| name | Art |
| description | Static visual content across 20+ formats via Flux, Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro), and GPT-Image-2. Workflows: Essay, D3Dashboards, Visualize, Mermaid, TechnicalDiagrams, Taxonomies, Timelines, Frameworks, Comparisons, AnnotatedScreenshots, RecipeCards, Aphorisms, Maps, Stats, Comics, StyleMatchedThumbnail, YouTubeThumbnailChecklist, AdHocYouTubeThumbnail, CreateLifeosPackIcon, LogoWallpaper, EmbossedLogoWallpaper, RemoveBackground. Output staged to ~/Downloads/ before project copy; --remove-bg returns transparent PNG; user customization dir overrides defaults (model/size flag details in body). USE WHEN art, illustration, diagram, flowchart, infographic, header image, blog social thumbnail, visualize, generate image, mermaid, architecture diagram, comic, icon, blog art, framework diagram, D3 chart, remove background, wallpaper. NOT FOR locked house-style YouTube/channel/video thumbnails (use _THUMBNAIL — it orchestrates Art's Generate/PickExpression/ThumbnailText tools), video or animation (use Remotion), or web UI design and integrated frontend layout (use Webdesign). |
| effort | medium |
Art Skill
Customization
Before executing, check for user customizations at:
~/.claude/LIFEOS/USER/CUSTOMIZATIONS/SKILLS/Art/
If this directory exists, load and apply:
PREFERENCES.md - Aesthetic preferences, default model, output locationCharacterSpecs.md - Character design specificationsSceneConstruction.md - Scene composition guidelines
These override default behavior. If the directory does not exist, proceed with skill defaults.
🚨 MANDATORY: Voice Notification (REQUIRED BEFORE ANY ACTION)
You MUST send this notification BEFORE doing anything else when this skill is invoked.
-
Send voice notification:
curl -s -X POST http://localhost:31337/notify \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"message": "Running the WORKFLOWNAME workflow in the Art skill to ACTION"}' \
> /dev/null 2>&1 &
-
Output text notification:
Running the **WorkflowName** workflow in the **Art** skill to ACTION...
This is not optional. Execute this curl command immediately upon skill invocation.
What It Does
Generates static visual content across 20+ formats — blog headers, technical and architecture diagrams, frameworks, taxonomies, timelines, comparisons, stat cards, comics, icons, wallpapers, D3 charts, Mermaid diagrams — using Flux, Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 3 Pro), and GPT-Image-2. Every request routes through a named workflow that encodes the technique and palette, output stages to ~/Downloads/ for review first, and blog headers ship both a transparent inline version and an opaque social thumbnail.
The Problem
The bare image model produces inconsistent, off-style output when handed a freeform prompt — one session shipped 12 rejected diagrams because the prompt skipped the workflow that holds the composition rules. Different formats need different models (text-heavy cards want GPT-Image-2; editorial headers want Nano Banana Pro), different size formats, and different transparency handling. Without a fixed routing-and-staging discipline, you get wrong sizes, opaque headers that bleed over the page background, and images pushed straight to a repo before anyone looked at them. This skill makes the workflow, the model choice, and the Downloads-first review mandatory in code, not just in markdown.
How It Works
A complete visual content system for illustrations, diagrams, and other static visuals. Each request picks a matching workflow file first, follows its prompt template, then calls Generate.ts with --workflow=<name> plus model/size/output flags. Two layers enforce that the workflow was followed (Generate.ts itself and the ArtWorkflowGuard.hook.ts PreToolUse hook), output always lands in ~/Downloads/ for preview, and blog headers run with --thumbnail to produce both the transparent PNG and the sepia-backed social thumbnail.
🛑 STRUCTURAL ENFORCEMENT — --workflow=<name> IS REQUIRED
This rule used to be markdown-only and was silently ignored, producing 12 rejected diagrams in one session (incident 2026-04-30, see ISA MEMORY/WORK/20260430-180000_art-skill-freeform-enforcement). It now lives in code.
Two layers enforce it:
Generate.ts itself refuses to run unless you pass --workflow=<name> (or the explicit --freeform-confirmed opt-out). It exits non-zero with the workflow lookup table.ArtWorkflowGuard.hook.ts (PreToolUse Bash) blocks any Bash command containing Art/Tools/Generate.ts without --workflow= or --freeform-confirmed, with exit code 2 and the same lookup table.
The flow that works: read the matching workflow file → follow its prompt template → invoke Generate.ts with --workflow=<that-workflow-name> plus your model/prompt/size flags. The --workflow=<name> flag is your explicit assertion "I read the workflow and followed it."
