Totk As Xlink

TOTK AS/XLink

Use this skill for Tears of the Kingdom animation-sequence investigations: ASB command graphs, animation-event files, actor animation components, and the ELink/SLink/XLink routing that often fires effects and sounds around animation timing.

Vanilla RomFS Rule

Use a vanilla TOTK romfs path already supplied in the current turn or registered project guidance. Otherwise ask the user for it before inspecting game files. Treat the path as read-only; do not search unrelated folders or guess a location.

Use With

• Use totk-toolkit first for shared file mechanics: ZSTD dictionaries, actor pack inspection, SARC/BYML helpers, and compact RSDB/component output.
• Use totk-local-operator for token-efficient searching, inventory, and large-file summaries.
• Use this skill once the question is specifically about AS, ASB, BAEV, AnimationEvent, ELink, SLink, XLink, animation command names, or why an animation-adjacent effect or sound does or does not fire.

Investigation Workflow

1. Start from the actor wiring. Inspect the actor pack component files for ActorParam, ASInfo, AnimationParam, ELink, SLink, and XLink.
2. Follow ASRef to AS/<Actor>.root.asb.zs, then summarize commands, node count, and string references. The externally visible verbs are usually AS command names such as Wait, Open, Attack, or Sleep.
3. Check ASInfoRef for autoplay behavior, slot counts, and controller settings. AutoPlayASName often explains what starts without an explicit AI/EventFlow command.
4. Check AnimationRef for the animation resource project. This usually points toward the model or animation resource names used by skeletal and material animation nodes.
5. Tie timing to BAEV. AnimationEvent/AsNode/*.root.baev.zs belongs to ASB event nodes; AnimationEvent/Animation/*.anim.baev.zs belongs to animation names. In TOTK, BAEV is normally the meaningful animation-event timing layer.
6. Trace XLink separately from ASB. ELinkRef and SLinkRef commonly give a UserName; XLinkRef usually points to an XLink property table list. Search ELink2/SLink2 users for asset call keys and compare those keys to BAEV, gameplay actions, or actor logic.
7. Cross-check action sources. BSA, AINB, and EventFlow action/query calls often request AS command names, so a command can be valid even when no visible file has a direct text link from AI to the ASB.

TKVSC-derived ASB/BAEV handling is a useful experimental reference: treat ASB and sibling BAEV as a coordinated pair, because an ASB write may need to update BAEV output too. For this skill, use that lesson for inspection and round-trip testing only. The bundled inspect_asb_summary.py remains the proven read-only starting point; do not trust TKVSC-derived ASB/BAEV writers for installable mods until they pass reparse and behavior validation.

Local Inspector

Run the bundled read-only ASB summary helper when you need a compact first pass:

python scripts/inspect_asb_summary.py --romfs "<romfs>" --actor SpObj_TimerBomb_A_01
python scripts/inspect_asb_summary.py --romfs "<romfs>" --asb "AS/TBox_Field.root.asb.zs"
python scripts/inspect_asb_summary.py --asb "<path-to-Some.root.asb>" --json

The helper prints ASB magic/version, command count, node count, parsed command names, and string-pool references grouped into likely tags, paths, and animation-like names. It is an inspector, not an editor or a full decompiler.

Interpretation Rules

• Treat ASB as the animation command graph, not as a plain list of files. A single command can traverse selectors, frame controllers, simultaneous nodes, random nodes, material animation nodes, skeletal animation nodes, and event nodes.
• Treat command names as actor-facing verbs. AI, BSA, AINB, EventFlow, and component logic usually care about these names rather than low-level node IDs.
• Treat BAEV as the timing bridge for animation events. In TOTK, ASB event nodes by themselves are not usually the final effect/sound mechanism.
• Treat ASB/BAEV editing as unproven unless the exact writer has round-tripped the target pair and the sibling file behavior is understood.
• Treat ELink and SLink users as lookup namespaces. An actor component may contain only UserName, while the large ELink2/SLink2 product files contain the actual asset call tables.
• Treat XLink as routing/config, not as proof that a key is fired. Confirm the caller through BAEV, gameplay code data, actor logic, or observed in-game behavior when possible.

Reference

Read references/as-xlink-field-guide.md for the subsystem map, file roles, examples from vanilla actors, and common investigation recipes. For user-facing questions about what AS can visibly do in-game, read its "Perceptible Capabilities" section.