Knowledge Comic Creator

Create original knowledge comics with flexible art style × tone combinations.

User Input Tools

When this skill prompts the user, follow this tool-selection rule (priority order):

1. Prefer built-in user-input tools exposed by the current agent runtime — e.g., AskUserQuestion, request_user_input, clarify, ask_user, or any equivalent.
2. Fallback: if no such tool exists, emit a numbered plain-text message and ask the user to reply with the chosen number/answer for each question.
3. Batching: if the tool supports multiple questions per call, combine all applicable questions into a single call; if only single-question, ask them one at a time in priority order.

Concrete AskUserQuestion references below are examples — substitute the local equivalent in other runtimes.

Image Generation Tools

When this skill needs to render an image, resolve the backend in this order:

1. Current-request override — if the user names a specific backend in the current message, use it.
2. Saved preference — if EXTEND.md sets preferred_image_backend to a backend available right now, use it.
3. Auto-select (when the preference is auto, unset, or the pinned backend isn't available):
   • Codex (imagegen) — first, inspect your available-skills / tool inventory. If a skill named imagegen is listed, you are running inside Codex and MUST use it: invoke via the Skill tool with skill: "imagegen", passing the saved prompt file's content (plus output path and aspect ratio per Codex imagegen's own args). Codex imagegen is the official raster backend in that runtime and outranks any non-native skill (e.g., baoyu-imagine) unless the user has explicitly pinned a different preferred_image_backend.
   • Other runtime-native tools — if the runtime exposes a different native image tool (e.g., Hermes image_generate), use it the same way.
   • Otherwise, if exactly one non-native backend is installed (e.g., baoyu-imagine), use it.
   • Otherwise (multiple non-native backends with no runtime-native tool), ask the user once — batch with any other initial questions.
4. If none are available, tell the user and ask how to proceed.

⛔ Never substitute SVG, HTML, canvas, or other code-based rendering for raster image generation. Codex imagegen's own description says it should be used "when the output should be a bitmap asset rather than repo-native code or vector." If you cannot resolve a raster backend via step 3, fall through to step 4 and ask the user — do not silently emit SVG, write inline <svg> markup, or produce HTML/CSS art as a substitute. This applies even if the article/section seems "diagram-like": the consumer skill calling this rule has already decided that a raster image is what it needs.

Setting preferred_image_backend: ask forces the step-3 prompt every run regardless of available backends. Users change the pinned backend via the ## Changing Preferences section below.

Prompt file requirement (hard): write each image's full, final prompt to a standalone file under prompts/ (naming: NN-{type}-[slug].md) BEFORE invoking any backend. The backend receives the prompt file (or its content); the file is the reproducibility record and lets you switch backends without regenerating prompts.

Concrete tool names (imagegen, image_generate, baoyu-imagine) above are examples — substitute the local equivalents under the same rule.

Reference Images

Users may supply reference images to guide art style, palette, scene composition, or subject. This is separate from the auto-generated character sheet (Step 7.1) — both can coexist: user refs guide the look, the character sheet anchors recurring character identity.

Intake: Accept via --ref <files...> or when the user provides file paths / pastes images in conversation.

• File path(s) → copy to refs/NN-ref-{slug}.{ext} alongside the comic output
• Pasted image with no path → ask the user for the path (per the User Input Tools rule above), or extract style traits verbally as a text fallback
• No reference → skip this section

Usage modes (per reference):

Record in each page's prompt frontmatter when refs exist:

references:
  - ref_id: 01
    filename: 01-ref-scene.png
    usage: direct

At generation time:

• Verify each referenced file exists on disk
• If usage: direct AND the chosen backend accepts multiple reference images → pass both the character sheet (Step 7.2) and the user refs via the backend's ref parameter; compress images first per Step 7.1's guidance to avoid payload failures
• If the backend accepts only one ref → prefer the character sheet for pages with recurring characters; embed user-ref traits in the prompt body instead
• For style/palette usage → embed extracted traits in every page's prompt text (applies regardless of backend capability)

Options

Visual Dimensions

Partial Workflow Options

Details: references/partial-workflows.md

Art, Tone & Preset Catalogue

• Art styles (6): ligne-claire, manga, realistic, ink-brush, chalk, minimalist. Full definitions at references/art-styles/<style>.md.