The flow that's blocked: composing a freeform prompt and shipping it directly to Generate.ts. Both layers above will refuse.
Most Common Failure Mode (don't repeat it)
Reading the workflow's caps-warning, mentally noting "do the workflow," then composing a Bash command with your own prompt anyway because it feels faster. Stop. The workflow templates encode the technique, palette, composition rules, and validation gate the bare model fails to honor. Skipping them produced — verbatim — "absolute fucking ass" diagrams. Read the workflow file FIRST. Compose the prompt FROM the template. Pass --workflow=<name> so the gate can see you did it.
Workflow → command (copy-paste)
bun ~/.claude/skills/Art/Tools/Generate.ts \
--workflow=<WorkflowName> \
--model nano-banana-pro \
--prompt "..." \
--size 2K \
--aspect-ratio 16:9 \
--output ~/Downloads/<filename>.png
<WorkflowName> MUST match a file under Workflows/ (without .md):
Routing rules — pick a workflow FIRST, before writing any prompt:
| Request shape | Required workflow |
|---|
| Blog header / editorial essay illustration | Workflows/Essay.md — Steps 1–8 in order, no skipping |
| Mermaid diagram | Workflows/Mermaid.md |
| Technical / architecture diagram | Workflows/TechnicalDiagrams.md |
| Framework / 2x2 / matrix | Workflows/Frameworks.md |
| D3 dashboard / chart | Workflows/D3Dashboards.md |
| Taxonomy / hierarchy | Workflows/Taxonomies.md |
| Timeline | Workflows/Timelines.md |
| Comparison | Workflows/Comparisons.md |
| Stat card | Workflows/Stats.md |
| Aphorism / quote card | Workflows/Aphorisms.md |
| Comic panel | Workflows/Comics.md |
| Locked house-style YouTube / channel thumbnail | Use the _THUMBNAIL skill — it owns the locked style and orchestrates the Art tools below. Don't drive these workflows directly for channel thumbnails. |
| YouTube thumbnail (generic mechanism, orchestrated by _THUMBNAIL) | Workflows/StyleMatchedThumbnail.md — deterministic text + real-photo face |
| YouTube thumbnail (legacy / validation) | Workflows/AdHocYouTubeThumbnail.md or Workflows/YouTubeThumbnailChecklist.md |
| LifeOS pack icon | Workflows/CreateLifeosPackIcon.md |
| brand-logo wallpaper | Workflows/LogoWallpaper.md |
| Recipe card | Workflows/RecipeCards.md |
| Map / conceptual map | Workflows/Maps.md |
| Annotated screenshot | Workflows/AnnotatedScreenshots.md |
| Background removal only | Workflows/RemoveBackground.md |
| Embossed logo wallpaper | Workflows/EmbossedLogoWallpaper.md |
| Generic visualization (none of the above fit) | Workflows/Visualize.md |
The ONLY exception: the user explicitly says "freeform" / "skip the workflow" / "just run Generate.ts directly with this prompt: ...". In that case, pass --freeform-confirmed to Generate.ts (which logs the explicit opt-out to stderr for audit). Without that explicit instruction from the user, ALWAYS pick the matching workflow and pass --workflow=<name> — both Generate.ts and ArtWorkflowGuard.hook.ts will refuse the call otherwise.
If no workflow matches the request, stop and surface to the user before generating — propose either (a) the closest existing workflow, (b) using Visualize.md as the generic catch-all, or (c) creating a new workflow first via the CreateSkill skill. Do not improvise.
🚨🚨🚨 MANDATORY: Output to Downloads First 🚨🚨🚨
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
⚠️ ALL GENERATED IMAGES GO TO ~/Downloads/ FIRST ⚠️
⚠️ NEVER output directly to project directories ⚠️
⚠️ User MUST preview in Finder/Preview before use ⚠️
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
This applies to ALL workflows in this skill.
🚨🚨🚨 MANDATORY: Transparency Rules for Blog Headers 🚨🚨🚨
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
⚠️ INLINE (body) image → TRANSPARENT (PNG with alpha) ⚠️
⚠️ SOCIAL THUMBNAIL (frontmatter) → SEPIA #EAE9DF (opaque) ⚠️
⚠️ EVERY blog header MUST use --thumbnail (produces both) ⚠️
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
The blog page background is sepia #EAE9DF. Inline images MUST be transparent PNG so they composite cleanly over the page. Social platforms (X, LinkedIn, RSS readers) do NOT honor transparency — they show white/black bleed-through — so the thumbnail: frontmatter MUST point to the sepia-backed version.
