- Generated pixel art, without the guesswork + A build pipeline for generated pixel art
- Declare the art you need, see the price before generation, choose - candidates yourself, and keep a hash for every file you ship. + Declare the sprites you need in one manifest. PixelKiln prices the + run offline, lets you choose among candidates, and records a SHA-256 + hash for every file you ship.
- The judgment stays human.
+ You choose every image.
- The mechanics stay deterministic.
+ PixelKiln does the polling, hashing, and file placement the same way every time.
Four steps from one committed manifest
-+ One committed manifest drives every step. Each step says what it reads and what it writes. +
Put asset names, prompts, provider settings, and an optional final-art quality profile in one file.
+List each asset, its prompt, its provider, and an optional final-art quality profile in one file.
+ You write the manifest.pixelkiln.manifest.json
Compare the manifest with the lockfile and disk. See what costs money and what can be restored for free.
+Compare the manifest with the lockfile and the files on disk. The plan shows what costs money and what you can restore for free, and it makes no provider calls.
+ Reads the manifest, lockfile, and disk. Spends nothing.pixelkiln plan
Pass a budget and PixelKiln submits, polls, and downloads. It saves each remote id before polling, so a failed download is recoverable work and not a second charge.
+ Writes the lockfile and the downloaded files. +pixelkiln gen --budget 120
+ Choose from a local candidate sheet, touch a sprite up in the gallery's editor, then approve the exact pixels you ship.
+ Writes your choice and approval to the lockfile.pixelkiln pick
Build repeatable atlases, Aseprite sheet JSON, Godot SpriteFrames, and tilesets for Tiled and Godot. A style with a palette rule never ships a colour outside it. Quality-profile styles stay blocked until approval is current.
+Build atlases, Aseprite sheet JSON, Godot SpriteFrames, and tilesets for Tiled and Godot. A style with a palette rule never ships a color outside it. Quality-profile styles stay blocked until approval is current.
+ Writes sheets and exports with provenance.pixelkiln pack
Review and edits stay local
-
- PixelLab, Retro Diffusion, ComfyUI, and Scenario use the same review,
- lockfile, and recovery flow. PixelKiln records every candidate,
- then leaves the visual decision to you. The page preserves native
- aspect ratios and stays readable on ultrawide displays. Afterwards,{" "}
- pixelkiln gallery opens any generation with its
- prompt, cost, hashes, lineage, and approval. It compares two
- records side by side. With --edit it changes prompts
- and style fields and adds assets. With --budget it
- generates again, under a ceiling you set.
-
- Regenerating keeps the version it replaces. Each record lists its - previous generations, up to a count you choose, and one click - brings any of them back. Nothing is spent, and the swap can be - undone from the same list. -
+
- Providers are asked for your palette; enforcePalette{" "}
- makes it a guarantee. Every downloaded sprite is snapped to the
- nearest palette colour as it is written, the provider's
- bytes stay in the cache, and turning the rule on or off later
- re-applies it to art you already paid for.
+ pixelkiln pick opens a local page with every
+ candidate. It preserves native aspect ratios and stays readable on
+ ultrawide displays, and a frame set counts as one choice.
+ PixelKiln records every candidate and leaves the decision to you.
- Hand edits stay beside the art, never over the record. Open a
- sprite in your own editor with pixelkiln edit, or in
- the gallery's built-in{" "}
- Pixelorama,
- a pinned build fetched once and verified by hash, and save it
- back with its layers kept. Frame sets and tile sets open as one
- project with a frame per member, and every member is written back
- under its role. Art edited in PixelLab's own editor returns
- with fetch --refresh.
-
- PixelLab has live coverage for generation and account recovery.
- Retro Diffusion has live-tested single-candidate stills. ComfyUI
- has passed local generation, candidate review, cache recovery,
- and grid refinement. Atomic frame sets have automated coverage,
- and accepted frame prompts are saved before the next one is queued.
