houdini-husk

name	houdini-husk
description	Pipeline skill — command-line USD/Hydra rendering via husk (Karma delegate), checkpoint/resume, scene snapshots, and husk option configuration. Pair with houdini-karma for renderer setup and houdini-render for viewport/ROP renders.
license	MIT
compatibility	dcc-mcp-houdini 0.1+, Houdini 20.5+, dcc-mcp-core 0.19.45+
allowed-tools	Bash Read Write Edit
metadata	{"dcc-mcp":{"dcc":"houdini","layer":"domain","stage":"pipeline","version":"1.0.0","tags":["houdini","husk","usd","hydra","karma","command_line","checkpoint","snapshot","pipeline"],"search-hint":"husk usd render command line hydra karma checkpoint snapshot resume","tools":"tools.yaml"}}

houdini-husk

Typed husk command-line rendering tools for USD/Hydra workflows. All tools are affinity: main. render_with_husk is async with a 1-hour timeout and falls back to hython in-process rendering when the husk binary is unavailable.

Tool groups

• render: render_with_husk — CLI USD rendering via husk with frame range, resolution, custom args, and hython fallback.
• checkpoint: create_checkpoint (save intermediate USD state), create_snapshot (export stage as USD for offline rendering).
• options: set_husk_options — configure or browse husk CLI options (renderer, threads, GPU, debug flags) on LOP/ROP nodes.

Tracer-bullet flow

1. set_husk_options(list_options=true, category="render") → browse available options
2. create_snapshot(source_path="/stage", snapshot_path="/tmp/scene_snapshot.usd", flatten=true)
3. set_husk_options(node_path="/stage/karmarenderproduct1", options={"threads": 8, "verbose": true})
4. create_checkpoint(usd_file="/tmp/scene_snapshot.usd", checkpoint_path="/tmp/checkpoint_001.usd")
5. render_with_husk(usd_file="/tmp/scene_snapshot.usd", output_path="/tmp/render/beauty.$F4.exr", renderer="karma", resolution=[1920, 1080], frame_range=[1, 120]) → written_files, elapsed_secs

When husk binary is not on PATH, use use_hython_fallback=true for in-process rendering via Houdini's Python session.