Fix: print JSON on live-poll --reply success (#800)

Successful --reply was exit 0 with empty stdout, so agents could not tell delivery from a hang. Prepared with AI assistance.

Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>

.agent/skills/impeccable/SKILL.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 name: impeccable
 description: Use when the user wants to design, redesign, shape, critique, audit, polish, clarify, distill, harden, optimize, adapt, animate, colorize, extract, or otherwise improve a frontend interface. Covers websites, landing pages, dashboards, product UI, app shells, components, forms, settings, onboarding, and empty states. Handles UX review, visual hierarchy, information architecture, cognitive load, accessibility, performance, responsive behavior, theming, anti-patterns, typography, fonts, spacing, layout, alignment, color, motion, micro-interactions, UX copy, error states, edge cases, i18n, and reusable design systems or tokens. Also use for bland designs that need to become bolder or more delightful, loud designs that should become quieter, live browser iteration on UI elements, or ambitious visual effects that should feel technically extraordinary. Not for backend-only or non-UI tasks.
-version: 4.2.3
+version: 4.3.1
 license: Apache 2.0
 allowed-tools:
   - Bash(npx impeccable *)

.agent/skills/impeccable/reference/degraded/asset-producer.md

@@ -26,12 +26,12 @@ Every region with `medium: raster` in the spec ships as a plate at its `plate` p
 Per region, in the spec's order:
 
 1. `.agent/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference crop under `.impeccable/build/crops/`.
-2. Produce the plate. With the API fallback: `.agent/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --plate <id> --quality high` does the whole step (crop as reference, the spec's plate prompt, output size chosen from the region's aspect, the file written to its plate path, prompt embedded, and the plate scored against the crop). With a harness-native image tool: use the crop as the input image and `.agent/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as the prompt, write the result to the plate path, then run `.agent/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt "<the exact prompt>"`.
-3. Read the score line. `PLATE-SCORE` under 50%, or a `PLATE-WARN`, means the plate does not read as the region: open the plate beside the crop, name what drifted (subject, framing, palette, style), tighten the prompt with that, and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and say why in one line.
-4. Transparent cutouts (a figure or object on the page ground): generate on a flat chroma color absent from the subject and key it to alpha before writing the PNG; never ship the keyed background.
+2. Choose the background from the approved region: an isolated figure, object, or line drawing on the page ground is a **transparent cutout**; a photograph, full-frame illustration, or texture stays **opaque**. Save `.agent/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a UTF-8 prompt file for a cutout; use `--background opaque` otherwise. The transparent prompt preserves reference placement and clear margins, white paint, fine edges, and interior holes.
+3. Produce the plate at its exact spec `plate` path. Create the output directory first and choose a supported output size matching the region's aspect, at least 1.5x its pixel dimensions. Prefer the harness-native image tool with the crop as input and the saved prompt; request a transparent PNG for cutouts, then run `.agent/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>` (if you refine the prompt, save and embed the exact text sent). With the API fallback, run `.agent/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` for a cutout, or `--background opaque` otherwise. The API fallback embeds the prompt and records the background in the sidecar. The output must be PNG; the fallback requests native alpha and performs no chroma-keying.
+4. Open the plate beside the crop and compare subject, placement, scale, palette, and style. For cutouts, verify a real alpha channel and inspect composites on light and dark grounds: white paint must stay solid, interior holes must clear, and fine edges must avoid halos. Inspect glass and soft shadows carefully; partial alpha alone does not ensure convincing translucency. Never chroma-key native transparent output or flatten it before saving. If a native tool returns opaque pixels or a painted checkerboard, retry with the API fallback when available; otherwise report the transparency blocker. On a visual miss, tighten the prompt and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and name the drift. The parent runs the plates gate after all assets exist; report `unscored` until a gate score is available.
 
 Do not redesign. Do not add objects, restyle, or reinterpret; the comp was approved as it is. Do not touch the page code, the spec, or the comp. Do not produce anything the spec does not list; a region the parent forgot goes back as a one-line note, not a plate.
 
 ## Output Contract
 
-Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score>% <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; your line and its line must agree.
+Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score%|unscored> <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; a visual acceptance does not override a failing gate.

.agent/skills/impeccable/reference/new-work.md

@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ Then, in order, each closed by `.agent/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable buil
 The comp-led path is a frontier-tier job: it asks the builder to hold a measured layout, place plates at their boxes, and act on numeric readings across a dozen attempts. Smaller or faster models produce a recognisable page and stall under the hero gate; if the model in hand is one of those, say so before the direction round and take the code-led path, or expect the run to end at the hero with its readings unmet.
 
 1. **spec.** Measure the comp: `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --grid` writes a coordinate grid over the comp; open it, name every salient region by grid span in a regions file (text and control regions snap to the largest ink mass inside their span, so a headline named B1:E4 measures as the headline and not the column beside it; `snap: false` keeps the span, and an explicit `box` is taken as drawn) (kind `plate` / `image` / `texture` for anything painted: every illustration, photograph, figure, product object, and material texture; `text` / `control` / `chrome` for what code draws; every region carries a `note` saying what the comp shows there, which the plate prompt and the gate messages read), and run `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --regions <file>`. The spec carries each region's box, sampled palette, and medium; `impeccable comp-spec --print` is the build's reference from here on. Type is measured, not guessed: `impeccable font-match --measure <text region>` reads the comp's cap height, width class, and weight off the pixels, and `impeccable font-match --rank <region> --text "..."` takes its candidates from a fingerprint index of the Google Fonts catalog (the nearest faces to the crop's shape) plus any names you pass with `--candidates`, renders them at that cap height with the region's words, and ranks them by fingerprint distance (its `USE` line is the CSS; its proof sheet shows the comp over the top three); with no browser resolvable it records the catalog's nearest face and says the size is estimated, which is still the choice to build on. Do not install a browser to rank, and never write a `chosen` face into the spec by hand: the gate accepts only what font-match wrote. The spec gate refuses to close until the lead text region is measured and ranked. A region note that describes painted material (a diagram, drawing, photograph, texture) under a code kind is refused at the spec: reclassify it as a plate, or reword the note if code really draws it. The script refuses a regions file that leaves comp ink unnamed (callouts, a parts table, a notes block): what is never named can never be missing, so everything the comp shows gets a region. It also refuses a `text` / `control` / `chrome` region larger than a quarter of the comp: that is a column, not an element, and a column scored as one region hides the plates, tables, and notes inside it. Name each element inside it (`container: true` only when it truly is one undivided element). Anything drawn is a plate: an inline SVG past an icon's budget (a diagram, notation, leader lines with arrows, a "quick approximation" of the artwork) is refused at the hero; icon-sized SVG (under 64px, a few paths) is fine, and a chart the page draws from data at runtime is a chart, not an illustration. Callout lines and arrows that annotate a drawing belong to that drawing's plate, with only their labels set as text. A crop of the comp is never a plate (the plates gate refuses a file that is a resample of the comp region: the comp's grain, its neighbours' edges, and its resolution would ship as the artwork); the crop is the reference the plate is generated from. A plate region's box has to hold its whole artwork with a margin: the spec measures the artwork's contact with the box edges and refuses a box that cuts through it (`bleed: true` only when the page really crops it there), because a plate placed with `object-fit: cover` on such a box shows the artwork minus the side the box lost. Anything not in the spec does not exist on the page: no borders, rules, containers, or chrome the comp does not show. Only three concessions exist: fonts (the closest obtainable face), icon glyphs (close enough, exact if the user chose an icon library; this covers the pictogram only, never a control's chrome, so a chevron, an arrow, a dropdown's border and fill, a button's shape are the comp's), and genuine defects in the comp such as spelling errors.
-2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (ink on flat ground is generated on a chroma key and keyed to alpha, so it sits on the page's own ground rather than a second paper); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable generate-image --plate <id>` does one region end to end and scores it against the crop; a harness-native image tool takes the crop (`impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>`) as its input image and `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as its prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt`. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
+2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (isolated ink, figures, or objects use native transparent PNG so they sit on the page's own ground; photos and textures stay opaque); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference; save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a prompt file for a cutout, or use `--background opaque` otherwise. Prefer the harness-native image tool with that crop and prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>`. The API fallback is `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` (use `--background opaque` for full-frame assets); create the output directory first. Verify actual alpha, white foregrounds, fine edges, and clear holes on light and dark grounds; do not chroma-key native output. The plates gate scores the assets against the comp; also inspect placement and scale visually. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
 3. **hero.** `impeccable build-phase scaffold` first: it writes the measured layout as CSS custom properties (`.impeccable/build/scaffold/layout.css`: `--r-<id>-x/y/w/h` in % of the comp, plus cap height, font-size, family, and weight where measured) and a reference page (`hero-reference.html`) with every region at its box and every plate placed. Bind the numbers to your own semantic structure, an element per region; the reference is a check on positions, never the page, and overlapping boxes are overlapping boxes. Then build only the first viewport, at the comp's own dimensions, the comp's words copied verbatim (the user approved that comp with those words; rewording is a stated decision after the hero passes, never a silent one inside it), every text region sized from its measured cap height and set in its ranked face, plates first: place every plate at its spec box (`object-fit: cover`, an `<img>`, a background image, or an inlined data URI named for it) before any text or control, capture into `.impeccable/review/hero-repro.png`, run `impeccable build-phase record hero` once so you see the plate regions read as match before any text exists, then lay the semantic layer over the plates from the spec's palette and boxes and advance. The gate first refuses while any plate is unreferenced by the source, then runs `impeccable comp-diff`, writes `.impeccable/review/diff/hero/` (side-by-side, heatmap, one paired crop per region, `report.json`), and passes at 72% overall with no hard veto outstanding (a missing region, a contradicted plate or text block, an SVG illustration, a clipped plate, invented ink block at any score); above the bar, the numeric readings become advisories printed with the pass, and the polish pass before responsive is where they get fixed: the gate also reads each text region's cap height, line count, weight, ink colour, and position against the comp, each chrome strip's height off its rule, and the frame for ink where the comp is calm (a kicker, an extra nav item, a divider), and says each miss as a number ("cap height 78px in the build, 103px in the comp"); those numbers are the edit. When it fails, open the region crops it lists, in order, before editing: a region scored `missing` needs its material, `contradicted` needs its structure re-derived from the spec box, `drift` is where size and spacing edits belong; the gate refuses a third attempt that only nudges values on the same region. This is where the run's ambition is won or lost, and a retry here costs minutes where a rebuild verdict at the finish costs the run.
 4. **sections.** Build the rest of the surface inside the spec's system: the same corner language, line weights, and palette, and nothing the comp never shows. Where the comp does not cover a region, it inherits the recorded system.
 5. **motion.** The signature interaction, reveals, and motion, orchestrated once rather than scattered.

.agent/skills/impeccable/reference/visualize.md

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ What the comp shows is measured, not remembered. new-work.md section 6 runs the
 
 ## Plates and provenance
 
-Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (`impeccable generate-image --plate <id>`, or the harness image tool with the crop as input and the spec's plate prompt). Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.agent/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
+Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (use `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` and save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` to a prompt file; pass the crop and prompt to the harness image tool, or use `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high`). For isolated cutouts, add `--background transparent` to both the plate-prompt and API generation commands; use native PNG alpha and preserve white paint and clear gaps. Use `--background opaque` for full-frame imagery. Create output directories first and inspect alpha on light and dark grounds. Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.agent/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
 
 Convert images with a converter `impeccable context` reported at boot (the IMAGE_TOOLS line); probe only when it reported none, at most once per session, never per image.
 

.agent/skills/impeccable/scripts/VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.1.4
+0.1.5

.agent/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable

@@ -87,6 +87,11 @@ fi
 # Last resort: fetch this version's binary for the current platform from the
 # public release channel into the user cache. Needs network; sandboxes without
 # egress preinstall the binary on PATH instead.
+setup_help() {
+  echo "Engine $version setup needs network access and write permission to $cache_root/bin/$version." >&2
+  echo "Run this launcher ($0) with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command." >&2
+  echo "Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary." >&2
+}
 fetch_url() {
   if command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     curl -fsSL --retry 2 -o "$tmp" "$1" 2>/dev/null
@@ -119,7 +124,18 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
   [ "$os" = windows ] && asset="$asset.exe"
   url="$base/engine-v$version/$asset"
   tmp="$cache_root/bin/$version/.impeccable.part.$$"
-  mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null
+  if ! mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot create cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
+  # Check the actual staging file, not just directory existence: a cache from
+  # an earlier run can be readable but no longer writable inside a sandbox.
+  if ! (umask 077; : > "$tmp") 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
   fetched=0
   if fetch_url "$url"; then
     fetched=1
@@ -180,6 +196,9 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
     exec "$cached" "$@"
   fi
   rm -f "$tmp" 2>/dev/null
+  echo "impeccable: could not download engine $version from $url; check network access, the release URL, and curl or wget availability." >&2
+  setup_help
+  exit 127
 fi
 
 echo "impeccable: no engine binary for $os-$arch found (looked in $bin, $cached, PATH)." >&2

.agent/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable.cmd

@@ -68,18 +68,27 @@ rem another launcher's probe: fail fast and quiet instead.
 if defined IMPECCABLE_LAUNCHER_PROBE exit /b 127
 if not defined version goto fail
 where curl.exe >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto curl_missing
 if not defined IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE set "IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE=https://github.com/pbakaus/impeccable/releases/download"
-if not exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%\" goto cache_ready
+mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if errorlevel 1 goto cache_directory_failed
+:cache_ready
+rem Check the staging file too: an existing directory may be read-only.
+rem Redirection failures do not reliably update ERRORLEVEL in cmd.exe;
+rem branch on the command's failure directly. Never treat a directory as a
+rem staging file (later del cleanup would prompt to delete its contents).
+if exist "%cached%.part\" goto cache_write_failed
+(type nul >"%cached%.part") 2>nul || goto cache_write_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-%arch%.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
 if not errorlevel 1 goto verify
-if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto fail
+if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto download_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-x64.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto download_failed
 
 :verify
 call :check_download
@@ -176,6 +185,28 @@ if not errorlevel 1 set "probe_ok=1"
 del "%probe_tmp%" >nul 2>nul
 exit /b 0
 
+:cache_directory_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot create cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:cache_write_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:curl_missing
+echo impeccable: cannot download engine %version%; curl.exe is unavailable. 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:download_failed
+del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
+echo impeccable: could not download engine %version% from %url%; check network access and the release URL. 1>&2
+
+:setup_failed
+echo Engine %version% setup needs network access and write permission to "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%". 1>&2
+echo Run this launcher ("%~f0") with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command. 1>&2
+echo Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary. 1>&2
+exit /b 127
+
 :fail
 del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
 echo impeccable: no engine binary found (looked in %bin%, %cached%, PATH). 1>&2

.agents/skills/impeccable/SKILL.md

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 name: impeccable
 description: Use when the user wants to design, redesign, shape, critique, audit, polish, clarify, distill, harden, optimize, adapt, animate, colorize, extract, or otherwise improve a frontend interface. Covers websites, landing pages, dashboards, product UI, app shells, components, forms, settings, onboarding, and empty states. Handles UX review, visual hierarchy, information architecture, cognitive load, accessibility, performance, responsive behavior, theming, anti-patterns, typography, fonts, spacing, layout, alignment, color, motion, micro-interactions, UX copy, error states, edge cases, i18n, and reusable design systems or tokens. Also use for bland designs that need to become bolder or more delightful, loud designs that should become quieter, live browser iteration on UI elements, or ambitious visual effects that should feel technically extraordinary. Not for backend-only or non-UI tasks.
 metadata:
-  version: 4.2.3
+  version: 4.3.1
 ---
 
 This skill gives you the tools and permission to create design that earns to be called out-of-distribution craft: Whereas before, your design work would have been safe, timid and measured, you now approach every design task as an award-winning design director with impeccable understanding for what makes exceptional design work: production-grade code, peak creativity, a clear POV, deep understanding of the needs of the client and users, and exceptional craft.

.agents/skills/impeccable/agents/impeccable_asset_producer.toml

@@ -28,9 +28,9 @@ Every region with `medium: raster` in the spec ships as a plate at its `plate` p
 Per region, in the spec's order:
 
 1. `.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference crop under `.impeccable/build/crops/`.
-2. Produce the plate. With the API fallback: `.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --plate <id> --quality high` does the whole step (crop as reference, the spec's plate prompt, output size chosen from the region's aspect, the file written to its plate path, prompt embedded, and the plate scored against the crop). With a harness-native image tool: use the crop as the input image and `.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as the prompt, write the result to the plate path, then run `.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt "<the exact prompt>"`.
-3. Read the score line. `PLATE-SCORE` under 50%, or a `PLATE-WARN`, means the plate does not read as the region: open the plate beside the crop, name what drifted (subject, framing, palette, style), tighten the prompt with that, and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and say why in one line.
-4. Transparent cutouts (a figure or object on the page ground): generate on a flat chroma color absent from the subject and key it to alpha before writing the PNG; never ship the keyed background.
+2. Choose the background from the approved region: an isolated figure, object, or line drawing on the page ground is a **transparent cutout**; a photograph, full-frame illustration, or texture stays **opaque**. Save `.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a UTF-8 prompt file for a cutout; use `--background opaque` otherwise. The transparent prompt preserves reference placement and clear margins, white paint, fine edges, and interior holes.
+3. Produce the plate at its exact spec `plate` path. Create the output directory first and choose a supported output size matching the region's aspect, at least 1.5x its pixel dimensions. Prefer the harness-native image tool with the crop as input and the saved prompt; request a transparent PNG for cutouts, then run `.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>` (if you refine the prompt, save and embed the exact text sent). With the API fallback, run `.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` for a cutout, or `--background opaque` otherwise. The API fallback embeds the prompt and records the background in the sidecar. The output must be PNG; the fallback requests native alpha and performs no chroma-keying.
+4. Open the plate beside the crop and compare subject, placement, scale, palette, and style. For cutouts, verify a real alpha channel and inspect composites on light and dark grounds: white paint must stay solid, interior holes must clear, and fine edges must avoid halos. Inspect glass and soft shadows carefully; partial alpha alone does not ensure convincing translucency. Never chroma-key native transparent output or flatten it before saving. If a native tool returns opaque pixels or a painted checkerboard, retry with the API fallback when available; otherwise report the transparency blocker. On a visual miss, tighten the prompt and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and name the drift. The parent runs the plates gate after all assets exist; report `unscored` until a gate score is available.
 
 Codex: the imagegen skill's built-in `image_gen` path is the native tool here; prefer it for generation and editing, with the crop as the input image.
 
@@ -38,5 +38,5 @@ Do not redesign. Do not add objects, restyle, or reinterpret; the comp was appro
 
 ## Output Contract
 
-Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score>% <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; your line and its line must agree.
+Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score%|unscored> <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; a visual acceptance does not override a failing gate.
 '''

.agents/skills/impeccable/reference/degraded/asset-producer.md

@@ -26,9 +26,9 @@ Every region with `medium: raster` in the spec ships as a plate at its `plate` p
 Per region, in the spec's order:
 
 1. `.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference crop under `.impeccable/build/crops/`.
-2. Produce the plate. With the API fallback: `.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --plate <id> --quality high` does the whole step (crop as reference, the spec's plate prompt, output size chosen from the region's aspect, the file written to its plate path, prompt embedded, and the plate scored against the crop). With a harness-native image tool: use the crop as the input image and `.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as the prompt, write the result to the plate path, then run `.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt "<the exact prompt>"`.
-3. Read the score line. `PLATE-SCORE` under 50%, or a `PLATE-WARN`, means the plate does not read as the region: open the plate beside the crop, name what drifted (subject, framing, palette, style), tighten the prompt with that, and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and say why in one line.
-4. Transparent cutouts (a figure or object on the page ground): generate on a flat chroma color absent from the subject and key it to alpha before writing the PNG; never ship the keyed background.
+2. Choose the background from the approved region: an isolated figure, object, or line drawing on the page ground is a **transparent cutout**; a photograph, full-frame illustration, or texture stays **opaque**. Save `.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a UTF-8 prompt file for a cutout; use `--background opaque` otherwise. The transparent prompt preserves reference placement and clear margins, white paint, fine edges, and interior holes.
+3. Produce the plate at its exact spec `plate` path. Create the output directory first and choose a supported output size matching the region's aspect, at least 1.5x its pixel dimensions. Prefer the harness-native image tool with the crop as input and the saved prompt; request a transparent PNG for cutouts, then run `.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>` (if you refine the prompt, save and embed the exact text sent). With the API fallback, run `.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` for a cutout, or `--background opaque` otherwise. The API fallback embeds the prompt and records the background in the sidecar. The output must be PNG; the fallback requests native alpha and performs no chroma-keying.
+4. Open the plate beside the crop and compare subject, placement, scale, palette, and style. For cutouts, verify a real alpha channel and inspect composites on light and dark grounds: white paint must stay solid, interior holes must clear, and fine edges must avoid halos. Inspect glass and soft shadows carefully; partial alpha alone does not ensure convincing translucency. Never chroma-key native transparent output or flatten it before saving. If a native tool returns opaque pixels or a painted checkerboard, retry with the API fallback when available; otherwise report the transparency blocker. On a visual miss, tighten the prompt and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and name the drift. The parent runs the plates gate after all assets exist; report `unscored` until a gate score is available.
 
 Codex: the imagegen skill's built-in `image_gen` path is the native tool here; prefer it for generation and editing, with the crop as the input image.
 
@@ -36,4 +36,4 @@ Do not redesign. Do not add objects, restyle, or reinterpret; the comp was appro
 
 ## Output Contract
 
-Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score>% <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; your line and its line must agree.
+Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score%|unscored> <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; a visual acceptance does not override a failing gate.

.agents/skills/impeccable/reference/new-work.md

@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ Then, in order, each closed by `.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable bui
 The comp-led path is a frontier-tier job: it asks the builder to hold a measured layout, place plates at their boxes, and act on numeric readings across a dozen attempts. Smaller or faster models produce a recognisable page and stall under the hero gate; if the model in hand is one of those, say so before the direction round and take the code-led path, or expect the run to end at the hero with its readings unmet.
 