• Tones (7): neutral, warm, dramatic, romantic, energetic, vintage, action. Full definitions at references/tones/<tone>.md.

• Presets (5) with special rules beyond plain art+tone:

  Preset	Equivalent	Hook
  ohmsha	manga + neutral	Visual metaphors, no talking heads, gadget reveals
  wuxia	ink-brush + action	Qi effects, combat visuals, atmospheric
  shoujo	manga + romantic	Decorative elements, eye details, romantic beats
  concept-story	manga + warm	Visual symbol system, growth arc, dialogue+action balance
  four-panel	minimalist + neutral + four-panel layout	起承转合 structure, B&W + spot color, stick-figure characters

  Full rules at references/presets/<preset>.md — load the file when a preset is picked.

• Compatibility matrix and content-signal → preset table live in references/auto-selection.md. Read it before recommending combinations in Step 2.

Script Directory

Important: All scripts are located in the scripts/ subdirectory of this skill.

Agent Execution Instructions:

1. Determine this SKILL.md file's directory path as {baseDir}
2. Script path = {baseDir}/scripts/<script-name>.ts
3. Replace all {baseDir} in this document with the actual path
4. Resolve ${BUN_X} runtime: if bun installed → bun; if npx available → npx -y bun; else suggest installing bun

Script Reference:

File Structure

Output directory: comic/{topic-slug}/

• Slug: 2-4 words kebab-case from topic (e.g., alan-turing-bio)
• Conflict: append timestamp (e.g., turing-story-20260118-143052)

Contents:

Language Handling

Detection Priority:

1. --lang flag (explicit)
2. EXTEND.md language setting
3. User's conversation language
4. Source content language

Rule: Use user's input language or saved language preference for ALL interactions:

• Storyboard outlines and scene descriptions
• Image generation prompts
• User selection options and confirmations
• Progress updates, questions, errors, summaries

Technical terms remain in English.

Workflow

Progress Checklist

Comic Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Setup & Analyze
  - [ ] 1.1 Preferences (EXTEND.md) ⛔ BLOCKING
    - [ ] Found → load preferences → continue
    - [ ] Not found → run first-time setup → MUST complete before other steps
  - [ ] 1.2 Analyze, 1.3 Check existing
- [ ] Step 2: Confirmation - Style & options ⚠️ REQUIRED
- [ ] Step 3: Generate storyboard + characters
- [ ] Step 4: Review outline (conditional)
- [ ] Step 5: Generate prompts
- [ ] Step 6: Review prompts (conditional)
- [ ] Step 7: Generate images
  - [ ] 7.1 Generate character sheet (if needed) → characters/characters.png
  - [ ] 7.2 Generate pages (with --ref if character sheet exists)
- [ ] Step 8: Merge to PDF
- [ ] Step 9: Completion report

Flow

Input → [Preferences] ─┬─ Found → Continue
                       │
                       └─ Not found → First-Time Setup ⛔ BLOCKING
                                      │
                                      └─ Complete setup → Save EXTEND.md → Continue
                                                                              │
        ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
        ↓
Analyze → [Check Existing?] → [Confirm: Style + Reviews] → Storyboard → [Review?] → Prompts → [Review?] → Images → PDF → Complete

Step Summary

Step 7: Image Generation

Pick a backend once per session using the ## Image Generation Tools rule at the top. If the backend is a repo skill (e.g., baoyu-imagine), read its SKILL.md and use its documented interface rather than its scripts.

