/ascii-art

name: ascii-art
description: Generate ASCII art using pyfiglet (571 fonts), cowsay, boxes, toilet, image-to-ascii, remote APIs (asciified, ascii.co.uk), and LLM fallback. No API keys required.
version: 4.0.0
author: 0xbyt4, Zorro Agent
license: MIT
dependencies: []
metadata:
  zorro:
    tags: [ASCII, Art, Banners, Creative, Unicode, Text-Art, pyfiglet, figlet, cowsay, boxes]
    related_skills: [excalidraw]

ASCII Art Skill

Multiple tools for different ASCII art needs. All tools are local CLI programs or free REST APIs — no API keys required.

Tool 1: Text Banners (pyfiglet — local)

Render text as large ASCII art banners. 571 built-in fonts.

Setup

pip install pyfiglet --break-system-packages -q

Usage

python3 -m pyfiglet "YOUR TEXT" -f slant
python3 -m pyfiglet "TEXT" -f doom -w 80    # Set width
python3 -m pyfiglet --list_fonts             # List all 571 fonts

Recommended fonts

| Style | Font | Best for | |-------|------|----------| | Clean & modern | `slant` | Project names, headers | | Bold & blocky | `doom` | Titles, logos | | Big & readable | `big` | Banners | | Classic banner | `banner3` | Wide displays | | Compact | `small` | Subtitles | | Cyberpunk | `cyberlarge` | Tech themes | | 3D effect | `3-d` | Splash screens | | Gothic | `gothic` | Dramatic text |

Tips

• Preview 2-3 fonts and let the user pick their favorite
• Short text (1-8 chars) works best with detailed fonts like `doom` or `block`
• Long text works better with compact fonts like `small` or `mini`

Tool 2: Text Banners (asciified API — remote, no install)

Free REST API that converts text to ASCII art. 250+ FIGlet fonts. Returns plain text directly — no parsing needed. Use this when pyfiglet is not installed or as a quick alternative.

Usage (via terminal curl)

# Basic text banner (default font)
curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=Hello+World"

# With a specific font
curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=Hello&font=Slant"
curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=Hello&font=Doom"
curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=Hello&font=Star+Wars"
curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=Hello&font=3-D"
curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=Hello&font=Banner3"

# List all available fonts (returns JSON array)
curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/fonts"

Tips

• URL-encode spaces as `+` in the text parameter
• The response is plain text ASCII art — no JSON wrapping, ready to display
• Font names are case-sensitive; use the fonts endpoint to get exact names
• Works from any terminal with curl — no Python or pip needed

Tool 3: Cowsay (Message Art)

Classic tool that wraps text in a speech bubble with an ASCII character.

Setup

sudo apt install cowsay -y    # Debian/Ubuntu
# brew install cowsay         # macOS

Usage

cowsay "Hello World"
cowsay -f tux "Linux rules"       # Tux the penguin
cowsay -f dragon "Rawr!"          # Dragon
cowsay -f stegosaurus "Roar!"     # Stegosaurus
cowthink "Hmm..."                  # Thought bubble
cowsay -l                          # List all characters

Available characters (50+)

`beavis.zen`, `bong`, `bunny`, `cheese`, `daemon`, `default`, `dragon`, `dragon-and-cow`, `elephant`, `eyes`, `flaming-skull`, `ghostbusters`, `hellokitty`, `kiss`, `kitty`, `koala`, `luke-koala`, `mech-and-cow`, `meow`, `moofasa`, `moose`, `ren`, `sheep`, `skeleton`, `small`, `stegosaurus`, `stimpy`, `supermilker`, `surgery`, `three-eyes`, `turkey`, `turtle`, `tux`, `udder`, `vader`, `vader-koala`, `www`

Eye/tongue modifiers

cowsay -b "Borg"       # =_= eyes
cowsay -d "Dead"       # x_x eyes
cowsay -g "Greedy"     # $_$ eyes
cowsay -p "Paranoid"   # @_@ eyes
cowsay -s "Stoned"     # *_* eyes
cowsay -w "Wired"      # O_O eyes
cowsay -e "OO" "Msg"   # Custom eyes
cowsay -T "U " "Msg"   # Custom tongue

Tool 4: Boxes (Decorative Borders)

Draw decorative ASCII art borders/frames around any text. 70+ built-in designs.

Setup

sudo apt install boxes -y    # Debian/Ubuntu
# brew install boxes         # macOS

Usage

echo "Hello World" | boxes                    # Default box
echo "Hello World" | boxes -d stone           # Stone border
echo "Hello World" | boxes -d parchment       # Parchment scroll
echo "Hello World" | boxes -d cat             # Cat border
echo "Hello World" | boxes -d dog             # Dog border
echo "Hello World" | boxes -d unicornsay      # Unicorn
echo "Hello World" | boxes -d diamonds        # Diamond pattern
echo "Hello World" | boxes -d c-cmt           # C-style comment
echo "Hello World" | boxes -d html-cmt        # HTML comment
echo "Hello World" | boxes -a c               # Center text
boxes -l                                       # List all 70+ designs

Combine with pyfiglet or asciified

python3 -m pyfiglet "ZORRO" -f slant | boxes -d stone
# Or without pyfiglet installed:
curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=ZORRO&font=Slant" | boxes -d stone

Tool 5: TOIlet (Colored Text Art)

Like pyfiglet but with ANSI color effects and visual filters. Great for terminal eye candy.

Setup

sudo apt install toilet toilet-fonts -y    # Debian/Ubuntu
# brew install toilet                      # macOS

Usage

toilet "Hello World"                    # Basic text art
toilet -f bigmono12 "Hello"            # Specific font
toilet --gay "Rainbow!"                 # Rainbow coloring
toilet --metal "Metal!"                 # Metallic effect
toilet -F border "Bordered"             # Add border
toilet -F border --gay "Fancy!"         # Combined effects
toilet -f pagga "Block"                 # Block-style font (unique to toilet)
toilet -F list                          # List available filters

Filters

`crop`, `gay` (rainbow), `metal`, `flip`, `fl