 1. **spec.** Measure the comp: `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --grid` writes a coordinate grid over the comp; open it, name every salient region by grid span in a regions file (text and control regions snap to the largest ink mass inside their span, so a headline named B1:E4 measures as the headline and not the column beside it; `snap: false` keeps the span, and an explicit `box` is taken as drawn) (kind `plate` / `image` / `texture` for anything painted: every illustration, photograph, figure, product object, and material texture; `text` / `control` / `chrome` for what code draws; every region carries a `note` saying what the comp shows there, which the plate prompt and the gate messages read), and run `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --regions <file>`. The spec carries each region's box, sampled palette, and medium; `impeccable comp-spec --print` is the build's reference from here on. Type is measured, not guessed: `impeccable font-match --measure <text region>` reads the comp's cap height, width class, and weight off the pixels, and `impeccable font-match --rank <region> --text "..."` takes its candidates from a fingerprint index of the Google Fonts catalog (the nearest faces to the crop's shape) plus any names you pass with `--candidates`, renders them at that cap height with the region's words, and ranks them by fingerprint distance (its `USE` line is the CSS; its proof sheet shows the comp over the top three); with no browser resolvable it records the catalog's nearest face and says the size is estimated, which is still the choice to build on. Do not install a browser to rank, and never write a `chosen` face into the spec by hand: the gate accepts only what font-match wrote. The spec gate refuses to close until the lead text region is measured and ranked. A region note that describes painted material (a diagram, drawing, photograph, texture) under a code kind is refused at the spec: reclassify it as a plate, or reword the note if code really draws it. The script refuses a regions file that leaves comp ink unnamed (callouts, a parts table, a notes block): what is never named can never be missing, so everything the comp shows gets a region. It also refuses a `text` / `control` / `chrome` region larger than a quarter of the comp: that is a column, not an element, and a column scored as one region hides the plates, tables, and notes inside it. Name each element inside it (`container: true` only when it truly is one undivided element). Anything drawn is a plate: an inline SVG past an icon's budget (a diagram, notation, leader lines with arrows, a "quick approximation" of the artwork) is refused at the hero; icon-sized SVG (under 64px, a few paths) is fine, and a chart the page draws from data at runtime is a chart, not an illustration. Callout lines and arrows that annotate a drawing belong to that drawing's plate, with only their labels set as text. A crop of the comp is never a plate (the plates gate refuses a file that is a resample of the comp region: the comp's grain, its neighbours' edges, and its resolution would ship as the artwork); the crop is the reference the plate is generated from. A plate region's box has to hold its whole artwork with a margin: the spec measures the artwork's contact with the box edges and refuses a box that cuts through it (`bleed: true` only when the page really crops it there), because a plate placed with `object-fit: cover` on such a box shows the artwork minus the side the box lost. Anything not in the spec does not exist on the page: no borders, rules, containers, or chrome the comp does not show. Only three concessions exist: fonts (the closest obtainable face), icon glyphs (close enough, exact if the user chose an icon library; this covers the pictogram only, never a control's chrome, so a chevron, an arrow, a dropdown's border and fill, a button's shape are the comp's), and genuine defects in the comp such as spelling errors.
-2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (ink on flat ground is generated on a chroma key and keyed to alpha, so it sits on the page's own ground rather than a second paper); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable generate-image --plate <id>` does one region end to end and scores it against the crop; a harness-native image tool takes the crop (`impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>`) as its input image and `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as its prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt`. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
+2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (isolated ink, figures, or objects use native transparent PNG so they sit on the page's own ground; photos and textures stay opaque); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference; save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a prompt file for a cutout, or use `--background opaque` otherwise. Prefer the harness-native image tool with that crop and prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>`. The API fallback is `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` (use `--background opaque` for full-frame assets); create the output directory first. Verify actual alpha, white foregrounds, fine edges, and clear holes on light and dark grounds; do not chroma-key native output. The plates gate scores the assets against the comp; also inspect placement and scale visually. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
 3. **hero.** `impeccable build-phase scaffold` first: it writes the measured layout as CSS custom properties (`.impeccable/build/scaffold/layout.css`: `--r-<id>-x/y/w/h` in % of the comp, plus cap height, font-size, family, and weight where measured) and a reference page (`hero-reference.html`) with every region at its box and every plate placed. Bind the numbers to your own semantic structure, an element per region; the reference is a check on positions, never the page, and overlapping boxes are overlapping boxes. Then build only the first viewport, at the comp's own dimensions, the comp's words copied verbatim (the user approved that comp with those words; rewording is a stated decision after the hero passes, never a silent one inside it), every text region sized from its measured cap height and set in its ranked face, plates first: place every plate at its spec box (`object-fit: cover`, an `<img>`, a background image, or an inlined data URI named for it) before any text or control, capture into `.impeccable/review/hero-repro.png`, run `impeccable build-phase record hero` once so you see the plate regions read as match before any text exists, then lay the semantic layer over the plates from the spec's palette and boxes and advance. The gate first refuses while any plate is unreferenced by the source, then runs `impeccable comp-diff`, writes `.impeccable/review/diff/hero/` (side-by-side, heatmap, one paired crop per region, `report.json`), and passes at 72% overall with no hard veto outstanding (a missing region, a contradicted plate or text block, an SVG illustration, a clipped plate, invented ink block at any score); above the bar, the numeric readings become advisories printed with the pass, and the polish pass before responsive is where they get fixed: the gate also reads each text region's cap height, line count, weight, ink colour, and position against the comp, each chrome strip's height off its rule, and the frame for ink where the comp is calm (a kicker, an extra nav item, a divider), and says each miss as a number ("cap height 78px in the build, 103px in the comp"); those numbers are the edit. When it fails, open the region crops it lists, in order, before editing: a region scored `missing` needs its material, `contradicted` needs its structure re-derived from the spec box, `drift` is where size and spacing edits belong; the gate refuses a third attempt that only nudges values on the same region. This is where the run's ambition is won or lost, and a retry here costs minutes where a rebuild verdict at the finish costs the run.
 4. **sections.** Build the rest of the surface inside the spec's system: the same corner language, line weights, and palette, and nothing the comp never shows. Where the comp does not cover a region, it inherits the recorded system.
 5. **motion.** The signature interaction, reveals, and motion, orchestrated once rather than scattered.

.agents/skills/impeccable/reference/visualize.md

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ What the comp shows is measured, not remembered. new-work.md section 6 runs the
 
 ## Plates and provenance
 
-Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (`impeccable generate-image --plate <id>`, or the harness image tool with the crop as input and the spec's plate prompt). Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
+Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (use `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` and save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` to a prompt file; pass the crop and prompt to the harness image tool, or use `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high`). For isolated cutouts, add `--background transparent` to both the plate-prompt and API generation commands; use native PNG alpha and preserve white paint and clear gaps. Use `--background opaque` for full-frame imagery. Create output directories first and inspect alpha on light and dark grounds. Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
 
 Convert images with a converter `impeccable context` reported at boot (the IMAGE_TOOLS line); probe only when it reported none, at most once per session, never per image.
 

.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.1.4
+0.1.5

.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable

@@ -87,6 +87,11 @@ fi
 # Last resort: fetch this version's binary for the current platform from the
 # public release channel into the user cache. Needs network; sandboxes without
 # egress preinstall the binary on PATH instead.
+setup_help() {
+  echo "Engine $version setup needs network access and write permission to $cache_root/bin/$version." >&2
+  echo "Run this launcher ($0) with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command." >&2
+  echo "Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary." >&2
+}
 fetch_url() {
   if command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     curl -fsSL --retry 2 -o "$tmp" "$1" 2>/dev/null
@@ -119,7 +124,18 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
   [ "$os" = windows ] && asset="$asset.exe"
   url="$base/engine-v$version/$asset"
   tmp="$cache_root/bin/$version/.impeccable.part.$$"
-  mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null
+  if ! mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot create cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
+  # Check the actual staging file, not just directory existence: a cache from
+  # an earlier run can be readable but no longer writable inside a sandbox.
+  if ! (umask 077; : > "$tmp") 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
   fetched=0
   if fetch_url "$url"; then
     fetched=1
@@ -180,6 +196,9 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
     exec "$cached" "$@"
   fi
   rm -f "$tmp" 2>/dev/null
+  echo "impeccable: could not download engine $version from $url; check network access, the release URL, and curl or wget availability." >&2
+  setup_help
+  exit 127
 fi
 
 echo "impeccable: no engine binary for $os-$arch found (looked in $bin, $cached, PATH)." >&2

.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable.cmd

@@ -68,18 +68,27 @@ rem another launcher's probe: fail fast and quiet instead.
 if defined IMPECCABLE_LAUNCHER_PROBE exit /b 127
 if not defined version goto fail
 where curl.exe >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto curl_missing
 if not defined IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE set "IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE=https://github.com/pbakaus/impeccable/releases/download"
-if not exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%\" goto cache_ready
+mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if errorlevel 1 goto cache_directory_failed
+:cache_ready
+rem Check the staging file too: an existing directory may be read-only.
+rem Redirection failures do not reliably update ERRORLEVEL in cmd.exe;
+rem branch on the command's failure directly. Never treat a directory as a
+rem staging file (later del cleanup would prompt to delete its contents).
+if exist "%cached%.part\" goto cache_write_failed
+(type nul >"%cached%.part") 2>nul || goto cache_write_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-%arch%.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
 if not errorlevel 1 goto verify
-if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto fail
+if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto download_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-x64.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto download_failed
 
 :verify
 call :check_download
@@ -176,6 +185,28 @@ if not errorlevel 1 set "probe_ok=1"
 del "%probe_tmp%" >nul 2>nul
 exit /b 0
 
+:cache_directory_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot create cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:cache_write_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:curl_missing
+echo impeccable: cannot download engine %version%; curl.exe is unavailable. 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:download_failed
+del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
+echo impeccable: could not download engine %version% from %url%; check network access and the release URL. 1>&2
+
+:setup_failed
+echo Engine %version% setup needs network access and write permission to "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%". 1>&2
+echo Run this launcher ("%~f0") with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command. 1>&2
+echo Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary. 1>&2
+exit /b 127
+
 :fail
 del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
 echo impeccable: no engine binary found (looked in %bin%, %cached%, PATH). 1>&2

.claude-plugin/marketplace.json

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
     {
       "name": "impeccable",
       "description": "Design fluency for frontend development. 1 skill with 23 commands (/impeccable polish, /impeccable audit, /impeccable critique, etc.) and curated anti-pattern detection.",
-      "version": "4.2.3",
+      "version": "4.3.1",
       "author": {
         "name": "Paul Bakaus",
         "email": "paul@paulbakaus.com"

.claude-plugin/plugin.json

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 {
   "name": "impeccable",
   "description": "Design fluency for frontend development. 1 skill with 23 commands (/impeccable polish, /impeccable audit, /impeccable critique, etc.) and curated anti-pattern detection.",
-  "version": "4.2.3",
+  "version": "4.3.1",
   "author": {
     "name": "Paul Bakaus",
     "email": "paul@paulbakaus.com"

.claude/agents/impeccable-asset-producer.md

@@ -31,12 +31,12 @@ Every region with `medium: raster` in the spec ships as a plate at its `plate` p
 Per region, in the spec's order:
 
 1. `.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference crop under `.impeccable/build/crops/`.
-2. Produce the plate. With the API fallback: `.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --plate <id> --quality high` does the whole step (crop as reference, the spec's plate prompt, output size chosen from the region's aspect, the file written to its plate path, prompt embedded, and the plate scored against the crop). With a harness-native image tool: use the crop as the input image and `.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as the prompt, write the result to the plate path, then run `.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt "<the exact prompt>"`.
-3. Read the score line. `PLATE-SCORE` under 50%, or a `PLATE-WARN`, means the plate does not read as the region: open the plate beside the crop, name what drifted (subject, framing, palette, style), tighten the prompt with that, and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and say why in one line.
-4. Transparent cutouts (a figure or object on the page ground): generate on a flat chroma color absent from the subject and key it to alpha before writing the PNG; never ship the keyed background.
+2. Choose the background from the approved region: an isolated figure, object, or line drawing on the page ground is a **transparent cutout**; a photograph, full-frame illustration, or texture stays **opaque**. Save `.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a UTF-8 prompt file for a cutout; use `--background opaque` otherwise. The transparent prompt preserves reference placement and clear margins, white paint, fine edges, and interior holes.
+3. Produce the plate at its exact spec `plate` path. Create the output directory first and choose a supported output size matching the region's aspect, at least 1.5x its pixel dimensions. Prefer the harness-native image tool with the crop as input and the saved prompt; request a transparent PNG for cutouts, then run `.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>` (if you refine the prompt, save and embed the exact text sent). With the API fallback, run `.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` for a cutout, or `--background opaque` otherwise. The API fallback embeds the prompt and records the background in the sidecar. The output must be PNG; the fallback requests native alpha and performs no chroma-keying.
+4. Open the plate beside the crop and compare subject, placement, scale, palette, and style. For cutouts, verify a real alpha channel and inspect composites on light and dark grounds: white paint must stay solid, interior holes must clear, and fine edges must avoid halos. Inspect glass and soft shadows carefully; partial alpha alone does not ensure convincing translucency. Never chroma-key native transparent output or flatten it before saving. If a native tool returns opaque pixels or a painted checkerboard, retry with the API fallback when available; otherwise report the transparency blocker. On a visual miss, tighten the prompt and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and name the drift. The parent runs the plates gate after all assets exist; report `unscored` until a gate score is available.
 
 Do not redesign. Do not add objects, restyle, or reinterpret; the comp was approved as it is. Do not touch the page code, the spec, or the comp. Do not produce anything the spec does not list; a region the parent forgot goes back as a one-line note, not a plate.
 
 ## Output Contract
 
-Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score>% <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; your line and its line must agree.
+Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score%|unscored> <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; a visual acceptance does not override a failing gate.

.claude/skills/impeccable/SKILL.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 name: impeccable
 description: Use when the user wants to design, redesign, shape, critique, audit, polish, clarify, distill, harden, optimize, adapt, animate, colorize, extract, or otherwise improve a frontend interface. Covers websites, landing pages, dashboards, product UI, app shells, components, forms, settings, onboarding, and empty states. Handles UX review, visual hierarchy, information architecture, cognitive load, accessibility, performance, responsive behavior, theming, anti-patterns, typography, fonts, spacing, layout, alignment, color, motion, micro-interactions, UX copy, error states, edge cases, i18n, and reusable design systems or tokens. Also use for bland designs that need to become bolder or more delightful, loud designs that should become quieter, live browser iteration on UI elements, or ambitious visual effects that should feel technically extraordinary. Not for backend-only or non-UI tasks.
-version: 4.2.3
+version: 4.3.1
 user-invocable: true
 argument-hint: "[shape · audit|critique · animate|bolder|colorize|delight|layout|overdrive|quieter|typeset · adapt|clarify|distill · harden|onboard|optimize|polish · init|document|extract|live] [target]"
 license: Apache 2.0

.claude/skills/impeccable/reference/degraded/asset-producer.md

@@ -26,12 +26,12 @@ Every region with `medium: raster` in the spec ships as a plate at its `plate` p
 Per region, in the spec's order:
 
 1. `.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference crop under `.impeccable/build/crops/`.
-2. Produce the plate. With the API fallback: `.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --plate <id> --quality high` does the whole step (crop as reference, the spec's plate prompt, output size chosen from the region's aspect, the file written to its plate path, prompt embedded, and the plate scored against the crop). With a harness-native image tool: use the crop as the input image and `.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as the prompt, write the result to the plate path, then run `.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt "<the exact prompt>"`.
-3. Read the score line. `PLATE-SCORE` under 50%, or a `PLATE-WARN`, means the plate does not read as the region: open the plate beside the crop, name what drifted (subject, framing, palette, style), tighten the prompt with that, and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and say why in one line.
-4. Transparent cutouts (a figure or object on the page ground): generate on a flat chroma color absent from the subject and key it to alpha before writing the PNG; never ship the keyed background.
+2. Choose the background from the approved region: an isolated figure, object, or line drawing on the page ground is a **transparent cutout**; a photograph, full-frame illustration, or texture stays **opaque**. Save `.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a UTF-8 prompt file for a cutout; use `--background opaque` otherwise. The transparent prompt preserves reference placement and clear margins, white paint, fine edges, and interior holes.
+3. Produce the plate at its exact spec `plate` path. Create the output directory first and choose a supported output size matching the region's aspect, at least 1.5x its pixel dimensions. Prefer the harness-native image tool with the crop as input and the saved prompt; request a transparent PNG for cutouts, then run `.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>` (if you refine the prompt, save and embed the exact text sent). With the API fallback, run `.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` for a cutout, or `--background opaque` otherwise. The API fallback embeds the prompt and records the background in the sidecar. The output must be PNG; the fallback requests native alpha and performs no chroma-keying.
+4. Open the plate beside the crop and compare subject, placement, scale, palette, and style. For cutouts, verify a real alpha channel and inspect composites on light and dark grounds: white paint must stay solid, interior holes must clear, and fine edges must avoid halos. Inspect glass and soft shadows carefully; partial alpha alone does not ensure convincing translucency. Never chroma-key native transparent output or flatten it before saving. If a native tool returns opaque pixels or a painted checkerboard, retry with the API fallback when available; otherwise report the transparency blocker. On a visual miss, tighten the prompt and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and name the drift. The parent runs the plates gate after all assets exist; report `unscored` until a gate score is available.
 
 Do not redesign. Do not add objects, restyle, or reinterpret; the comp was approved as it is. Do not touch the page code, the spec, or the comp. Do not produce anything the spec does not list; a region the parent forgot goes back as a one-line note, not a plate.
 
 ## Output Contract
 
-Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score>% <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; your line and its line must agree.
+Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score%|unscored> <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; a visual acceptance does not override a failing gate.

.claude/skills/impeccable/reference/new-work.md

@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ Then, in order, each closed by `.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable bui
 The comp-led path is a frontier-tier job: it asks the builder to hold a measured layout, place plates at their boxes, and act on numeric readings across a dozen attempts. Smaller or faster models produce a recognisable page and stall under the hero gate; if the model in hand is one of those, say so before the direction round and take the code-led path, or expect the run to end at the hero with its readings unmet.
 
 1. **spec.** Measure the comp: `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --grid` writes a coordinate grid over the comp; open it, name every salient region by grid span in a regions file (text and control regions snap to the largest ink mass inside their span, so a headline named B1:E4 measures as the headline and not the column beside it; `snap: false` keeps the span, and an explicit `box` is taken as drawn) (kind `plate` / `image` / `texture` for anything painted: every illustration, photograph, figure, product object, and material texture; `text` / `control` / `chrome` for what code draws; every region carries a `note` saying what the comp shows there, which the plate prompt and the gate messages read), and run `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --regions <file>`. The spec carries each region's box, sampled palette, and medium; `impeccable comp-spec --print` is the build's reference from here on. Type is measured, not guessed: `impeccable font-match --measure <text region>` reads the comp's cap height, width class, and weight off the pixels, and `impeccable font-match --rank <region> --text "..."` takes its candidates from a fingerprint index of the Google Fonts catalog (the nearest faces to the crop's shape) plus any names you pass with `--candidates`, renders them at that cap height with the region's words, and ranks them by fingerprint distance (its `USE` line is the CSS; its proof sheet shows the comp over the top three); with no browser resolvable it records the catalog's nearest face and says the size is estimated, which is still the choice to build on. Do not install a browser to rank, and never write a `chosen` face into the spec by hand: the gate accepts only what font-match wrote. The spec gate refuses to close until the lead text region is measured and ranked. A region note that describes painted material (a diagram, drawing, photograph, texture) under a code kind is refused at the spec: reclassify it as a plate, or reword the note if code really draws it. The script refuses a regions file that leaves comp ink unnamed (callouts, a parts table, a notes block): what is never named can never be missing, so everything the comp shows gets a region. It also refuses a `text` / `control` / `chrome` region larger than a quarter of the comp: that is a column, not an element, and a column scored as one region hides the plates, tables, and notes inside it. Name each element inside it (`container: true` only when it truly is one undivided element). Anything drawn is a plate: an inline SVG past an icon's budget (a diagram, notation, leader lines with arrows, a "quick approximation" of the artwork) is refused at the hero; icon-sized SVG (under 64px, a few paths) is fine, and a chart the page draws from data at runtime is a chart, not an illustration. Callout lines and arrows that annotate a drawing belong to that drawing's plate, with only their labels set as text. A crop of the comp is never a plate (the plates gate refuses a file that is a resample of the comp region: the comp's grain, its neighbours' edges, and its resolution would ship as the artwork); the crop is the reference the plate is generated from. A plate region's box has to hold its whole artwork with a margin: the spec measures the artwork's contact with the box edges and refuses a box that cuts through it (`bleed: true` only when the page really crops it there), because a plate placed with `object-fit: cover` on such a box shows the artwork minus the side the box lost. Anything not in the spec does not exist on the page: no borders, rules, containers, or chrome the comp does not show. Only three concessions exist: fonts (the closest obtainable face), icon glyphs (close enough, exact if the user chose an icon library; this covers the pictogram only, never a control's chrome, so a chevron, an arrow, a dropdown's border and fill, a button's shape are the comp's), and genuine defects in the comp such as spelling errors.
-2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (ink on flat ground is generated on a chroma key and keyed to alpha, so it sits on the page's own ground rather than a second paper); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable generate-image --plate <id>` does one region end to end and scores it against the crop; a harness-native image tool takes the crop (`impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>`) as its input image and `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as its prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt`. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
+2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (isolated ink, figures, or objects use native transparent PNG so they sit on the page's own ground; photos and textures stay opaque); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference; save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a prompt file for a cutout, or use `--background opaque` otherwise. Prefer the harness-native image tool with that crop and prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>`. The API fallback is `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` (use `--background opaque` for full-frame assets); create the output directory first. Verify actual alpha, white foregrounds, fine edges, and clear holes on light and dark grounds; do not chroma-key native output. The plates gate scores the assets against the comp; also inspect placement and scale visually. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
 3. **hero.** `impeccable build-phase scaffold` first: it writes the measured layout as CSS custom properties (`.impeccable/build/scaffold/layout.css`: `--r-<id>-x/y/w/h` in % of the comp, plus cap height, font-size, family, and weight where measured) and a reference page (`hero-reference.html`) with every region at its box and every plate placed. Bind the numbers to your own semantic structure, an element per region; the reference is a check on positions, never the page, and overlapping boxes are overlapping boxes. Then build only the first viewport, at the comp's own dimensions, the comp's words copied verbatim (the user approved that comp with those words; rewording is a stated decision after the hero passes, never a silent one inside it), every text region sized from its measured cap height and set in its ranked face, plates first: place every plate at its spec box (`object-fit: cover`, an `<img>`, a background image, or an inlined data URI named for it) before any text or control, capture into `.impeccable/review/hero-repro.png`, run `impeccable build-phase record hero` once so you see the plate regions read as match before any text exists, then lay the semantic layer over the plates from the spec's palette and boxes and advance. The gate first refuses while any plate is unreferenced by the source, then runs `impeccable comp-diff`, writes `.impeccable/review/diff/hero/` (side-by-side, heatmap, one paired crop per region, `report.json`), and passes at 72% overall with no hard veto outstanding (a missing region, a contradicted plate or text block, an SVG illustration, a clipped plate, invented ink block at any score); above the bar, the numeric readings become advisories printed with the pass, and the polish pass before responsive is where they get fixed: the gate also reads each text region's cap height, line count, weight, ink colour, and position against the comp, each chrome strip's height off its rule, and the frame for ink where the comp is calm (a kicker, an extra nav item, a divider), and says each miss as a number ("cap height 78px in the build, 103px in the comp"); those numbers are the edit. When it fails, open the region crops it lists, in order, before editing: a region scored `missing` needs its material, `contradicted` needs its structure re-derived from the spec box, `drift` is where size and spacing edits belong; the gate refuses a third attempt that only nudges values on the same region. This is where the run's ambition is won or lost, and a retry here costs minutes where a rebuild verdict at the finish costs the run.
 4. **sections.** Build the rest of the surface inside the spec's system: the same corner language, line weights, and palette, and nothing the comp never shows. Where the comp does not cover a region, it inherits the recorded system.
 5. **motion.** The signature interaction, reveals, and motion, orchestrated once rather than scattered.

.claude/skills/impeccable/reference/visualize.md

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ What the comp shows is measured, not remembered. new-work.md section 6 runs the
 
 ## Plates and provenance
 
-Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (`impeccable generate-image --plate <id>`, or the harness image tool with the crop as input and the spec's plate prompt). Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
+Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (use `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` and save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` to a prompt file; pass the crop and prompt to the harness image tool, or use `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high`). For isolated cutouts, add `--background transparent` to both the plate-prompt and API generation commands; use native PNG alpha and preserve white paint and clear gaps. Use `--background opaque` for full-frame imagery. Create output directories first and inspect alpha on light and dark grounds. Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
 
 Convert images with a converter `impeccable context` reported at boot (the IMAGE_TOOLS line); probe only when it reported none, at most once per session, never per image.
 

