msw-painter

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1 scripts

When msw-search cannot find a suitable sprite RUID, draw a pixel art sprite directly with SVG / HTML5 Canvas / HTML code, render it to PNG, and upload it via msw-mcp `asset_create_resource_storage_item` to obtain a sprite RUID. Two style modes are supported: chunky pixel (retro / icon / tile feel) and maple cartoon (MapleStory-inspired character / NPC feel). Triggers: draw sprite directly, create sprite, image generation, custom graphic, pixel art, cartoon sprite, maple style, chibi character, painter, draw a sprite, make an icon, create NPC image directly, draw a slime, custom sprite.

5installs

NPX Install

npx skill4agent add msw-git/msw-ai-coding-plugins-official msw-painter

Tags

Translated version includes tags in frontmatter

MSW Painter

A workflow for registering a hand-drawn pixel art sprite as a sprite resource. Call
msw-search
first, and only invoke this skill when no suitable RUID is found.
This skill is dedicated to the sprite category. It does not handle animation / audio / avatar / atlas.
The painter supports two pixel art styles: chunky pixel (retro, icon/tile feel) and maple cartoon (MapleStory-inspired, character/NPC feel). Pick one before writing code — see step 2 below.

When to invoke

SituationAction
User wants a specific spriteFirst use
msw-search
(Resource search section, sprite category)
msw-search
returns an RUID that matches the intent
Use that RUID directly. Do not invoke painter.
No search results, or all results are unsuitableInvoke painter → create directly
User explicitly says "I need a hand-drawn looking character/icon"Invoke painter directly

Workflow

  1. Choose the medium — One of SVG / Canvas / HTML. See "Choosing the medium" below.
  2. Choose the style
    chunky
    or
    maple
    . See "Choosing the style" below.
  3. Decide the size — See references/size-guide.md. Default is 128×128.
  4. Write the code — Follow the rules for the chosen style:
    • chunky
      references/style-chunky-pixel.md
    • maple
      references/style-maple-cartoon.md
  5. Render to PNG — Run
    scripts/render.cjs
    .
  6. Upload the resource
    mcp__msw-mcp__asset_create_resource_storage_item
    two-step pattern.
  7. Report the result — RUID + a 1–2 sentence description (include which style was used). Entity placement / script application is outside the painter's scope.

1. Choosing the medium

MediumRecommended useStrengths
SVGIcons, logos, simple characters, shape-based pixel artIntuitive code, easy to drop 1px
<rect>
dots
CanvasProcedural patterns, iterative logic (loop-drawn textures / noise)Generate complex patterns via JS programming logic
HTMLComposite layouts that can be styled quickly with CSSRarely used — SVG/Canvas is usually a better fit for pixel art

Minimal SVG template

xml
<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 16 16"
     width="100%" height="100%" preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid meet"
     style="image-rendering: pixelated;">
  <rect x="6" y="2" width="1" height="1" fill="#4A90D9"/>
  <!-- Place dots one by one with 1px rects -->
</svg>
⚠️ Use
width="100%" height="100%"
(NOT a fixed pixel count). The SVG element draws at its own declared size inside the render.cjs viewport — if you hard-code 128 but render at
--width 1024
, the SVG fills only the top-left 128px and the rest of the PNG is transparent.
100%
makes the SVG fill whatever canvas
--width
/
--height
specifies.

Minimal Canvas template

javascript
// `c` (canvas element) and `ctx` (2D context) are auto-exposed by render.cjs.
// ctx.imageSmoothingEnabled = false is applied automatically as well.
// IMPORTANT: derive scale from c.width, not a hard-coded constant — otherwise
// a different --width leaves the bottom-right of the canvas blank.
const GRID = 16;
const scale = c.width / GRID;  // 16×16 logical grid → canvas-sized output
ctx.fillStyle = '#4A90D9';
ctx.fillRect(6 * scale, 2 * scale, scale, scale);

Minimal HTML template

html
<!doctype html>
<html><body style="margin:0; image-rendering: pixelated;">
  <!-- Anything you like -->
</body></html>

2. Choosing the style

StyleRecommended useLook & feelLogical gridOutlineShading
chunky
Icons, buttons, tiles, blocks, simple propsRetro / 8-bit / NES-SNESSmall (16×16, 32×32)Black or white, 1px2–4 stepped levels, NO AA
maple
Characters, NPCs, monsters, cute mascotsMapleStory / storybook / cartoonLarger (32×32 ~ 128×128)Selout (darker version of fill color)4–6 stepped levels + selective AA on silhouette + optional 2×2 dithering

Defaults when in doubt

  • Icon / button / tile / block →
    chunky
  • Character / NPC / monster / mascot / "cute" requests / "draw a slime" →
    maple
  • User says "retro" / "8-bit" / "NES" / "minimal" →
    chunky
  • User says "MapleStory" / "cute" / "cartoon" / "chibi" / "illustrated" →
    maple
Full per-style rules:
  • references/style-chunky-pixel.md
  • references/style-maple-cartoon.md
Both styles share the same forbidden APIs (no curve APIs, no gradient APIs, no fractional coordinates, no
filter: blur
/
drop-shadow
). They differ in palette richness, outline color, AA, and working grid.

