Guided, section-by-section Art Bible authoring. Creates the visual identity specification that gates all asset production. Run after /brainstorm is approved and before /map-systems or any GDD authoring begins.

! bash "${CLAUDE SKILL DIR}/../../hooks/yaml helper.sh" resolve config keys review mode,automation,workflow,docs.density Resolved above — use as is; review overrides review mode . No block → defaults in .claude/docs/config resolution.md . Art Bible Phase 0: Parse Arguments and Context Check See .claude/docs/director gates.md for the full check pattern. Individual gate definitions live in .claude/docs/director gates/[gate id].md — the spawned agent reads its own gate file; do not read it in the parent session. Every AskUserQuestion call follows .claude/docs/automation modes.md (collaborative asks always · guided major only · autonomous logs and proceeds; automation always ask categories always prompt). docs.density — it controls per section depth , where workflow controls which sections exist. modes.rigor sets both together; set docs.density explicitly to vary depth alone: terse (the default, via rigor: minimal ) = each section a bulleted list of constraints + references; balanced = paragraphs explaining each visual choice ( rigor: standard ); thorough = full prose including style explorations, references, and rationale per choice. Apply it to every section you author. workflow (see .claude/docs/workflow modes.md ): full — all 9 art bible sections required. standard — required only if visual asset stories exist in the project; sections 1–4 are the minimum when required. workflow overrides.art bible strict: true forces all 9 sections regardless of tier. minimal — not required. Can still be run voluntarily. Read design/gdd/game concept.md — or design/game brief.md , the one page brief that replaces it at rigor: minimal . Read it by section: find the headings you need with the Grep tool (pattern ^ , content mode) and Read those ranges with offset and limit. If neither exists, fail with: "No game concept found. Run /brainstorm first — the art bible is authored after the game concept is approved." Extract from game concept.md (from the brief: working title, pitch, "Who it's for / what they feel" line and "Art & audio direction" line — it has no pillars, Visual Identity Anchor or platform): Game title (working title) Core fantasy and elevator pitch Game pillars (all of them) Visual Identity Anchor section if present (from brainstorm Phase 4 art director output) Target platform (if noted) Retrofit mode detection : Glob design/art/art bible.md . If the file exists, build the status table without reading the document — you are about to author only the incomplete sections, so loading the complete ones is loading exactly what you will not touch: The first grep gives the section headings and their line numbers — the gap between consecutive headings is that section's size. The second gives placeholder markers and where they fall. A section is Complete if it has substantive distance to the next heading and no placeholder marker inside it; Placeholder if a marker falls in its range; Empty if consecutive headings sit adjacent. Where the two greps leave a section genuinely ambiguous, read that section's line range with Read(offset, limit) — never the whole file. Build a section status table: Present this table to the user: "Found existing art bible at design/art/art bible.md . [N] sections are complete, [M] need content. I'll work on the incomplete sections only — existing content will not be touched." Only work on sections with Status: Empty or Placeholder. Do not re author sections that are already complete. If the file does not exist, this is a fresh authoring session. The first approved section creates the file from .claude/docs/templates/art bible.md , whose nine N. Name headings are the ones retrofit mode reads — ask first: "May I create design/art/art bible.md from the art bible template?" Each approved section then replaces its own [To be designed] line with Edit ; keep the headings as the template has them. A section's approval names its write. Every section is approved through an AskUserQuestion whose approving option is [A] Lock this in and write it to design/art/art bible.md (Section 1's full option list is below). Choosing it is the approval to write that section; no section is written without it, fresh or retrofit. Extract performance budgets and the engine for asset standard constraints: read performance. and engine.name from project.yaml ; for any key absent or empty (including when project.yaml has no performance or engine block), fall back to .claude/docs/technical preferences.md . Phase 1: Framing Present the session context and ask two questions before authoring anything: Use AskUserQuestion with two tabs: Tab "Scope" — "Which sections need to be authored today?" Options: Full bible — all 9 sections / Visual identity core (sections 1–4 only) / Asset standards only (section 8) / Resume — fill in missing sections Mark the option the resolved workflow tier actually requires as (Recommended), and say why — the tier already decides this and the user should not have to know the tier table to answer: full → Full bible — all 9 sections are required at this tier. standard → Visual identity core (sections 1–4 only) — that is the documented minimum when an art bible is required at all. Say: "Sections 1–4 are what standard requires; 5–9 are available if you want them." minimal → no art bible is required. Say so before asking, and offer sections 1–4 as the useful if you want it option rather than defaulting to 9. workflow overrides.art bible strict: true → Full bible regardless of tier. This is the single biggest cost lever in this skill: every authored section carries a specialist spawn, so authoring 9 sections where the tier requires 4 more than doubles the run for artifacts nothing downstream will check. Tab "References" — "Do you have reference games, films, or art that define the visual direction?" (Free text — let the user type specific titles. Do NOT preset options here.) If the game concept.md has a Visual Identity Anchor section, note it: "Found a visual identity anchor from brainstorm: '[anchor name] — [one line rule]'. I'll use this as the foundation for the art bible." Author only the sections in the chosen scope. Phases 2–4 run only the sections inside it — for Resume , the Empty and Placeholder rows of the retrofit table — and skip every other section, and any phase left with none. Phase 6 names each section not authored this run and why. Phase 2: Visual Identity Foundation (Sections 1–4) These four sections define the core visual language. All other sections flow from them. Author and write each to file before moving to the next. Spawn policy for this phase. Section 1 is delegated on its own — it is foundational and the user chooses between anchor directions before anything else can build on it. Sections 2–4 are then delegated in one art director call, not three: they are the same agent receiving the same inputs (Visual Identity Statement + pillars), and mood, shape and colour are interdependent — an art director defines them together, not in isolation. Separate calls would ask the agent to reason about colour without knowing the shape language it had just written. This is not reduced specialist involvement — every section is still authored by the specialist, which is the point .claude/docs/effects map.md makes about art bible delegation being mandatory. It is one call instead of three for the same three sections. Per section user approval and write to file immediately are unchanged. Section 1: Visual Identity Statement Goal : A one line visual rule plus 2–3 supporting principles that resolve visual ambiguity. If a visual anchor exists from game concept.md: present it and ask: "Build directly from this anchor?" "Revise it before expanding?" "Start fresh with new options?" Agent delegation (MANDATORY) : Spawn art director via Agent : Provide: game concept (elevator pitch, core fantasy), full pillar set, platform target, any reference games/art from Phase 1 framing, the visual anchor if it exists Ask: "Draft a Visual Identity Statement for this game. Provide: (1) a one line visual rule that could resolve any visual decision ambiguity, (2) 2–3 supporting visual principles, each with a one sentence design test ('when X is ambiguous, this principle says choose Y'). Anchor all principles directly in the stated pillars — each principle must serve a specific pillar. (From a one page brief, which has no pillars, anchor them in its pitch and "what they feel" line.)" Present the art director's draft to the user. Use AskUserQuestion : Options: [A] Lock this in and write it to design/art/art bible.md / [B] Revise the one liner / [C] Revise a supporting principle / [D] Describe my own direction Write the approved section to file immediately. Section 2: Mood & Atmosphere Goal : Emotional targets by game state — specific enough for a lighting artist to work from. For each major game state (e.g., exploration, combat, victory, defeat, menus — adapt to this game's states), define: Primary emotion/mood target Lighting character (time of day, color temperature, contrast level) Atmospheric descriptors (3–5 adjectives) Energy level (frenetic / measured / contemplative / etc.) Agent delegation for Sections 2–4 — one call, issued here. Spawn art director via Agent with the locked Visual Identity Statement and pillar set, and ask for all three sections in a single brief: 1. Mood & atmosphere — "Define mood and atmosphere targets for each major game state in this game. Be specific — 'dark and foreboding' is not enough. Name the exact emotional target, the lighting character (warm/cool, high/low contrast, time of day direction), and at least one visual element that carries the mood. Each game state must feel visually distinct from the others." 2. Shape language — "Define the shape language for this game. Connect each shape principle back to the visual identity statement and a specific game pillar. Explain what these shape choices communicate to the player emotionally." 3. Colour system — "Design the color system for this game. Every semantic color assignment must be explained — why does this color mean danger/safety/reward in this world? Identify which color pairs might fail colorblind players and specify what backup cues are needed." Require the three to be mutually consistent — the palette must serve the mood targets and the shape hierarchy — and returned as three separately labelled blocks so each can be approved and written on its own. Then present Section 2 to the user, approve it, and write it to file immediately before moving to Section 3. Do not present all three at once: the batching is in the delegation, not in the review. Section 3: Shape Language Goal : The geometric vocabulary that makes this game's world visually coherent and distinguishable. Cover: Character silhouette philosophy (how readable at thumbnail size? Distinguishing trait per archetype?) Environment geometry (angular/curved/organic/geometric — which dominates and why?) UI shape grammar (does UI echo the world aesthetic, or is it a distinct HUD language?) Hero shapes vs. supporting shapes (what draws the eye, what recedes?) Draft source : the Sections 2–4 delegation issued under Section 2 — use the shape language block it returned. Do not spawn again. Write the approved section to file immediately. Section 4: Color System Goal : A complete, producible palette system that serves both aesthetic and communication needs. Cover: Primary palette (5–7 colors with roles — not just hex codes, but what each color means in this world) Semantic color usage (what does red communicate? Gold? Blue? White? Establish the color v

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