— name: ascii-art description: Generate ASCII art using pyfiglet (571 fonts), cowsay, boxes, toilet, image-to-ascii, remote APIs (asciified, ascii.co.uk), and LLM fallback. No API keys required. version: 4.0.0 author: 0xbyt4, Hermes Agent license: MIT dependencies: [] metadata: hermes: tags: [ASCII, Art, Banners, Creative, Unicode, Text-Art, pyfiglet, figlet, cowsay, boxes] related_skills: [excalidraw] — # ASCII Art Skill Multiple tools for different ASCII art needs. All tools are local CLI programs or free REST APIs — no API keys required. ## Tool 1: Text Banners (pyfiglet — local) Render text as large ASCII art banners. 571 built-in fonts. ### Setup “`bash pip install pyfiglet –break-system-packages -q “` ### Usage “`bash python3 -m pyfiglet "YOUR TEXT" -f slant python3 -m pyfiglet "TEXT" -f doom -w 80 # Set width python3 -m pyfiglet –list_fonts # List all 571 fonts “` ### Recommended fonts | Style | Font | Best for | |——-|——|———-| | Clean & modern | `slant` | Project names, headers | | Bold & blocky | `doom` | Titles, logos | | Big & readable | `big` | Banners | | Classic banner | `banner3` | Wide displays | | Compact | `small` | Subtitles | | Cyberpunk | `cyberlarge` | Tech themes | | 3D effect | `3-d` | Splash screens | | Gothic | `gothic` | Dramatic text | ### Tips – Preview 2-3 fonts and let the user pick their favorite – Short text (1-8 chars) works best with detailed fonts like `doom` or `block` – Long text works better with compact fonts like `small` or `mini` ## Tool 2: Text Banners (asciified API — remote, no install) Free REST API that converts text to ASCII art. 250+ FIGlet fonts. Returns plain text directly — no parsing needed. Use this when pyfiglet is not installed or as a quick alternative. ### Usage (via terminal curl) “`bash # Basic text banner (default font) curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=Hello+World" # With a specific font curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=Hello&font=Slant" curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=Hello&font=Doom" curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=Hello&font=Star+Wars" curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=Hello&font=3-D" curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=Hello&font=Banner3" # List all available fonts (returns JSON array) curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/fonts" “` ### Tips – URL-encode spaces as `+` in the text parameter – The response is plain text ASCII art — no JSON wrapping, ready to display – Font names are case-sensitive; use the fonts endpoint to get exact names – Works from any terminal with curl — no Python or pip needed ## Tool 3: Cowsay (Message Art) Classic tool that wraps text in a speech bubble with an ASCII character. ### Setup “`bash sudo apt install cowsay -y # Debian/Ubuntu # brew install cowsay # macOS “` ### Usage “`bash cowsay "Hello World" cowsay -f tux "Linux rules" # Tux the penguin cowsay -f dragon "Rawr!" # Dragon cowsay -f stegosaurus "Roar!" # Stegosaurus cowthink "Hmm…" # Thought bubble cowsay -l # List all characters “` ### Available characters (50+) `beavis.zen`, `bong`, `bunny`, `cheese`, `daemon`, `default`, `dragon`, `dragon-and-cow`, `elephant`, `eyes`, `flaming-skull`, `ghostbusters`, `hellokitty`, `kiss`, `kitty`, `koala`, `luke-koala`, `mech-and-cow`, `meow`, `moofasa`, `moose`, `ren`, `sheep`, `skeleton`, `small`, `stegosaurus`, `stimpy`, `supermilker`, `surgery`, `three-eyes`, `turkey`, `turtle`, `tux`, `udder`, `vader`, `vader-koala`, `www` ### Eye/tongue modifiers “`bash cowsay -b "Borg" # =_= eyes cowsay -d "Dead" # x_x eyes cowsay -g "Greedy" # $_$ eyes cowsay -p "Paranoid" # @_@ eyes cowsay -s "Stoned" # *_* eyes cowsay -w "Wired" # O_O eyes cowsay -e "OO" "Msg" # Custom eyes cowsay -T "U " "Msg" # Custom tongue “` ## Tool 4: Boxes (Decorative Borders) Draw decorative ASCII art borders/frames around any text. 70+ built-in designs. ### Setup “`bash sudo apt install boxes -y # Debian/Ubuntu # brew install boxes # macOS “` ### Usage “`bash echo "Hello World" | boxes # Default box echo "Hello World" | boxes -d stone # Stone border echo "Hello World" | boxes -d parchment # Parchment scroll echo "Hello World" | boxes -d cat # Cat border echo "Hello World" | boxes -d dog # Dog border echo "Hello World" | boxes -d unicornsay # Unicorn echo "Hello World" | boxes -d diamonds # Diamond pattern echo "Hello World" | boxes -d c-cmt # C-style comment echo "Hello World" | boxes -d html-cmt # HTML comment echo "Hello World" | boxes -a c # Center text boxes -l # List all 70+ designs “` ### Combine with pyfiglet or asciified “`bash python3 -m pyfiglet "HERMES" -f slant | boxes -d stone # Or without pyfiglet installed: curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=HERMES&font=Slant" | boxes -d stone “` ## Tool 5: TOIlet (Colored Text Art) Like pyfiglet but