Enforcement when calling Generate.ts:
--thumbnail is the ONLY correct flag for blog headers — it implicitly enables --remove-bg and produces BOTH output.png (transparent) AND output-thumb.png (#EAE9DF background).- Background removal runs locally via
rembg (no external API). If the model returns JPEG (Nano Banana Pro often does), Generate.ts automatically renames the output from .jpg → .png after rembg processing so the final transparent file is a real PNG with a real alpha channel. If you ever see a .jpg labeled "transparent", that is NOT transparent.
- If
rembg isn't installed at ~/.local/bin/rembg, the tool fails loudly with install instructions rather than silently producing an opaque image. Install: pipx install rembg (or set REMBG_BIN env var to override the path).
Verification step before declaring an image done (REQUIRED):
file ~/Downloads/[name].png → must report PNG image data, ... RGBA (8-bit/color RGBA). If it says JPEG or 8-bit colormap without alpha, transparency failed.file ~/Downloads/[name]-thumb.png → must report PNG image data. The thumb is intentionally opaque with sepia background.- Only after both pass: copy to the project directory and wire into the post.
Wiring into the blog post:
- Body inline:
[](/images/blog/[slug]/header.webp) — use the transparent WebP converted from the .png.
- Frontmatter:
thumbnail: https://example.com/images/blog/[slug]/header-thumb.png — always the -thumb.png (opaque sepia).
Never reuse the opaque thumbnail for the inline slot. Never reuse the transparent file for the social thumbnail. These are two distinct outputs from one --thumbnail run.
Sanctioned exception (this section is the canonical home; _BLOGGING defers here): transparent inline is the DEFAULT for every blog header. The one exception is thin-linework/charcoal pieces where rembg strips the artwork itself (see Gotchas) — those may ship an opaque sepia #EAE9DF inline image, which composites seamlessly on the matching page background. Opaque inline is a documented fallback for that failure mode, never a second default.
Workflow Routing
Route to the appropriate workflow based on the request.
| Workflow | Trigger | File |
|---|
| Essay | Blog header or editorial illustration | Workflows/Essay.md |
| RemoveBackground | Remove background from image | Workflows/RemoveBackground.md |
| LogoWallpaper | brand-logo wallpaper with logo integration | Workflows/LogoWallpaper.md |
| EmbossedLogoWallpaper | Embossed logo wallpaper | Workflows/EmbossedLogoWallpaper.md |
| D3Dashboards | D3.js interactive chart or dashboard | Workflows/D3Dashboards.md |
| Visualize | Visualization or unsure which format | Workflows/Visualize.md |
| Mermaid | Mermaid flowchart or sequence diagram | Workflows/Mermaid.md |
| TechnicalDiagrams | Technical or architecture diagram | Workflows/TechnicalDiagrams.md |
| Taxonomies | Taxonomy or classification grid | Workflows/Taxonomies.md |
| Timelines | Timeline or chronological progression | Workflows/Timelines.md |
| Frameworks | Framework or 2x2 matrix | Workflows/Frameworks.md |
| Comparisons | Comparison or X vs Y | Workflows/Comparisons.md |
| AnnotatedScreenshots | Annotated screenshot | Workflows/AnnotatedScreenshots.md |
| RecipeCards | Recipe card or step-by-step | Workflows/RecipeCards.md |
| Aphorisms | Aphorism or quote card | Workflows/Aphorisms.md |
| Maps | Conceptual map or territory | Workflows/Maps.md |
| Stats | Stat card or big number visual | Workflows/Stats.md |
| Comics | Comic or sequential panels | Workflows/Comics.md |
| YouTubeThumbnailChecklist | YouTube thumbnail checklist; YouTube thumbnail (with existing assets) | Workflows/YouTubeThumbnailChecklist.md |
| AdHocYouTubeThumbnail | Ad-hoc YouTube thumbnail (generate from content) | Workflows/AdHocYouTubeThumbnail.md |
| CreateLifeosPackIcon | LifeOS pack icon | Workflows/CreateLifeosPackIcon.md |
Core Aesthetic
Default: Production-quality concept art style appropriate for editorial and technical content.
User customization defines specific aesthetic preferences including:
- Visual style and influences
- Line treatment and rendering approach
- Color palette and wash technique
- Character design specifications
- Scene composition rules
Load from: ~/.claude/LIFEOS/USER/CUSTOMIZATIONS/SKILLS/Art/PREFERENCES.md
Reference Images
User customization may include reference images for consistent style.
Check ~/.claude/LIFEOS/USER/CUSTOMIZATIONS/SKILLS/Art/PREFERENCES.md for:
- Reference image locations
- Style examples by use case
- Character and scene reference guidance
Usage: Before generating images, load relevant user-provided references to match their preferred style.
