# Pixelkiln > Use PixelKiln to plan, generate, review, recover, audit, pack, and export manifest-driven pixel-art projects. Apply when a task uses the PixelKiln CLI, manifest, lockfile, or generated asset workflow; do not use for unrelated one-off image generation. - Skill: `gfargo/pixelkiln` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 11 files) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add gfargo/pixelkiln` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/gfargo/pixelkiln/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Security - Author: gfargo (https://skillmd.com/u/gfargo) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/gfargo/pixelkiln --- # PixelKiln Treat generated pixel art as build output. Read the manifest, report the cost before submission, stop for human review, and record the source and output hashes. ## Working rules - Locate `pixelkiln.manifest.json` first. Paths are manifest-relative. - Treat `style.extends` as a source-level variant, not a reason to copy the parent. Keep every child `outDir` explicit, inspect the resolved plan, and remember that a pixel-affecting parent edit intentionally makes children stale. - Never inspect, print, or commit provider credentials. Read the top-level provider default and every style override, then load the matching provider references below. - Run `pixelkiln doctor --dry-run` and `pixelkiln plan` before paid work. Report actionable, recoverable, and estimated cost figures with their provider unit. - Do not regenerate recoverable work. Follow the exact zero-cost action printed by `plan`: `poll`, `pick`, `fetch`, or `restore`. - Submit paid work only when the user has authorized generation. Always pass an explicit `--budget` no higher than the authorized estimate. For mixed work, pass one `--budget provider=amount` ceiling for every paid provider in the plan. - Leave visual selection to the local `pixelkiln pick` review page unless the user explicitly provides a selection rule. Closing it applies nothing. - When a selected style declares `quality`, run manifest-mode `pixelkiln refine` after its source is accepted and downloaded. Read the quality reference below. Do not copy manifest-owned palette, path, interpreter, or threshold settings into flags. Never record approval without the named person's completed 1× review. - When an asset declares `revision`, read the revision reference, require its parent gate to pass, and never bypass a `blocked` plan. Generate or approve the parent explicitly before re-planning the child. - Treat every ComfyUI output as source material until it passes the native-grid, final-palette, prompt-coverage, and human 1× checks in the ComfyUI reference. A successful PNG or high-confidence grid result is not quality approval. - Treat a ComfyUI `frames` asset as indivisible. Review its animated strip, refine and approve the complete set, and never package a subset of its roles. - When the project commits a PixelKiln quality baseline, run `pixelkiln quality check --from ` before packaging. Treat a pass as structural continuity, never as human approval or proof that the prompt was satisfied. - Preserve manual edits and ownership errors. Inspect the difference before any `--force` operation. - Commit the manifest, lockfile, generated outputs, and derived artifact companions. Never commit `.env.local` or `.pixelkiln/` cache data. ## Choose the smallest workflow For ordinary work, prefer: ```bash pixelkiln doctor --dry-run pixelkiln plan pixelkiln gen --budget pixelkiln audit --check ``` For a mixed plan, replace the single ceiling with repeated provider-keyed ceilings copied from each plan group. Use the staged `submit` → `poll` → `pick` → `fetch` commands when resuming or debugging one phase. Use the plan's printed stage for paid work and `restore` for missing downloaded bytes, `adopt` for exact matches already in the provider account, and `salvage` for reviewed unclaimed objects. Use `pack`, `mount`, or `export` only for the artifact format the project needs. Prefer a manifest quality profile when a whole style shares the final-art rule. Use `refine --from` only for a one-off candidate outside that contract, after composition review and, for an isolated asset, background removal. ## Provider routing Read only the reference needed for the current decision: - For PixelLab configuration, generators, costs, alpha behavior, or account operations, read [references/pixellab.md](references/pixellab.md). - For Retro Diffusion styles, USD budgets, environment assets, animation, or experimental limits, read [references/retro-diffusion.md](references/retro-diffusion.md). - For a self-hosted ComfyUI workflow, node bindings, local cost semantics, or portable output recovery, read [references/comfyui.md](references/comfyui.md). - For Scenario models, Compute Unit ceilings, two-part credentials, or durable hosted-asset recovery, read [references/scenario.md](references/scenario.md). - When a bundled or installed recipe can supply the workflow, model hashes, or quality contract, read [references/recipes.md](references/recipes.md). - When an asset declares `revision`, read [references/revisions.md](references/revisions.md). - When a manifest style declares `quality`, or packaging is blocked on derived approval, read [references/quality.md](references/quality.md). - When one game or repository needs more than one provider, read [references/mixed-providers.md](references/mixed-providers.md). `FakeProvider` is the deterministic test adapter. Describe Scenario as experimental: one BFL Flux 2 Dev profile is live-tested, while other model schemas and broader batches are not. Do not describe Retro Diffusion as production-ready until representative multi-candidate, tileset, GIF, and spritesheet live smoke tests pass. When working in the PixelKiln repository, consult `docs/GETTING_STARTED.md` for the full workflow, the matching provider setup guide, `docs/CLI.md` for flags, `docs/MANIFEST.md` for the schema, and `docs/RECOVERY.md` before account adoption, salvage, discard, or purge.