chenkin-noob-xl-prompting

# Chenkin Noob XL Prompting [Chenkin Noob XL (CKXL)](https://civitai.com/models/2167995/chenkin-noob-xl-ckxl) is a Chenkin fine-tune of `Laxhar/noobai-XL-1.1` (an **eps**-prediction SDXL anime model), trained on ~12M images (9M anime + 2.17M game/Western designs, Danbooru through Jan 2026). It uses a Danbooru + e621 tag namespace with `artist:name` syntax, and adds a CKXL-specific aesthetic/quality vocabulary (`Aesthetic`, `Excellent`, `High Resolution`, `Medium Resolution`). Write the `prompt` and `negative` you pass to the `generate_image` tool per the rules below to drive it well on the first call. CKXL is **eps-prediction**, not v-pred - it wants the eps sampler / CFG settings below (Euler a, CFG 5-6, no zsnr), not v-pred constraints. **Safe default when unsure:** use the CKXL workflow; lead the `prompt` with `masterpiece, best quality, newest, high resolution, aesthetic, excellent, year 2026,`, add roughly 8-15 caption-order tags for the subject, and always pass the recommended `negative` below **including its anti-furry block**. CKXL has no aggressive default style, so terse prompts come out bland - spend the detail. Everything below is how to do better than this default when the request calls for it. ## The `generate_image` call | Arg | For CKXL | | ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | `prompt` | Required. Lead with the CKXL prefix below; then the caption order. | | `negative` | Required. Start from the recommended negative below - keep the anti-furry block. | | `workflow` | Use the CKXL workflow (or an eps-prediction workflow with the CKXL checkpoint pointed at by it). | | `width` / `height` | Total area ~1024x1024. Best: 768x1344, **832x1216**, 896x1152, 1024x1024, 1152x896, 1216x832, 1344x768. | | `steps` | 25-30. | | `cfg` | 5-6. Higher oversaturates; stay <= 6. | | `seed` | Omit for a fresh random image; pass a prior seed to reproduce or vary. | Do not pass `inputImage` unless the workflow is a CKXL img2img variant. ## Positive prompt recipe 1. **Required prefix** (v0.5 recommendation): `masterpiece, best quality, newest, high resolution, aesthetic, excellent, year 2026,` - For older-looking output, swap `year 2026` for an earlier year (`year 2023`) or a period tag (see [Date tags](#date-tags)). - `aesthetic, excellent, high resolution` are CKXL-specific quality tags - keep them. Drop them only if you want a deliberately less-polished look. 2. **Caption order:** `<1girl/1boy/1other/...>, <character>, <series>, <artists>, <special tags>, <general tags>, <other tags>` 3. **Artists use `artist:name` syntax**, comma-joined: `artist:wlop, artist:as109`. Multi-word artist names keep underscores (`artist:john_kafka`). Do **not** use an `@` prefix. 4. **Lowercase tags, spaces over underscores** in general tags; multi-word Danbooru proper nouns may keep underscores. 5. **Escape literal parentheses** with backslash: `arlecchino \(genshin impact\)`. 6. **Name then describe characters.** With multiple characters, describe each separately to avoid conflation. 7. **Be specific.** CKXL has no aggressive default style, so terse prompts come out bland. ## Negative prompt recipe Start from the model card's v0.5 recommendation and add the anti-furry block: ```text nsfw, worst quality, old, early, low quality, lowres, signature, username, logo, bad hands, mutated hands, mammal, anthro, furry, ambiguous form, feral, semi-anthro, e621 ``` The v0.5 card itself drops the `mammal, anthro, furry...` block, but CKXL is built on a checkpoint trained on e621, so keep it unless the user actually wants furry/anthro art. The v0.2 card's `e621, Furry` shorthand goes in the same role. Add situational terms: - `text, watermark, multiple views, extra digits, jpeg artifacts` for cleanup. - Drop `nsfw` if the user wants sensitive/explicit output. ## Tag reference ### CKXL quality vocabulary | Tag | Meaning | | ------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------- | | `masterpiece` | Top 5% quality percentile - keep in the prefix | | `best quality` | Top 15% quality percentile - keep in the prefix | | `aesthetic` | CKXL top-100k Danbooru aesthetic - keep in the prefix | | `excellent` | CKXL top-1M liked Danbooru - keep in the prefix | | `high resolution` | CKXL >= 2048 px source - default for the prefix | | `medium resolution` | CKXL 1024-2048 px source - lower-resolution training look | ### Date tags | Period tag | Year range | When to use | | ---------- | ---------- | ------------------------------------------------ | | `newest` | 2022-2025 | CKXL's recommended modern look - **the default** | | `recent` | 2018-2020 | Late-2010s / early-2020s style | | `mid` | 2014-2017 | Mid-2010s style | | `early` | 2011-2014 | Earlier 2010s style | | `old` | 2005-2010 | Vintage 2000s anime | For a specific year, use `year 2024`, `year 2025`, `year 2026` etc. CKXL's training data runs through Jan 2026, so `year 2026` is in-range. ## Generation settings | Setting | Value (per the model card) | | ---------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Resolution | ~1024x1024 area. Best: 832x1216 portrait, 1024x1024 square, 1216x832 landscape. | | Steps | 25-30. | | CFG | 5-6. Higher oversaturates. | | Sampler | `Euler a` (the eps-line default - **not** plain Euler, which is the v-pred constraint). | Sampler / scheduler live in the workflow file. CKXL is eps-prediction - if the workflow is configured for v-pred (zsnr, `v_prediction`), generations will look mushy. Verify the workflow before retrying. ## Prompt enhancement (`enhance`) The `generate_image` tool has an opt-in **`enhance`** option that routes your prompt through a separate model before the render to rewrite it into CKXL's native protocol - the prefixed, caption-ordered Danbooru / e621 tag list this guide describes. - **It is opt-in.