Blot
Character · riso look
Skill explainer · tmchow/illo-skill
Illo
A recurring mascot performs the idea; the look and palette are just parameters.
An agent skill for editorial illustrations. One character pack carries one of 17 looks, a palette resolves on top, and a Python engine renders through a subscription CLI, OpenRouter or the agent’s own image tool. I read the skill, ran the 121-test suite and every engine subcommand. This is a configurable house style, not a generic image generator.
v0.37.0release
0b0abeecommit, 21 Sep 2026
17looks
57community packs
8engine subcommands
121tests pass
Who it is for
Writers who want a consistent illustrated voice across posts, decks and docs.
What you get
One image per idea: an editorial scene, an explainer diagram, a mini-comic or a transparent cutout.
How It Works
The Method Is Constant; The Pack Is The Parameter
Five registers share one workflow: preflight, read and clarify, resolve the character, resolve the palette, generate reference-locked.
1
One idea per image. One image explains one idea: a key judgment, a flow, a before/after, a trap, a loop.
2
The mascot is the subject. A recurring mascot is the one performing the idea in every scene — the subject, never decoration.
3
Look travels with the pack. a character pack carries its style with it.
4
Explainers are pack-solved. A named pipeline or recipe is labeled stages inside that register — named phases in order, one connected system, pack-solved for this body, never a new look.
5
Keys are the user’s. Entering an API key is something the user does.
The Looks
Seventeen Looks, Each One File
Pick a look. The tag is the file’s own opening; How it works lists its QA checks; quotes are its STYLE line and classic default palette, checked at build time.
Gallery
85 Real Renders
Characters from the community packs, look samples, riso palette studies, explainers and a cutout comparison across backends. Click to enlarge.
anvil
Character · woodcut look
berg
Character · blueprint look
blip
Character · riso look
booboo
Character · snes look
boom
Character · fizz look
boss
Character · enamel look
bray
Character · riso look
brew
Character · gouache look
cadence
Character · riso look
clack
Character · chalk look
clam
Character · gouache look
coil
Character · sketchbook look
cone
Character · riso look
cook
Character · sketchbook look
dice
Character · pixel look
doze
Character · bloom look
fathom
Character · bricks look
forge
Character · snes look
grit
Character · pixel look
heft
Character · woodcut look
inch
Character · chalk look
kick
Character · fizz look
klaxon
Character · bricks look
lapse
Character · chalk look
lumen
Character · blueprint look
lure
Character · phosphor look
marshal
Character · sketchbook look
matt
Character · snes look
mochi
Character · bloom look
mole
Character · clay look
nona
Character · woodcut look
orbit
Character · bricks look
patch
Character · manila look
pip
Character · riso look
pitz
Character · bloom look
pleat
Character · felt look
plume
Character · felt look
pop
Character · fizz look
posy
Character · felt look
prompt
Character · blueprint look
quill
Character · felt look
relay
Character · sketchbook look
scope
Character · phosphor look
scrub
Character · clay look
sift
Character · pixel look
spritz
Character · diorama look
sprout
Character · riso look
squall
Character · chalk look
stamp
Character · manila look
stoke
Character · phosphor look
sulk
Character · bloom look
tug
Character · enamel look
volt
Character · pixel look
whorl
Character · diorama look
wick
Character · diorama look
ybur
Character · snes look
yoke
Character · blueprint look
Bloom
Look sample
Blueprint
Look sample
Chalk
Look sample
Clay
Look sample
Enamel
Look sample
Gouache
Look sample
Manila
Look sample
Phosphor
Look sample
Pixel
Look sample
Woodcut
Look sample
Riso · tower ink punch
Riso palette study
Riso · funnel ink punch
Riso palette study
Riso · funnel derived emerald
Riso palette study
Riso · crossing derived purple
Riso palette study
Riso · bridgeswap ink punch
Riso palette study
blip-fanout
Explainer register
blip-newsletter
Explainer register
fathom-loop
Explainer register
forge-pipeline
Explainer register
spritz-party
Explainer register
sulk-bloom
Explainer register
codex-chroma
Cutout backend comparison
codex-native
Cutout backend comparison
gemini-flash-native
Cutout backend comparison
gpt-image-2-or-chroma
Cutout backend comparison
gpt-image-2-or-native
Cutout backend comparison
grok-imagine-native
Cutout backend comparison
The Engine
Eight Subcommands And Two Helpers, All Run
scripts/illo.py is the only renderer. I ran each subcommand with a throwaway HOME so nothing touched a real config.
What I Found Running It
Well Tested; Two Rough Edges
All runs used HOME=/tmp/illohome, nice and timeout, at commit 0b0abee.
| Run | Result | Note |
|---|---|---|
| pytest tests/ | 121 passed, 37 subtests | Run in a venv on the box. |
| doctor | exit 0 | No backend ready; points Grok Bot at the native path. |
| packs list / show | 57 packs | Fetches the community repo over the network. |
| generate, no backend | exit 1 | Clear setup message. A positional prompt is rejected; --prompt or --prompt-file is required. |
| generate --backend grok-bot | refused | Correct: native renders are agent-side. |
| keyout magenta test | RGBA PNG | Works; the manifest record says muse-native. |
| diagram_route.py | routes correctly | 5 phrasings matched composition.md. |
| repair-hermes-assets.sh | all OK | Nothing re-downloaded. |
| git status after runs | clean | newrun writes only to /tmp/illo. |
Bug keyout hard-codes its backend
The record keyout writes always says "backend": "muse-native", so a Grok Bot cutout is mislabeled in the manifest and gallery.
Bug diagram_route.py has no --help
It treats every argument as a request, so --help prints “editorial editorial default”.
Gap Agent-side paths are prose, not code
The Grok Bot and Muse native flows live in SKILL.md; the engine only refuses them and records afterward.
Cost packs list needs the network
Listing community packs fetches the remote repo on every call.
Copy Paid fallback is opt-in
--allow-paid-fallback must be set before a subscription failure can spend OpenRouter credits.
Copy Executable routing oracle
diagram_route.py parses composition.md and is tested against it, so the prose and the code cannot drift.
Build Your Own
What To Steal
Separate method from parameters. Character, look and palette are swappable files; the workflow never changes.
Make identity a technique. Riso is grain, offset and flat fills, not a color, so any palette still reads as the house style.
Anchor sets on the first good image. Every later render references the first one that passes the quality bar.
Write a manifest line per render. Galleries, comparisons and audits come for free.
Keep keys with the user. The agent runs init only for keyless native transports.
Sources
Everything Here Is Checked
Each quote on this page is compared with its source file at build time; the build fails on any mismatch.