.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.1.4
+0.1.5

.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable

@@ -87,6 +87,11 @@ fi
 # Last resort: fetch this version's binary for the current platform from the
 # public release channel into the user cache. Needs network; sandboxes without
 # egress preinstall the binary on PATH instead.
+setup_help() {
+  echo "Engine $version setup needs network access and write permission to $cache_root/bin/$version." >&2
+  echo "Run this launcher ($0) with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command." >&2
+  echo "Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary." >&2
+}
 fetch_url() {
   if command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     curl -fsSL --retry 2 -o "$tmp" "$1" 2>/dev/null
@@ -119,7 +124,18 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
   [ "$os" = windows ] && asset="$asset.exe"
   url="$base/engine-v$version/$asset"
   tmp="$cache_root/bin/$version/.impeccable.part.$$"
-  mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null
+  if ! mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot create cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
+  # Check the actual staging file, not just directory existence: a cache from
+  # an earlier run can be readable but no longer writable inside a sandbox.
+  if ! (umask 077; : > "$tmp") 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
   fetched=0
   if fetch_url "$url"; then
     fetched=1
@@ -180,6 +196,9 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
     exec "$cached" "$@"
   fi
   rm -f "$tmp" 2>/dev/null
+  echo "impeccable: could not download engine $version from $url; check network access, the release URL, and curl or wget availability." >&2
+  setup_help
+  exit 127
 fi
 
 echo "impeccable: no engine binary for $os-$arch found (looked in $bin, $cached, PATH)." >&2

.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable.cmd

@@ -68,18 +68,27 @@ rem another launcher's probe: fail fast and quiet instead.
 if defined IMPECCABLE_LAUNCHER_PROBE exit /b 127
 if not defined version goto fail
 where curl.exe >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto curl_missing
 if not defined IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE set "IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE=https://github.com/pbakaus/impeccable/releases/download"
-if not exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%\" goto cache_ready
+mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if errorlevel 1 goto cache_directory_failed
+:cache_ready
+rem Check the staging file too: an existing directory may be read-only.
+rem Redirection failures do not reliably update ERRORLEVEL in cmd.exe;
+rem branch on the command's failure directly. Never treat a directory as a
+rem staging file (later del cleanup would prompt to delete its contents).
+if exist "%cached%.part\" goto cache_write_failed
+(type nul >"%cached%.part") 2>nul || goto cache_write_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-%arch%.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
 if not errorlevel 1 goto verify
-if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto fail
+if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto download_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-x64.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto download_failed
 
 :verify
 call :check_download
@@ -176,6 +185,28 @@ if not errorlevel 1 set "probe_ok=1"
 del "%probe_tmp%" >nul 2>nul
 exit /b 0
 
+:cache_directory_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot create cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:cache_write_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:curl_missing
+echo impeccable: cannot download engine %version%; curl.exe is unavailable. 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:download_failed
+del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
+echo impeccable: could not download engine %version% from %url%; check network access and the release URL. 1>&2
+
+:setup_failed
+echo Engine %version% setup needs network access and write permission to "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%". 1>&2
+echo Run this launcher ("%~f0") with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command. 1>&2
+echo Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary. 1>&2
+exit /b 127
+
 :fail
 del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
 echo impeccable: no engine binary found (looked in %bin%, %cached%, PATH). 1>&2

.cursor/agents/impeccable-asset-producer.md

@@ -29,12 +29,12 @@ Every region with `medium: raster` in the spec ships as a plate at its `plate` p
 Per region, in the spec's order:
 
 1. `.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference crop under `.impeccable/build/crops/`.
-2. Produce the plate. With the API fallback: `.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --plate <id> --quality high` does the whole step (crop as reference, the spec's plate prompt, output size chosen from the region's aspect, the file written to its plate path, prompt embedded, and the plate scored against the crop). With a harness-native image tool: use the crop as the input image and `.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as the prompt, write the result to the plate path, then run `.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt "<the exact prompt>"`.
-3. Read the score line. `PLATE-SCORE` under 50%, or a `PLATE-WARN`, means the plate does not read as the region: open the plate beside the crop, name what drifted (subject, framing, palette, style), tighten the prompt with that, and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and say why in one line.
-4. Transparent cutouts (a figure or object on the page ground): generate on a flat chroma color absent from the subject and key it to alpha before writing the PNG; never ship the keyed background.
+2. Choose the background from the approved region: an isolated figure, object, or line drawing on the page ground is a **transparent cutout**; a photograph, full-frame illustration, or texture stays **opaque**. Save `.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a UTF-8 prompt file for a cutout; use `--background opaque` otherwise. The transparent prompt preserves reference placement and clear margins, white paint, fine edges, and interior holes.
+3. Produce the plate at its exact spec `plate` path. Create the output directory first and choose a supported output size matching the region's aspect, at least 1.5x its pixel dimensions. Prefer the harness-native image tool with the crop as input and the saved prompt; request a transparent PNG for cutouts, then run `.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>` (if you refine the prompt, save and embed the exact text sent). With the API fallback, run `.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` for a cutout, or `--background opaque` otherwise. The API fallback embeds the prompt and records the background in the sidecar. The output must be PNG; the fallback requests native alpha and performs no chroma-keying.
+4. Open the plate beside the crop and compare subject, placement, scale, palette, and style. For cutouts, verify a real alpha channel and inspect composites on light and dark grounds: white paint must stay solid, interior holes must clear, and fine edges must avoid halos. Inspect glass and soft shadows carefully; partial alpha alone does not ensure convincing translucency. Never chroma-key native transparent output or flatten it before saving. If a native tool returns opaque pixels or a painted checkerboard, retry with the API fallback when available; otherwise report the transparency blocker. On a visual miss, tighten the prompt and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and name the drift. The parent runs the plates gate after all assets exist; report `unscored` until a gate score is available.
 
 Do not redesign. Do not add objects, restyle, or reinterpret; the comp was approved as it is. Do not touch the page code, the spec, or the comp. Do not produce anything the spec does not list; a region the parent forgot goes back as a one-line note, not a plate.
 
 ## Output Contract
 
-Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score>% <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; your line and its line must agree.
+Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score%|unscored> <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; a visual acceptance does not override a failing gate.

.cursor/skills/impeccable/SKILL.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 name: impeccable
 description: Use when the user wants to design, redesign, shape, critique, audit, polish, clarify, distill, harden, optimize, adapt, animate, colorize, extract, or otherwise improve a frontend interface. Covers websites, landing pages, dashboards, product UI, app shells, components, forms, settings, onboarding, and empty states. Handles UX review, visual hierarchy, information architecture, cognitive load, accessibility, performance, responsive behavior, theming, anti-patterns, typography, fonts, spacing, layout, alignment, color, motion, micro-interactions, UX copy, error states, edge cases, i18n, and reusable design systems or tokens. Also use for bland designs that need to become bolder or more delightful, loud designs that should become quieter, live browser iteration on UI elements, or ambitious visual effects that should feel technically extraordinary. Not for backend-only or non-UI tasks.
-version: 4.2.3
+version: 4.3.1
 license: Apache 2.0
 ---
 

.cursor/skills/impeccable/reference/degraded/asset-producer.md

@@ -26,12 +26,12 @@ Every region with `medium: raster` in the spec ships as a plate at its `plate` p
 Per region, in the spec's order:
 
 1. `.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference crop under `.impeccable/build/crops/`.
-2. Produce the plate. With the API fallback: `.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --plate <id> --quality high` does the whole step (crop as reference, the spec's plate prompt, output size chosen from the region's aspect, the file written to its plate path, prompt embedded, and the plate scored against the crop). With a harness-native image tool: use the crop as the input image and `.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as the prompt, write the result to the plate path, then run `.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt "<the exact prompt>"`.
-3. Read the score line. `PLATE-SCORE` under 50%, or a `PLATE-WARN`, means the plate does not read as the region: open the plate beside the crop, name what drifted (subject, framing, palette, style), tighten the prompt with that, and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and say why in one line.
-4. Transparent cutouts (a figure or object on the page ground): generate on a flat chroma color absent from the subject and key it to alpha before writing the PNG; never ship the keyed background.
+2. Choose the background from the approved region: an isolated figure, object, or line drawing on the page ground is a **transparent cutout**; a photograph, full-frame illustration, or texture stays **opaque**. Save `.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a UTF-8 prompt file for a cutout; use `--background opaque` otherwise. The transparent prompt preserves reference placement and clear margins, white paint, fine edges, and interior holes.
+3. Produce the plate at its exact spec `plate` path. Create the output directory first and choose a supported output size matching the region's aspect, at least 1.5x its pixel dimensions. Prefer the harness-native image tool with the crop as input and the saved prompt; request a transparent PNG for cutouts, then run `.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>` (if you refine the prompt, save and embed the exact text sent). With the API fallback, run `.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` for a cutout, or `--background opaque` otherwise. The API fallback embeds the prompt and records the background in the sidecar. The output must be PNG; the fallback requests native alpha and performs no chroma-keying.
+4. Open the plate beside the crop and compare subject, placement, scale, palette, and style. For cutouts, verify a real alpha channel and inspect composites on light and dark grounds: white paint must stay solid, interior holes must clear, and fine edges must avoid halos. Inspect glass and soft shadows carefully; partial alpha alone does not ensure convincing translucency. Never chroma-key native transparent output or flatten it before saving. If a native tool returns opaque pixels or a painted checkerboard, retry with the API fallback when available; otherwise report the transparency blocker. On a visual miss, tighten the prompt and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and name the drift. The parent runs the plates gate after all assets exist; report `unscored` until a gate score is available.
 
 Do not redesign. Do not add objects, restyle, or reinterpret; the comp was approved as it is. Do not touch the page code, the spec, or the comp. Do not produce anything the spec does not list; a region the parent forgot goes back as a one-line note, not a plate.
 
 ## Output Contract
 
-Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score>% <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; your line and its line must agree.
+Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score%|unscored> <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; a visual acceptance does not override a failing gate.

.cursor/skills/impeccable/reference/new-work.md

@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ Then, in order, each closed by `.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable bui
 The comp-led path is a frontier-tier job: it asks the builder to hold a measured layout, place plates at their boxes, and act on numeric readings across a dozen attempts. Smaller or faster models produce a recognisable page and stall under the hero gate; if the model in hand is one of those, say so before the direction round and take the code-led path, or expect the run to end at the hero with its readings unmet.
 
 1. **spec.** Measure the comp: `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --grid` writes a coordinate grid over the comp; open it, name every salient region by grid span in a regions file (text and control regions snap to the largest ink mass inside their span, so a headline named B1:E4 measures as the headline and not the column beside it; `snap: false` keeps the span, and an explicit `box` is taken as drawn) (kind `plate` / `image` / `texture` for anything painted: every illustration, photograph, figure, product object, and material texture; `text` / `control` / `chrome` for what code draws; every region carries a `note` saying what the comp shows there, which the plate prompt and the gate messages read), and run `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --regions <file>`. The spec carries each region's box, sampled palette, and medium; `impeccable comp-spec --print` is the build's reference from here on. Type is measured, not guessed: `impeccable font-match --measure <text region>` reads the comp's cap height, width class, and weight off the pixels, and `impeccable font-match --rank <region> --text "..."` takes its candidates from a fingerprint index of the Google Fonts catalog (the nearest faces to the crop's shape) plus any names you pass with `--candidates`, renders them at that cap height with the region's words, and ranks them by fingerprint distance (its `USE` line is the CSS; its proof sheet shows the comp over the top three); with no browser resolvable it records the catalog's nearest face and says the size is estimated, which is still the choice to build on. Do not install a browser to rank, and never write a `chosen` face into the spec by hand: the gate accepts only what font-match wrote. The spec gate refuses to close until the lead text region is measured and ranked. A region note that describes painted material (a diagram, drawing, photograph, texture) under a code kind is refused at the spec: reclassify it as a plate, or reword the note if code really draws it. The script refuses a regions file that leaves comp ink unnamed (callouts, a parts table, a notes block): what is never named can never be missing, so everything the comp shows gets a region. It also refuses a `text` / `control` / `chrome` region larger than a quarter of the comp: that is a column, not an element, and a column scored as one region hides the plates, tables, and notes inside it. Name each element inside it (`container: true` only when it truly is one undivided element). Anything drawn is a plate: an inline SVG past an icon's budget (a diagram, notation, leader lines with arrows, a "quick approximation" of the artwork) is refused at the hero; icon-sized SVG (under 64px, a few paths) is fine, and a chart the page draws from data at runtime is a chart, not an illustration. Callout lines and arrows that annotate a drawing belong to that drawing's plate, with only their labels set as text. A crop of the comp is never a plate (the plates gate refuses a file that is a resample of the comp region: the comp's grain, its neighbours' edges, and its resolution would ship as the artwork); the crop is the reference the plate is generated from. A plate region's box has to hold its whole artwork with a margin: the spec measures the artwork's contact with the box edges and refuses a box that cuts through it (`bleed: true` only when the page really crops it there), because a plate placed with `object-fit: cover` on such a box shows the artwork minus the side the box lost. Anything not in the spec does not exist on the page: no borders, rules, containers, or chrome the comp does not show. Only three concessions exist: fonts (the closest obtainable face), icon glyphs (close enough, exact if the user chose an icon library; this covers the pictogram only, never a control's chrome, so a chevron, an arrow, a dropdown's border and fill, a button's shape are the comp's), and genuine defects in the comp such as spelling errors.
-2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (ink on flat ground is generated on a chroma key and keyed to alpha, so it sits on the page's own ground rather than a second paper); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable generate-image --plate <id>` does one region end to end and scores it against the crop; a harness-native image tool takes the crop (`impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>`) as its input image and `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as its prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt`. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
+2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (isolated ink, figures, or objects use native transparent PNG so they sit on the page's own ground; photos and textures stay opaque); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference; save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a prompt file for a cutout, or use `--background opaque` otherwise. Prefer the harness-native image tool with that crop and prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>`. The API fallback is `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` (use `--background opaque` for full-frame assets); create the output directory first. Verify actual alpha, white foregrounds, fine edges, and clear holes on light and dark grounds; do not chroma-key native output. The plates gate scores the assets against the comp; also inspect placement and scale visually. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
 3. **hero.** `impeccable build-phase scaffold` first: it writes the measured layout as CSS custom properties (`.impeccable/build/scaffold/layout.css`: `--r-<id>-x/y/w/h` in % of the comp, plus cap height, font-size, family, and weight where measured) and a reference page (`hero-reference.html`) with every region at its box and every plate placed. Bind the numbers to your own semantic structure, an element per region; the reference is a check on positions, never the page, and overlapping boxes are overlapping boxes. Then build only the first viewport, at the comp's own dimensions, the comp's words copied verbatim (the user approved that comp with those words; rewording is a stated decision after the hero passes, never a silent one inside it), every text region sized from its measured cap height and set in its ranked face, plates first: place every plate at its spec box (`object-fit: cover`, an `<img>`, a background image, or an inlined data URI named for it) before any text or control, capture into `.impeccable/review/hero-repro.png`, run `impeccable build-phase record hero` once so you see the plate regions read as match before any text exists, then lay the semantic layer over the plates from the spec's palette and boxes and advance. The gate first refuses while any plate is unreferenced by the source, then runs `impeccable comp-diff`, writes `.impeccable/review/diff/hero/` (side-by-side, heatmap, one paired crop per region, `report.json`), and passes at 72% overall with no hard veto outstanding (a missing region, a contradicted plate or text block, an SVG illustration, a clipped plate, invented ink block at any score); above the bar, the numeric readings become advisories printed with the pass, and the polish pass before responsive is where they get fixed: the gate also reads each text region's cap height, line count, weight, ink colour, and position against the comp, each chrome strip's height off its rule, and the frame for ink where the comp is calm (a kicker, an extra nav item, a divider), and says each miss as a number ("cap height 78px in the build, 103px in the comp"); those numbers are the edit. When it fails, open the region crops it lists, in order, before editing: a region scored `missing` needs its material, `contradicted` needs its structure re-derived from the spec box, `drift` is where size and spacing edits belong; the gate refuses a third attempt that only nudges values on the same region. This is where the run's ambition is won or lost, and a retry here costs minutes where a rebuild verdict at the finish costs the run.
 4. **sections.** Build the rest of the surface inside the spec's system: the same corner language, line weights, and palette, and nothing the comp never shows. Where the comp does not cover a region, it inherits the recorded system.
 5. **motion.** The signature interaction, reveals, and motion, orchestrated once rather than scattered.

.cursor/skills/impeccable/reference/visualize.md

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ What the comp shows is measured, not remembered. new-work.md section 6 runs the
 
 ## Plates and provenance
 
-Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (`impeccable generate-image --plate <id>`, or the harness image tool with the crop as input and the spec's plate prompt). Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
+Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (use `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` and save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` to a prompt file; pass the crop and prompt to the harness image tool, or use `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high`). For isolated cutouts, add `--background transparent` to both the plate-prompt and API generation commands; use native PNG alpha and preserve white paint and clear gaps. Use `--background opaque` for full-frame imagery. Create output directories first and inspect alpha on light and dark grounds. Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
 
 Convert images with a converter `impeccable context` reported at boot (the IMAGE_TOOLS line); probe only when it reported none, at most once per session, never per image.
 

.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.1.4
+0.1.5

.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable

@@ -87,6 +87,11 @@ fi
 # Last resort: fetch this version's binary for the current platform from the
 # public release channel into the user cache. Needs network; sandboxes without
 # egress preinstall the binary on PATH instead.
+setup_help() {
+  echo "Engine $version setup needs network access and write permission to $cache_root/bin/$version." >&2
+  echo "Run this launcher ($0) with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command." >&2
+  echo "Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary." >&2
+}
 fetch_url() {
   if command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     curl -fsSL --retry 2 -o "$tmp" "$1" 2>/dev/null
@@ -119,7 +124,18 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
   [ "$os" = windows ] && asset="$asset.exe"
   url="$base/engine-v$version/$asset"
   tmp="$cache_root/bin/$version/.impeccable.part.$$"
-  mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null
+  if ! mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot create cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
+  # Check the actual staging file, not just directory existence: a cache from
+  # an earlier run can be readable but no longer writable inside a sandbox.
+  if ! (umask 077; : > "$tmp") 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
   fetched=0
   if fetch_url "$url"; then
     fetched=1
@@ -180,6 +196,9 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
     exec "$cached" "$@"
   fi
   rm -f "$tmp" 2>/dev/null
+  echo "impeccable: could not download engine $version from $url; check network access, the release URL, and curl or wget availability." >&2
+  setup_help
+  exit 127
 fi
 
 echo "impeccable: no engine binary for $os-$arch found (looked in $bin, $cached, PATH)." >&2

.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable.cmd

@@ -68,18 +68,27 @@ rem another launcher's probe: fail fast and quiet instead.
 if defined IMPECCABLE_LAUNCHER_PROBE exit /b 127
 if not defined version goto fail
 where curl.exe >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto curl_missing
 if not defined IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE set "IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE=https://github.com/pbakaus/impeccable/releases/download"
-if not exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%\" goto cache_ready
+mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if errorlevel 1 goto cache_directory_failed
+:cache_ready
+rem Check the staging file too: an existing directory may be read-only.
+rem Redirection failures do not reliably update ERRORLEVEL in cmd.exe;
+rem branch on the command's failure directly. Never treat a directory as a
+rem staging file (later del cleanup would prompt to delete its contents).
+if exist "%cached%.part\" goto cache_write_failed
+(type nul >"%cached%.part") 2>nul || goto cache_write_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-%arch%.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
 if not errorlevel 1 goto verify
-if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto fail
+if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto download_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-x64.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto download_failed
 
 :verify
 call :check_download
@@ -176,6 +185,28 @@ if not errorlevel 1 set "probe_ok=1"
 del "%probe_tmp%" >nul 2>nul
 exit /b 0
 
+:cache_directory_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot create cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:cache_write_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:curl_missing
+echo impeccable: cannot download engine %version%; curl.exe is unavailable. 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:download_failed
+del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
+echo impeccable: could not download engine %version% from %url%; check network access and the release URL. 1>&2
+
+:setup_failed
+echo Engine %version% setup needs network access and write permission to "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%". 1>&2
+echo Run this launcher ("%~f0") with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command. 1>&2
+echo Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary. 1>&2
+exit /b 127
+
 :fail
 del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
 echo impeccable: no engine binary found (looked in %bin%, %cached%, PATH). 1>&2

.dsh/skills/impeccable/SKILL.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 name: impeccable
 description: Use when the user wants to design, redesign, shape, critique, audit, polish, clarify, distill, harden, optimize, adapt, animate, colorize, extract, or otherwise improve a frontend interface. Covers websites, landing pages, dashboards, product UI, app shells, components, forms, settings, onboarding, and empty states. Handles UX review, visual hierarchy, information architecture, cognitive load, accessibility, performance, responsive behavior, theming, anti-patterns, typography, fonts, spacing, layout, alignment, color, motion, micro-interactions, UX copy, error states, edge cases, i18n, and reusable design systems or tokens. Also use for bland designs that need to become bolder or more delightful, loud designs that should become quieter, live browser iteration on UI elements, or ambitious visual effects that should feel technically extraordinary. Not for backend-only or non-UI tasks.
-version: 4.2.3
+version: 4.3.1
 user-invocable: true
 license: Apache 2.0
 ---

.dsh/skills/impeccable/reference/degraded/asset-producer.md

@@ -26,12 +26,12 @@ Every region with `medium: raster` in the spec ships as a plate at its `plate` p
 Per region, in the spec's order:
 
 1. `.dsh/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference crop under `.impeccable/build/crops/`.
-2. Produce the plate. With the API fallback: `.dsh/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --plate <id> --quality high` does the whole step (crop as reference, the spec's plate prompt, output size chosen from the region's aspect, the file written to its plate path, prompt embedded, and the plate scored against the crop). With a harness-native image tool: use the crop as the input image and `.dsh/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as the prompt, write the result to the plate path, then run `.dsh/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt "<the exact prompt>"`.
-3. Read the score line. `PLATE-SCORE` under 50%, or a `PLATE-WARN`, means the plate does not read as the region: open the plate beside the crop, name what drifted (subject, framing, palette, style), tighten the prompt with that, and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and say why in one line.
-4. Transparent cutouts (a figure or object on the page ground): generate on a flat chroma color absent from the subject and key it to alpha before writing the PNG; never ship the keyed background.
+2. Choose the background from the approved region: an isolated figure, object, or line drawing on the page ground is a **transparent cutout**; a photograph, full-frame illustration, or texture stays **opaque**. Save `.dsh/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a UTF-8 prompt file for a cutout; use `--background opaque` otherwise. The transparent prompt preserves reference placement and clear margins, white paint, fine edges, and interior holes.
+3. Produce the plate at its exact spec `plate` path. Create the output directory first and choose a supported output size matching the region's aspect, at least 1.5x its pixel dimensions. Prefer the harness-native image tool with the crop as input and the saved prompt; request a transparent PNG for cutouts, then run `.dsh/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>` (if you refine the prompt, save and embed the exact text sent). With the API fallback, run `.dsh/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` for a cutout, or `--background opaque` otherwise. The API fallback embeds the prompt and records the background in the sidecar. The output must be PNG; the fallback requests native alpha and performs no chroma-keying.
+4. Open the plate beside the crop and compare subject, placement, scale, palette, and style. For cutouts, verify a real alpha channel and inspect composites on light and dark grounds: white paint must stay solid, interior holes must clear, and fine edges must avoid halos. Inspect glass and soft shadows carefully; partial alpha alone does not ensure convincing translucency. Never chroma-key native transparent output or flatten it before saving. If a native tool returns opaque pixels or a painted checkerboard, retry with the API fallback when available; otherwise report the transparency blocker. On a visual miss, tighten the prompt and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and name the drift. The parent runs the plates gate after all assets exist; report `unscored` until a gate score is available.
 