** Pass `enhance: true` on the call (or a workflow/config default turns it on). When off, your `prompt` is sent as-is. - **Use it when** the incoming prompt is thin (a few words) and you want a one-shot upgrade to a full tagged prompt. When you have already built a careful tagged prompt, leave `enhance` off - it only adds latency and risks drifting from your intent. - **Scene continuity.** Pass the `context` arg alongside `enhance` to hand the enhancer background to honour (character facts, ongoing scene, wardrobe) without depicting it literally. It is ignored when `enhance` is off. - **Negative.** The enhancer builds on whatever baseline `negative` you pass and returns a refined one - it must keep the anti-furry block (see the [negative recipe](#negative-prompt-recipe)). ## If you are enhancing a prompt rather than rendering You may be reading this not to call `generate_image` yourself, but as guidance handed to the prompt-enhancement step: you were given a rough positive prompt, a baseline negative, and the target workflow's protocol, and you must return a single JSON object `{"prompt", "negative"}` and nothing else. In that role: - **Act only on the prompt-writing rules above** - the required prefix and caption order in the [positive recipe](#positive-prompt-recipe) and the [negative recipe](#negative-prompt-recipe). The generation-settings and tool-arg tables do not apply - you do not pick a workflow or call any tool. - **Translate and enrich, do not reinvent.** Keep the incoming subject and intent; lead with `masterpiece, best quality, newest, high resolution, aesthetic, excellent, year 2026,` (keep the CKXL quality tags), write artists as comma-joined `artist:name` (no `@`), use lowercase tags, and escape literal parentheses (`\(` `\)`). - **Always add detail - even to an already-tagged prompt.** CKXL has no aggressive default style, so push toward roughly 8-15 caption-order items: subject count (`1girl` / `1boy` / `1other`), character / series, appearance, pose, scene, and lighting that the prompt leaves unstated, staying faithful to the stated subject. - **Mine any background context you were given** (a scene/continuity note, recent conversation) for that extra detail and fold it in as depictable tags. Treat it as source material to pick from, not a checklist to dump and not a subject that overrides the explicit prompt; ignore chatter with no visual bearing. - **Build on the baseline negative** and **always keep the anti-furry block** (`mammal, anthro, furry, ambiguous form, feral, semi-anthro, e621`) unless the user actually wants furry / anthro art. ## Worked examples These illustrate the _shape_ of a finished prompt - adapt them to the actual request, do not reuse them verbatim. Pass the `prompt` (and `negative`) value as a single string. Standard portrait: ```text prompt: masterpiece, best quality, newest, high resolution, aesthetic, excellent, year 2026, 1girl, solo, fern \(sousou no frieren\), sousou no frieren, artist:wlop, long purple hair, purple eyes, black coat, holding staff, magical sparks, forest clearing at dusk, cinematic lighting, soft glow, looking at viewer negative: nsfw, worst quality, old, early, low quality, lowres, signature, username, logo, bad hands, mutated hands, mammal, anthro, furry, ambiguous form, feral, semi-anthro, e621, text, watermark ``` Multi-artist style mix: ```text prompt: masterpiece, best quality, newest, high resolution, aesthetic, excellent, year 2025, artist:wlop, artist:as109, 1girl, solo, chromatic aberration, film grain, horror \(theme\), limited palette, x-shaped pupils, high contrast, cold colors, black theme, gritty negative: nsfw, worst quality, old, early, low quality, lowres, signature, username, logo, bad hands, mutated hands, mammal, anthro, furry, ambiguous form, feral, semi-anthro, e621 ``` The wrapped lines above are a single comma/space-joined string each - pass them as one line in the tool args. ## Anti-patterns - **Treating CKXL like a v-pred model.** CFG 4 + Euler + zsnr underperforms here - CKXL is eps and wants CFG 5-6 + Euler a + no zsnr. - **Dropping CKXL's quality tags.** `aesthetic, excellent, high resolution` are this fine-tune's main aesthetic lever - removing them defeats the point of this fine-tune. - **Skipping the anti-furry block.** Even though v0.5's card omits it, CKXL is built on an e621-trained checkpoint - without the block, e621 features leak into anime prompts. - **`@`-prefixed artists.** Wrong here - use `artist:name` instead. - **Pushing CFG past 6.** Oversaturates the image on the eps line; CKXL is no exception. - **Three-word prompts.** CKXL has no aggressive default style, so terse prompts come out bland. Always include the full prefix + caption-order tags. - **Wrong year tag.** `year 2027` is out of CKXL's training range (training data cutoff is Jan 2026); the tag will be treated as unknown. - **Square-bracket weighting.** ComfyUI weights with parentheses - `(tag:1.3)` to strengthen, `(tag:0.8)` to weaken. A1111-style square brackets do not de-emphasize here: `[tag]` parses as `([tag]:1)` (literal brackets at weight 1). Use `(tag:0.8)` to weaken instead.