gh-willibrandon-pixel-plugin/skills/README.md

Skills

This directory contains Agent Skills that Claude automatically uses based on context. Skills are model-invoked - you don't call them explicitly like slash commands.

Available Skills

pixel-art-creator

Creates new pixel art sprites with canvas setup, layers, and basic drawing primitives.

Triggers when user mentions:

• "create a sprite", "new canvas", "make pixel art"
• Dimensions like "64x64", "32x32 sprite"
• Basic shapes: "circle", "rectangle", "line"
• Color modes: "RGB", "indexed", "grayscale"
• Retro systems: "Game Boy", "NES"

Capabilities:

• Canvas creation (1-65535 pixels, RGB/Grayscale/Indexed modes)
• Layer management (add, delete, organize)
• Drawing primitives (pixels, lines, rectangles, circles, polygons, flood fill)
• Color palette setup
• Batch pixel operations

MCP Tools: create_canvas, add_layer, delete_layer, draw_pixels, draw_line, draw_rectangle, draw_circle, draw_contour, fill_area, set_palette, get_palette, get_sprite_info

pixel-art-animator

Manages sprite animations with frames, tags, timing, and cel operations.

Triggers when user mentions:

• "animate", "animation", "frames", "keyframes"
• "walk cycle", "run cycle", "idle animation"
• "frame rate", "FPS", "timing", "duration"
• "loop", "ping-pong", "forward"

Capabilities:

• Frame management (add, delete, duplicate, reorder)
• Animation tags for organizing sequences
• Frame timing control (per-frame or global)
• Linked cels for shared content across frames
• Preview and playback control

MCP Tools: add_frame, delete_frame, duplicate_frame, get_frame_info, set_frame_duration, create_animation_tag, list_animation_tags, delete_animation_tag, create_linked_cel

pixel-art-professional

Applies advanced pixel art techniques like dithering, palette optimization, shading, and antialiasing.

Triggers when user mentions:

• "dithering", "dither", "Floyd-Steinberg", "Bayer"
• "palette", "colors", "reduce colors", "optimize palette"
• "shading", "shadows", "highlights", "gradient"
• "antialiasing", "smooth edges", "AA"
• "color theory", "hue shift", "saturation"

Capabilities:

• Dithering algorithms (Floyd-Steinberg, Atkinson, Bayer 2x2/4x4/8x8)
• Palette quantization and optimization
• Color reduction with algorithm selection
• Shading techniques (light direction, gradient application)
• Edge smoothing and antialiasing
• Layer flattening

MCP Tools: apply_dithering, quantize_colors, get_palette, set_palette, draw_pixels, add_layer, flatten_layers, get_sprite_info

pixel-art-exporter

Exports sprites to PNG, GIF, spritesheets, and JSON metadata for game engines.

Triggers when user mentions:

• "export", "save", "output"
• File formats: "PNG", "GIF", "spritesheet"
• "Unity", "Godot", "Phaser", "game engine"
• "scale", "upscale", "2x", "4x"
• "metadata", "JSON"

Capabilities:

• PNG export (single frame or current frame)
• Animated GIF export (with FPS and loop control)
• Spritesheet generation (horizontal, vertical, grid, packed layouts)
• JSON metadata (Aseprite, TexturePacker, Unity, Godot formats)
• Pixel-perfect scaling (1x, 2x, 4x, 8x)
• Frame range selection

MCP Tools: export_sprite, get_sprite_info, get_frame_info, list_animation_tags

Skill Structure

Each Skill is a directory containing:

• SKILL.md - Main instructions with YAML frontmatter (required)
• reference.md - Technical specifications (optional)
• examples.md - Concrete examples (optional)

Claude loads additional files only when needed (progressive disclosure).

YAML Frontmatter

---
name: Skill Display Name
description: What the Skill does and when Claude should use it. Include trigger keywords.
allowed-tools: Read, Bash, mcp__aseprite__*
---

The description field determines when Claude automatically loads the Skill. Include relevant keywords and phrases users might say.

Skill Invocation

Skills are model-invoked, not user-invoked:

• ✅ Claude decides when to use them based on context
• ❌ Users cannot directly call Skills like slash commands
• Skills activate automatically when user requests match their description

Integration

Skills work together:

• pixel-art-creator handles initial sprite creation
• pixel-art-animator adds animation when user mentions frames
• pixel-art-professional applies advanced techniques like dithering
• pixel-art-exporter saves final output to files

Claude transitions between Skills automatically based on user needs.

MCP Server

All Skills use the bundled pixel-mcp server to communicate with Aseprite. The server provides 40+ tools for pixel art operations. See pixel-mcp for tool documentation.