 Do not redesign. Do not add objects, restyle, or reinterpret; the comp was approved as it is. Do not touch the page code, the spec, or the comp. Do not produce anything the spec does not list; a region the parent forgot goes back as a one-line note, not a plate.
 
 ## Output Contract
 
-Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score>% <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; your line and its line must agree.
+Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score%|unscored> <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; a visual acceptance does not override a failing gate.

.dsh/skills/impeccable/reference/new-work.md

@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ Then, in order, each closed by `.dsh/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable build-
 The comp-led path is a frontier-tier job: it asks the builder to hold a measured layout, place plates at their boxes, and act on numeric readings across a dozen attempts. Smaller or faster models produce a recognisable page and stall under the hero gate; if the model in hand is one of those, say so before the direction round and take the code-led path, or expect the run to end at the hero with its readings unmet.
 
 1. **spec.** Measure the comp: `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --grid` writes a coordinate grid over the comp; open it, name every salient region by grid span in a regions file (text and control regions snap to the largest ink mass inside their span, so a headline named B1:E4 measures as the headline and not the column beside it; `snap: false` keeps the span, and an explicit `box` is taken as drawn) (kind `plate` / `image` / `texture` for anything painted: every illustration, photograph, figure, product object, and material texture; `text` / `control` / `chrome` for what code draws; every region carries a `note` saying what the comp shows there, which the plate prompt and the gate messages read), and run `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --regions <file>`. The spec carries each region's box, sampled palette, and medium; `impeccable comp-spec --print` is the build's reference from here on. Type is measured, not guessed: `impeccable font-match --measure <text region>` reads the comp's cap height, width class, and weight off the pixels, and `impeccable font-match --rank <region> --text "..."` takes its candidates from a fingerprint index of the Google Fonts catalog (the nearest faces to the crop's shape) plus any names you pass with `--candidates`, renders them at that cap height with the region's words, and ranks them by fingerprint distance (its `USE` line is the CSS; its proof sheet shows the comp over the top three); with no browser resolvable it records the catalog's nearest face and says the size is estimated, which is still the choice to build on. Do not install a browser to rank, and never write a `chosen` face into the spec by hand: the gate accepts only what font-match wrote. The spec gate refuses to close until the lead text region is measured and ranked. A region note that describes painted material (a diagram, drawing, photograph, texture) under a code kind is refused at the spec: reclassify it as a plate, or reword the note if code really draws it. The script refuses a regions file that leaves comp ink unnamed (callouts, a parts table, a notes block): what is never named can never be missing, so everything the comp shows gets a region. It also refuses a `text` / `control` / `chrome` region larger than a quarter of the comp: that is a column, not an element, and a column scored as one region hides the plates, tables, and notes inside it. Name each element inside it (`container: true` only when it truly is one undivided element). Anything drawn is a plate: an inline SVG past an icon's budget (a diagram, notation, leader lines with arrows, a "quick approximation" of the artwork) is refused at the hero; icon-sized SVG (under 64px, a few paths) is fine, and a chart the page draws from data at runtime is a chart, not an illustration. Callout lines and arrows that annotate a drawing belong to that drawing's plate, with only their labels set as text. A crop of the comp is never a plate (the plates gate refuses a file that is a resample of the comp region: the comp's grain, its neighbours' edges, and its resolution would ship as the artwork); the crop is the reference the plate is generated from. A plate region's box has to hold its whole artwork with a margin: the spec measures the artwork's contact with the box edges and refuses a box that cuts through it (`bleed: true` only when the page really crops it there), because a plate placed with `object-fit: cover` on such a box shows the artwork minus the side the box lost. Anything not in the spec does not exist on the page: no borders, rules, containers, or chrome the comp does not show. Only three concessions exist: fonts (the closest obtainable face), icon glyphs (close enough, exact if the user chose an icon library; this covers the pictogram only, never a control's chrome, so a chevron, an arrow, a dropdown's border and fill, a button's shape are the comp's), and genuine defects in the comp such as spelling errors.
-2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (ink on flat ground is generated on a chroma key and keyed to alpha, so it sits on the page's own ground rather than a second paper); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable generate-image --plate <id>` does one region end to end and scores it against the crop; a harness-native image tool takes the crop (`impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>`) as its input image and `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as its prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt`. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
+2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (isolated ink, figures, or objects use native transparent PNG so they sit on the page's own ground; photos and textures stay opaque); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference; save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a prompt file for a cutout, or use `--background opaque` otherwise. Prefer the harness-native image tool with that crop and prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>`. The API fallback is `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` (use `--background opaque` for full-frame assets); create the output directory first. Verify actual alpha, white foregrounds, fine edges, and clear holes on light and dark grounds; do not chroma-key native output. The plates gate scores the assets against the comp; also inspect placement and scale visually. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
 3. **hero.** `impeccable build-phase scaffold` first: it writes the measured layout as CSS custom properties (`.impeccable/build/scaffold/layout.css`: `--r-<id>-x/y/w/h` in % of the comp, plus cap height, font-size, family, and weight where measured) and a reference page (`hero-reference.html`) with every region at its box and every plate placed. Bind the numbers to your own semantic structure, an element per region; the reference is a check on positions, never the page, and overlapping boxes are overlapping boxes. Then build only the first viewport, at the comp's own dimensions, the comp's words copied verbatim (the user approved that comp with those words; rewording is a stated decision after the hero passes, never a silent one inside it), every text region sized from its measured cap height and set in its ranked face, plates first: place every plate at its spec box (`object-fit: cover`, an `<img>`, a background image, or an inlined data URI named for it) before any text or control, capture into `.impeccable/review/hero-repro.png`, run `impeccable build-phase record hero` once so you see the plate regions read as match before any text exists, then lay the semantic layer over the plates from the spec's palette and boxes and advance. The gate first refuses while any plate is unreferenced by the source, then runs `impeccable comp-diff`, writes `.impeccable/review/diff/hero/` (side-by-side, heatmap, one paired crop per region, `report.json`), and passes at 72% overall with no hard veto outstanding (a missing region, a contradicted plate or text block, an SVG illustration, a clipped plate, invented ink block at any score); above the bar, the numeric readings become advisories printed with the pass, and the polish pass before responsive is where they get fixed: the gate also reads each text region's cap height, line count, weight, ink colour, and position against the comp, each chrome strip's height off its rule, and the frame for ink where the comp is calm (a kicker, an extra nav item, a divider), and says each miss as a number ("cap height 78px in the build, 103px in the comp"); those numbers are the edit. When it fails, open the region crops it lists, in order, before editing: a region scored `missing` needs its material, `contradicted` needs its structure re-derived from the spec box, `drift` is where size and spacing edits belong; the gate refuses a third attempt that only nudges values on the same region. This is where the run's ambition is won or lost, and a retry here costs minutes where a rebuild verdict at the finish costs the run.
 4. **sections.** Build the rest of the surface inside the spec's system: the same corner language, line weights, and palette, and nothing the comp never shows. Where the comp does not cover a region, it inherits the recorded system.
 5. **motion.** The signature interaction, reveals, and motion, orchestrated once rather than scattered.

.dsh/skills/impeccable/reference/visualize.md

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ What the comp shows is measured, not remembered. new-work.md section 6 runs the
 
 ## Plates and provenance
 
-Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (`impeccable generate-image --plate <id>`, or the harness image tool with the crop as input and the spec's plate prompt). Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.dsh/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
+Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (use `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` and save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` to a prompt file; pass the crop and prompt to the harness image tool, or use `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high`). For isolated cutouts, add `--background transparent` to both the plate-prompt and API generation commands; use native PNG alpha and preserve white paint and clear gaps. Use `--background opaque` for full-frame imagery. Create output directories first and inspect alpha on light and dark grounds. Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.dsh/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
 
 Convert images with a converter `impeccable context` reported at boot (the IMAGE_TOOLS line); probe only when it reported none, at most once per session, never per image.
 

.dsh/skills/impeccable/scripts/VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.1.4
+0.1.5

.dsh/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable

@@ -87,6 +87,11 @@ fi
 # Last resort: fetch this version's binary for the current platform from the
 # public release channel into the user cache. Needs network; sandboxes without
 # egress preinstall the binary on PATH instead.
+setup_help() {
+  echo "Engine $version setup needs network access and write permission to $cache_root/bin/$version." >&2
+  echo "Run this launcher ($0) with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command." >&2
+  echo "Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary." >&2
+}
 fetch_url() {
   if command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     curl -fsSL --retry 2 -o "$tmp" "$1" 2>/dev/null
@@ -119,7 +124,18 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
   [ "$os" = windows ] && asset="$asset.exe"
   url="$base/engine-v$version/$asset"
   tmp="$cache_root/bin/$version/.impeccable.part.$$"
-  mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null
+  if ! mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot create cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
+  # Check the actual staging file, not just directory existence: a cache from
+  # an earlier run can be readable but no longer writable inside a sandbox.
+  if ! (umask 077; : > "$tmp") 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
   fetched=0
   if fetch_url "$url"; then
     fetched=1
@@ -180,6 +196,9 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
     exec "$cached" "$@"
   fi
   rm -f "$tmp" 2>/dev/null
+  echo "impeccable: could not download engine $version from $url; check network access, the release URL, and curl or wget availability." >&2
+  setup_help
+  exit 127
 fi
 
 echo "impeccable: no engine binary for $os-$arch found (looked in $bin, $cached, PATH)." >&2

.dsh/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable.cmd

@@ -68,18 +68,27 @@ rem another launcher's probe: fail fast and quiet instead.
 if defined IMPECCABLE_LAUNCHER_PROBE exit /b 127
 if not defined version goto fail
 where curl.exe >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto curl_missing
 if not defined IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE set "IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE=https://github.com/pbakaus/impeccable/releases/download"
-if not exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%\" goto cache_ready
+mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if errorlevel 1 goto cache_directory_failed
+:cache_ready
+rem Check the staging file too: an existing directory may be read-only.
+rem Redirection failures do not reliably update ERRORLEVEL in cmd.exe;
+rem branch on the command's failure directly. Never treat a directory as a
+rem staging file (later del cleanup would prompt to delete its contents).
+if exist "%cached%.part\" goto cache_write_failed
+(type nul >"%cached%.part") 2>nul || goto cache_write_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-%arch%.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
 if not errorlevel 1 goto verify
-if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto fail
+if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto download_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-x64.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto download_failed
 
 :verify
 call :check_download
@@ -176,6 +185,28 @@ if not errorlevel 1 set "probe_ok=1"
 del "%probe_tmp%" >nul 2>nul
 exit /b 0
 
+:cache_directory_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot create cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:cache_write_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:curl_missing
+echo impeccable: cannot download engine %version%; curl.exe is unavailable. 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:download_failed
+del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
+echo impeccable: could not download engine %version% from %url%; check network access and the release URL. 1>&2
+
+:setup_failed
+echo Engine %version% setup needs network access and write permission to "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%". 1>&2
+echo Run this launcher ("%~f0") with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command. 1>&2
+echo Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary. 1>&2
+exit /b 127
+
 :fail
 del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
 echo impeccable: no engine binary found (looked in %bin%, %cached%, PATH). 1>&2

.gemini/skills/impeccable/SKILL.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 name: impeccable
 description: Use when the user wants to design, redesign, shape, critique, audit, polish, clarify, distill, harden, optimize, adapt, animate, colorize, extract, or otherwise improve a frontend interface. Covers websites, landing pages, dashboards, product UI, app shells, components, forms, settings, onboarding, and empty states. Handles UX review, visual hierarchy, information architecture, cognitive load, accessibility, performance, responsive behavior, theming, anti-patterns, typography, fonts, spacing, layout, alignment, color, motion, micro-interactions, UX copy, error states, edge cases, i18n, and reusable design systems or tokens. Also use for bland designs that need to become bolder or more delightful, loud designs that should become quieter, live browser iteration on UI elements, or ambitious visual effects that should feel technically extraordinary. Not for backend-only or non-UI tasks.
-version: 4.2.3
+version: 4.3.1
 ---
 
 This skill gives you the tools and permission to create design that earns to be called out-of-distribution craft: Whereas before, your design work would have been safe, timid and measured, you now approach every design task as an award-winning design director with impeccable understanding for what makes exceptional design work: production-grade code, peak creativity, a clear POV, deep understanding of the needs of the client and users, and exceptional craft.

.gemini/skills/impeccable/reference/degraded/asset-producer.md

@@ -26,12 +26,12 @@ Every region with `medium: raster` in the spec ships as a plate at its `plate` p
 Per region, in the spec's order:
 
 1. `.gemini/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference crop under `.impeccable/build/crops/`.
-2. Produce the plate. With the API fallback: `.gemini/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --plate <id> --quality high` does the whole step (crop as reference, the spec's plate prompt, output size chosen from the region's aspect, the file written to its plate path, prompt embedded, and the plate scored against the crop). With a harness-native image tool: use the crop as the input image and `.gemini/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as the prompt, write the result to the plate path, then run `.gemini/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt "<the exact prompt>"`.
-3. Read the score line. `PLATE-SCORE` under 50%, or a `PLATE-WARN`, means the plate does not read as the region: open the plate beside the crop, name what drifted (subject, framing, palette, style), tighten the prompt with that, and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and say why in one line.
-4. Transparent cutouts (a figure or object on the page ground): generate on a flat chroma color absent from the subject and key it to alpha before writing the PNG; never ship the keyed background.
+2. Choose the background from the approved region: an isolated figure, object, or line drawing on the page ground is a **transparent cutout**; a photograph, full-frame illustration, or texture stays **opaque**. Save `.gemini/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a UTF-8 prompt file for a cutout; use `--background opaque` otherwise. The transparent prompt preserves reference placement and clear margins, white paint, fine edges, and interior holes.
+3. Produce the plate at its exact spec `plate` path. Create the output directory first and choose a supported output size matching the region's aspect, at least 1.5x its pixel dimensions. Prefer the harness-native image tool with the crop as input and the saved prompt; request a transparent PNG for cutouts, then run `.gemini/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>` (if you refine the prompt, save and embed the exact text sent). With the API fallback, run `.gemini/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` for a cutout, or `--background opaque` otherwise. The API fallback embeds the prompt and records the background in the sidecar. The output must be PNG; the fallback requests native alpha and performs no chroma-keying.
+4. Open the plate beside the crop and compare subject, placement, scale, palette, and style. For cutouts, verify a real alpha channel and inspect composites on light and dark grounds: white paint must stay solid, interior holes must clear, and fine edges must avoid halos. Inspect glass and soft shadows carefully; partial alpha alone does not ensure convincing translucency. Never chroma-key native transparent output or flatten it before saving. If a native tool returns opaque pixels or a painted checkerboard, retry with the API fallback when available; otherwise report the transparency blocker. On a visual miss, tighten the prompt and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and name the drift. The parent runs the plates gate after all assets exist; report `unscored` until a gate score is available.
 
 Do not redesign. Do not add objects, restyle, or reinterpret; the comp was approved as it is. Do not touch the page code, the spec, or the comp. Do not produce anything the spec does not list; a region the parent forgot goes back as a one-line note, not a plate.
 
 ## Output Contract
 
-Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score>% <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; your line and its line must agree.
+Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score%|unscored> <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; a visual acceptance does not override a failing gate.

.gemini/skills/impeccable/reference/new-work.md

@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ Then, in order, each closed by `.gemini/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable bui
 The comp-led path is a frontier-tier job: it asks the builder to hold a measured layout, place plates at their boxes, and act on numeric readings across a dozen attempts. Smaller or faster models produce a recognisable page and stall under the hero gate; if the model in hand is one of those, say so before the direction round and take the code-led path, or expect the run to end at the hero with its readings unmet.
 
 1. **spec.** Measure the comp: `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --grid` writes a coordinate grid over the comp; open it, name every salient region by grid span in a regions file (text and control regions snap to the largest ink mass inside their span, so a headline named B1:E4 measures as the headline and not the column beside it; `snap: false` keeps the span, and an explicit `box` is taken as drawn) (kind `plate` / `image` / `texture` for anything painted: every illustration, photograph, figure, product object, and material texture; `text` / `control` / `chrome` for what code draws; every region carries a `note` saying what the comp shows there, which the plate prompt and the gate messages read), and run `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --regions <file>`. The spec carries each region's box, sampled palette, and medium; `impeccable comp-spec --print` is the build's reference from here on. Type is measured, not guessed: `impeccable font-match --measure <text region>` reads the comp's cap height, width class, and weight off the pixels, and `impeccable font-match --rank <region> --text "..."` takes its candidates from a fingerprint index of the Google Fonts catalog (the nearest faces to the crop's shape) plus any names you pass with `--candidates`, renders them at that cap height with the region's words, and ranks them by fingerprint distance (its `USE` line is the CSS; its proof sheet shows the comp over the top three); with no browser resolvable it records the catalog's nearest face and says the size is estimated, which is still the choice to build on. Do not install a browser to rank, and never write a `chosen` face into the spec by hand: the gate accepts only what font-match wrote. The spec gate refuses to close until the lead text region is measured and ranked. A region note that describes painted material (a diagram, drawing, photograph, texture) under a code kind is refused at the spec: reclassify it as a plate, or reword the note if code really draws it. The script refuses a regions file that leaves comp ink unnamed (callouts, a parts table, a notes block): what is never named can never be missing, so everything the comp shows gets a region. It also refuses a `text` / `control` / `chrome` region larger than a quarter of the comp: that is a column, not an element, and a column scored as one region hides the plates, tables, and notes inside it. Name each element inside it (`container: true` only when it truly is one undivided element). Anything drawn is a plate: an inline SVG past an icon's budget (a diagram, notation, leader lines with arrows, a "quick approximation" of the artwork) is refused at the hero; icon-sized SVG (under 64px, a few paths) is fine, and a chart the page draws from data at runtime is a chart, not an illustration. Callout lines and arrows that annotate a drawing belong to that drawing's plate, with only their labels set as text. A crop of the comp is never a plate (the plates gate refuses a file that is a resample of the comp region: the comp's grain, its neighbours' edges, and its resolution would ship as the artwork); the crop is the reference the plate is generated from. A plate region's box has to hold its whole artwork with a margin: the spec measures the artwork's contact with the box edges and refuses a box that cuts through it (`bleed: true` only when the page really crops it there), because a plate placed with `object-fit: cover` on such a box shows the artwork minus the side the box lost. Anything not in the spec does not exist on the page: no borders, rules, containers, or chrome the comp does not show. Only three concessions exist: fonts (the closest obtainable face), icon glyphs (close enough, exact if the user chose an icon library; this covers the pictogram only, never a control's chrome, so a chevron, an arrow, a dropdown's border and fill, a button's shape are the comp's), and genuine defects in the comp such as spelling errors.
-2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (ink on flat ground is generated on a chroma key and keyed to alpha, so it sits on the page's own ground rather than a second paper); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable generate-image --plate <id>` does one region end to end and scores it against the crop; a harness-native image tool takes the crop (`impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>`) as its input image and `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as its prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt`. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
+2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (isolated ink, figures, or objects use native transparent PNG so they sit on the page's own ground; photos and textures stay opaque); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference; save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a prompt file for a cutout, or use `--background opaque` otherwise. Prefer the harness-native image tool with that crop and prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>`. The API fallback is `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` (use `--background opaque` for full-frame assets); create the output directory first. Verify actual alpha, white foregrounds, fine edges, and clear holes on light and dark grounds; do not chroma-key native output. The plates gate scores the assets against the comp; also inspect placement and scale visually. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
 3. **hero.** `impeccable build-phase scaffold` first: it writes the measured layout as CSS custom properties (`.impeccable/build/scaffold/layout.css`: `--r-<id>-x/y/w/h` in % of the comp, plus cap height, font-size, family, and weight where measured) and a reference page (`hero-reference.html`) with every region at its box and every plate placed. Bind the numbers to your own semantic structure, an element per region; the reference is a check on positions, never the page, and overlapping boxes are overlapping boxes. Then build only the first viewport, at the comp's own dimensions, the comp's words copied verbatim (the user approved that comp with those words; rewording is a stated decision after the hero passes, never a silent one inside it), every text region sized from its measured cap height and set in its ranked face, plates first: place every plate at its spec box (`object-fit: cover`, an `<img>`, a background image, or an inlined data URI named for it) before any text or control, capture into `.impeccable/review/hero-repro.png`, run `impeccable build-phase record hero` once so you see the plate regions read as match before any text exists, then lay the semantic layer over the plates from the spec's palette and boxes and advance. The gate first refuses while any plate is unreferenced by the source, then runs `impeccable comp-diff`, writes `.impeccable/review/diff/hero/` (side-by-side, heatmap, one paired crop per region, `report.json`), and passes at 72% overall with no hard veto outstanding (a missing region, a contradicted plate or text block, an SVG illustration, a clipped plate, invented ink block at any score); above the bar, the numeric readings become advisories printed with the pass, and the polish pass before responsive is where they get fixed: the gate also reads each text region's cap height, line count, weight, ink colour, and position against the comp, each chrome strip's height off its rule, and the frame for ink where the comp is calm (a kicker, an extra nav item, a divider), and says each miss as a number ("cap height 78px in the build, 103px in the comp"); those numbers are the edit. When it fails, open the region crops it lists, in order, before editing: a region scored `missing` needs its material, `contradicted` needs its structure re-derived from the spec box, `drift` is where size and spacing edits belong; the gate refuses a third attempt that only nudges values on the same region. This is where the run's ambition is won or lost, and a retry here costs minutes where a rebuild verdict at the finish costs the run.
 4. **sections.** Build the rest of the surface inside the spec's system: the same corner language, line weights, and palette, and nothing the comp never shows. Where the comp does not cover a region, it inherits the recorded system.
 5. **motion.** The signature interaction, reveals, and motion, orchestrated once rather than scattered.

.gemini/skills/impeccable/reference/visualize.md

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ What the comp shows is measured, not remembered. new-work.md section 6 runs the
 
 ## Plates and provenance
 
-Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (`impeccable generate-image --plate <id>`, or the harness image tool with the crop as input and the spec's plate prompt). Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.gemini/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
+Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (use `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` and save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` to a prompt file; pass the crop and prompt to the harness image tool, or use `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high`). For isolated cutouts, add `--background transparent` to both the plate-prompt and API generation commands; use native PNG alpha and preserve white paint and clear gaps. Use `--background opaque` for full-frame imagery. Create output directories first and inspect alpha on light and dark grounds. Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.gemini/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
 
 Convert images with a converter `impeccable context` reported at boot (the IMAGE_TOOLS line); probe only when it reported none, at most once per session, never per image.
 

