Submit

4. Export

Stage everything in one flat folder named <yyyy-mm-dd>-<slug>, slug lowercase with single hyphens. Use the plugin's own export; never write these by hand.

1. Save the live document, then keep a copy: sprite_manage op="save", then export op="aseprite" path="<folder>/<slug>.aseprite". Role source. The gallery keeps the editable original; never copy or edit a .aseprite file from disk.
2. Cover. export op="png" scale=N frame=1 path="<folder>/<slug>.png" with the smallest integer N that makes the long side at least 256 px (32×32 → 8), capped at the tool's maximum of 16 — a smaller sprite simply gets a smaller cover. For an animation, the GIF can be the cover instead. Role cover; exactly one file.
3. Animation (more than one frame): export op="gif" scale=N path="<folder>/<slug>.gif", same scale. Role animation, or cover if it is the cover.
4. Filmstrip (animated): export op="spritesheet" sheetType="horizontal" scale=N includeJson=false path="<folder>/<slug>-strip.png", same scale. Role filmstrip.
5. Per step. When steps produced separate documents or intermediate saves, export the source (and a still) for each and set step on those files.

Files stay flat — no subfolders — and only .aseprite, .png, .gif, .webp or .json. Each file must be under 95 MiB (GitHub hard-blocks 100); anything over 50 MiB draws a warning, so keep covers and GIFs small.

Look at the cover and the GIF's first frame before continuing: what goes into the public gallery is what you exported, not what you remember drawing.

5. Write generation.yaml

In the staging folder, exactly per the schema:

title: Cherry tree in bloom
description: A 64×64 cherry tree drawn to the tree-growth brief.
date: 2026-09-29
author: { name: Ada Lovelace, github: ada }
plugin: 0.3.2
harness: claude-code
models: [claude-opus-4-1]
tags: [nature, animation]
references:
  source: generated
  imageModels: [gpt-image-2]
  kinds: [concept-sheet]
steps:
  # the step text exactly as sent — for a benchmark run, verbatim from
  # prompt.yaml (cut short here)
  - text: |-
      The document is already open: 64×64 pixels, RGB, with the PICO-8 palette loaded (16 colours). …
    interventions: []
files:
  - { path: tree.png, role: cover, label: The tree, step: 1 }
  - { path: tree.aseprite, role: source, label: Source document }
validate:
  - { step: 1, passed: true, score: 92, errors: 0, warnings: 1 }
benchmark:            # only for a confirmed benchmark run
  prompt: tree-growth
  revision: 1
  results:
    - { criterion: tree-validate, pass: true, note: "validate: 0 errors, 1 warning, named." }

Rules that fail the check when missed:

• Exactly one cover (png/gif/webp) and at least one .aseprite with role source; every file listed once, nothing unlisted in the folder.
• With more than one model, every step names its model, and it appears in models.
• step values and validate[].step are 1-based and must exist.
• benchmark.results names criterion ids that exist in the prompt.

Two optional blocks:

• metrics — per step, from the session you can see: minutes, toolCalls, outputTokens, costUsd. Fill only what the harness actually reports; never estimate.
• ratings — leave them out. You took part in this run, and the checker refuses model:<id> for any of the run's own models. Judges add ratings later, blind, against gallery/RUBRIC.md.

Show the user the final YAML and the file list, and wait for a go-ahead. They are about to publish it under their name.

6. Validate in a clone

1. Use a clone of the user's fork if one exists; otherwise fork and clone (gh repo fork with-pebbly/aseprite-ai-artist --clone) — consent from step 1 covers this. Make sure the checkout is up to date with upstream main.
2. Copy the staging folder to gallery/generations/<folder>/.
3. pnpm install if node_modules is missing, then pnpm gallery:check.
4. Fix every error and re-run until clean. Fix by correcting the YAML or re-exporting, never by editing the recorded truth (prompts, results) to satisfy the checker. Warnings: read them, mention them to the user.

Never submit with errors.

7. Submit

git switch -c gallery/<folder>
git add gallery/generations/<folder>
git commit -m "gallery: <title>"
git push -u origin gallery/<folder>
gh pr create --repo with-pebbly/aseprite-ai-artist --head <login>:gallery/<folder> --title "gallery: <title>" --body-file <filled body>

Build the body from .github/PULL_REQUEST_TEMPLATE/generation.md in the clone: keep its sections and checklist, fill them honestly — what the sprite is, harness, model, plugin version, whether it is a benchmark run and its score — and pass that file as --body-file. Before pushing, git status must show only the one folder as added; anything else in the diff means stop and clean it up. A PR adds its own folder and nothing more.

Report the PR URL. Tell the user CI will re-run gallery:check and that a maintainer reviews it.

Failure modes

Related

aseprite:review before submitting, aseprite:export for export options, rules://07-review-checklist.