7.1 Character sheet — generate it (to characters/characters.png, aspect 4:3) when the comic is multi-page with recurring characters. Skip for simple presets (e.g., four-panel minimalist) or single-page comics. Compress to JPEG before use-as---ref (sips -s format jpeg -s formatOptions 80 … on macOS, pngquant --quality=65-80 … elsewhere) to avoid payload failures. The prompt file at characters/characters.md must exist before invoking the backend.

7.2 Pages — each page's prompt MUST already be at prompts/NN-{cover|page}-[slug].md before invoking the backend; the file is the reproducibility record. Strategy depends on the character sheet:

Backup rule: existing prompts/…md and …png files → rename with -backup-YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS suffix before regenerating. Aspect ratio from storyboard (default 3:4; preset may override).

--ref failure recovery: compress sheet → retry → still fails → drop --ref and embed character descriptions in the prompt text.

Full step-by-step workflow (analysis, storyboard, review gates, regeneration variants): references/workflow.md.

EXTEND.md Paths ⛔ BLOCKING

If EXTEND.md is not found, first-time setup is blocking — complete it before any content analysis or style/tone questions.

EXTEND.md supports: watermark, preferred art/tone/layout, custom style definitions, character presets, language preference. Schema: references/config/preferences-schema.md.

References

Core Templates:

• analysis-framework.md - Deep content analysis
• character-template.md - Character definition format
• storyboard-template.md - Storyboard structure
• ohmsha-guide.md - Ohmsha manga specifics

Style Definitions:

• references/art-styles/ - Art styles (ligne-claire, manga, realistic, ink-brush, chalk, minimalist)
• references/tones/ - Tones (neutral, warm, dramatic, romantic, energetic, vintage, action)
• references/presets/ - Presets with special rules (ohmsha, wuxia, shoujo, concept-story, four-panel)
• references/layouts/ - Layouts (standard, cinematic, dense, splash, mixed, webtoon, four-panel)

Workflow:

• workflow.md - Full workflow details
• auto-selection.md - Content signal analysis
• partial-workflows.md - Partial workflow options

Config:

• config/preferences-schema.md - EXTEND.md schema
• config/first-time-setup.md - First-time setup
• config/watermark-guide.md - Watermark configuration

Page Modification

IMPORTANT: When updating pages, ALWAYS update the prompt file (prompts/NN-{cover|page}-[slug].md) FIRST before regenerating. This ensures changes are documented and reproducible.

Notes

• Image generation: 10-30 seconds per page
• Auto-retry once on generation failure
• Use stylized alternatives for sensitive public figures
• Maintain style consistency via session ID
• Step 2 confirmation required - do not skip
• Steps 4/6 conditional - only if user requested in Step 2
• Step 7.1 character sheet - recommended for multi-page comics, optional for simple presets
• Step 7.2 character reference - use --ref if sheet exists; compress/convert on failure; fall back to prompt-only
• Watermark/language configured once in EXTEND.md

Changing Preferences

EXTEND.md lives at .baoyu-skills/baoyu-comic/EXTEND.md (project) or ~/.baoyu-skills/baoyu-comic/EXTEND.md (user). Three ways to change it:

• Edit directly — open EXTEND.md and change fields. Full schema: references/config/preferences-schema.md.
• Reconfigure interactively — delete EXTEND.md (or ask "reconfigure baoyu-comic preferences" / "重新配置"). The next run re-triggers first-time setup.
• Common one-line edits:
  • preferred_image_backend: auto — default; runtime-native tool wins, falls back to the only installed backend, asks only if multiple non-native are present.
  • preferred_image_backend: codex-imagegen — pin to Codex's built-in.
  • preferred_image_backend: baoyu-imagine — pin to the baoyu-imagine skill.
  • preferred_image_backend: ask — confirm backend every run.
  • watermark.enabled: true, preferred_art, preferred_tone, preferred_layout, language — shift the auto-selection defaults and cosmetic choices.