.
-
The P0-blocker pattern โ story/STORYBOARD_DRAFT.md flags researcher_chibi_canonical_ref_v001.png as
missing (only the duo had a canonical ref). That is exactly the state this gate must catch before any
panel bakes the researcher: a raster ref with no file is not lockable (Layer-1 raster 6-field check fails);
it routes to S4 to generate the ref, and only then does Layer 2 run. Copy this: a panel that conditions
on a ref whose asset node is not locked is a pre-bake blocker, surfaced here, never discovered downstream.
Pattern to copy end-to-end: Layer 1 (deterministic, free) gates single-source + completeness โ Layer 2
(cross-model, metered only after L1 passes) gates the 5 dims against the ART_BIBLE.md rubric โ lock at ๅร3
or route back to S4 (regenerate) / outline (escalate).
Hard do / don't (earned lessons)
- DO run the static collision gate (
check_asset_collisions.py) as Layer 1 of every run, before any
reviewer call โ "one visual dialect, never two" is enforced by the tool, not by prose.
- DO lock only at ๅร3: Claude AND Gemini AND Codex pass the SAME round. A Codex-synth
approve alone
downgrades to revise. The generator family never self-acquits its own ref.
- DO treat
safety_ip < 3 from any one reviewer as an immediate hard abandon_shot โ IP is a single-vote
veto, no retries (the same shape as the anatomy single-vote veto).
- DO stop at MAX_REVIEW_ROUNDS=3 and escalate the asset requirement to outline/storyboard โ the spec
changes; the gate does not grind one image forever.
- DON'T zero a missing dim. A dim no reviewer scored is
not_scored and EXCLUDED from the threshold โ
substituting 0 was the v1.0 bug that mis-rejected good refs.
- DON'T keep regenerating when rounds return identical scores on a changed file โ that means the
judge is broken (a by-design trait scored as drift). Audit the rubric, not the asset.
- DON'T leak reviewer prose into the Codex synth call โ pass numeric scores + failure_modes + paths only;
a prose leak ABORTS the gate (reviewer-independence).
- DON'T edit the asset's pixels here. On
regenerate/revise, route a โค140-char repair_instruction to
comic-asset-ref-generator; this skill only verifies and locks.
- DON'T re-open a
locked asset โ the lock is a one-way door; a later need for a different ref is a NEW
asset (new file, supersedes edge), not an edit of the locked one.
Scope
| Target | Fit |
|---|
| reusable character sheet / location plate / prop cutout (identity-locked raster ref) | excellent |
| deterministic SVG/JSON asset source (one parametric builder per recurring motif) | excellent |
| text_panel / figure source whose downstream panels bake gateable literals | good (checks the literal contract) |
| logo-free symbol / mark (extra safety_ip weight) | good |
| a composed panel's faithfulness | no โ that's comic-director's panel_gate |
| cross-panel continuity (motif drift across the film) | no โ that's comic-continuity-audit / the assembly_gate |
Protocols (governance contracts this skill honors)
reviewer-independence โ each reviewer reads the real asset file; the Codex synth gets numeric scores + failure_modes + paths only, never another reviewer's prose (a leak ABORTS).
acceptance-gate โ the loop DRIVES (regenerate, re-fire R+1) but can't ACQUIT: the LOCK is a Type-B verdict that needs ๅร3 (Gemini + Codex + Claude in the same round); Codex-synth-approve alone is downgraded; same-family N-of-Claude is never a jury.
review-tracing โ every Codex/Gemini reviewer call's full prompt+response is saved under .aris/traces/comic-asset-review-loop/<date>_run<NN>/, so each lock/abandon_shot verdict is auditable; the ASSET_REVIEW.md score_progression is the human-readable trail.
reviewer-routing โ Codex reviewer calls pin no model (local codex config โ currently gpt-5.6-sol) at effort xhigh (only the upstream bake payload pins gpt-5.5 + xhigh, the run_comic.get_bake_plan() compat default; config-driven override planned); Gemini auto-gemini-3 (never raw gemini-3.1-pro); โ reviewer: oracle-pro routes the synth to mcp__oracle__consult (the Pro tier) on explicit request; never downgrade the tier.