with ANSI color effects and visual filters. Great for terminal eye candy. ### Setup “`bash sudo apt install toilet toilet-fonts -y # Debian/Ubuntu # brew install toilet # macOS “` ### Usage “`bash toilet "Hello World" # Basic text art toilet -f bigmono12 "Hello" # Specific font toilet –gay "Rainbow!" # Rainbow coloring toilet –metal "Metal!" # Metallic effect toilet -F border "Bordered" # Add border toilet -F border –gay "Fancy!" # Combined effects toilet -f pagga "Block" # Block-style font (unique to toilet) toilet -F list # List available filters “` ### Filters `crop`, `gay` (rainbow), `metal`, `flip`, `flop`, `180`, `left`, `right`, `border` **Note**: toilet outputs ANSI escape codes for colors — works in terminals but may not render in all contexts (e.g., plain text files, some chat platforms). ## Tool 6: Image to ASCII Art Convert images (PNG, JPEG, GIF, WEBP) to ASCII art. ### Option A: ascii-image-converter (recommended, modern) “`bash # Install sudo snap install ascii-image-converter # OR: go install github.com/TheZoraiz/ascii-image-converter@latest “` “`bash ascii-image-converter image.png # Basic ascii-image-converter image.png -C # Color output ascii-image-converter image.png -d 60,30 # Set dimensions ascii-image-converter image.png -b # Braille characters ascii-image-converter image.png -n # Negative/inverted ascii-image-converter https://url/image.jpg # Direct URL ascii-image-converter image.png –save-txt out # Save as text “` ### Option B: jp2a (lightweight, JPEG only) “`bash sudo apt install jp2a -y jp2a –width=80 image.jpg jp2a –colors image.jpg # Colorized “` ## Tool 7: Search Pre-Made ASCII Art Search curated ASCII art from the web. Use `terminal` with `curl`. ### Source A: ascii.co.uk (recommended for pre-made art) Large collection of classic ASCII art organized by subject. Art is inside HTML `<pre>` tags. Fetch the page with curl, then extract art with a small Python snippet. **URL pattern:** `https://ascii.co.uk/art/{subject}` **Step 1 — Fetch the page:** “`bash curl -s 'https://ascii.co.uk/art/cat' -o /tmp/ascii_art.html “` **Step 2 — Extract art from pre tags:** “`python import re, html with open('/tmp/ascii_art.html') as f: text = f.read() arts = re.findall(r'<pre[^>]*>(.*?)</pre>', text, re.DOTALL) for art in arts: clean = re.sub(r'<[^>]+>', '', art) clean = html.unescape(clean).strip() if len(clean) > 30: print(clean) print('\n—\n') “` **Available subjects** (use as URL path): – Animals: `cat`, `dog`, `horse`, `bird`, `fish`, `dragon`, `snake`, `rabbit`, `elephant`, `dolphin`, `butterfly`, `owl`, `wolf`, `bear`, `penguin`, `turtle` – Objects: `car`, `ship`, `airplane`, `rocket`, `guitar`, `computer`, `coffee`, `beer`, `cake`, `house`, `castle`, `sword`, `crown`, `key` – Nature: `tree`, `flower`, `sun`, `moon`, `star`, `mountain`, `ocean`, `rainbow` – Characters: `skull`, `robot`, `angel`, `wizard`, `pirate`, `ninja`, `alien` – Holidays: `christmas`, `halloween`, `valentine` **Tips:** – Preserve artist signatures/initials — important etiquette – Multiple art pieces per page — pick the best one for the user – Works reliably via curl, no JavaScript needed ### Source B: GitHub Octocat API (fun easter egg) Returns a random GitHub Octocat with a wise quote. No auth needed. “`bash curl -s https://api.github.com/octocat “` ## Tool 8: Fun ASCII Utilities (via curl) These free services return ASCII art directly — great for fun extras. ### QR Codes as ASCII Art “`bash curl -s "qrenco.de/Hello+World" curl -s "qrenco.de/https://example.com" “` ### Weather as ASCII Art “`bash curl -s "wttr.in/London" # Full weather report with ASCII graphics curl -s "wttr.in/Moon" # Moon phase in ASCII art curl -s "v2.wttr.in/London" # Detailed version “` ## Tool 9: LLM-Generated Custom Art (Fallback) When tools above don't have what's needed, generate ASCII art directly using these Unicode characters: ### Character Palette **Box Drawing:** `╔ ╗ ╚ ╝ ║ ═ ╠ ╣ ╦ ╩ ╬ ┌ ┐ └ ┘ │ ─ ├ ┤ ┬ ┴ ┼ ╭ ╮ ╰ ╯` **Block Elements:** `░ ▒ ▓ █ ▄ ▀ ▌ ▐ ▖ ▗ ▘ ▝ ▚ ▞` **Geometric & Symbols:** `◆ ◇ ◈ ● ○ ◉ ■ □ ▲ △ ▼ ▽ ★ ☆ ✦ ✧ ◀ ▶ ◁ ▷ ⬡ ⬢ ⌂` ### Rules – Max width: 60 characters per line (terminal-safe) – Max height: 15 lines for banners, 25 for scenes – Monospace only: output must render correctly in fixed-width fonts ## Decision Flow 1. **Text as a banner** → pyfiglet if installed, otherwise asciified API via curl 2. **Wrap a message in fun character art** → cowsay 3. **Add decorative border/frame** → boxes (can combine with pyfiglet/asciified) 4. **Art of a specific thing** (cat, rocket, dragon) → ascii.co.uk via curl + parsing 5. **Convert an image to ASCII** → ascii-image-converter or jp2a 6. **QR code** → qrenco.de via curl 7. **Weather/moon art** → wttr.in via curl 8. **Something custom/creative** → LLM generation with Unicode palette 9. **Any tool not installed** → install it, or fall back to next option