pixel-asset-pipeline

name

pixel-asset-pipeline

description

Inspect, derive, validate, and review Brilliant Sort pixel-art PNG asset families. Use this skill whenever a user provides or asks to generate a pixel sprite, requests recolors/variants, mentions sprite sheets or transparent game assets, or wants to promote an AI-generated pixel candidate into the Brilliant Sort game. Trigger even when the request only asks for one additional color, background transparency validation, or a visual sprite preview.

Pixel Asset Pipeline

Treat AI image tools as sources of candidate master sprites, never as the runtime asset pipeline. The repository's pixel-bloom Bun CLI is the authority for inspecting, deriving, and previewing asset families.

Asset lifecycle

candidate PNG in art/inbox/
  → inspect
  → semantic palette manifest
  → derive
  → local browser preview
  → human approval
  → explicit promotion into a game-consumed asset path

Do not skip a stage. Keep all unreviewed candidates under art/inbox/; do not copy them into src/, public/, or another game-consumed path before a human approves the derived family.

Required checks

Run this before treating a PNG as a master:

bun run pixel-bloom inspect <candidate.png> --json

A v1 master must be a readable PNG with intentional transparent pixels, a finite opaque palette, and binary Alpha only (0 or 255). A rendered white background or checkerboard is opaque image content, not transparency. Reject or regenerate candidates with fake transparency, accidental opaque palette noise, inconsistent geometry, or semi-transparent edge blur.

Deriving variants

Use an explicit semantic palette manifest. Do not use CSS hue-rotate(), global color filters, manual Photoshop recoloring, or a second independent AI generation for each color when a validated master already exists.

bun run pixel-bloom derive \
  --source <candidate.png> \
  --palette art/palettes/brilliant-sort.json \
  --out art/review/pixel-bloom/gems

The manifest locks structural colors such as outline and specular; it maps non-fixed facet roles to named game variants. pixel-bloom fails closed if the source has an opaque color absent from the manifest, a translucent pixel, or an invalid fixed-role override. Fix the source or manifest rather than bypassing the error.

Review output

Always generate and inspect a local review page after derivation:

bun run pixel-bloom preview \
  --sprites art/review/pixel-bloom/gems \
  --out art/review/pixel-bloom/index.html

Open the generated file in a browser at desktop and approximately 390 CSS-pixel mobile width. Confirm every variant remains distinguishable, source geometry and Alpha masks match, structural outline/highlight roles stay stable, and no horizontal overflow occurs.

Promotion gate

Report the inspection facts, generated file paths, and browser result to the user. Only after explicit visual approval may an asset family be moved or copied into a game-consumed asset directory and wired into the React presentation. Do not add decorative non-functional economy, power-up, lock, or commercial UI assets.