.gemini/skills/impeccable/scripts/VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.1.4
+0.1.5

.gemini/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable

@@ -87,6 +87,11 @@ fi
 # Last resort: fetch this version's binary for the current platform from the
 # public release channel into the user cache. Needs network; sandboxes without
 # egress preinstall the binary on PATH instead.
+setup_help() {
+  echo "Engine $version setup needs network access and write permission to $cache_root/bin/$version." >&2
+  echo "Run this launcher ($0) with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command." >&2
+  echo "Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary." >&2
+}
 fetch_url() {
   if command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     curl -fsSL --retry 2 -o "$tmp" "$1" 2>/dev/null
@@ -119,7 +124,18 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
   [ "$os" = windows ] && asset="$asset.exe"
   url="$base/engine-v$version/$asset"
   tmp="$cache_root/bin/$version/.impeccable.part.$$"
-  mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null
+  if ! mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot create cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
+  # Check the actual staging file, not just directory existence: a cache from
+  # an earlier run can be readable but no longer writable inside a sandbox.
+  if ! (umask 077; : > "$tmp") 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
   fetched=0
   if fetch_url "$url"; then
     fetched=1
@@ -180,6 +196,9 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
     exec "$cached" "$@"
   fi
   rm -f "$tmp" 2>/dev/null
+  echo "impeccable: could not download engine $version from $url; check network access, the release URL, and curl or wget availability." >&2
+  setup_help
+  exit 127
 fi
 
 echo "impeccable: no engine binary for $os-$arch found (looked in $bin, $cached, PATH)." >&2

.gemini/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable.cmd

@@ -68,18 +68,27 @@ rem another launcher's probe: fail fast and quiet instead.
 if defined IMPECCABLE_LAUNCHER_PROBE exit /b 127
 if not defined version goto fail
 where curl.exe >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto curl_missing
 if not defined IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE set "IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE=https://github.com/pbakaus/impeccable/releases/download"
-if not exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%\" goto cache_ready
+mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if errorlevel 1 goto cache_directory_failed
+:cache_ready
+rem Check the staging file too: an existing directory may be read-only.
+rem Redirection failures do not reliably update ERRORLEVEL in cmd.exe;
+rem branch on the command's failure directly. Never treat a directory as a
+rem staging file (later del cleanup would prompt to delete its contents).
+if exist "%cached%.part\" goto cache_write_failed
+(type nul >"%cached%.part") 2>nul || goto cache_write_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-%arch%.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
 if not errorlevel 1 goto verify
-if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto fail
+if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto download_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-x64.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto download_failed
 
 :verify
 call :check_download
@@ -176,6 +185,28 @@ if not errorlevel 1 set "probe_ok=1"
 del "%probe_tmp%" >nul 2>nul
 exit /b 0
 
+:cache_directory_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot create cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:cache_write_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:curl_missing
+echo impeccable: cannot download engine %version%; curl.exe is unavailable. 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:download_failed
+del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
+echo impeccable: could not download engine %version% from %url%; check network access and the release URL. 1>&2
+
+:setup_failed
+echo Engine %version% setup needs network access and write permission to "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%". 1>&2
+echo Run this launcher ("%~f0") with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command. 1>&2
+echo Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary. 1>&2
+exit /b 127
+
 :fail
 del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
 echo impeccable: no engine binary found (looked in %bin%, %cached%, PATH). 1>&2

.github/agents/impeccable-asset-producer.agent.md

@@ -27,12 +27,12 @@ Every region with `medium: raster` in the spec ships as a plate at its `plate` p
 Per region, in the spec's order:
 
 1. `.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference crop under `.impeccable/build/crops/`.
-2. Produce the plate. With the API fallback: `.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --plate <id> --quality high` does the whole step (crop as reference, the spec's plate prompt, output size chosen from the region's aspect, the file written to its plate path, prompt embedded, and the plate scored against the crop). With a harness-native image tool: use the crop as the input image and `.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as the prompt, write the result to the plate path, then run `.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt "<the exact prompt>"`.
-3. Read the score line. `PLATE-SCORE` under 50%, or a `PLATE-WARN`, means the plate does not read as the region: open the plate beside the crop, name what drifted (subject, framing, palette, style), tighten the prompt with that, and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and say why in one line.
-4. Transparent cutouts (a figure or object on the page ground): generate on a flat chroma color absent from the subject and key it to alpha before writing the PNG; never ship the keyed background.
+2. Choose the background from the approved region: an isolated figure, object, or line drawing on the page ground is a **transparent cutout**; a photograph, full-frame illustration, or texture stays **opaque**. Save `.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a UTF-8 prompt file for a cutout; use `--background opaque` otherwise. The transparent prompt preserves reference placement and clear margins, white paint, fine edges, and interior holes.
+3. Produce the plate at its exact spec `plate` path. Create the output directory first and choose a supported output size matching the region's aspect, at least 1.5x its pixel dimensions. Prefer the harness-native image tool with the crop as input and the saved prompt; request a transparent PNG for cutouts, then run `.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>` (if you refine the prompt, save and embed the exact text sent). With the API fallback, run `.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` for a cutout, or `--background opaque` otherwise. The API fallback embeds the prompt and records the background in the sidecar. The output must be PNG; the fallback requests native alpha and performs no chroma-keying.
+4. Open the plate beside the crop and compare subject, placement, scale, palette, and style. For cutouts, verify a real alpha channel and inspect composites on light and dark grounds: white paint must stay solid, interior holes must clear, and fine edges must avoid halos. Inspect glass and soft shadows carefully; partial alpha alone does not ensure convincing translucency. Never chroma-key native transparent output or flatten it before saving. If a native tool returns opaque pixels or a painted checkerboard, retry with the API fallback when available; otherwise report the transparency blocker. On a visual miss, tighten the prompt and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and name the drift. The parent runs the plates gate after all assets exist; report `unscored` until a gate score is available.
 
 Do not redesign. Do not add objects, restyle, or reinterpret; the comp was approved as it is. Do not touch the page code, the spec, or the comp. Do not produce anything the spec does not list; a region the parent forgot goes back as a one-line note, not a plate.
 
 ## Output Contract
 
-Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score>% <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; your line and its line must agree.
+Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score%|unscored> <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; a visual acceptance does not override a failing gate.

.github/skills/impeccable/SKILL.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 name: impeccable
 description: Use when the user wants to design, redesign, shape, critique, audit, polish, clarify, distill, harden, optimize, adapt, animate, colorize, extract, or otherwise improve a frontend interface. Covers websites, landing pages, dashboards, product UI, app shells, components, forms, settings, onboarding, and empty states. Handles UX review, visual hierarchy, information architecture, cognitive load, accessibility, performance, responsive behavior, theming, anti-patterns, typography, fonts, spacing, layout, alignment, color, motion, micro-interactions, UX copy, error states, edge cases, i18n, and reusable design systems or tokens. Also use for bland designs that need to become bolder or more delightful, loud designs that should become quieter, live browser iteration on UI elements, or ambitious visual effects that should feel technically extraordinary. Not for backend-only or non-UI tasks.
-version: 4.2.3
+version: 4.3.1
 user-invocable: true
 argument-hint: "[shape · audit|critique · animate|bolder|colorize|delight|layout|overdrive|quieter|typeset · adapt|clarify|distill · harden|onboard|optimize|polish · init|document|extract|live] [target]"
 license: Apache 2.0

.github/skills/impeccable/reference/degraded/asset-producer.md

@@ -26,12 +26,12 @@ Every region with `medium: raster` in the spec ships as a plate at its `plate` p
 Per region, in the spec's order:
 
 1. `.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference crop under `.impeccable/build/crops/`.
-2. Produce the plate. With the API fallback: `.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --plate <id> --quality high` does the whole step (crop as reference, the spec's plate prompt, output size chosen from the region's aspect, the file written to its plate path, prompt embedded, and the plate scored against the crop). With a harness-native image tool: use the crop as the input image and `.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as the prompt, write the result to the plate path, then run `.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt "<the exact prompt>"`.
-3. Read the score line. `PLATE-SCORE` under 50%, or a `PLATE-WARN`, means the plate does not read as the region: open the plate beside the crop, name what drifted (subject, framing, palette, style), tighten the prompt with that, and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and say why in one line.
-4. Transparent cutouts (a figure or object on the page ground): generate on a flat chroma color absent from the subject and key it to alpha before writing the PNG; never ship the keyed background.
+2. Choose the background from the approved region: an isolated figure, object, or line drawing on the page ground is a **transparent cutout**; a photograph, full-frame illustration, or texture stays **opaque**. Save `.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a UTF-8 prompt file for a cutout; use `--background opaque` otherwise. The transparent prompt preserves reference placement and clear margins, white paint, fine edges, and interior holes.
+3. Produce the plate at its exact spec `plate` path. Create the output directory first and choose a supported output size matching the region's aspect, at least 1.5x its pixel dimensions. Prefer the harness-native image tool with the crop as input and the saved prompt; request a transparent PNG for cutouts, then run `.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>` (if you refine the prompt, save and embed the exact text sent). With the API fallback, run `.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` for a cutout, or `--background opaque` otherwise. The API fallback embeds the prompt and records the background in the sidecar. The output must be PNG; the fallback requests native alpha and performs no chroma-keying.
+4. Open the plate beside the crop and compare subject, placement, scale, palette, and style. For cutouts, verify a real alpha channel and inspect composites on light and dark grounds: white paint must stay solid, interior holes must clear, and fine edges must avoid halos. Inspect glass and soft shadows carefully; partial alpha alone does not ensure convincing translucency. Never chroma-key native transparent output or flatten it before saving. If a native tool returns opaque pixels or a painted checkerboard, retry with the API fallback when available; otherwise report the transparency blocker. On a visual miss, tighten the prompt and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and name the drift. The parent runs the plates gate after all assets exist; report `unscored` until a gate score is available.
 
 Do not redesign. Do not add objects, restyle, or reinterpret; the comp was approved as it is. Do not touch the page code, the spec, or the comp. Do not produce anything the spec does not list; a region the parent forgot goes back as a one-line note, not a plate.
 
 ## Output Contract
 
-Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score>% <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; your line and its line must agree.
+Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score%|unscored> <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; a visual acceptance does not override a failing gate.

.github/skills/impeccable/reference/new-work.md

@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ Then, in order, each closed by `.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable bui
 The comp-led path is a frontier-tier job: it asks the builder to hold a measured layout, place plates at their boxes, and act on numeric readings across a dozen attempts. Smaller or faster models produce a recognisable page and stall under the hero gate; if the model in hand is one of those, say so before the direction round and take the code-led path, or expect the run to end at the hero with its readings unmet.
 
 1. **spec.** Measure the comp: `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --grid` writes a coordinate grid over the comp; open it, name every salient region by grid span in a regions file (text and control regions snap to the largest ink mass inside their span, so a headline named B1:E4 measures as the headline and not the column beside it; `snap: false` keeps the span, and an explicit `box` is taken as drawn) (kind `plate` / `image` / `texture` for anything painted: every illustration, photograph, figure, product object, and material texture; `text` / `control` / `chrome` for what code draws; every region carries a `note` saying what the comp shows there, which the plate prompt and the gate messages read), and run `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --regions <file>`. The spec carries each region's box, sampled palette, and medium; `impeccable comp-spec --print` is the build's reference from here on. Type is measured, not guessed: `impeccable font-match --measure <text region>` reads the comp's cap height, width class, and weight off the pixels, and `impeccable font-match --rank <region> --text "..."` takes its candidates from a fingerprint index of the Google Fonts catalog (the nearest faces to the crop's shape) plus any names you pass with `--candidates`, renders them at that cap height with the region's words, and ranks them by fingerprint distance (its `USE` line is the CSS; its proof sheet shows the comp over the top three); with no browser resolvable it records the catalog's nearest face and says the size is estimated, which is still the choice to build on. Do not install a browser to rank, and never write a `chosen` face into the spec by hand: the gate accepts only what font-match wrote. The spec gate refuses to close until the lead text region is measured and ranked. A region note that describes painted material (a diagram, drawing, photograph, texture) under a code kind is refused at the spec: reclassify it as a plate, or reword the note if code really draws it. The script refuses a regions file that leaves comp ink unnamed (callouts, a parts table, a notes block): what is never named can never be missing, so everything the comp shows gets a region. It also refuses a `text` / `control` / `chrome` region larger than a quarter of the comp: that is a column, not an element, and a column scored as one region hides the plates, tables, and notes inside it. Name each element inside it (`container: true` only when it truly is one undivided element). Anything drawn is a plate: an inline SVG past an icon's budget (a diagram, notation, leader lines with arrows, a "quick approximation" of the artwork) is refused at the hero; icon-sized SVG (under 64px, a few paths) is fine, and a chart the page draws from data at runtime is a chart, not an illustration. Callout lines and arrows that annotate a drawing belong to that drawing's plate, with only their labels set as text. A crop of the comp is never a plate (the plates gate refuses a file that is a resample of the comp region: the comp's grain, its neighbours' edges, and its resolution would ship as the artwork); the crop is the reference the plate is generated from. A plate region's box has to hold its whole artwork with a margin: the spec measures the artwork's contact with the box edges and refuses a box that cuts through it (`bleed: true` only when the page really crops it there), because a plate placed with `object-fit: cover` on such a box shows the artwork minus the side the box lost. Anything not in the spec does not exist on the page: no borders, rules, containers, or chrome the comp does not show. Only three concessions exist: fonts (the closest obtainable face), icon glyphs (close enough, exact if the user chose an icon library; this covers the pictogram only, never a control's chrome, so a chevron, an arrow, a dropdown's border and fill, a button's shape are the comp's), and genuine defects in the comp such as spelling errors.
-2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (ink on flat ground is generated on a chroma key and keyed to alpha, so it sits on the page's own ground rather than a second paper); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable generate-image --plate <id>` does one region end to end and scores it against the crop; a harness-native image tool takes the crop (`impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>`) as its input image and `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as its prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt`. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
+2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (isolated ink, figures, or objects use native transparent PNG so they sit on the page's own ground; photos and textures stay opaque); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference; save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a prompt file for a cutout, or use `--background opaque` otherwise. Prefer the harness-native image tool with that crop and prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>`. The API fallback is `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` (use `--background opaque` for full-frame assets); create the output directory first. Verify actual alpha, white foregrounds, fine edges, and clear holes on light and dark grounds; do not chroma-key native output. The plates gate scores the assets against the comp; also inspect placement and scale visually. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
 3. **hero.** `impeccable build-phase scaffold` first: it writes the measured layout as CSS custom properties (`.impeccable/build/scaffold/layout.css`: `--r-<id>-x/y/w/h` in % of the comp, plus cap height, font-size, family, and weight where measured) and a reference page (`hero-reference.html`) with every region at its box and every plate placed. Bind the numbers to your own semantic structure, an element per region; the reference is a check on positions, never the page, and overlapping boxes are overlapping boxes. Then build only the first viewport, at the comp's own dimensions, the comp's words copied verbatim (the user approved that comp with those words; rewording is a stated decision after the hero passes, never a silent one inside it), every text region sized from its measured cap height and set in its ranked face, plates first: place every plate at its spec box (`object-fit: cover`, an `<img>`, a background image, or an inlined data URI named for it) before any text or control, capture into `.impeccable/review/hero-repro.png`, run `impeccable build-phase record hero` once so you see the plate regions read as match before any text exists, then lay the semantic layer over the plates from the spec's palette and boxes and advance. The gate first refuses while any plate is unreferenced by the source, then runs `impeccable comp-diff`, writes `.impeccable/review/diff/hero/` (side-by-side, heatmap, one paired crop per region, `report.json`), and passes at 72% overall with no hard veto outstanding (a missing region, a contradicted plate or text block, an SVG illustration, a clipped plate, invented ink block at any score); above the bar, the numeric readings become advisories printed with the pass, and the polish pass before responsive is where they get fixed: the gate also reads each text region's cap height, line count, weight, ink colour, and position against the comp, each chrome strip's height off its rule, and the frame for ink where the comp is calm (a kicker, an extra nav item, a divider), and says each miss as a number ("cap height 78px in the build, 103px in the comp"); those numbers are the edit. When it fails, open the region crops it lists, in order, before editing: a region scored `missing` needs its material, `contradicted` needs its structure re-derived from the spec box, `drift` is where size and spacing edits belong; the gate refuses a third attempt that only nudges values on the same region. This is where the run's ambition is won or lost, and a retry here costs minutes where a rebuild verdict at the finish costs the run.
 4. **sections.** Build the rest of the surface inside the spec's system: the same corner language, line weights, and palette, and nothing the comp never shows. Where the comp does not cover a region, it inherits the recorded system.
 5. **motion.** The signature interaction, reveals, and motion, orchestrated once rather than scattered.

.github/skills/impeccable/reference/visualize.md

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ What the comp shows is measured, not remembered. new-work.md section 6 runs the
 
 ## Plates and provenance
 
-Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (`impeccable generate-image --plate <id>`, or the harness image tool with the crop as input and the spec's plate prompt). Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
+Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (use `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` and save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` to a prompt file; pass the crop and prompt to the harness image tool, or use `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high`). For isolated cutouts, add `--background transparent` to both the plate-prompt and API generation commands; use native PNG alpha and preserve white paint and clear gaps. Use `--background opaque` for full-frame imagery. Create output directories first and inspect alpha on light and dark grounds. Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
 
 Convert images with a converter `impeccable context` reported at boot (the IMAGE_TOOLS line); probe only when it reported none, at most once per session, never per image.
 

.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.1.4
+0.1.5

.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable

@@ -87,6 +87,11 @@ fi
 # Last resort: fetch this version's binary for the current platform from the
 # public release channel into the user cache. Needs network; sandboxes without
 # egress preinstall the binary on PATH instead.
+setup_help() {
+  echo "Engine $version setup needs network access and write permission to $cache_root/bin/$version." >&2
+  echo "Run this launcher ($0) with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command." >&2
+  echo "Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary." >&2
+}
 fetch_url() {
   if command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     curl -fsSL --retry 2 -o "$tmp" "$1" 2>/dev/null
@@ -119,7 +124,18 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
   [ "$os" = windows ] && asset="$asset.exe"
   url="$base/engine-v$version/$asset"
   tmp="$cache_root/bin/$version/.impeccable.part.$$"
-  mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null
+  if ! mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot create cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
+  # Check the actual staging file, not just directory existence: a cache from
+  # an earlier run can be readable but no longer writable inside a sandbox.
+  if ! (umask 077; : > "$tmp") 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
   fetched=0
   if fetch_url "$url"; then
     fetched=1
@@ -180,6 +196,9 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
     exec "$cached" "$@"
   fi
   rm -f "$tmp" 2>/dev/null
+  echo "impeccable: could not download engine $version from $url; check network access, the release URL, and curl or wget availability." >&2
+  setup_help
+  exit 127
 fi
 
 echo "impeccable: no engine binary for $os-$arch found (looked in $bin, $cached, PATH)." >&2

.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable.cmd

@@ -68,18 +68,27 @@ rem another launcher's probe: fail fast and quiet instead.
 if defined IMPECCABLE_LAUNCHER_PROBE exit /b 127
 if not defined version goto fail
 where curl.exe >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto curl_missing
 if not defined IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE set "IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE=https://github.com/pbakaus/impeccable/releases/download"
-if not exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%\" goto cache_ready
+mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if errorlevel 1 goto cache_directory_failed
+:cache_ready
+rem Check the staging file too: an existing directory may be read-only.
+rem Redirection failures do not reliably update ERRORLEVEL in cmd.exe;
+rem branch on the command's failure directly. Never treat a directory as a
+rem staging file (later del cleanup would prompt to delete its contents).
+if exist "%cached%.part\" goto cache_write_failed
+(type nul >"%cached%.part") 2>nul || goto cache_write_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-%arch%.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
 if not errorlevel 1 goto verify
-if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto fail
+if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto download_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-x64.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto download_failed
 
 :verify
 call :check_download
@@ -176,6 +185,28 @@ if not errorlevel 1 set "probe_ok=1"
 del "%probe_tmp%" >nul 2>nul
 exit /b 0
 
+:cache_directory_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot create cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:cache_write_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:curl_missing
+echo impeccable: cannot download engine %version%; curl.exe is unavailable. 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:download_failed
+del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
+echo impeccable: could not download engine %version% from %url%; check network access and the release URL. 1>&2
+
+:setup_failed
+echo Engine %version% setup needs network access and write permission to "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%". 1>&2
+echo Run this launcher ("%~f0") with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command. 1>&2
+echo Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary. 1>&2
+exit /b 127
+
 :fail
 del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
 echo impeccable: no engine binary found (looked in %bin%, %cached%, PATH). 1>&2

.grok/agents/impeccable-asset-producer.md

@@ -31,12 +31,12 @@ Every region with `medium: raster` in the spec ships as a plate at its `plate` p
 Per region, in the spec's order:
 
 1. `.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference crop under `.impeccable/build/crops/`.
-2. Produce the plate. With the API fallback: `.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --plate <id> --quality high` does the whole step (crop as reference, the spec's plate prompt, output size chosen from the region's aspect, the file written to its plate path, prompt embedded, and the plate scored against the crop). With a harness-native image tool: use the crop as the input image and `.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as the prompt, write the result to the plate path, then run `.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt "<the exact prompt>"`.
-3. Read the score line. `PLATE-SCORE` under 50%, or a `PLATE-WARN`, means the plate does not read as the region: open the plate beside the crop, name what drifted (subject, framing, palette, style), tighten the prompt with that, and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and say why in one line.
-4. Transparent cutouts (a figure or object on the page ground): generate on a flat chroma color absent from the subject and key it to alpha before writing the PNG; never ship the keyed background.
+2. Choose the background from the approved region: an isolated figure, object, or line drawing on the page ground is a **transparent cutout**; a photograph, full-frame illustration, or texture stays **opaque**. Save `.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a UTF-8 prompt file for a cutout; use `--background opaque` otherwise. The transparent prompt preserves reference placement and clear margins, white paint, fine edges, and interior holes.
+3. Produce the plate at its exact spec `plate` path. Create the output directory first and choose a supported output size matching the region's aspect, at least 1.5x its pixel dimensions. Prefer the harness-native image tool with the crop as input and the saved prompt; request a transparent PNG for cutouts, then run `.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>` (if you refine the prompt, save and embed the exact text sent). With the API fallback, run `.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` for a cutout, or `--background opaque` otherwise. The API fallback embeds the prompt and records the background in the sidecar. The output must be PNG; the fallback requests native alpha and performs no chroma-keying.
+4. Open the plate beside the crop and compare subject, placement, scale, palette, and style. For cutouts, verify a real alpha channel and inspect composites on light and dark grounds: white paint must stay solid, interior holes must clear, and fine edges must avoid halos. Inspect glass and soft shadows carefully; partial alpha alone does not ensure convincing translucency. Never chroma-key native transparent output or flatten it before saving. If a native tool returns opaque pixels or a painted checkerboard, retry with the API fallback when available; otherwise report the transparency blocker. On a visual miss, tighten the prompt and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and name the drift. The parent runs the plates gate after all assets exist; report `unscored` until a gate score is available.
 
 Do not redesign. Do not add objects, restyle, or reinterpret; the comp was approved as it is. Do not touch the page code, the spec, or the comp. Do not produce anything the spec does not list; a region the parent forgot goes back as a one-line note, not a plate.
 
 ## Output Contract
 
-Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score>% <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; your line and its line must agree.
+Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score%|unscored> <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; a visual acceptance does not override a failing gate.

