SKILLbundledHermes Bundled Skills

Ascii Art

Name: Ascii Art
Author: 0xbyt4, Hermes Agent

ASCII art: pyfiglet, cowsay, boxes, image-to-ascii

ASCIIArtBannersCreativeUnicodeText-Artpyfigletfiglet

Last registry verification2026-08-18v4.0.00xbyt4, Hermes Agent

Open original source ↗اقرأ بالعربية

Plain meaning

What does it add to Hermes?

ASCII art: pyfiglet, cowsay, boxes, image-to-ascii

Ascii Art is a skill related to files and documents. It can let the agent read, organize, or create documents within the folder or account scope you grant.

This plain-language explanation is based on the publisher description. The original text remains visible for verification.

Use it when

Use it when your goal in files and documents is clear and you can limit it to the data and actions it actually needs.

Skip it when

Do not add it merely to experiment when Hermes already has a simpler path, or when you cannot review its source and permissions.

Who is it for?

Best for users who want a repeatable way of working inside Hermes.

Safe first test

Use a test folder containing copies of non-sensitive files and begin with one read operation.

Original publisher description

ASCII art: pyfiglet, cowsay, boxes, image-to-ascii

✓

Data source

This entry was indexed from Hermes Bundled Skills. Our explanation interprets the type and domain without inventing a capability not present upstream.

Security review

The source is official or editorially reviewed, but you still need to review permissions and version compatibility.

Safe setup path

Inspect, install, then test.

01
Open the source
Match the publisher, license, and description to your need. Check the real update history.
02
Review permissions and secrets
Never paste a secret value into this site. Use environment-variable names and grant the smallest scope.
03
Copy setup only after review
The controls below copy text. They do not execute commands on your device.
04
Test with a non-sensitive task
Inspect the visible tools, then exclude write or delete tools you do not need.

Setup method

Already installed with Hermes.

This skill ships with Hermes and loads when the agent decides it is relevant. There is nothing to install; read the definition below so you know what it will do.

Open the official page ↗

The full skill definition

Exactly what Hermes loads when this skill runs.

Reproduced from the official documentation. Read it before enabling the skill: this text becomes the agent's instructions.

ASCII art: pyfiglet, cowsay, boxes, image-to-ascii.

Skill metadata

A lookup table. Do not read it all; find the row that applies to you.

Source	Bundled (installed by default)
Path	`skills/creative/ascii-art`
Version	`4.0.0`
Author	0xbyt4, Hermes Agent
License	MIT
Platforms	linux, macos, windows
Tags	`ASCII`, `Art`, `Banners`, `Creative`, `Unicode`, `Text-Art`, `pyfiglet`, `figlet`, `cowsay`, `boxes`
Related skills	`excalidraw`

Reference: full SKILL.md

Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.

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)

A lookup table. Do not read it all; find the row that applies to you.

Render text as large ASCII art banners. 571 built-in fonts.

Setup

Shell1 line

pip install pyfiglet --break-system-packages -q

Usage

Shell3 lines

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)

Ordered, practical steps. Run one and confirm it worked before moving on.

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)

Shell12 lines

# 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)

Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.

Classic tool that wraps text in a speech bubble with an ASCII character.

Setup

Shell2 lines

sudo apt install cowsay -y    # Debian/Ubuntu
# brew install cowsay         # macOS

Usage

Shell6 lines

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

Shell8 lines

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)

Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.

Draw decorative ASCII art borders/frames around any text. 70+ built-in designs.

Setup

Shell2 lines

sudo apt install boxes -y    # Debian/Ubuntu
# brew install boxes         # macOS

Usage

Shell11 lines

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

Shell3 lines

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)

Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.

Like pyfiglet but with ANSI color effects and visual filters. Great for terminal eye candy.

Setup

Shell2 lines

sudo apt install toilet toilet-fonts -y    # Debian/Ubuntu
# brew install toilet                      # macOS

Usage

Shell8 lines

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

Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.

Convert images (PNG, JPEG, GIF, WEBP) to ASCII art.

Option A: ascii-image-converter (recommended, modern)

Shell3 lines

# Install
sudo snap install ascii-image-converter
# OR: go install github.com/TheZoraiz/ascii-image-converter@latest

Shell7 lines

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)

Shell3 lines

sudo apt install jp2a -y
jp2a --width=80 image.jpg
jp2a --colors image.jpg              # Colorized

Tool 7: Search Pre-Made ASCII Art

Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.

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:

Shell1 line

curl -s 'https://ascii.co.uk/art/cat' -o /tmp/ascii_art.html

Step 2 — Extract art from pre tags:

Python10 lines


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.

Shell1 line

curl -s https://api.github.com/octocat

Tool 8: Fun ASCII Utilities (via curl)

Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.

These free services return ASCII art directly — great for fun extras.

QR Codes as ASCII Art

Shell2 lines

curl -s "qrenco.de/Hello+World"
curl -s "qrenco.de/https://example.com"

Weather as ASCII Art

Shell3 lines

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)

Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.

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

Explains the idea itself. Read it slowly; the later sections build on it.

Text as a banner → pyfiglet if installed, otherwise asciified API via curl
Wrap a message in fun character art → cowsay
Add decorative border/frame → boxes (can combine with pyfiglet/asciified)
Art of a specific thing (cat, rocket, dragon) → ascii.co.uk via curl + parsing
Convert an image to ASCII → ascii-image-converter or jp2a
QR code → qrenco.de via curl
Weather/moon art → wttr.in via curl
Something custom/creative → LLM generation with Unicode palette
Any tool not installed → install it, or fall back to next option