- They still need a live pose recipe and benchmark. The tested SDXL
- graph needs manual cleanup and art review. Scenario has passed paid
- single- and two-output generation, human review, and durable
- recovery, and has run ten more models, six tool models,
- reference-image edits, and multi-model chains once each.
+ PixelKiln asks providers for your palette, and enforcePalette{" "}
+ makes it a rule: every downloaded sprite is snapped to the nearest
+ palette color as it is written, while the provider's bytes stay
+ in the cache. Turning the rule on or off later re-applies it to art
+ you already paid for.
pixelkiln gallery
- provenance
- pixelkiln gallery --edit
- hand edit
-
+ pixelkiln gallery shows every generation the lockfile
+ knows about, plus the assets you declared and have not made yet. It
+ starts read-only. Each flag you add gives the page one more power,
+ and the page says which one it is using.
+
pixelkiln gallery
+ provenance
+ pixelkiln gallery
+ Reads the manifest, lockfile, and disk. Writes nothing and never contacts a provider.
+ pixelkiln gallery --edit
+ Rewrites the manifest and nothing else. Never contacts a provider, never spends.
+ pixelkiln gallery --budget 80
+ Submits work under the ceiling you set. Writes the same lockfile gen writes.
+ pick sheet over the gallery. Choose there and the art downloads..env and never reach the page.pixelkiln gallery --edit
+ hand edit
+ + Every provider object, prompt identity, output role, path, and + byte hash survives in project state. A failed download remains + recoverable work, not a reason to pay twice. +
+{`{
+ "base/anvil": {
+ "status": "downloaded",
+ "provider": "pixellab",
+ "specHash": "61c9…a071",
+ "cost": { "value": 1,
+ "unit": "generations" },
+ "outputs": [{
+ "path": "art/base/anvil.png",
+ "sha256": "98f1…c42a"
+ }]
+ }
+}`}Characters are a family, not a file
A
- These are outputs from committed benchmark projects. The
- ComfyUI card separates its model canvas from the recovered native
- pixel grid, because a large raster can still contain fake pixels.
- Its samples are diagnostics, not finished asset recommendations.
- Scenario shows its first paid integration smoke, not a comparable
- environment benchmark; its measured findings are in their own
- section below. A manifest Scenario, measured
We ran Scenario's catalogue through PixelKiln: ten text-to-image
@@ -722,7 +822,7 @@ export default function Home() {
- Every provider object, prompt identity, output role, path, and
- byte hash survives in project state. A failed download remains
- recoverable work, not a reason to pay twice.
- PixelKiln handles the work between a prompt and the files your game loads. Offline diffs distinguish new spend from zero-cost recovery. Copy the estimate into a hard budget ceiling. Rebuild missing output from trusted cache bytes or a provider URL without new generation cost. A regeneration keeps the version it replaced, so the old one is one command away. Declare the final palette and grid threshold, record human approval, and block stale or unreviewed art in CI. Pack sheets, mount stable cells, and export lossless generic, Tiled, or Godot terrain metadata with provenance. Different routes, different bills Measured PixelLab costs vary by up to 40×. Retro Diffusion uses USD pricing. Self-hosted ComfyUI has no provider charge. PixelKiln keeps those units separate. Measured PixelLab costs vary by up to 40×. Retro Diffusion bills in USD, Scenario in compute units, and self-hosted ComfyUI has no provider charge. PixelKiln keeps those units separate. The skill tells compatible agents when to plan, ask for a budget, restore existing work, stop for human review, and verify output. The skill tells compatible agents when to plan, when to ask for a budget, when to restore existing work, when to stop for human review, and how to verify output.character style holds a base drawn facing 4 or 8
@@ -422,25 +488,57 @@ export default function Home() {
+
-
Real runs.
+
Different pixels.Four providers, one review flow.
style.quality profile
- can apply the same offline palette and approval gate after any
- supported single-image provider or an atomic ComfyUI frame set.