.grok/skills/impeccable/SKILL.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 name: impeccable
 description: Use when the user wants to design, redesign, shape, critique, audit, polish, clarify, distill, harden, optimize, adapt, animate, colorize, extract, or otherwise improve a frontend interface. Covers websites, landing pages, dashboards, product UI, app shells, components, forms, settings, onboarding, and empty states. Handles UX review, visual hierarchy, information architecture, cognitive load, accessibility, performance, responsive behavior, theming, anti-patterns, typography, fonts, spacing, layout, alignment, color, motion, micro-interactions, UX copy, error states, edge cases, i18n, and reusable design systems or tokens. Also use for bland designs that need to become bolder or more delightful, loud designs that should become quieter, live browser iteration on UI elements, or ambitious visual effects that should feel technically extraordinary. Not for backend-only or non-UI tasks.
-version: 4.2.3
+version: 4.3.1
 user-invocable: true
 argument-hint: "[shape · audit|critique · animate|bolder|colorize|delight|layout|overdrive|quieter|typeset · adapt|clarify|distill · harden|onboard|optimize|polish · init|document|extract|live] [target]"
 license: Apache 2.0

.grok/skills/impeccable/reference/degraded/asset-producer.md

@@ -26,12 +26,12 @@ Every region with `medium: raster` in the spec ships as a plate at its `plate` p
 Per region, in the spec's order:
 
 1. `.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference crop under `.impeccable/build/crops/`.
-2. Produce the plate. With the API fallback: `.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --plate <id> --quality high` does the whole step (crop as reference, the spec's plate prompt, output size chosen from the region's aspect, the file written to its plate path, prompt embedded, and the plate scored against the crop). With a harness-native image tool: use the crop as the input image and `.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as the prompt, write the result to the plate path, then run `.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt "<the exact prompt>"`.
-3. Read the score line. `PLATE-SCORE` under 50%, or a `PLATE-WARN`, means the plate does not read as the region: open the plate beside the crop, name what drifted (subject, framing, palette, style), tighten the prompt with that, and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and say why in one line.
-4. Transparent cutouts (a figure or object on the page ground): generate on a flat chroma color absent from the subject and key it to alpha before writing the PNG; never ship the keyed background.
+2. Choose the background from the approved region: an isolated figure, object, or line drawing on the page ground is a **transparent cutout**; a photograph, full-frame illustration, or texture stays **opaque**. Save `.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a UTF-8 prompt file for a cutout; use `--background opaque` otherwise. The transparent prompt preserves reference placement and clear margins, white paint, fine edges, and interior holes.
+3. Produce the plate at its exact spec `plate` path. Create the output directory first and choose a supported output size matching the region's aspect, at least 1.5x its pixel dimensions. Prefer the harness-native image tool with the crop as input and the saved prompt; request a transparent PNG for cutouts, then run `.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>` (if you refine the prompt, save and embed the exact text sent). With the API fallback, run `.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` for a cutout, or `--background opaque` otherwise. The API fallback embeds the prompt and records the background in the sidecar. The output must be PNG; the fallback requests native alpha and performs no chroma-keying.
+4. Open the plate beside the crop and compare subject, placement, scale, palette, and style. For cutouts, verify a real alpha channel and inspect composites on light and dark grounds: white paint must stay solid, interior holes must clear, and fine edges must avoid halos. Inspect glass and soft shadows carefully; partial alpha alone does not ensure convincing translucency. Never chroma-key native transparent output or flatten it before saving. If a native tool returns opaque pixels or a painted checkerboard, retry with the API fallback when available; otherwise report the transparency blocker. On a visual miss, tighten the prompt and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and name the drift. The parent runs the plates gate after all assets exist; report `unscored` until a gate score is available.
 
 Do not redesign. Do not add objects, restyle, or reinterpret; the comp was approved as it is. Do not touch the page code, the spec, or the comp. Do not produce anything the spec does not list; a region the parent forgot goes back as a one-line note, not a plate.
 
 ## Output Contract
 
-Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score>% <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; your line and its line must agree.
+Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score%|unscored> <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; a visual acceptance does not override a failing gate.

.grok/skills/impeccable/reference/new-work.md

@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ Then, in order, each closed by `.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable build
 The comp-led path is a frontier-tier job: it asks the builder to hold a measured layout, place plates at their boxes, and act on numeric readings across a dozen attempts. Smaller or faster models produce a recognisable page and stall under the hero gate; if the model in hand is one of those, say so before the direction round and take the code-led path, or expect the run to end at the hero with its readings unmet.
 
 1. **spec.** Measure the comp: `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --grid` writes a coordinate grid over the comp; open it, name every salient region by grid span in a regions file (text and control regions snap to the largest ink mass inside their span, so a headline named B1:E4 measures as the headline and not the column beside it; `snap: false` keeps the span, and an explicit `box` is taken as drawn) (kind `plate` / `image` / `texture` for anything painted: every illustration, photograph, figure, product object, and material texture; `text` / `control` / `chrome` for what code draws; every region carries a `note` saying what the comp shows there, which the plate prompt and the gate messages read), and run `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --regions <file>`. The spec carries each region's box, sampled palette, and medium; `impeccable comp-spec --print` is the build's reference from here on. Type is measured, not guessed: `impeccable font-match --measure <text region>` reads the comp's cap height, width class, and weight off the pixels, and `impeccable font-match --rank <region> --text "..."` takes its candidates from a fingerprint index of the Google Fonts catalog (the nearest faces to the crop's shape) plus any names you pass with `--candidates`, renders them at that cap height with the region's words, and ranks them by fingerprint distance (its `USE` line is the CSS; its proof sheet shows the comp over the top three); with no browser resolvable it records the catalog's nearest face and says the size is estimated, which is still the choice to build on. Do not install a browser to rank, and never write a `chosen` face into the spec by hand: the gate accepts only what font-match wrote. The spec gate refuses to close until the lead text region is measured and ranked. A region note that describes painted material (a diagram, drawing, photograph, texture) under a code kind is refused at the spec: reclassify it as a plate, or reword the note if code really draws it. The script refuses a regions file that leaves comp ink unnamed (callouts, a parts table, a notes block): what is never named can never be missing, so everything the comp shows gets a region. It also refuses a `text` / `control` / `chrome` region larger than a quarter of the comp: that is a column, not an element, and a column scored as one region hides the plates, tables, and notes inside it. Name each element inside it (`container: true` only when it truly is one undivided element). Anything drawn is a plate: an inline SVG past an icon's budget (a diagram, notation, leader lines with arrows, a "quick approximation" of the artwork) is refused at the hero; icon-sized SVG (under 64px, a few paths) is fine, and a chart the page draws from data at runtime is a chart, not an illustration. Callout lines and arrows that annotate a drawing belong to that drawing's plate, with only their labels set as text. A crop of the comp is never a plate (the plates gate refuses a file that is a resample of the comp region: the comp's grain, its neighbours' edges, and its resolution would ship as the artwork); the crop is the reference the plate is generated from. A plate region's box has to hold its whole artwork with a margin: the spec measures the artwork's contact with the box edges and refuses a box that cuts through it (`bleed: true` only when the page really crops it there), because a plate placed with `object-fit: cover` on such a box shows the artwork minus the side the box lost. Anything not in the spec does not exist on the page: no borders, rules, containers, or chrome the comp does not show. Only three concessions exist: fonts (the closest obtainable face), icon glyphs (close enough, exact if the user chose an icon library; this covers the pictogram only, never a control's chrome, so a chevron, an arrow, a dropdown's border and fill, a button's shape are the comp's), and genuine defects in the comp such as spelling errors.
-2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (ink on flat ground is generated on a chroma key and keyed to alpha, so it sits on the page's own ground rather than a second paper); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable generate-image --plate <id>` does one region end to end and scores it against the crop; a harness-native image tool takes the crop (`impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>`) as its input image and `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as its prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt`. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
+2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (isolated ink, figures, or objects use native transparent PNG so they sit on the page's own ground; photos and textures stay opaque); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference; save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a prompt file for a cutout, or use `--background opaque` otherwise. Prefer the harness-native image tool with that crop and prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>`. The API fallback is `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` (use `--background opaque` for full-frame assets); create the output directory first. Verify actual alpha, white foregrounds, fine edges, and clear holes on light and dark grounds; do not chroma-key native output. The plates gate scores the assets against the comp; also inspect placement and scale visually. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
 3. **hero.** `impeccable build-phase scaffold` first: it writes the measured layout as CSS custom properties (`.impeccable/build/scaffold/layout.css`: `--r-<id>-x/y/w/h` in % of the comp, plus cap height, font-size, family, and weight where measured) and a reference page (`hero-reference.html`) with every region at its box and every plate placed. Bind the numbers to your own semantic structure, an element per region; the reference is a check on positions, never the page, and overlapping boxes are overlapping boxes. Then build only the first viewport, at the comp's own dimensions, the comp's words copied verbatim (the user approved that comp with those words; rewording is a stated decision after the hero passes, never a silent one inside it), every text region sized from its measured cap height and set in its ranked face, plates first: place every plate at its spec box (`object-fit: cover`, an `<img>`, a background image, or an inlined data URI named for it) before any text or control, capture into `.impeccable/review/hero-repro.png`, run `impeccable build-phase record hero` once so you see the plate regions read as match before any text exists, then lay the semantic layer over the plates from the spec's palette and boxes and advance. The gate first refuses while any plate is unreferenced by the source, then runs `impeccable comp-diff`, writes `.impeccable/review/diff/hero/` (side-by-side, heatmap, one paired crop per region, `report.json`), and passes at 72% overall with no hard veto outstanding (a missing region, a contradicted plate or text block, an SVG illustration, a clipped plate, invented ink block at any score); above the bar, the numeric readings become advisories printed with the pass, and the polish pass before responsive is where they get fixed: the gate also reads each text region's cap height, line count, weight, ink colour, and position against the comp, each chrome strip's height off its rule, and the frame for ink where the comp is calm (a kicker, an extra nav item, a divider), and says each miss as a number ("cap height 78px in the build, 103px in the comp"); those numbers are the edit. When it fails, open the region crops it lists, in order, before editing: a region scored `missing` needs its material, `contradicted` needs its structure re-derived from the spec box, `drift` is where size and spacing edits belong; the gate refuses a third attempt that only nudges values on the same region. This is where the run's ambition is won or lost, and a retry here costs minutes where a rebuild verdict at the finish costs the run.
 4. **sections.** Build the rest of the surface inside the spec's system: the same corner language, line weights, and palette, and nothing the comp never shows. Where the comp does not cover a region, it inherits the recorded system.
 5. **motion.** The signature interaction, reveals, and motion, orchestrated once rather than scattered.

.grok/skills/impeccable/reference/visualize.md

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ What the comp shows is measured, not remembered. new-work.md section 6 runs the
 
 ## Plates and provenance
 
-Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (`impeccable generate-image --plate <id>`, or the harness image tool with the crop as input and the spec's plate prompt). Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
+Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (use `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` and save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` to a prompt file; pass the crop and prompt to the harness image tool, or use `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high`). For isolated cutouts, add `--background transparent` to both the plate-prompt and API generation commands; use native PNG alpha and preserve white paint and clear gaps. Use `--background opaque` for full-frame imagery. Create output directories first and inspect alpha on light and dark grounds. Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
 
 Convert images with a converter `impeccable context` reported at boot (the IMAGE_TOOLS line); probe only when it reported none, at most once per session, never per image.
 

.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.1.4
+0.1.5

.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable

@@ -87,6 +87,11 @@ fi
 # Last resort: fetch this version's binary for the current platform from the
 # public release channel into the user cache. Needs network; sandboxes without
 # egress preinstall the binary on PATH instead.
+setup_help() {
+  echo "Engine $version setup needs network access and write permission to $cache_root/bin/$version." >&2
+  echo "Run this launcher ($0) with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command." >&2
+  echo "Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary." >&2
+}
 fetch_url() {
   if command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     curl -fsSL --retry 2 -o "$tmp" "$1" 2>/dev/null
@@ -119,7 +124,18 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
   [ "$os" = windows ] && asset="$asset.exe"
   url="$base/engine-v$version/$asset"
   tmp="$cache_root/bin/$version/.impeccable.part.$$"
-  mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null
+  if ! mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot create cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
+  # Check the actual staging file, not just directory existence: a cache from
+  # an earlier run can be readable but no longer writable inside a sandbox.
+  if ! (umask 077; : > "$tmp") 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
   fetched=0
   if fetch_url "$url"; then
     fetched=1
@@ -180,6 +196,9 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
     exec "$cached" "$@"
   fi
   rm -f "$tmp" 2>/dev/null
+  echo "impeccable: could not download engine $version from $url; check network access, the release URL, and curl or wget availability." >&2
+  setup_help
+  exit 127
 fi
 
 echo "impeccable: no engine binary for $os-$arch found (looked in $bin, $cached, PATH)." >&2

.grok/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable.cmd

@@ -68,18 +68,27 @@ rem another launcher's probe: fail fast and quiet instead.
 if defined IMPECCABLE_LAUNCHER_PROBE exit /b 127
 if not defined version goto fail
 where curl.exe >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto curl_missing
 if not defined IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE set "IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE=https://github.com/pbakaus/impeccable/releases/download"
-if not exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%\" goto cache_ready
+mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if errorlevel 1 goto cache_directory_failed
+:cache_ready
+rem Check the staging file too: an existing directory may be read-only.
+rem Redirection failures do not reliably update ERRORLEVEL in cmd.exe;
+rem branch on the command's failure directly. Never treat a directory as a
+rem staging file (later del cleanup would prompt to delete its contents).
+if exist "%cached%.part\" goto cache_write_failed
+(type nul >"%cached%.part") 2>nul || goto cache_write_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-%arch%.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
 if not errorlevel 1 goto verify
-if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto fail
+if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto download_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-x64.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto download_failed
 
 :verify
 call :check_download
@@ -176,6 +185,28 @@ if not errorlevel 1 set "probe_ok=1"
 del "%probe_tmp%" >nul 2>nul
 exit /b 0
 
+:cache_directory_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot create cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:cache_write_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:curl_missing
+echo impeccable: cannot download engine %version%; curl.exe is unavailable. 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:download_failed
+del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
+echo impeccable: could not download engine %version% from %url%; check network access and the release URL. 1>&2
+
+:setup_failed
+echo Engine %version% setup needs network access and write permission to "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%". 1>&2
+echo Run this launcher ("%~f0") with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command. 1>&2
+echo Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary. 1>&2
+exit /b 127
+
 :fail
 del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
 echo impeccable: no engine binary found (looked in %bin%, %cached%, PATH). 1>&2

.hermes/skills/impeccable/SKILL.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 name: impeccable
 description: Use when the user wants to design, redesign, shape, critique, audit, polish, clarify, distill, harden, optimize, adapt, animate, colorize, extract, or otherwise improve a frontend interface. Covers websites, landing pages, dashboards, product UI, app shells, components, forms, settings, onboarding, and empty states. Handles UX review, visual hierarchy, information architecture, cognitive load, accessibility, performance, responsive behavior, theming, anti-patterns, typography, fonts, spacing, layout, alignment, color, motion, micro-interactions, UX copy, error states, edge cases, i18n, and reusable design systems or tokens. Also use for bland designs that need to become bolder or more delightful, loud designs that should become quieter, live browser iteration on UI elements, or ambitious visual effects that should feel technically extraordinary. Not for backend-only or non-UI tasks.
-version: 4.2.3
+version: 4.3.1
 license: Apache 2.0
 ---
 

.hermes/skills/impeccable/reference/degraded/asset-producer.md

@@ -26,12 +26,12 @@ Every region with `medium: raster` in the spec ships as a plate at its `plate` p
 Per region, in the spec's order:
 
 1. `.hermes/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference crop under `.impeccable/build/crops/`.
-2. Produce the plate. With the API fallback: `.hermes/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --plate <id> --quality high` does the whole step (crop as reference, the spec's plate prompt, output size chosen from the region's aspect, the file written to its plate path, prompt embedded, and the plate scored against the crop). With a harness-native image tool: use the crop as the input image and `.hermes/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as the prompt, write the result to the plate path, then run `.hermes/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt "<the exact prompt>"`.
-3. Read the score line. `PLATE-SCORE` under 50%, or a `PLATE-WARN`, means the plate does not read as the region: open the plate beside the crop, name what drifted (subject, framing, palette, style), tighten the prompt with that, and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and say why in one line.
-4. Transparent cutouts (a figure or object on the page ground): generate on a flat chroma color absent from the subject and key it to alpha before writing the PNG; never ship the keyed background.
+2. Choose the background from the approved region: an isolated figure, object, or line drawing on the page ground is a **transparent cutout**; a photograph, full-frame illustration, or texture stays **opaque**. Save `.hermes/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a UTF-8 prompt file for a cutout; use `--background opaque` otherwise. The transparent prompt preserves reference placement and clear margins, white paint, fine edges, and interior holes.
+3. Produce the plate at its exact spec `plate` path. Create the output directory first and choose a supported output size matching the region's aspect, at least 1.5x its pixel dimensions. Prefer the harness-native image tool with the crop as input and the saved prompt; request a transparent PNG for cutouts, then run `.hermes/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>` (if you refine the prompt, save and embed the exact text sent). With the API fallback, run `.hermes/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` for a cutout, or `--background opaque` otherwise. The API fallback embeds the prompt and records the background in the sidecar. The output must be PNG; the fallback requests native alpha and performs no chroma-keying.
+4. Open the plate beside the crop and compare subject, placement, scale, palette, and style. For cutouts, verify a real alpha channel and inspect composites on light and dark grounds: white paint must stay solid, interior holes must clear, and fine edges must avoid halos. Inspect glass and soft shadows carefully; partial alpha alone does not ensure convincing translucency. Never chroma-key native transparent output or flatten it before saving. If a native tool returns opaque pixels or a painted checkerboard, retry with the API fallback when available; otherwise report the transparency blocker. On a visual miss, tighten the prompt and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and name the drift. The parent runs the plates gate after all assets exist; report `unscored` until a gate score is available.
 
 Do not redesign. Do not add objects, restyle, or reinterpret; the comp was approved as it is. Do not touch the page code, the spec, or the comp. Do not produce anything the spec does not list; a region the parent forgot goes back as a one-line note, not a plate.
 
 ## Output Contract
 
-Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score>% <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; your line and its line must agree.
+Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score%|unscored> <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; a visual acceptance does not override a failing gate.

.hermes/skills/impeccable/reference/new-work.md

@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ Then, in order, each closed by `.hermes/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable bui
 The comp-led path is a frontier-tier job: it asks the builder to hold a measured layout, place plates at their boxes, and act on numeric readings across a dozen attempts. Smaller or faster models produce a recognisable page and stall under the hero gate; if the model in hand is one of those, say so before the direction round and take the code-led path, or expect the run to end at the hero with its readings unmet.
 
 1. **spec.** Measure the comp: `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --grid` writes a coordinate grid over the comp; open it, name every salient region by grid span in a regions file (text and control regions snap to the largest ink mass inside their span, so a headline named B1:E4 measures as the headline and not the column beside it; `snap: false` keeps the span, and an explicit `box` is taken as drawn) (kind `plate` / `image` / `texture` for anything painted: every illustration, photograph, figure, product object, and material texture; `text` / `control` / `chrome` for what code draws; every region carries a `note` saying what the comp shows there, which the plate prompt and the gate messages read), and run `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --regions <file>`. The spec carries each region's box, sampled palette, and medium; `impeccable comp-spec --print` is the build's reference from here on. Type is measured, not guessed: `impeccable font-match --measure <text region>` reads the comp's cap height, width class, and weight off the pixels, and `impeccable font-match --rank <region> --text "..."` takes its candidates from a fingerprint index of the Google Fonts catalog (the nearest faces to the crop's shape) plus any names you pass with `--candidates`, renders them at that cap height with the region's words, and ranks them by fingerprint distance (its `USE` line is the CSS; its proof sheet shows the comp over the top three); with no browser resolvable it records the catalog's nearest face and says the size is estimated, which is still the choice to build on. Do not install a browser to rank, and never write a `chosen` face into the spec by hand: the gate accepts only what font-match wrote. The spec gate refuses to close until the lead text region is measured and ranked. A region note that describes painted material (a diagram, drawing, photograph, texture) under a code kind is refused at the spec: reclassify it as a plate, or reword the note if code really draws it. The script refuses a regions file that leaves comp ink unnamed (callouts, a parts table, a notes block): what is never named can never be missing, so everything the comp shows gets a region. It also refuses a `text` / `control` / `chrome` region larger than a quarter of the comp: that is a column, not an element, and a column scored as one region hides the plates, tables, and notes inside it. Name each element inside it (`container: true` only when it truly is one undivided element). Anything drawn is a plate: an inline SVG past an icon's budget (a diagram, notation, leader lines with arrows, a "quick approximation" of the artwork) is refused at the hero; icon-sized SVG (under 64px, a few paths) is fine, and a chart the page draws from data at runtime is a chart, not an illustration. Callout lines and arrows that annotate a drawing belong to that drawing's plate, with only their labels set as text. A crop of the comp is never a plate (the plates gate refuses a file that is a resample of the comp region: the comp's grain, its neighbours' edges, and its resolution would ship as the artwork); the crop is the reference the plate is generated from. A plate region's box has to hold its whole artwork with a margin: the spec measures the artwork's contact with the box edges and refuses a box that cuts through it (`bleed: true` only when the page really crops it there), because a plate placed with `object-fit: cover` on such a box shows the artwork minus the side the box lost. Anything not in the spec does not exist on the page: no borders, rules, containers, or chrome the comp does not show. Only three concessions exist: fonts (the closest obtainable face), icon glyphs (close enough, exact if the user chose an icon library; this covers the pictogram only, never a control's chrome, so a chevron, an arrow, a dropdown's border and fill, a button's shape are the comp's), and genuine defects in the comp such as spelling errors.
-2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (ink on flat ground is generated on a chroma key and keyed to alpha, so it sits on the page's own ground rather than a second paper); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable generate-image --plate <id>` does one region end to end and scores it against the crop; a harness-native image tool takes the crop (`impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>`) as its input image and `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as its prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt`. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
+2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (isolated ink, figures, or objects use native transparent PNG so they sit on the page's own ground; photos and textures stay opaque); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference; save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a prompt file for a cutout, or use `--background opaque` otherwise. Prefer the harness-native image tool with that crop and prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>`. The API fallback is `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` (use `--background opaque` for full-frame assets); create the output directory first. Verify actual alpha, white foregrounds, fine edges, and clear holes on light and dark grounds; do not chroma-key native output. The plates gate scores the assets against the comp; also inspect placement and scale visually. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
 3. **hero.** `impeccable build-phase scaffold` first: it writes the measured layout as CSS custom properties (`.impeccable/build/scaffold/layout.css`: `--r-<id>-x/y/w/h` in % of the comp, plus cap height, font-size, family, and weight where measured) and a reference page (`hero-reference.html`) with every region at its box and every plate placed. Bind the numbers to your own semantic structure, an element per region; the reference is a check on positions, never the page, and overlapping boxes are overlapping boxes. Then build only the first viewport, at the comp's own dimensions, the comp's words copied verbatim (the user approved that comp with those words; rewording is a stated decision after the hero passes, never a silent one inside it), every text region sized from its measured cap height and set in its ranked face, plates first: place every plate at its spec box (`object-fit: cover`, an `<img>`, a background image, or an inlined data URI named for it) before any text or control, capture into `.impeccable/review/hero-repro.png`, run `impeccable build-phase record hero` once so you see the plate regions read as match before any text exists, then lay the semantic layer over the plates from the spec's palette and boxes and advance. The gate first refuses while any plate is unreferenced by the source, then runs `impeccable comp-diff`, writes `.impeccable/review/diff/hero/` (side-by-side, heatmap, one paired crop per region, `report.json`), and passes at 72% overall with no hard veto outstanding (a missing region, a contradicted plate or text block, an SVG illustration, a clipped plate, invented ink block at any score); above the bar, the numeric readings become advisories printed with the pass, and the polish pass before responsive is where they get fixed: the gate also reads each text region's cap height, line count, weight, ink colour, and position against the comp, each chrome strip's height off its rule, and the frame for ink where the comp is calm (a kicker, an extra nav item, a divider), and says each miss as a number ("cap height 78px in the build, 103px in the comp"); those numbers are the edit. When it fails, open the region crops it lists, in order, before editing: a region scored `missing` needs its material, `contradicted` needs its structure re-derived from the spec box, `drift` is where size and spacing edits belong; the gate refuses a third attempt that only nudges values on the same region. This is where the run's ambition is won or lost, and a retry here costs minutes where a rebuild verdict at the finish costs the run.
 4. **sections.** Build the rest of the surface inside the spec's system: the same corner language, line weights, and palette, and nothing the comp never shows. Where the comp does not cover a region, it inherits the recorded system.
 5. **motion.** The signature interaction, reveals, and motion, orchestrated once rather than scattered.

