illo

Agent Skills-format package for turning articles, posts, and abstract ideas into original editorial illustrations with recurring mascot characters.

What It Does

illo is a portable agent skill with a local engine, references, assets, and quality checks. It reads an idea, article, or post and renders one of four forms: editorial scene, mini-comic, explainer diagram, or transparent character cutout. The consistent unit is a recurring mascot and identity reference, so the tenth image still belongs to the same visual system. Source: illo v0.32.1 SKILL.md, reviewed 2026-08-11

The launch thread matters because it names the cross-harness target directly. The current release adds managed install lanes for Claude Code, Codex, Grok, Gemini CLI, Copilot/GitHub CLI, Hermes, OpenClaw, and Cursor, while keeping one Agent Skills-format procedure underneath them. The engine now supports Codex and Grok subscription CLIs plus a model-selectable OpenRouter route. Source: X/@trevin, 2026-06-12; Source: tmchow/illo-skill v0.32.1 README

The visual artifact says "Give your ideas a face" and frames the skill as a way to turn articles and abstract ideas into original editorial illustrations without stock art. Source: local artifact wiki/assets/x-bookmarks/2065232610335641667/image-01.jpg, reviewed 2026-06-30

Local Skill Import

The full skill package is now imported at skills/engineering/illo/, including:

• SKILL.md with trigger rules, backend selection, workflow, and quality bar;
• scripts/illo.py, a stdlib Python engine;
• scripts/repair-hermes-assets.sh for Hermes binary asset repair;
• bundled default character assets;
• references for backends, models, recurring characters, seventeen looks, composition, cutouts, palettes, prompt recipes, quality checks, and surprise-mode provenance.

Version snapshot: the canonical import is pinned to tag v0.32.1, commit 7373042b5d6b31a008a67dfc9a4d691129dc784c. The preserved release archive hashes to 891b750cf3dab9e78e6879f9a17615ff1613a94800875279bb4c3a18acc17a76; 34 upstream unit tests pass, and the local doctor resolves the Codex backend with intact assets without creating a paid-provider key. Upstream main remains newer and is not silently treated as the imported revision. Source: exact release archive and local replay, 2026-08-11

Reliability Contract

The reusable design lesson is a machine-checkable identity loop, not the house style itself:

1. freeze the character/model-sheet revision, look, palette, aspect, prompt, and artifact job;
2. pass the identity reference to every render;
3. make the first fully QA-passed image the additional style anchor for the rest of a set;
4. inspect thesis fit, on-model identity, silhouette/line ownership, palette, hierarchy, text, and dimensions;
5. re-render or edit failures, exclude superseded candidates from delivery, and retain the manifest;
6. fail closed on subscription-backend errors unless the user explicitly approved a paid OpenRouter fallback.

This is the appropriate contract whenever generated assets must preserve one identity over time. It does not make stochastic illustration a substitute for deterministic icons, product UI, logos, exact diagrams, or accessible semantic structure. Source: illo v0.32.1 SKILL.md, quality-bar.md, backends.md, and passing upstream tests, reviewed 2026-08-11

Stack Fit

Use illo when Kevin explicitly asks for /illo, a recurring mascot system, identity-consistent editorial art for a post, a character cutout, or an explainer in the skill's house style. Do not route generic image requests into it automatically. Generic illustration, product imagery, and UI assets should still use the relevant design/image generation route unless the user wants the illo system.

For the brain, this is a reusable style system skill: it gives agents a repeatable visual voice, which is more valuable than one-off generated images. It belongs beside design/motion skills because it turns taste into a portable workflow with references, assets, checks, and installable backends.

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Timeline

• 2026-08-11 | Replayed the saved X source, inspected its local image, verified the current official repository and MIT license, preserved exact v0.32.1 source bytes, advanced the canonical skill from v0.28.1 to v0.32.1, passed 34 upstream tests plus the local asset/backend doctor, and promoted its identity-lock and fail-closed-cost contract into routing and design rules. Source: X 2065232610335641667; tmchow/illo-skill v0.32.1; local replay receipt
• 2026-06-30 | Page created and full upstream skill imported into skills/engineering/illo/. Source: tmchow/illo-skill commit 2cb52e78b9a7401aee1933b1bcaddcb2d3c47dbc
• 2026-06-12 | Launch bookmark introduced illo as a recurring-character illustration skill usable from Claude Code, Codex, Hermes, and OpenClaw. Source: X/@trevin, 2026-06-12