Image Generation
Default model: Check user customization at SKILLCUSTOMIZATIONS/Art/PREFERENCES.md
Fallback: nano-banana-pro (Gemini 3 Pro)
Model-Specific Size Requirements
Each model accepts different --size formats. Using the wrong format causes validation errors.
| Model | --size format | Valid values | Default |
|---|
flux | Aspect ratio | 1:1, 16:9, 3:2, 2:3, 3:4, 4:3, 4:5, 5:4, 9:16, 21:9 | 16:9 |
nano-banana | Aspect ratio | 1:1, 16:9, 3:2, 2:3, 3:4, 4:3, 4:5, 5:4, 9:16, 21:9 | 16:9 |
nano-banana-pro | Resolution tier | 1K, 2K, 4K (also accepts --aspect-ratio separately) | 2K |
gpt-image-2 | Pixel dimensions | 1024x1024, 1536x1024, 1024x1536, 2048x2048, auto (also accepts --quality low/medium/high/auto) | 1024x1024 |
gpt-image-1 is DEPRECATED per OpenAI docs and is rejected by Generate.ts with a clear error message. There is no gpt-image-1.5 or gpt-image-2.5 — earlier versions of this skill referenced those as fallbacks; they do not exist. The OpenAI image lineup as of 2026-05-04 is exactly: gpt-image-2 (current) and gpt-image-1 (deprecated).
Model Selection — when to pick which
Three first-class models are wired into Generate.ts. PREFERENCES.md (if present) pins the user's default; in absence of a pin, pick by job:
| Job | Recommended model | Why |
|---|
| Editorial illustration / blog header (default) | nano-banana-pro | Best composition fidelity for the user's editorial aesthetic; PREFERENCES.md typically pins it. |
| Text-heavy work — stat cards, framework diagrams, taxonomies, timelines, aphorism cards | gpt-image-2 | Currently #1 across all Image Arena leaderboards (Arena.ai, 2026-05-04) — text-to-image margin +242 Elo, single-image edit +125, multi-image edit +90. Strongest text rendering on the market right now. |
| Editorial / blog / essay header (the DEFAULT — competing head-to-head) | compare (runs both gpt-image-2 + nano-banana-pro in parallel on the same brief) | The two flagship models compete to make the best image; pick the winner. This is the default for any editorial header — the models have orthogonal strengths, so generating from only one leaves half the option space unexplored. See Workflows/Essay.md. |
| Stylistic variety / non-photoreal / iteration speed | flux or nano-banana | Different aesthetic register; flux is crisper for technical illustration. |
Arena leaderboard sweeps measure aesthetic preference at scale, not editorial style fit. They are a strong quality signal, not a default-override; respect PREFERENCES.md when it exists.
Note: nano-banana-pro uses --size for resolution quality and a separate --aspect-ratio flag for aspect ratio (defaults to 16:9).
🚨 CRITICAL: Always Output to Downloads First
ALL generated images MUST go to ~/Downloads/ first for preview and selection.
Never output directly to a project's public/images/ directory. User needs to review images in Preview before they're used.
Workflow:
- Generate to
~/Downloads/[descriptive-name].png
- User reviews in Preview
- If approved, THEN copy to final destination (e.g.,
cms/public/images/)
- Create WebP and thumbnail versions at final destination
bun run ${LIFEOS_SKILL_DIR}/Tools/Generate.ts \
--model nano-banana-pro \
--prompt "[PROMPT]" \
--size 2K \
--aspect-ratio 1:1 \
--thumbnail \
--output ~/Downloads/blog-header-concept.png
cp ~/Downloads/blog-header-concept.png ~/your-site/public/images/
cp ~/Downloads/blog-header-concept-thumb.png ~/your-site/public/images/
Multiple Reference Images (Character/Style Consistency)
For improved character or style consistency, use multiple --reference-image flags:
bun run ${LIFEOS_SKILL_DIR}/Tools/Generate.ts \
--model nano-banana-pro \
--prompt "Person from references at a party..." \
--reference-image face1.jpg \
--reference-image face2.jpg \
--reference-image face3.jpg \
--size 2K \
--aspect-ratio 16:9 \
--output ~/Downloads/character-scene.png
API Limits (Gemini):
- Up to 5 human reference images
- Up to 6 object reference images
- Maximum 14 total reference images per request
API keys in: ${LIFEOS_DIR}/.env
Examples
Example 1: Blog header image
User: "create a header for my AI agents post"
→ Invokes ESSAY workflow
→ Generates charcoal sketch prompt
→ Creates image with architectural aesthetic
→ Saves to ~/Downloads/ for preview
→ After approval, copies to public/images/
Example 2: Technical architecture diagram
User: "make a diagram showing the SPQA pattern"
→ Invokes TECHNICALDIAGRAMS workflow
→ Creates structured architecture visual
→ Outputs PNG with consistent styling
Example 3: Comparison visualization
User: "visualize humans vs AI decision-making"
→ Invokes COMPARISONS workflow
→ Creates side-by-side visual
→ Charcoal sketch with labeled elements
Example 4: LifeOS pack icon
User: "create icon for the skill system pack"
→ Invokes CREATEPAIPACKICON workflow
→ Reads workflow from Workflows/CreateLifeosPackIcon.md
→ Generates 1K image with --remove-bg for transparency
→ Resizes to 256x256 RGBA PNG
→ Outputs to ~/Downloads/ for preview
→ After approval, copies to ${PROJECTS_DIR}/LIFEOS/Packs/icons/
Gotchas
- Always output to ~/Downloads/ first — NEVER directly to project directories. User must preview before use. Multiple past failures from pushing wrong images directly to repos.
