baoyu-comic Checked

ration copy/move the file to the skill's expected output path (e.g., outputs/.../NN-xxx.png). Reference images go in reference_image_paths.

• **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-image-gen), 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.

**⛔ Never repair rendered text by painting over a generated bitmap.** Do not use ImageMagick, Pillow, Canvas, SVG, HTML/CSS, OCR scripts, or any other programmatic overlay to cover, rewrite, erase, stroke, or replace dialogue, sound effects, panel labels, or any other text inside an already generated comic page. If text is wrong or unclear, regenerate from a corrected prompt, redraw the page with less or no on-image text, or ask the user which imperfect candidate to keep.

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, GenerateImage, image_generate, baoyu-image-gen) above are examples — substitute the local equivalents under the same rule.

Batch Generation Policy

After every prompt file for the current generation group has been saved and verified, generate images in batches by default.

Priority order:

1. Use the chosen backend's native batch / multi-task interface if it exists. Each task must keep its own prompt file, output path, aspect ratio, session ID, and direct reference images.

2. If no native batch interface exists but the runtime can issue parallel tool calls, dispatch up to generation_batch_size images at a time. Default: 4. An explicit user request in the current message, such as --batch-size 4 or "并行4张一起生成", overrides EXTEND.md.

3. If neither native batch nor parallel tool calls are available, generate sequentially.

Rules:

• Honor workflow dependencies first: generate characters/characters.png before pages that use it as a reference.
• Never start the first page batch until all selected page prompt files exist on disk.
• Retry failed items once without regenerating successful items.
• Do not use subagents merely to parallelize image rendering. Use subagents only for separate prompt iteration or creative exploration.

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):

| Usage | Effect |

|-------|--------|

| direct | Pass the file to the backend as a reference image on every page (or selected pages) |

| style | Extract style traits (line treatment, texture, mood) and append to every page's prompt body |

| palette | Extract hex colors and append to every page's prompt body |

**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

| Option