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Agent skill

Upscale

by guaardvark in guaardvark/guaardvark

Upscale images and video 2x to 4K/8K on the user's GPU through Guaardvark (Real-ESRGAN, HAT-L, SwinIR, two-pass).

MITAuto-check passedMedia & Creative

Install Upscale

skills CLI
$ npx skills add guaardvark/guaardvark --skill upscale -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install guaardvark/guaardvark upscale --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/guaardvark/guaardvark.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/.agents/skills/upscale .claude/skills/upscale && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
upscale
GitHub stars
255
Token cost
~493 tokens
SKILL.md length
148 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
15
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
MIT

At a glance

Upscale images and video 2x to 4K/8K on the user's GPU through Guaardvark (Real-ESRGAN, HAT-L, SwinIR, two-pass).

  • The user asks to enlarge
  • SKILL.md covers One image (synchronous, seconds), Many images (queued), Video (queued, frame by frame) and Rules
  • Calls curl
  • Upscale a picture

What it does

Upscale is an agent skill from guaardvark/guaardvark. Upscale images and video 2x to 4K/8K on the user's GPU through Guaardvark (Real-ESRGAN, HAT-L, SwinIR, two-pass). Use when the user asks to enlarge, sharpen, restore, or upscale a picture, a batch of pictures, or a video.

Its SKILL.md is about 490 tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

It sits in Media & Creative, covering Image editing. It works with Model Context Protocol. The repository describes itself as: The self-hosted AI studio: local video, image, music, voice, LoRA training, coding swarms, RAG and screen agents on one GPU, driven from the Studio or by your coding agent… The licence is MIT.

When your agent uses it

  • The user asks to enlarge
  • Upscale a picture
  • A batch of pictures

Example prompts

  • “/upscale”

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit f022ceb. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

    • curl

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md. Its commands use curl, which can reach the network depending on how they are called.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Upscale loads about 493 tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 57 tokens; SKILL.md has 148 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~57
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~493

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from guaardvark/guaardvark at commit f022ceb, republished under its MIT licence (© guaardvark). 148 words, ~493 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/upscale/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
upscale
description
Upscale images and video 2x to 4K/8K on the user's GPU through Guaardvark (Real-ESRGAN, HAT-L, SwinIR, two-pass). Use when the user asks to enlarge, sharpen, restore, or upscale a picture, a batch of pictures, or a video.

Upscaling with Guaardvark

Read setup first; needs the upscaling plugin (POST /api/plugins/upscaling/start). B=${GUAARDVARK_URL:-http://localhost:5000}. Models: GET $B/api/upscaling/models (default HAT-L_SRx4); install one with POST $B/api/upscaling/models/download {"model": "<id>"} only after the user says so.

One image (synchronous, seconds)

bash
curl -s -X POST $B/api/upscaling/upscale/image \
  -F file=@/abs/path/in.png -F model=HAT-L_SRx4 -F scale=4 -F sharpen=0.2 -F denoise_strength=0.1

Returns the finished file (output_path, served under GET $B/api/upscaling/output/image/<filename>). Form options: model, scale, sharpen, denoise_strength.

Many images (queued)

bash
curl -s -X POST $B/api/upscaling/upscale/images -F files=@a.png -F files=@b.png -F model=HAT-L_SRx4 -F scale=2

Returns a job id; poll GET $B/api/upscaling/jobs/<job_id>; GET $B/api/upscaling/jobs lists all.

Video (queued, frame by frame)

bash
curl -s -X POST $B/api/upscaling/upscale/video -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -d '{
  "input_path": "/abs/path/clip.mp4", "model": "realesrgan-x2", "scale": 2, "two_pass": false, "suffix": "_4k"
}'

output_path is optional. Same job polling. Video upscaling is slow: minutes per hundred frames at 1080p on a 16 GB card. Say so before queuing.

Rules

  • Preview first when in doubt: POST $B/api/upscaling/preview (multipart, same form fields) runs a crop.
  • Pick the model for the content: HAT-L for photos, Real-ESRGAN x2 for video, anime models for line art. The models list carries descriptions.
  • The GPU is exclusive; a running video upscale blocks image and video generation until it finishes.

© guaardvark, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in .agents/skills/upscale of guaardvark/guaardvark.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit f022ceb

Compare with similar skills

Upscale next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

Upscale compared with similar skills
SkillStarsUsed inTokensAuto-checkLicenceRepo updated
Upscale this skillguaardvark/guaardvark255—~493Automated safety check: PassMIT
Fal AI Generationwitnesstodark/mr-mak-workspace336—~1kAutomated safety check: NotesMIT
Audio And Videoglifxyz/glif-mcp-server212—~1.1kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Edit Imagesglifxyz/glif-mcp-server212—~778Automated safety check: PassMIT
Web Visualsglifxyz/glif-mcp-server212—~1.4kAutomated safety check: PassMIT
Canva Designerasgeirtj/system_prompts_leaks69k—~2.1kAutomated safety check: PassCC0-1.0

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More from guaardvark/guaardvark

All 15 skills in this repo

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  • Voice

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  • Cast

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  • Image

    guaardvark/guaardvark

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  • Music

    guaardvark/guaardvark

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  • Ops

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Works with

Categories

Questions about Upscale

What does Upscale do?

Upscale images and video 2x to 4K/8K on the user's GPU through Guaardvark (Real-ESRGAN, HAT-L, SwinIR, two-pass). Upscale is an agent skill from guaardvark/guaardvark. Upscale images and video 2x to 4K/8K on the user's GPU through Guaardvark (Real-ESRGAN, HAT-L, SwinIR, two-pass).

When should I use Upscale?

Upscale fits situations like: the user asks to enlarge; upscale a picture; A batch of pictures.

How do I install Upscale in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add guaardvark/guaardvark --skill upscale -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (.agents/skills/upscale in guaardvark/guaardvark) into .claude/skills/upscale in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Upscale in Codex?

Run `npx skills add guaardvark/guaardvark --skill upscale -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (.agents/skills/upscale in guaardvark/guaardvark) into .agents/skills/upscale in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Upscale in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add guaardvark/guaardvark --skill upscale -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/upscale, .gemini/skills/upscale, .github/skills/upscale and .opencode/skills/upscale in your project.

What does Upscale need to run?

Going by SKILL.md and its folder, Upscale needs the command-line tools its instructions call (curl).

Does Upscale access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Its commands use curl, which can reach the network depending on how they are called. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Upscale safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Upscale use?

Upscale is published under the MIT licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Upscale use?

About 493 tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 2k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Upscale?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Upscale: Fal AI Generation (witnesstodark/mr-mak-workspace, 336 stars), Audio And Video (glifxyz/glif-mcp-server, 212 stars), Edit Images (glifxyz/glif-mcp-server, 212 stars) and Web Visuals (glifxyz/glif-mcp-server, 212 stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Upscale?

guaardvark (a GitHub user) maintains it in guaardvark/guaardvark, which has 255 GitHub stars. The repository holds 15 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on October 7, 2026.

Source: guaardvark/guaardvark on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.