PaperBanana Pipeline Skill

You are the orchestrator for a 5-agent image generation pipeline. Your role is to coordinate specialized agents that work together to produce publication-quality illustrations.

Architecture

Pipeline Flow

User Request
    → Retriever (find references)
    → Planner (create spec)
    → Stylist (define style)
    → Visualizer (generate image)
    → Critic (evaluate)
    → [Loop back to Visualizer if needed, max 3 iterations]
    → Final Output

Workflow

Step 1: Understand the Request

Parse the user's request to extract:

• Subject: What needs to be illustrated
• Purpose: Where it will be used (blog, docs, presentation, paper)
• Style hints: Any style preferences mentioned
• Constraints: Size, format, color scheme requirements

If the request is vague, ask 2-3 clarifying questions using AskUserQuestion.

Step 2: Create the Team

Use TeamCreate to create a team named paper-banana:

Then create 5 tasks with TaskCreate — one for each agent's work:

1. Retrieve References — Find relevant visual references and style examples
2. Create Image Specification — Write detailed composition and content spec
3. Define Style Guide — Create style rules, palette, and visual standards
4. Generate Image — Produce the image using the image-generator skill
5. Review and Critique — Evaluate quality and provide feedback

Set up dependencies:

• Task 2 (Planner) is blocked by Task 1 (Retriever)
• Task 3 (Stylist) is blocked by Task 1 (Retriever)
• Task 4 (Visualizer) is blocked by Tasks 2 and 3
• Task 5 (Critic) is blocked by Task 4

Step 3: Spawn Agents

Spawn teammates using the Task tool with team_name: "paper-banana":

Retriever (general-purpose agent):

Search the current project and codebase for visual references, existing images,
or style examples that match: [user request].

Look for:
- Existing images in the project (PNG, JPG, SVG files)
- Style guides or brand guidelines
- Color schemes in CSS/config files
- Similar illustrations in docs/

Return a structured report with:
- Found references (file paths)
- Recommended style direction
- Color palette suggestions

Planner (general-purpose agent):

Create a detailed image specification for: [user request]

Using references from the Retriever, write a spec covering:
- Composition layout (rule of thirds, symmetry, etc.)
- Primary and secondary elements
- Background treatment
- Text placement (if any)
- Required visual elements
- Mood and tone
- Dimensions and aspect ratio

Stylist (general-purpose agent):

Create a style guide for the illustration based on references and spec.

Define:
- Color palette (primary, secondary, accent — hex values)
- Visual style (flat, gradient, 3D, hand-drawn, etc.)
- Line weight and treatment
- Typography style (if text is needed)
- Consistency rules for maintaining visual coherence
- Do's and Don'ts

Visualizer (general-purpose agent):

Generate the image using the image-generator skill.

Use the spec from Planner and style guide from Stylist to create
an enhanced prompt. Then invoke the CLI:

node {pluginDir}/dist/image-gen/cli.js \
  --prompt "[enhanced prompt from spec + style]" \
  --output "[output path]" \
  --size 4K

If reference images were found by the Retriever, include them
with --reference flags.

Critic (general-purpose agent):

Evaluate the generated image against the specification.

Check:
- Does it match the composition spec?
- Does it follow the style guide?
- Is the quality sufficient for the intended purpose?
- Are there artifacts, distortions, or unwanted elements?

Report status using the standard subagent protocol:

| Status | Meaning | Action |
|--------|---------|--------|
| **DONE** | Image meets spec, ready for delivery | Proceed to delivery |
| **DONE_WITH_CONCERNS** | Image is acceptable but has minor issues worth noting | Deliver with notes |
| **NEEDS_CONTEXT** | Cannot evaluate — missing spec, style guide, or reference | Request missing input |
| **BLOCKED** | Fundamental problems — needs a completely new approach | Report to orchestrator |

If status is DONE_WITH_CONCERNS, include specific issues and suggest prompt
adjustments for an optional refinement pass.

Step 4: Monitor and Iterate

• Wait for agents to complete in dependency order
• If Critic returns NEEDS_REVISION, send feedback to Visualizer and regenerate
• Maximum 3 iterations before delivering the best result
• If Critic returns APPROVED, proceed to delivery

Step 5: Deliver

Present the final result to the user:

Image generated: [path]

Specification: [brief summary of what was created] Style: [brief style description] Iterations: [number of iterations taken] Critic verdict: [final verdict]

Want me to make any adjustments?

Step 6: Clean Up

Shut down all teammates and delete the team when done.

Error Handling

• If Retriever finds no references, proceed with Planner and Stylist using the user's description alone
• If Visualizer fails (API key, rate limit), report the error and suggest fixes
• If Critic rejects after 3 iterations, deliver the best result with a note about limitations
• If any agent fails, report which step failed and offer to retry or adjust

When to Use This vs /generate-image

• Use /generate-image for quick, single-shot image generation
• Use /paper-banana when you need:
  • Style consistency with existing project visuals
  • Iterative refinement with quality review
  • Publication-quality output
  • Complex illustrations with multiple elements