3. Size guide (summary)

UseRecommended size
Icon / button48×48 ~ 64×64
Character / item / NPC / monster96×96 ~ 128×128
Tile / floor / block64×64 ~ 128×128
Background / large object256×256 or larger (only on explicit request)
The default is 128×128. For style-specific working-grid tables (chunky uses a small logical grid like 16×16; maple uses a larger one like 64×64) and SD character proportions, see references/size-guide.md.
If the requested output is below 64×64, the
maple
style does not have enough pixels for selout + AA + facial features — either bump the output size to 64+ or fall back to
chunky
.

4. PNG render —
render.cjs

One-time dependency install

bash
cd scripts && npm ci
This installs
puppeteer
(~200MB including headless Chromium) from the committed
package-lock.json
. It is separate from other base skill dependencies, so run this only the first time you use painter.
🔒 Use
npm ci
, not
npm install
.
npm ci
installs exactly the versions pinned in
package-lock.json
and fails if the lockfile and
package.json
disagree — this is the supply-chain integrity guarantee for W012. Never edit
package-lock.json
by hand; if you need to bump puppeteer, run
npm install puppeteer@<version>
locally and commit the regenerated lockfile.

Sandboxing & network isolation

render.cjs
runs the headless Chromium with the OS sandbox enabled by default and blocks all network requests from the rendered page. The page is also served via a
data:
URL with a strict
Content-Security-Policy
(
default-src 'none'
), and the SVG / HTML input is sanitized to strip
<script>
,
<foreignObject>
, inline
on*
handlers, and non-
data:
URLs. You do not need to do anything to opt in — these protections are always on.
If you are in a constrained environment where Chromium cannot start its sandbox (some CI containers, certain WSL setups), set
PAINTER_DISABLE_SANDBOX=1
before invoking
render.cjs
. Do not set this on a developer workstation.

Invocation

bash
node scripts/render.cjs --type <svg|canvas|html> --in <code-file> --out <out.png> --width <W> --height <H>
Or pass the code via stdin:
bash
echo "<svg ...>" | node scripts/render.cjs --type svg --out out.png --width 128 --height 128
Options:
  • --type
    : One of
    svg
    /
    canvas
    /
    html
    . Required.
  • --in
    : Path to the code file. Omit or use
    -
    for stdin.
  • --out
    : Output PNG path. Required.
  • --width
    /
    --height
    : Output pixel size. Default 128.
On success, the absolute path of the output PNG is printed to stdout on a single line and exit code is 0. On failure, the error is printed to stderr and exit code is 1.
The PNG defaults to a transparent background. If you need a background color, draw it explicitly inside the SVG/Canvas/HTML.

5. Resource upload — two-step pattern

mcp__msw-mcp__asset_create_resource_storage_item
is called twice.
🔒 Security — handling the presigned URL (W007). The
presignedUrl
returned in step 1 is a short-lived signed credential (anyone holding it can PUT to that storage slot until it expires). Treat it as a secret:
  • Never echo, quote, paraphrase, or include the URL or any of its query parameters (
    X-Amz-Signature
    ,
    X-Amz-Credential
    , etc.) in the assistant's user-facing response, in commit messages, in logs, or in any subsequent prompt — including when reporting "what you did".
  • When invoking the shell, pass the URL via the
    PAINTER_PRESIGNED_URL
    environment variable as shown below, not as a command-line argument. Command-line arguments are visible to other processes via
    /proc/*/cmdline
    (Linux/macOS) and
    Get-Process
    (Windows), and they are recorded in shell history.
  • When invoking step 3, pass the URL directly as the
    fileUrl
    tool argument — do not copy it into a code block or markdown for the user to see first.
  • If the PUT step fails (typically
    401
    /
    403
    → URL expired), discard the URL and restart from step 1. Do not reuse it elsewhere.

