ascii-art

name	ascii-art
description	Converts text, images, or video to ASCII art with multiple styles and export formats. Use when the user asks to create ASCII art, convert images/videos to text art, or mentions ascii-art, braille art, or block art.

ASCII Art Converter

Setup

Before first use, run the environment setup (idempotent, <1s after first run):

bash {{SKILL_DIR}}/scripts/setup.sh

Input Detection

1. File path → check extension: .jpg/.jpeg/.png/.webp/.bmp/.tiff → image, .mp4/.webm/.avi/.mov/.mkv → video, .gif → check if animated (video) or static (image)
2. Pasted/attached image → save IMMEDIATELY before doing anything else. Run:

   {{SKILL_DIR}}/scripts/.venv/bin/python {{SKILL_DIR}}/scripts/save_image.py --clipboard
   

   This grabs the image from the system clipboard (still there after paste), saves to ascii/tmp/ with a timestamped name, and prints the saved path to stdout. Use that output path as --input. If --clipboard fails (no image in clipboard), fall back to asking: "Please provide the file path (e.g. ~/Downloads/photo.jpg)." You can also pass a known file path directly: save_image.py <path>. Do NOT proceed to options until you have a valid file path on disk.
3. Plain text (no file, or file doesn't exist) → text (FIGlet banner)
4. Nothing provided → ask what they want to convert

Options Prompt

Parse the user's message for pre-specified options. Then prompt for unspecified options using AskUserQuestion.

• "defaults" or "just do it" → skip prompting, use all defaults
• "random" or "surprise me" → skip prompting, use --random
• All options specified → skip prompting

Use questions array (max 4 per call, 3 options per question). List ALL choices with numbers in the question text. Top 3 as selectable options — user can type any number/name in free-text. No "Other" option. Default as option 1.

Image/video — ask in two rounds:

1. Round 1 (4 questions): Style → Color → Export → Background
2. Round 2 (only if export is interactive or tsx): Mouse Mode → Animation

Text: Font → Color → Export → Background (single round).

Image/video options

Option	Choices	Default
Style	classic, braille, block, edge, dot-cross, halftone, particles, retro-art, terminal	classic
Color	grayscale, original, matrix, amber, custom (hex/named)	grayscale
Ratio	original, 16:9, 4:3, 1:1, 3:4, 9:16	original
Background	dark, light, transparent	dark
Dither	none, floyd-steinberg, bayer, atkinson	none
Font size	6-30 px	14
Export	png, html, svg, txt, md, clipboard, interactive, tsx	auto (image→png, video→gif)
Mouse mode	push, attract	push
Animation	none, noise-field, intervals, beam-sweep, glitch, crt	none

Mouse mode and animation only apply to interactive/tsx exports. Only ask when export is interactive or tsx. Don't ask for --hover-strength, --area-size, or --spread — use defaults.

Text options

Option	Choices	Default
Font	standard, doom, banner, slant, big, small, block, lean, mini, script, shadow, speed, ansi_shadow, ansi_regular	standard
Color	grayscale, original, matrix, amber, custom	grayscale
Background	dark, light, transparent	dark
Export	terminal (stdout), txt, md, png, html, svg, clipboard	terminal

Interactive/tsx exports require image or video input — text is not supported.

Disambiguation

• "block" as a style = Unicode block elements (█▓▒░) for images
• "block" as a font = block-letter FIGlet font for text
• For block-style text art, use --font ansi_shadow or --font block
• Custom colors: hex (#ff6600) or named (coral, skyblue). Translate creative descriptions to hex.

Running the Conversion

{{SKILL_DIR}}/scripts/.venv/bin/python {{SKILL_DIR}}/scripts/convert.py \
  --input "<input>" \
  --type <text|image|video> \
  --style <style> \
  --color <color> \
  --background <background> \
  --export <format> \
  [--dither <algorithm>] \
  [--ratio <ratio>] \
  [--font-size <pixels>] \
  [--cols <number>] \
  [--font <font_name>] \
  [--custom-color "<hex>"] \
  [--mouse-mode <push|attract>] \
  [--animation <preset>] \
  [--invert] [--random] \
  [--fps <number>] \
  [--filename <custom_name>]

Output

All files save to an ascii/ folder in the current working directory (created automatically).

• Text (terminal): prints to stdout + auto-copies to clipboard. Show in a code block.
• File exports (png, html, svg, txt, md, gif): show the file path. Use Read tool to display images inline.
• Interactive HTML: show the file path. Suggest: open <path> to view in browser.
• React TSX: show the file path. Show usage: import { AsciiArt } from './<filename>'
• Never preview in terminal for image/video/interactive exports.

Error Handling

• Video fails: likely missing ffmpeg or opencv. Suggest: pip install opencv-python-headless
• Image fails: check file exists and is a valid image format
• Interactive/tsx + text: prints error — interactive requires image/video input

Follow-up

After showing the result, offer to: try a different style/color, adjust settings, export in another format, or try random mode. Remember the previous input path for re-runs.