ascii-backdrop SKILL.md skillB
ascii-backdrop from majiayu000/spellbook is an agent skill: a SKILL.md folder an AI agent loads when a task calls for it.
mdr add majiayu000/spellbook/ascii-backdrop@git:20261028.640a1ddPins git:20261028.640a1dd in mdr.lock. Pin the fingerprint instead.
- Audit grade
- B, 16 of 17 checks passed
- Kind
- SKILL.md skill
- Repository
- majiayu000/spellbook
- Path
skills/ascii-backdrop/SKILL.md- Versions recorded
- 1
- Latest version
- git:20261028.640a1dd, committed Oct 28, 2026
- Size
- 11,667 bytes
- Repository stars
- 290
- License
- MIT
Turn any subject into an animated ASCII backdrop behind a UI, like a dark prompt page with jellyfish drawn in drifting characters, or a swarm of colour-tile bodies that veer away from the cursor. The subject is open-ended: creatures, objects, particles, smoke, a word or logo, an image or video, a per-pixel field, a shaded 3D solid, or your own canvas draw function. Six print modes can be mixed: brightness glyphs, edge-following glyphs, shape-matched glyphs, braille dots, ordered-dither dots…
Collected from public GitHub. Every version is saved exactly as it was and never changes. Install it at an exact version with the mdr tool, and every file is checked before it reaches your agent. The main file is checked against the SHA-256 fingerprint recorded here, and the others against the fingerprints GitHub keeps for its source commit. The automatic checks below grade the latest version, and the same checks always give the same file the same grade.
What the file says
# ASCII Backdrop
A subject paints brightness or colour on a small canvas; the engine prints every character cell as a glyph, dot or tile. Anything that can paint on a canvas can be the subject.
## How it works
Every frame, each layer's subject draws itself on a small offscreen canvas (a few pixels per character cell). The engine reads those pixels and prints them in the layer's `mode`. A lower `depth` dims a layer, which gives depth for free; a `clear` zone fades output around the UI so headings and inputs stay readable. Changing the subject means changing one draw function; the engine does not change.
| Print mode | Layer setting | Look | Frame cost at 1440×900 (measured) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brightness glyphs | default `mode: 'glyph'` | Glyph from the density ramp; the brightest cells print as filled boxes | ~8 ms |
| Edge glyphs | `glyph: { edges: true }` | `/ \ \| -` follow strong edges | ~8 ms |
| Shape matching | `glyph: { match: 'shape' }` | Samples a 2×3 grid per cell and picks the glyph whose shape fits best, for crisper outlines (after Alex Harri) | ~5 ms (cached) |
…Read the whole file at its exact version.
How to install
mdr add majiayu000/spellbook/ascii-backdrop@sha256:c1b4cbddab35613cThe line at the top of this page pins the label git:20261028.640a1dd, which is what most people want. This one pins the sha256 fingerprint of the contents instead, so it survives a label being moved. Either way the exact version is written to mdr.lock, and mdr install downloads and checks those contents again, so it installs them exactly or stops with an error.
[](https://markdownregistry.com/a/art_5jjaaguq3c35kz3v)
2 badge image fetches in 30 days. What the badge shows.
Versions
The registry has recorded 1 version of this file, committed on Oct 28, 2026.
Audit of the latest version
- fail: No script tag (matched: <script)
- pass: Frontmatter block present
- pass: Frontmatter declares a name
- pass: Frontmatter declares a description
- pass: Size between 200 bytes and 200 KB (11667 bytes)
- pass: No zero-width or bidi control characters
- pass: No instruction hidden inside an HTML comment
- pass: No link to an exfiltration or paste host
- pass: No credential-shaped string
- pass: No instruction to send local credentials anywhere
- pass: No text hidden with inline styles
- pass: No prompt-injection phrasing
- pass: No curl or wget piped into a shell
- pass: No recursive delete of root, home or parent
- pass: No instruction to read or print local credentials
- pass: No base64 blob over 200 characters
- pass: No link to a raw IP address
Starting a new one? Use a template for SKILL.md on mdpantry, which passes every one of these checks and says what to change in it.
Source
majiayu000/spellbook · 290 stars · license MIT · pushed 2026-11-04 · branch main
API
GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/artifacts/art_5jjaaguq3c35kz3v GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/resolve?ref=majiayu000/spellbook/ascii-backdrop GET https://markdownregistry.com/api/v1/blob/c1b4cbddab35613ce3f55e0b660385bd32daba4233e92e6420eb8182fafeade0
Your AI assistant does the legwork. You hear about the deals worth your word. Hand yours the standing instructions at modelranch.com and it joins the network that reads files like this one.
Guides: the SKILL.md format and its required fields · what to check before you install a skill · how to pin a skill to an exact version · where to find agent skills · keeping a team on the same skills · which agent file does what.