.hermes/skills/impeccable/reference/visualize.md

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ What the comp shows is measured, not remembered. new-work.md section 6 runs the
 
 ## Plates and provenance
 
-Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (`impeccable generate-image --plate <id>`, or the harness image tool with the crop as input and the spec's plate prompt). Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.hermes/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
+Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (use `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` and save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` to a prompt file; pass the crop and prompt to the harness image tool, or use `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high`). For isolated cutouts, add `--background transparent` to both the plate-prompt and API generation commands; use native PNG alpha and preserve white paint and clear gaps. Use `--background opaque` for full-frame imagery. Create output directories first and inspect alpha on light and dark grounds. Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.hermes/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
 
 Convert images with a converter `impeccable context` reported at boot (the IMAGE_TOOLS line); probe only when it reported none, at most once per session, never per image.
 

.hermes/skills/impeccable/scripts/VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.1.4
+0.1.5

.hermes/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable

@@ -87,6 +87,11 @@ fi
 # Last resort: fetch this version's binary for the current platform from the
 # public release channel into the user cache. Needs network; sandboxes without
 # egress preinstall the binary on PATH instead.
+setup_help() {
+  echo "Engine $version setup needs network access and write permission to $cache_root/bin/$version." >&2
+  echo "Run this launcher ($0) with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command." >&2
+  echo "Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary." >&2
+}
 fetch_url() {
   if command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     curl -fsSL --retry 2 -o "$tmp" "$1" 2>/dev/null
@@ -119,7 +124,18 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
   [ "$os" = windows ] && asset="$asset.exe"
   url="$base/engine-v$version/$asset"
   tmp="$cache_root/bin/$version/.impeccable.part.$$"
-  mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null
+  if ! mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot create cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
+  # Check the actual staging file, not just directory existence: a cache from
+  # an earlier run can be readable but no longer writable inside a sandbox.
+  if ! (umask 077; : > "$tmp") 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
   fetched=0
   if fetch_url "$url"; then
     fetched=1
@@ -180,6 +196,9 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
     exec "$cached" "$@"
   fi
   rm -f "$tmp" 2>/dev/null
+  echo "impeccable: could not download engine $version from $url; check network access, the release URL, and curl or wget availability." >&2
+  setup_help
+  exit 127
 fi
 
 echo "impeccable: no engine binary for $os-$arch found (looked in $bin, $cached, PATH)." >&2

.hermes/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable.cmd

@@ -68,18 +68,27 @@ rem another launcher's probe: fail fast and quiet instead.
 if defined IMPECCABLE_LAUNCHER_PROBE exit /b 127
 if not defined version goto fail
 where curl.exe >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto curl_missing
 if not defined IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE set "IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE=https://github.com/pbakaus/impeccable/releases/download"
-if not exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%\" goto cache_ready
+mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if errorlevel 1 goto cache_directory_failed
+:cache_ready
+rem Check the staging file too: an existing directory may be read-only.
+rem Redirection failures do not reliably update ERRORLEVEL in cmd.exe;
+rem branch on the command's failure directly. Never treat a directory as a
+rem staging file (later del cleanup would prompt to delete its contents).
+if exist "%cached%.part\" goto cache_write_failed
+(type nul >"%cached%.part") 2>nul || goto cache_write_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-%arch%.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
 if not errorlevel 1 goto verify
-if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto fail
+if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto download_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-x64.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto download_failed
 
 :verify
 call :check_download
@@ -176,6 +185,28 @@ if not errorlevel 1 set "probe_ok=1"
 del "%probe_tmp%" >nul 2>nul
 exit /b 0
 
+:cache_directory_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot create cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:cache_write_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:curl_missing
+echo impeccable: cannot download engine %version%; curl.exe is unavailable. 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:download_failed
+del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
+echo impeccable: could not download engine %version% from %url%; check network access and the release URL. 1>&2
+
+:setup_failed
+echo Engine %version% setup needs network access and write permission to "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%". 1>&2
+echo Run this launcher ("%~f0") with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command. 1>&2
+echo Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary. 1>&2
+exit /b 127
+
 :fail
 del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
 echo impeccable: no engine binary found (looked in %bin%, %cached%, PATH). 1>&2

.kiro/skills/impeccable/SKILL.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 name: impeccable
 description: Use when the user wants to design, redesign, shape, critique, audit, polish, clarify, distill, harden, optimize, adapt, animate, colorize, extract, or otherwise improve a frontend interface. Covers websites, landing pages, dashboards, product UI, app shells, components, forms, settings, onboarding, and empty states. Handles UX review, visual hierarchy, information architecture, cognitive load, accessibility, performance, responsive behavior, theming, anti-patterns, typography, fonts, spacing, layout, alignment, color, motion, micro-interactions, UX copy, error states, edge cases, i18n, and reusable design systems or tokens. Also use for bland designs that need to become bolder or more delightful, loud designs that should become quieter, live browser iteration on UI elements, or ambitious visual effects that should feel technically extraordinary. Not for backend-only or non-UI tasks.
-version: 4.2.3
+version: 4.3.1
 license: Apache 2.0
 ---
 

.kiro/skills/impeccable/reference/degraded/asset-producer.md

@@ -26,12 +26,12 @@ Every region with `medium: raster` in the spec ships as a plate at its `plate` p
 Per region, in the spec's order:
 
 1. `.kiro/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference crop under `.impeccable/build/crops/`.
-2. Produce the plate. With the API fallback: `.kiro/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --plate <id> --quality high` does the whole step (crop as reference, the spec's plate prompt, output size chosen from the region's aspect, the file written to its plate path, prompt embedded, and the plate scored against the crop). With a harness-native image tool: use the crop as the input image and `.kiro/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as the prompt, write the result to the plate path, then run `.kiro/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt "<the exact prompt>"`.
-3. Read the score line. `PLATE-SCORE` under 50%, or a `PLATE-WARN`, means the plate does not read as the region: open the plate beside the crop, name what drifted (subject, framing, palette, style), tighten the prompt with that, and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and say why in one line.
-4. Transparent cutouts (a figure or object on the page ground): generate on a flat chroma color absent from the subject and key it to alpha before writing the PNG; never ship the keyed background.
+2. Choose the background from the approved region: an isolated figure, object, or line drawing on the page ground is a **transparent cutout**; a photograph, full-frame illustration, or texture stays **opaque**. Save `.kiro/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a UTF-8 prompt file for a cutout; use `--background opaque` otherwise. The transparent prompt preserves reference placement and clear margins, white paint, fine edges, and interior holes.
+3. Produce the plate at its exact spec `plate` path. Create the output directory first and choose a supported output size matching the region's aspect, at least 1.5x its pixel dimensions. Prefer the harness-native image tool with the crop as input and the saved prompt; request a transparent PNG for cutouts, then run `.kiro/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>` (if you refine the prompt, save and embed the exact text sent). With the API fallback, run `.kiro/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` for a cutout, or `--background opaque` otherwise. The API fallback embeds the prompt and records the background in the sidecar. The output must be PNG; the fallback requests native alpha and performs no chroma-keying.
+4. Open the plate beside the crop and compare subject, placement, scale, palette, and style. For cutouts, verify a real alpha channel and inspect composites on light and dark grounds: white paint must stay solid, interior holes must clear, and fine edges must avoid halos. Inspect glass and soft shadows carefully; partial alpha alone does not ensure convincing translucency. Never chroma-key native transparent output or flatten it before saving. If a native tool returns opaque pixels or a painted checkerboard, retry with the API fallback when available; otherwise report the transparency blocker. On a visual miss, tighten the prompt and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and name the drift. The parent runs the plates gate after all assets exist; report `unscored` until a gate score is available.
 
 Do not redesign. Do not add objects, restyle, or reinterpret; the comp was approved as it is. Do not touch the page code, the spec, or the comp. Do not produce anything the spec does not list; a region the parent forgot goes back as a one-line note, not a plate.
 
 ## Output Contract
 
-Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score>% <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; your line and its line must agree.
+Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score%|unscored> <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; a visual acceptance does not override a failing gate.

.kiro/skills/impeccable/reference/new-work.md

@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ Then, in order, each closed by `.kiro/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable build
 The comp-led path is a frontier-tier job: it asks the builder to hold a measured layout, place plates at their boxes, and act on numeric readings across a dozen attempts. Smaller or faster models produce a recognisable page and stall under the hero gate; if the model in hand is one of those, say so before the direction round and take the code-led path, or expect the run to end at the hero with its readings unmet.
 
 1. **spec.** Measure the comp: `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --grid` writes a coordinate grid over the comp; open it, name every salient region by grid span in a regions file (text and control regions snap to the largest ink mass inside their span, so a headline named B1:E4 measures as the headline and not the column beside it; `snap: false` keeps the span, and an explicit `box` is taken as drawn) (kind `plate` / `image` / `texture` for anything painted: every illustration, photograph, figure, product object, and material texture; `text` / `control` / `chrome` for what code draws; every region carries a `note` saying what the comp shows there, which the plate prompt and the gate messages read), and run `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --regions <file>`. The spec carries each region's box, sampled palette, and medium; `impeccable comp-spec --print` is the build's reference from here on. Type is measured, not guessed: `impeccable font-match --measure <text region>` reads the comp's cap height, width class, and weight off the pixels, and `impeccable font-match --rank <region> --text "..."` takes its candidates from a fingerprint index of the Google Fonts catalog (the nearest faces to the crop's shape) plus any names you pass with `--candidates`, renders them at that cap height with the region's words, and ranks them by fingerprint distance (its `USE` line is the CSS; its proof sheet shows the comp over the top three); with no browser resolvable it records the catalog's nearest face and says the size is estimated, which is still the choice to build on. Do not install a browser to rank, and never write a `chosen` face into the spec by hand: the gate accepts only what font-match wrote. The spec gate refuses to close until the lead text region is measured and ranked. A region note that describes painted material (a diagram, drawing, photograph, texture) under a code kind is refused at the spec: reclassify it as a plate, or reword the note if code really draws it. The script refuses a regions file that leaves comp ink unnamed (callouts, a parts table, a notes block): what is never named can never be missing, so everything the comp shows gets a region. It also refuses a `text` / `control` / `chrome` region larger than a quarter of the comp: that is a column, not an element, and a column scored as one region hides the plates, tables, and notes inside it. Name each element inside it (`container: true` only when it truly is one undivided element). Anything drawn is a plate: an inline SVG past an icon's budget (a diagram, notation, leader lines with arrows, a "quick approximation" of the artwork) is refused at the hero; icon-sized SVG (under 64px, a few paths) is fine, and a chart the page draws from data at runtime is a chart, not an illustration. Callout lines and arrows that annotate a drawing belong to that drawing's plate, with only their labels set as text. A crop of the comp is never a plate (the plates gate refuses a file that is a resample of the comp region: the comp's grain, its neighbours' edges, and its resolution would ship as the artwork); the crop is the reference the plate is generated from. A plate region's box has to hold its whole artwork with a margin: the spec measures the artwork's contact with the box edges and refuses a box that cuts through it (`bleed: true` only when the page really crops it there), because a plate placed with `object-fit: cover` on such a box shows the artwork minus the side the box lost. Anything not in the spec does not exist on the page: no borders, rules, containers, or chrome the comp does not show. Only three concessions exist: fonts (the closest obtainable face), icon glyphs (close enough, exact if the user chose an icon library; this covers the pictogram only, never a control's chrome, so a chevron, an arrow, a dropdown's border and fill, a button's shape are the comp's), and genuine defects in the comp such as spelling errors.
-2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (ink on flat ground is generated on a chroma key and keyed to alpha, so it sits on the page's own ground rather than a second paper); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable generate-image --plate <id>` does one region end to end and scores it against the crop; a harness-native image tool takes the crop (`impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>`) as its input image and `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as its prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt`. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
+2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (isolated ink, figures, or objects use native transparent PNG so they sit on the page's own ground; photos and textures stay opaque); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference; save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a prompt file for a cutout, or use `--background opaque` otherwise. Prefer the harness-native image tool with that crop and prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>`. The API fallback is `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` (use `--background opaque` for full-frame assets); create the output directory first. Verify actual alpha, white foregrounds, fine edges, and clear holes on light and dark grounds; do not chroma-key native output. The plates gate scores the assets against the comp; also inspect placement and scale visually. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
 3. **hero.** `impeccable build-phase scaffold` first: it writes the measured layout as CSS custom properties (`.impeccable/build/scaffold/layout.css`: `--r-<id>-x/y/w/h` in % of the comp, plus cap height, font-size, family, and weight where measured) and a reference page (`hero-reference.html`) with every region at its box and every plate placed. Bind the numbers to your own semantic structure, an element per region; the reference is a check on positions, never the page, and overlapping boxes are overlapping boxes. Then build only the first viewport, at the comp's own dimensions, the comp's words copied verbatim (the user approved that comp with those words; rewording is a stated decision after the hero passes, never a silent one inside it), every text region sized from its measured cap height and set in its ranked face, plates first: place every plate at its spec box (`object-fit: cover`, an `<img>`, a background image, or an inlined data URI named for it) before any text or control, capture into `.impeccable/review/hero-repro.png`, run `impeccable build-phase record hero` once so you see the plate regions read as match before any text exists, then lay the semantic layer over the plates from the spec's palette and boxes and advance. The gate first refuses while any plate is unreferenced by the source, then runs `impeccable comp-diff`, writes `.impeccable/review/diff/hero/` (side-by-side, heatmap, one paired crop per region, `report.json`), and passes at 72% overall with no hard veto outstanding (a missing region, a contradicted plate or text block, an SVG illustration, a clipped plate, invented ink block at any score); above the bar, the numeric readings become advisories printed with the pass, and the polish pass before responsive is where they get fixed: the gate also reads each text region's cap height, line count, weight, ink colour, and position against the comp, each chrome strip's height off its rule, and the frame for ink where the comp is calm (a kicker, an extra nav item, a divider), and says each miss as a number ("cap height 78px in the build, 103px in the comp"); those numbers are the edit. When it fails, open the region crops it lists, in order, before editing: a region scored `missing` needs its material, `contradicted` needs its structure re-derived from the spec box, `drift` is where size and spacing edits belong; the gate refuses a third attempt that only nudges values on the same region. This is where the run's ambition is won or lost, and a retry here costs minutes where a rebuild verdict at the finish costs the run.
 4. **sections.** Build the rest of the surface inside the spec's system: the same corner language, line weights, and palette, and nothing the comp never shows. Where the comp does not cover a region, it inherits the recorded system.
 5. **motion.** The signature interaction, reveals, and motion, orchestrated once rather than scattered.

.kiro/skills/impeccable/reference/visualize.md

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ What the comp shows is measured, not remembered. new-work.md section 6 runs the
 
 ## Plates and provenance
 
-Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (`impeccable generate-image --plate <id>`, or the harness image tool with the crop as input and the spec's plate prompt). Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.kiro/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
+Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (use `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` and save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` to a prompt file; pass the crop and prompt to the harness image tool, or use `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high`). For isolated cutouts, add `--background transparent` to both the plate-prompt and API generation commands; use native PNG alpha and preserve white paint and clear gaps. Use `--background opaque` for full-frame imagery. Create output directories first and inspect alpha on light and dark grounds. Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.kiro/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
 
 Convert images with a converter `impeccable context` reported at boot (the IMAGE_TOOLS line); probe only when it reported none, at most once per session, never per image.
 

.kiro/skills/impeccable/scripts/VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.1.4
+0.1.5

.kiro/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable

@@ -87,6 +87,11 @@ fi
 # Last resort: fetch this version's binary for the current platform from the
 # public release channel into the user cache. Needs network; sandboxes without
 # egress preinstall the binary on PATH instead.
+setup_help() {
+  echo "Engine $version setup needs network access and write permission to $cache_root/bin/$version." >&2
+  echo "Run this launcher ($0) with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command." >&2
+  echo "Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary." >&2
+}
 fetch_url() {
   if command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     curl -fsSL --retry 2 -o "$tmp" "$1" 2>/dev/null
@@ -119,7 +124,18 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
   [ "$os" = windows ] && asset="$asset.exe"
   url="$base/engine-v$version/$asset"
   tmp="$cache_root/bin/$version/.impeccable.part.$$"
-  mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null
+  if ! mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot create cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
+  # Check the actual staging file, not just directory existence: a cache from
+  # an earlier run can be readable but no longer writable inside a sandbox.
+  if ! (umask 077; : > "$tmp") 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
   fetched=0
   if fetch_url "$url"; then
     fetched=1
@@ -180,6 +196,9 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
     exec "$cached" "$@"
   fi
   rm -f "$tmp" 2>/dev/null
+  echo "impeccable: could not download engine $version from $url; check network access, the release URL, and curl or wget availability." >&2
+  setup_help
+  exit 127
 fi
 
 echo "impeccable: no engine binary for $os-$arch found (looked in $bin, $cached, PATH)." >&2

.kiro/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable.cmd

@@ -68,18 +68,27 @@ rem another launcher's probe: fail fast and quiet instead.
 if defined IMPECCABLE_LAUNCHER_PROBE exit /b 127
 if not defined version goto fail
 where curl.exe >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto curl_missing
 if not defined IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE set "IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE=https://github.com/pbakaus/impeccable/releases/download"
-if not exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%\" goto cache_ready
+mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if errorlevel 1 goto cache_directory_failed
+:cache_ready
+rem Check the staging file too: an existing directory may be read-only.
+rem Redirection failures do not reliably update ERRORLEVEL in cmd.exe;
+rem branch on the command's failure directly. Never treat a directory as a
+rem staging file (later del cleanup would prompt to delete its contents).
+if exist "%cached%.part\" goto cache_write_failed
+(type nul >"%cached%.part") 2>nul || goto cache_write_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-%arch%.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
 if not errorlevel 1 goto verify
-if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto fail
+if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto download_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-x64.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto download_failed
 
 :verify
 call :check_download
@@ -176,6 +185,28 @@ if not errorlevel 1 set "probe_ok=1"
 del "%probe_tmp%" >nul 2>nul
 exit /b 0
 
+:cache_directory_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot create cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:cache_write_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:curl_missing
+echo impeccable: cannot download engine %version%; curl.exe is unavailable. 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:download_failed
+del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
+echo impeccable: could not download engine %version% from %url%; check network access and the release URL. 1>&2
+
+:setup_failed
+echo Engine %version% setup needs network access and write permission to "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%". 1>&2
+echo Run this launcher ("%~f0") with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command. 1>&2
+echo Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary. 1>&2
+exit /b 127
+
 :fail
 del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
 echo impeccable: no engine binary found (looked in %bin%, %cached%, PATH). 1>&2

.opencode/skills/impeccable/SKILL.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 name: impeccable
 description: Use when the user wants to design, redesign, shape, critique, audit, polish, clarify, distill, harden, optimize, adapt, animate, colorize, extract, or otherwise improve a frontend interface. Covers websites, landing pages, dashboards, product UI, app shells, components, forms, settings, onboarding, and empty states. Handles UX review, visual hierarchy, information architecture, cognitive load, accessibility, performance, responsive behavior, theming, anti-patterns, typography, fonts, spacing, layout, alignment, color, motion, micro-interactions, UX copy, error states, edge cases, i18n, and reusable design systems or tokens. Also use for bland designs that need to become bolder or more delightful, loud designs that should become quieter, live browser iteration on UI elements, or ambitious visual effects that should feel technically extraordinary. Not for backend-only or non-UI tasks.
-version: 4.2.3
+version: 4.3.1
 user-invocable: true
 argument-hint: "[shape · audit|critique · animate|bolder|colorize|delight|layout|overdrive|quieter|typeset · adapt|clarify|distill · harden|onboard|optimize|polish · init|document|extract|live] [target]"
 license: Apache 2.0

.opencode/skills/impeccable/reference/degraded/asset-producer.md

@@ -26,12 +26,12 @@ Every region with `medium: raster` in the spec ships as a plate at its `plate` p
 Per region, in the spec's order:
 
 1. `.opencode/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference crop under `.impeccable/build/crops/`.
-2. Produce the plate. With the API fallback: `.opencode/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --plate <id> --quality high` does the whole step (crop as reference, the spec's plate prompt, output size chosen from the region's aspect, the file written to its plate path, prompt embedded, and the plate scored against the crop). With a harness-native image tool: use the crop as the input image and `.opencode/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as the prompt, write the result to the plate path, then run `.opencode/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt "<the exact prompt>"`.
-3. Read the score line. `PLATE-SCORE` under 50%, or a `PLATE-WARN`, means the plate does not read as the region: open the plate beside the crop, name what drifted (subject, framing, palette, style), tighten the prompt with that, and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and say why in one line.
-4. Transparent cutouts (a figure or object on the page ground): generate on a flat chroma color absent from the subject and key it to alpha before writing the PNG; never ship the keyed background.
+2. Choose the background from the approved region: an isolated figure, object, or line drawing on the page ground is a **transparent cutout**; a photograph, full-frame illustration, or texture stays **opaque**. Save `.opencode/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a UTF-8 prompt file for a cutout; use `--background opaque` otherwise. The transparent prompt preserves reference placement and clear margins, white paint, fine edges, and interior holes.
+3. Produce the plate at its exact spec `plate` path. Create the output directory first and choose a supported output size matching the region's aspect, at least 1.5x its pixel dimensions. Prefer the harness-native image tool with the crop as input and the saved prompt; request a transparent PNG for cutouts, then run `.opencode/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>` (if you refine the prompt, save and embed the exact text sent). With the API fallback, run `.opencode/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` for a cutout, or `--background opaque` otherwise. The API fallback embeds the prompt and records the background in the sidecar. The output must be PNG; the fallback requests native alpha and performs no chroma-keying.
+4. Open the plate beside the crop and compare subject, placement, scale, palette, and style. For cutouts, verify a real alpha channel and inspect composites on light and dark grounds: white paint must stay solid, interior holes must clear, and fine edges must avoid halos. Inspect glass and soft shadows carefully; partial alpha alone does not ensure convincing translucency. Never chroma-key native transparent output or flatten it before saving. If a native tool returns opaque pixels or a painted checkerboard, retry with the API fallback when available; otherwise report the transparency blocker. On a visual miss, tighten the prompt and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and name the drift. The parent runs the plates gate after all assets exist; report `unscored` until a gate score is available.
 
 Do not redesign. Do not add objects, restyle, or reinterpret; the comp was approved as it is. Do not touch the page code, the spec, or the comp. Do not produce anything the spec does not list; a region the parent forgot goes back as a one-line note, not a plate.
 
 ## Output Contract
 
-Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score>% <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; your line and its line must agree.
+Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score%|unscored> <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; a visual acceptance does not override a failing gate.

.opencode/skills/impeccable/reference/new-work.md

@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ Then, in order, each closed by `.opencode/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable b
 The comp-led path is a frontier-tier job: it asks the builder to hold a measured layout, place plates at their boxes, and act on numeric readings across a dozen attempts. Smaller or faster models produce a recognisable page and stall under the hero gate; if the model in hand is one of those, say so before the direction round and take the code-led path, or expect the run to end at the hero with its readings unmet.
 