- Verify image dimensions match target use case before claiming done. Social media previews, blog headers, and thumbnails have different size requirements. A header that works on the blog may break OG/social previews.
- nano-banana-pro uses
--size for resolution (1K/2K/4K) and SEPARATE --aspect-ratio flag. Don't pass aspect ratio values to --size.
- Reference images: max 5 human, 6 object, 14 total per request (Gemini API limit).
- After generating, use Read tool to visually confirm the image before reporting success. "Generated successfully" means nothing if you haven't looked at it.
- When asked to use a specific image URL or file, use EXACTLY that asset. Don't substitute similar images. Past rating-1 failures from using wrong image assets.
--remove-bg may produce black backgrounds instead of transparency. Always verify transparent PNG output visually before deploying.--remove-bg is unsafe for thin-linework technical diagrams. rembg classifies thin black ink on a light field as "background" and strips it, leaving a near-empty ghost. Documented 2026-05-11 on the free-will flowchart. Mitigations: (a) prompt for thick saturated linework first so rembg has a strong signal, or (b) skip --remove-bg entirely when the destination background matches the image's background (blog page is sepia #EAE9DF — opaque sepia diagram on sepia page composites with zero visible seam, no alpha needed).- Logo fidelity breaks in 3D/perspective scenes even with a reference image. Documented 2026-06-11 on the UL wallpaper set: straight-on and macro scenes held the glyph topology in 7/7 rolls, but the isometric 3D scene closed the open mark into a loop and dropped its isolated dot. For any perspective/3D composition with a logo, add topology-locked negative language to the prompt ("do not close the shape into a loop", "do not omit the isolated dot", name every stroke and terminal) on top of
--reference-image, and vision-verify the topology specifically.
- nano-banana-pro "4K 16:9" is actually 5504×3072 (43:24, ~0.8% wider than 16:9), saved as .jpg even when
--output says .png. Disclose the native ratio when the spec says 16:9, and probe the real filename before Read/delivery.
- White-box-on-cream bug (2026-06-20): flattening an OPAQUE jpeg on
#EAE9DF is a no-op. nano-banana-pro returns an opaque JPEG; magick -background "#EAE9DF" -flatten only fills alpha, so the model's baked near-white ground survives and paints a white rectangle on the cream blog page ("it has a fucking white background"). For inline blog headers, cut true alpha FIRST (bun ~/.claude/LIFEOS/TOOLS/RemoveBg.ts), then derive the WebP, and verify identify -format "%[channels]" inline.webp == srgba. Opaque-sepia inline is valid ONLY on an image that already has alpha. See Essay.md Step 7.0.5.
- Essay/blog headers MUST be signed "{{DA_NAME}}" (2026-06-20 principal directive) — human handwriting, never calligraphy. Programmatic stamp in Essay.md Step 7.1 (
Bradley-Hand-Bold, semi-transparent charcoal, bottom-right); never prompt the signature into the model (it garbles). Snell-Roundhand / Apple-Chancery / Savoye script faces were explicitly rejected — real-hand look, not calligraphy.
Execution Log
After completing any workflow, append a single JSONL entry:
echo '{"ts":"'$(date -u +%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ)'","skill":"Art","workflow":"WORKFLOW_USED","input":"8_WORD_SUMMARY","status":"ok|error","duration_s":SECONDS}' >> ~/.claude/LIFEOS/MEMORY/SKILLS/execution.jsonl
Replace WORKFLOW_USED with the workflow executed, 8_WORD_SUMMARY with a brief input description, and SECONDS with approximate wall-clock time. Log status: "error" if the workflow failed.
