/illo

name: illo
description: >-
  Creates original editorial illustrations where a recurring mascot
  character performs the idea — one caught scene by default, a hand-built
  explainer diagram (a flow, fan-out, timeline, loop, or stack) when the
  structure itself is the point, or a transparent character cutout
  (pose-only compositing asset, no scene or text) — in one of seventeen bundled
  looks (sixteen print, plus a photoreal toy-brick set). Also handles
  "surprise me" / "random" (optionally scoped to a focus or character): rolls
  provenance, builds three saying candidates, picks via interactive choice or
  auto-pick-best (`--autopick`), and renders one image. Triggers only when
  the skill is directly invoked or "illo" is requested; never on generic
  illustrate / draw / make-an-image requests.
# x-release-please-start-version
version: 0.32.1
# x-release-please-end
argument-hint: "[idea or article URL] | build a character | install <character> | surprise me [focus] [--autopick] [using character]"
author: Trevin Chow
license: MIT
metadata:
  hermes:
    tags: [illustration, riso, image-generation, editorial, mascot, codex, grok, openrouter]
    category: creative
    requires_toolsets: [terminal]
  openclaw:
    emoji: "🎨"
    homepage: https://illo-skill.com
    os: [macos, linux]
    requires:
      bins: [python3]

Illo

Make original, distinctive editorial illustrations for written content. One image explains one idea: a key judgment, a flow, a before/after, a trap, a loop. A **recurring mascot** is the one performing the idea in every scene — the subject, never decoration. When one idea advances through stages, it can be a **mini-comic**: 2–4 panels inside a single image. And when the idea is itself a traceable structure — a pipeline, a fan-out, a timeline, a loop — it can be an **explainer**: the same mascot and look drawing the structure as a hand-built sketch-diagram with arrows and callouts (`references/composition.md`, "Two registers"; editorial scene is always the default). Or a **character cutout**: the mascot alone on a transparent PNG for downstream overlay — pose and contact continuity only, no idea, no text, no environment (`references/cutout.md`).

This is a configurable house style, not a generic image generator. The **methodology is the constant**; the **character pack and palette are the parameters** — and a character pack carries its **style** with it: one look per pack, chosen from the bundled look library (riso — grainy halftone, ink-layer offset, paper grain, one bold softly-rounded outline — plus blueprint, woodcut, pixel, clay, manila, chalk, phosphor, enamel, gouache, felt, diorama, sketchbook, bricks, fizz, bloom, and snes) or a custom style file. The default mascot is **Blot**, a deadpan ink-drop in riso. Palettes come from presets, the user's own palette file, or one derived color. Whatever the parameters, it is intentionally not a photo — with one deliberate exception, the `bricks` look, a toy-brick photography style — not a logo, not a corporate infographic, not a formal flowchart, not a UI mockup.

Use cases — route the request

| The user wants | The path | |---|---| | **Illustrate an article / post / newsletter / URL** | Steps 0–7: route the source first (thesis → coverage: hero / hero+set / set / mini-comic — `references/composition.md`, "Source routing"), then shot list (hero row + anchors), one image per anchor, interleave by placement. | | **One image for a single concept** | Step 1 concept branch (up to ~3 quick questions if the idea is thin), then a single image. | | **Surprise / random** — "surprise me", "random", "surprise me with art quote using bray", "surprise me --autopick" | Read `references/surprise.md` in full: Step 0 first, then character + provenance (ignore `defaultCharacter`; `* quote` forces a cited quote; else ~1/3 roll), build **three** safe candidates, interactive picker or auto-pick-best (`--autopick` preferred for schedulers), then register from the locked saying, then Steps 3–7 as one image. Deliver saying + image. Poster titles default off; mini-comics still get per-panel labels. | | **A sequence — process, before→after, fail→fix** | One **mini-comic** when the progression sits in one place (shape routing in `references/composition.md` — the idea picks the shape, the destination never does). | | **A traceable structure** — "show the flow", "diagram the pipeline", "map the steps", "as an explainer" | The **explainer register** (`references/composition.md`, "The explainer register"): a hand-built flow / fan-out / timeline / loop / stack / system slice in the active look, the mascot a working part of it. Also reachable without the phrases when a unit's thesis IS the structure (the register gate). | | **Social-ready art for X posts / article body images** | 16:9 (or 1:1 when square is explicitly useful), bold `ink-punch`, watermark with the `x` handle if configured or asked. | | **X Article banner / hero image** | Use the unique banner format: **1536 × 640 px** when the user asks for an X Article hero/banner. Prompt and render through the normal `illo.py generate` image pipeline, with normal, undistorted character/object proportions and crop-safe breathing room. Do not satisfy this by manually compositing or rebuilding crops from another image unless the user explicitly asks for post-processing. | | **Blog / brand / site-matched art** | A named or custom palette, or derive the palette from one dominant color (`references/palettes.md`). | | **Their own mascot** — "make me a character", "use our mascot", "replace Blot" | The character builder: read `references/character-builder.md` in full and follow it end to end. | | **Community characters** — "what characters are available", "install blip", "update mole", "publish my character" | `references/pack-sharing.md` — engine `packs list/show/install/update`, publish via a GitHub PR. | | **A different look** — "in blueprint", "woodcut style", "pixel version of blip" | Styl