- ComfyUI and PixelLab both back controlled revisions, and
- PixelLab adds palette cleanup, animation, and interpolation of an
- existing asset. PixelKiln hashes the parent and mask bytes before
- any revision runs.
+ PixelLab, Retro Diffusion, ComfyUI, and Scenario share the same
+ review, lockfile, and recovery flow. The cards below show outputs from
+ committed benchmark projects, one sample each. The ComfyUI card
+ separates its model canvas from the recovered native pixel grid,
+ because a large raster can still contain fake pixels. Its samples are
+ diagnostics, not asset recommendations. A style.quality{" "}
+ profile applies the same palette and approval gate after any
+ single-image provider or an atomic ComfyUI frame set. ComfyUI and
+ PixelLab both back controlled revisions, and PixelLab adds palette
+ cleanup, animation, and interpolation of an existing asset.
+ PixelKiln hashes the parent and mask bytes before a revision runs.
+
+
+
+
+ Provider Status Billed in What has run
+
+ PixelLab
+ Production
+ Generations
+ Generation and account recovery against a live account.
+
+
+ Retro Diffusion
+ Experimental
+ USD
+ Single-candidate stills, live. Its other paths need paid runs.
+
+
+ ComfyUI
+ Experimental
+ Nothing (self-hosted)
+ Local generation, candidate review, cache recovery, and grid refinement. Atomic frame sets have automated coverage, and PixelKiln saves each accepted frame prompt before it queues the next one. They still need a live pose recipe and benchmark. The tested SDXL graph needs manual cleanup and art review.
+
+
+
+ Scenario
+ Experimental
+ Compute units
+ Paid single- and two-output generation, human review, and recovery. Ten more models, six tool models, reference-image edits, and multi-model chains ran once each.
+
@@ -655,6 +753,9 @@ export default function Home() {
+
-
Cheap models.
+
A real pipeline.
Honest limits.Scenario, measured: ten models, one chain, and where it fails.
What a real game taught us
-
-
-
- Paid work needs a paper trail.
-
-
-
-
- pixelkiln.lock.json
-
- {`{
- "base/anvil": {
- "status": "downloaded",
- "provider": "pixellab",
- "specHash": "61c9…a071",
- "cost": { "value": 1,
- "unit": "generations" },
- "outputs": [{
- "path": "art/base/anvil.png",
- "sha256": "98f1…c42a"
- }]
- }
-}`}◇ paid-work identity
- ◇ exact output bytes
-
-
-
-
- The prompt is only the start.
-
-
- Know the bill before the fire starts.
-
-
- Selected work80 / 120
-
- Restore before you regenerate.
- recoverable, 0 generations
- Turn accepted pixels into a release gate.
- Build the files your engine expects.
- PNGJSONTILEDGODOT 4
-
-
- Use the capability you need.
+
Pay only for that.The same sprite can cost 1 generation or 40.
GeneratorBest forMeasured cost
@@ -891,7 +910,7 @@ export default function Home() {
1dirReferences and candidate variety 20–40 gen
tilesGround and structural sets 20–40 gen
terrainTwo-terrain elevation tilesets 20–40 gen (unmeasured)
- isometricTileA single elevation tile — a mesa, a cliff block 1 gen
+ isometricTileA single elevation tile, such as a mesa or a cliff block 1 gen
characterA base in 8 directions, its poses, its loops 1–40 gen per base by engine, 1–4 per template loop, mirrors free
objectProA skeleton-free prop's base, poses, and loops about 6 gen per base at 64px, 1 per loop (unmeasured)
imageProFlashStyled stills on the Pro Flash model, 16–256px 5–9 gen (quoted)
@@ -914,8 +933,8 @@ export default function Home() {
-
Teach your agent the PixelKiln workflow.
- Give your agent the PixelKiln workflow.
+