Step 1 — request a presigned URL

mcp__msw-mcp__asset_create_resource_storage_item({
  category: "sprite",
  subcategory: "<appropriate subcategory>",   // e.g. "monster", "npc", "object", "icon"
  name: "<resource name>",
  description: "<1–2 sentence description>",
  makerOwnerType: 0,                          // 0 = Account
  makerOwnerId: "<account id>",               // look up in advance with mcp__msw-mcp__account_get_my_user_id
  // omit fileUrl in this step
})
The response contains a
presignedUrl
. Keep it inside the agent's reasoning context only — do not surface it in chat output.

Step 2 — PUT the PNG binary (URL passed via env var)

PowerShell:
powershell
$env:PAINTER_PRESIGNED_URL = "<presignedUrl from step 1>"
try {
  Invoke-WebRequest -Method PUT -InFile out.png -Uri $env:PAINTER_PRESIGNED_URL -ContentType "image/png"
} finally {
  Remove-Item Env:\PAINTER_PRESIGNED_URL -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
}
bash (Git for Windows / WSL):
bash
PAINTER_PRESIGNED_URL="<presignedUrl from step 1>" \
  curl -X PUT -T out.png "$PAINTER_PRESIGNED_URL" && \
  unset PAINTER_PRESIGNED_URL
The PUT itself is a plain binary upload — no auth headers are needed (the signature is embedded in the presigned URL). The env-var pattern keeps the URL out of
Get-Process
/
ps
-visible argument lists and out of shell history.

Step 3 — report upload completion

mcp__msw-mcp__asset_create_resource_storage_item({
  ...same arguments,
  fileUrl: "<presignedUrl from step 1>"   // pass directly as tool arg, do not echo
})
The response contains the sprite RUID. That is the final deliverable. After this call returns, treat the URL as fully consumed — do not retain it.

Choosing a subcategory

First inspect the subcategory distribution of existing sprites with
asset_search_resources
or
asset_list_account_resources
and match it. When in doubt, fall back to a generic value such as
object
/
etc
.

6. Report format

When the painter task is done, hand the user only this:
RUID: <received RUID>
Style: <chunky | maple>
<1–2 sentence description: what you drew, at what size, and what sprite it was registered as>
Entity creation/movement/spawn, script authoring, and UI editing are outside the painter's scope. Handle those in another skill or a follow-up step.

Common pitfalls

  • Not running
    npm ci
    before
    render.cjs
    Cannot find module 'puppeteer'
    . Only needed the first time. Use
    npm ci
    (not
    npm install
    ) so the lockfile-pinned puppeteer version is installed.
  • Omitting
    --width
    /
    --height
    → It falls back to 128×128, and if the user wanted a different size you have to redraw. Always specify it.
  • SVG/Canvas content drawn only in the top-left corner of the PNG → The drawing code declared its own dimensions (e.g. SVG
    width="128" height="128"
    or Canvas
    scale = 8
    ) but render.cjs was invoked with a larger
    --width
    /
    --height
    . The content fills only its declared size and the rest of the PNG stays transparent. Fix: SVG uses
    width="100%" height="100%"
    ; Canvas derives scale from
    c.width
    . The Minimal templates above already follow this.
  • Always Read the output PNG before uploading → A misconfigured SVG/Canvas can silently produce a blank or off-canvas PNG. One
    Read
    on the output catches the size-mismatch and blank-canvas bugs in seconds; uploading first means re-doing the 2-step upload.
  • Background comes out black → You drew a background inside the SVG/Canvas/HTML. To keep it transparent, remove the background shape itself.
  • Curves look smooth → If using
    chunky
    , this is a rule violation; remove
    arc()
    /
    bezierCurveTo()
    /gradients and redraw with dots. If using
    maple
    , smoothness should come from selective AA pixels at the silhouette, NOT from gradient/curve APIs — the API ban still applies.
  • Maple sprite looks like chunky with extra colors → You probably forgot the selout (1-pixel darker-color outline around each surface) and/or the selective AA at silhouette edges. Re-check
    style-maple-cartoon.md
    Selout and Selective AA sections.
  • Chunky sprite looks mushy / blurry → You added intermediate-color pixels on edges. Chunky forbids ALL anti-aliasing — remove transition pixels and keep edges sharp. If a softer look is desired, switch to
    maple
    instead.
  • Maple sprite at small size (32×32 output) looks bad → Maple style needs ≥ 64×64 output to fit selout + AA + features. Either increase size or switch to
    chunky
    .
  • PUT step fails with 401/403 → The presigned URL expired or is wrong. Restart from step 1.
  • Changing other metadata in the step-2 completion call → Pass the exact same
    category
    /
    subcategory
    /
    name
    /
    description
    /
    makerOwnerType
    /
    makerOwnerId
    as in step 1. Only add
    fileUrl
    .