 1. **spec.** Measure the comp: `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --grid` writes a coordinate grid over the comp; open it, name every salient region by grid span in a regions file (text and control regions snap to the largest ink mass inside their span, so a headline named B1:E4 measures as the headline and not the column beside it; `snap: false` keeps the span, and an explicit `box` is taken as drawn) (kind `plate` / `image` / `texture` for anything painted: every illustration, photograph, figure, product object, and material texture; `text` / `control` / `chrome` for what code draws; every region carries a `note` saying what the comp shows there, which the plate prompt and the gate messages read), and run `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --regions <file>`. The spec carries each region's box, sampled palette, and medium; `impeccable comp-spec --print` is the build's reference from here on. Type is measured, not guessed: `impeccable font-match --measure <text region>` reads the comp's cap height, width class, and weight off the pixels, and `impeccable font-match --rank <region> --text "..."` takes its candidates from a fingerprint index of the Google Fonts catalog (the nearest faces to the crop's shape) plus any names you pass with `--candidates`, renders them at that cap height with the region's words, and ranks them by fingerprint distance (its `USE` line is the CSS; its proof sheet shows the comp over the top three); with no browser resolvable it records the catalog's nearest face and says the size is estimated, which is still the choice to build on. Do not install a browser to rank, and never write a `chosen` face into the spec by hand: the gate accepts only what font-match wrote. The spec gate refuses to close until the lead text region is measured and ranked. A region note that describes painted material (a diagram, drawing, photograph, texture) under a code kind is refused at the spec: reclassify it as a plate, or reword the note if code really draws it. The script refuses a regions file that leaves comp ink unnamed (callouts, a parts table, a notes block): what is never named can never be missing, so everything the comp shows gets a region. It also refuses a `text` / `control` / `chrome` region larger than a quarter of the comp: that is a column, not an element, and a column scored as one region hides the plates, tables, and notes inside it. Name each element inside it (`container: true` only when it truly is one undivided element). Anything drawn is a plate: an inline SVG past an icon's budget (a diagram, notation, leader lines with arrows, a "quick approximation" of the artwork) is refused at the hero; icon-sized SVG (under 64px, a few paths) is fine, and a chart the page draws from data at runtime is a chart, not an illustration. Callout lines and arrows that annotate a drawing belong to that drawing's plate, with only their labels set as text. A crop of the comp is never a plate (the plates gate refuses a file that is a resample of the comp region: the comp's grain, its neighbours' edges, and its resolution would ship as the artwork); the crop is the reference the plate is generated from. A plate region's box has to hold its whole artwork with a margin: the spec measures the artwork's contact with the box edges and refuses a box that cuts through it (`bleed: true` only when the page really crops it there), because a plate placed with `object-fit: cover` on such a box shows the artwork minus the side the box lost. Anything not in the spec does not exist on the page: no borders, rules, containers, or chrome the comp does not show. Only three concessions exist: fonts (the closest obtainable face), icon glyphs (close enough, exact if the user chose an icon library; this covers the pictogram only, never a control's chrome, so a chevron, an arrow, a dropdown's border and fill, a button's shape are the comp's), and genuine defects in the comp such as spelling errors.
-2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (ink on flat ground is generated on a chroma key and keyed to alpha, so it sits on the page's own ground rather than a second paper); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable generate-image --plate <id>` does one region end to end and scores it against the crop; a harness-native image tool takes the crop (`impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>`) as its input image and `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as its prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt`. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
+2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (isolated ink, figures, or objects use native transparent PNG so they sit on the page's own ground; photos and textures stay opaque); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference; save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a prompt file for a cutout, or use `--background opaque` otherwise. Prefer the harness-native image tool with that crop and prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>`. The API fallback is `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` (use `--background opaque` for full-frame assets); create the output directory first. Verify actual alpha, white foregrounds, fine edges, and clear holes on light and dark grounds; do not chroma-key native output. The plates gate scores the assets against the comp; also inspect placement and scale visually. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
 3. **hero.** `impeccable build-phase scaffold` first: it writes the measured layout as CSS custom properties (`.impeccable/build/scaffold/layout.css`: `--r-<id>-x/y/w/h` in % of the comp, plus cap height, font-size, family, and weight where measured) and a reference page (`hero-reference.html`) with every region at its box and every plate placed. Bind the numbers to your own semantic structure, an element per region; the reference is a check on positions, never the page, and overlapping boxes are overlapping boxes. Then build only the first viewport, at the comp's own dimensions, the comp's words copied verbatim (the user approved that comp with those words; rewording is a stated decision after the hero passes, never a silent one inside it), every text region sized from its measured cap height and set in its ranked face, plates first: place every plate at its spec box (`object-fit: cover`, an `<img>`, a background image, or an inlined data URI named for it) before any text or control, capture into `.impeccable/review/hero-repro.png`, run `impeccable build-phase record hero` once so you see the plate regions read as match before any text exists, then lay the semantic layer over the plates from the spec's palette and boxes and advance. The gate first refuses while any plate is unreferenced by the source, then runs `impeccable comp-diff`, writes `.impeccable/review/diff/hero/` (side-by-side, heatmap, one paired crop per region, `report.json`), and passes at 72% overall with no hard veto outstanding (a missing region, a contradicted plate or text block, an SVG illustration, a clipped plate, invented ink block at any score); above the bar, the numeric readings become advisories printed with the pass, and the polish pass before responsive is where they get fixed: the gate also reads each text region's cap height, line count, weight, ink colour, and position against the comp, each chrome strip's height off its rule, and the frame for ink where the comp is calm (a kicker, an extra nav item, a divider), and says each miss as a number ("cap height 78px in the build, 103px in the comp"); those numbers are the edit. When it fails, open the region crops it lists, in order, before editing: a region scored `missing` needs its material, `contradicted` needs its structure re-derived from the spec box, `drift` is where size and spacing edits belong; the gate refuses a third attempt that only nudges values on the same region. This is where the run's ambition is won or lost, and a retry here costs minutes where a rebuild verdict at the finish costs the run.
 4. **sections.** Build the rest of the surface inside the spec's system: the same corner language, line weights, and palette, and nothing the comp never shows. Where the comp does not cover a region, it inherits the recorded system.
 5. **motion.** The signature interaction, reveals, and motion, orchestrated once rather than scattered.

.opencode/skills/impeccable/reference/visualize.md

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ What the comp shows is measured, not remembered. new-work.md section 6 runs the
 
 ## Plates and provenance
 
-Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (`impeccable generate-image --plate <id>`, or the harness image tool with the crop as input and the spec's plate prompt). Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.opencode/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
+Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (use `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` and save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` to a prompt file; pass the crop and prompt to the harness image tool, or use `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high`). For isolated cutouts, add `--background transparent` to both the plate-prompt and API generation commands; use native PNG alpha and preserve white paint and clear gaps. Use `--background opaque` for full-frame imagery. Create output directories first and inspect alpha on light and dark grounds. Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.opencode/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
 
 Convert images with a converter `impeccable context` reported at boot (the IMAGE_TOOLS line); probe only when it reported none, at most once per session, never per image.
 

.opencode/skills/impeccable/scripts/VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.1.4
+0.1.5

.opencode/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable

@@ -87,6 +87,11 @@ fi
 # Last resort: fetch this version's binary for the current platform from the
 # public release channel into the user cache. Needs network; sandboxes without
 # egress preinstall the binary on PATH instead.
+setup_help() {
+  echo "Engine $version setup needs network access and write permission to $cache_root/bin/$version." >&2
+  echo "Run this launcher ($0) with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command." >&2
+  echo "Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary." >&2
+}
 fetch_url() {
   if command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     curl -fsSL --retry 2 -o "$tmp" "$1" 2>/dev/null
@@ -119,7 +124,18 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
   [ "$os" = windows ] && asset="$asset.exe"
   url="$base/engine-v$version/$asset"
   tmp="$cache_root/bin/$version/.impeccable.part.$$"
-  mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null
+  if ! mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot create cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
+  # Check the actual staging file, not just directory existence: a cache from
+  # an earlier run can be readable but no longer writable inside a sandbox.
+  if ! (umask 077; : > "$tmp") 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
   fetched=0
   if fetch_url "$url"; then
     fetched=1
@@ -180,6 +196,9 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
     exec "$cached" "$@"
   fi
   rm -f "$tmp" 2>/dev/null
+  echo "impeccable: could not download engine $version from $url; check network access, the release URL, and curl or wget availability." >&2
+  setup_help
+  exit 127
 fi
 
 echo "impeccable: no engine binary for $os-$arch found (looked in $bin, $cached, PATH)." >&2

.opencode/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable.cmd

@@ -68,18 +68,27 @@ rem another launcher's probe: fail fast and quiet instead.
 if defined IMPECCABLE_LAUNCHER_PROBE exit /b 127
 if not defined version goto fail
 where curl.exe >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto curl_missing
 if not defined IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE set "IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE=https://github.com/pbakaus/impeccable/releases/download"
-if not exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%\" goto cache_ready
+mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if errorlevel 1 goto cache_directory_failed
+:cache_ready
+rem Check the staging file too: an existing directory may be read-only.
+rem Redirection failures do not reliably update ERRORLEVEL in cmd.exe;
+rem branch on the command's failure directly. Never treat a directory as a
+rem staging file (later del cleanup would prompt to delete its contents).
+if exist "%cached%.part\" goto cache_write_failed
+(type nul >"%cached%.part") 2>nul || goto cache_write_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-%arch%.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
 if not errorlevel 1 goto verify
-if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto fail
+if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto download_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-x64.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto download_failed
 
 :verify
 call :check_download
@@ -176,6 +185,28 @@ if not errorlevel 1 set "probe_ok=1"
 del "%probe_tmp%" >nul 2>nul
 exit /b 0
 
+:cache_directory_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot create cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:cache_write_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:curl_missing
+echo impeccable: cannot download engine %version%; curl.exe is unavailable. 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:download_failed
+del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
+echo impeccable: could not download engine %version% from %url%; check network access and the release URL. 1>&2
+
+:setup_failed
+echo Engine %version% setup needs network access and write permission to "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%". 1>&2
+echo Run this launcher ("%~f0") with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command. 1>&2
+echo Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary. 1>&2
+exit /b 127
+
 :fail
 del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
 echo impeccable: no engine binary found (looked in %bin%, %cached%, PATH). 1>&2

.pi/skills/impeccable/SKILL.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 name: impeccable
 description: Use when the user wants to design, redesign, shape, critique, audit, polish, clarify, distill, harden, optimize, adapt, animate, colorize, extract, or otherwise improve a frontend interface. Covers websites, landing pages, dashboards, product UI, app shells, components, forms, settings, onboarding, and empty states. Handles UX review, visual hierarchy, information architecture, cognitive load, accessibility, performance, responsive behavior, theming, anti-patterns, typography, fonts, spacing, layout, alignment, color, motion, micro-interactions, UX copy, error states, edge cases, i18n, and reusable design systems or tokens. Also use for bland designs that need to become bolder or more delightful, loud designs that should become quieter, live browser iteration on UI elements, or ambitious visual effects that should feel technically extraordinary. Not for backend-only or non-UI tasks.
-version: 4.2.3
+version: 4.3.1
 license: Apache 2.0
 allowed-tools:
   - Bash(npx impeccable *)

.pi/skills/impeccable/reference/degraded/asset-producer.md

@@ -26,12 +26,12 @@ Every region with `medium: raster` in the spec ships as a plate at its `plate` p
 Per region, in the spec's order:
 
 1. `.pi/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference crop under `.impeccable/build/crops/`.
-2. Produce the plate. With the API fallback: `.pi/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --plate <id> --quality high` does the whole step (crop as reference, the spec's plate prompt, output size chosen from the region's aspect, the file written to its plate path, prompt embedded, and the plate scored against the crop). With a harness-native image tool: use the crop as the input image and `.pi/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as the prompt, write the result to the plate path, then run `.pi/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt "<the exact prompt>"`.
-3. Read the score line. `PLATE-SCORE` under 50%, or a `PLATE-WARN`, means the plate does not read as the region: open the plate beside the crop, name what drifted (subject, framing, palette, style), tighten the prompt with that, and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and say why in one line.
-4. Transparent cutouts (a figure or object on the page ground): generate on a flat chroma color absent from the subject and key it to alpha before writing the PNG; never ship the keyed background.
+2. Choose the background from the approved region: an isolated figure, object, or line drawing on the page ground is a **transparent cutout**; a photograph, full-frame illustration, or texture stays **opaque**. Save `.pi/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a UTF-8 prompt file for a cutout; use `--background opaque` otherwise. The transparent prompt preserves reference placement and clear margins, white paint, fine edges, and interior holes.
+3. Produce the plate at its exact spec `plate` path. Create the output directory first and choose a supported output size matching the region's aspect, at least 1.5x its pixel dimensions. Prefer the harness-native image tool with the crop as input and the saved prompt; request a transparent PNG for cutouts, then run `.pi/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>` (if you refine the prompt, save and embed the exact text sent). With the API fallback, run `.pi/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` for a cutout, or `--background opaque` otherwise. The API fallback embeds the prompt and records the background in the sidecar. The output must be PNG; the fallback requests native alpha and performs no chroma-keying.
+4. Open the plate beside the crop and compare subject, placement, scale, palette, and style. For cutouts, verify a real alpha channel and inspect composites on light and dark grounds: white paint must stay solid, interior holes must clear, and fine edges must avoid halos. Inspect glass and soft shadows carefully; partial alpha alone does not ensure convincing translucency. Never chroma-key native transparent output or flatten it before saving. If a native tool returns opaque pixels or a painted checkerboard, retry with the API fallback when available; otherwise report the transparency blocker. On a visual miss, tighten the prompt and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and name the drift. The parent runs the plates gate after all assets exist; report `unscored` until a gate score is available.
 
 Do not redesign. Do not add objects, restyle, or reinterpret; the comp was approved as it is. Do not touch the page code, the spec, or the comp. Do not produce anything the spec does not list; a region the parent forgot goes back as a one-line note, not a plate.
 
 ## Output Contract
 
-Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score>% <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; your line and its line must agree.
+Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score%|unscored> <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; a visual acceptance does not override a failing gate.

.pi/skills/impeccable/reference/new-work.md

@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ Then, in order, each closed by `.pi/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable build-p
 The comp-led path is a frontier-tier job: it asks the builder to hold a measured layout, place plates at their boxes, and act on numeric readings across a dozen attempts. Smaller or faster models produce a recognisable page and stall under the hero gate; if the model in hand is one of those, say so before the direction round and take the code-led path, or expect the run to end at the hero with its readings unmet.
 
 1. **spec.** Measure the comp: `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --grid` writes a coordinate grid over the comp; open it, name every salient region by grid span in a regions file (text and control regions snap to the largest ink mass inside their span, so a headline named B1:E4 measures as the headline and not the column beside it; `snap: false` keeps the span, and an explicit `box` is taken as drawn) (kind `plate` / `image` / `texture` for anything painted: every illustration, photograph, figure, product object, and material texture; `text` / `control` / `chrome` for what code draws; every region carries a `note` saying what the comp shows there, which the plate prompt and the gate messages read), and run `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --regions <file>`. The spec carries each region's box, sampled palette, and medium; `impeccable comp-spec --print` is the build's reference from here on. Type is measured, not guessed: `impeccable font-match --measure <text region>` reads the comp's cap height, width class, and weight off the pixels, and `impeccable font-match --rank <region> --text "..."` takes its candidates from a fingerprint index of the Google Fonts catalog (the nearest faces to the crop's shape) plus any names you pass with `--candidates`, renders them at that cap height with the region's words, and ranks them by fingerprint distance (its `USE` line is the CSS; its proof sheet shows the comp over the top three); with no browser resolvable it records the catalog's nearest face and says the size is estimated, which is still the choice to build on. Do not install a browser to rank, and never write a `chosen` face into the spec by hand: the gate accepts only what font-match wrote. The spec gate refuses to close until the lead text region is measured and ranked. A region note that describes painted material (a diagram, drawing, photograph, texture) under a code kind is refused at the spec: reclassify it as a plate, or reword the note if code really draws it. The script refuses a regions file that leaves comp ink unnamed (callouts, a parts table, a notes block): what is never named can never be missing, so everything the comp shows gets a region. It also refuses a `text` / `control` / `chrome` region larger than a quarter of the comp: that is a column, not an element, and a column scored as one region hides the plates, tables, and notes inside it. Name each element inside it (`container: true` only when it truly is one undivided element). Anything drawn is a plate: an inline SVG past an icon's budget (a diagram, notation, leader lines with arrows, a "quick approximation" of the artwork) is refused at the hero; icon-sized SVG (under 64px, a few paths) is fine, and a chart the page draws from data at runtime is a chart, not an illustration. Callout lines and arrows that annotate a drawing belong to that drawing's plate, with only their labels set as text. A crop of the comp is never a plate (the plates gate refuses a file that is a resample of the comp region: the comp's grain, its neighbours' edges, and its resolution would ship as the artwork); the crop is the reference the plate is generated from. A plate region's box has to hold its whole artwork with a margin: the spec measures the artwork's contact with the box edges and refuses a box that cuts through it (`bleed: true` only when the page really crops it there), because a plate placed with `object-fit: cover` on such a box shows the artwork minus the side the box lost. Anything not in the spec does not exist on the page: no borders, rules, containers, or chrome the comp does not show. Only three concessions exist: fonts (the closest obtainable face), icon glyphs (close enough, exact if the user chose an icon library; this covers the pictogram only, never a control's chrome, so a chevron, an arrow, a dropdown's border and fill, a button's shape are the comp's), and genuine defects in the comp such as spelling errors.
-2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (ink on flat ground is generated on a chroma key and keyed to alpha, so it sits on the page's own ground rather than a second paper); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable generate-image --plate <id>` does one region end to end and scores it against the crop; a harness-native image tool takes the crop (`impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>`) as its input image and `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as its prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt`. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
+2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (isolated ink, figures, or objects use native transparent PNG so they sit on the page's own ground; photos and textures stay opaque); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference; save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a prompt file for a cutout, or use `--background opaque` otherwise. Prefer the harness-native image tool with that crop and prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>`. The API fallback is `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` (use `--background opaque` for full-frame assets); create the output directory first. Verify actual alpha, white foregrounds, fine edges, and clear holes on light and dark grounds; do not chroma-key native output. The plates gate scores the assets against the comp; also inspect placement and scale visually. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
 3. **hero.** `impeccable build-phase scaffold` first: it writes the measured layout as CSS custom properties (`.impeccable/build/scaffold/layout.css`: `--r-<id>-x/y/w/h` in % of the comp, plus cap height, font-size, family, and weight where measured) and a reference page (`hero-reference.html`) with every region at its box and every plate placed. Bind the numbers to your own semantic structure, an element per region; the reference is a check on positions, never the page, and overlapping boxes are overlapping boxes. Then build only the first viewport, at the comp's own dimensions, the comp's words copied verbatim (the user approved that comp with those words; rewording is a stated decision after the hero passes, never a silent one inside it), every text region sized from its measured cap height and set in its ranked face, plates first: place every plate at its spec box (`object-fit: cover`, an `<img>`, a background image, or an inlined data URI named for it) before any text or control, capture into `.impeccable/review/hero-repro.png`, run `impeccable build-phase record hero` once so you see the plate regions read as match before any text exists, then lay the semantic layer over the plates from the spec's palette and boxes and advance. The gate first refuses while any plate is unreferenced by the source, then runs `impeccable comp-diff`, writes `.impeccable/review/diff/hero/` (side-by-side, heatmap, one paired crop per region, `report.json`), and passes at 72% overall with no hard veto outstanding (a missing region, a contradicted plate or text block, an SVG illustration, a clipped plate, invented ink block at any score); above the bar, the numeric readings become advisories printed with the pass, and the polish pass before responsive is where they get fixed: the gate also reads each text region's cap height, line count, weight, ink colour, and position against the comp, each chrome strip's height off its rule, and the frame for ink where the comp is calm (a kicker, an extra nav item, a divider), and says each miss as a number ("cap height 78px in the build, 103px in the comp"); those numbers are the edit. When it fails, open the region crops it lists, in order, before editing: a region scored `missing` needs its material, `contradicted` needs its structure re-derived from the spec box, `drift` is where size and spacing edits belong; the gate refuses a third attempt that only nudges values on the same region. This is where the run's ambition is won or lost, and a retry here costs minutes where a rebuild verdict at the finish costs the run.
 4. **sections.** Build the rest of the surface inside the spec's system: the same corner language, line weights, and palette, and nothing the comp never shows. Where the comp does not cover a region, it inherits the recorded system.
 5. **motion.** The signature interaction, reveals, and motion, orchestrated once rather than scattered.

.pi/skills/impeccable/reference/visualize.md

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ What the comp shows is measured, not remembered. new-work.md section 6 runs the
 
 ## Plates and provenance
 
-Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (`impeccable generate-image --plate <id>`, or the harness image tool with the crop as input and the spec's plate prompt). Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.pi/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
+Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (use `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` and save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` to a prompt file; pass the crop and prompt to the harness image tool, or use `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high`). For isolated cutouts, add `--background transparent` to both the plate-prompt and API generation commands; use native PNG alpha and preserve white paint and clear gaps. Use `--background opaque` for full-frame imagery. Create output directories first and inspect alpha on light and dark grounds. Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.pi/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
 
 Convert images with a converter `impeccable context` reported at boot (the IMAGE_TOOLS line); probe only when it reported none, at most once per session, never per image.
 

.pi/skills/impeccable/scripts/VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.1.4
+0.1.5

.pi/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable

@@ -87,6 +87,11 @@ fi
 # Last resort: fetch this version's binary for the current platform from the
 # public release channel into the user cache. Needs network; sandboxes without
 # egress preinstall the binary on PATH instead.
+setup_help() {
+  echo "Engine $version setup needs network access and write permission to $cache_root/bin/$version." >&2
+  echo "Run this launcher ($0) with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command." >&2
+  echo "Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary." >&2
+}
 fetch_url() {
   if command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     curl -fsSL --retry 2 -o "$tmp" "$1" 2>/dev/null
@@ -119,7 +124,18 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
   [ "$os" = windows ] && asset="$asset.exe"
   url="$base/engine-v$version/$asset"
   tmp="$cache_root/bin/$version/.impeccable.part.$$"
-  mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null
+  if ! mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot create cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
+  # Check the actual staging file, not just directory existence: a cache from
+  # an earlier run can be readable but no longer writable inside a sandbox.
+  if ! (umask 077; : > "$tmp") 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
   fetched=0
   if fetch_url "$url"; then
     fetched=1
@@ -180,6 +196,9 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
     exec "$cached" "$@"
   fi
   rm -f "$tmp" 2>/dev/null
+  echo "impeccable: could not download engine $version from $url; check network access, the release URL, and curl or wget availability." >&2
+  setup_help
+  exit 127
 fi
 
 echo "impeccable: no engine binary for $os-$arch found (looked in $bin, $cached, PATH)." >&2

.pi/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable.cmd

@@ -68,18 +68,27 @@ rem another launcher's probe: fail fast and quiet instead.
 if defined IMPECCABLE_LAUNCHER_PROBE exit /b 127
 if not defined version goto fail
 where curl.exe >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto curl_missing
 if not defined IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE set "IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE=https://github.com/pbakaus/impeccable/releases/download"
-if not exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%\" goto cache_ready
+mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if errorlevel 1 goto cache_directory_failed
+:cache_ready
+rem Check the staging file too: an existing directory may be read-only.
+rem Redirection failures do not reliably update ERRORLEVEL in cmd.exe;
+rem branch on the command's failure directly. Never treat a directory as a
+rem staging file (later del cleanup would prompt to delete its contents).
+if exist "%cached%.part\" goto cache_write_failed
+(type nul >"%cached%.part") 2>nul || goto cache_write_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-%arch%.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
 if not errorlevel 1 goto verify
-if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto fail
+if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto download_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-x64.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto download_failed
 
 :verify
 call :check_download
@@ -176,6 +185,28 @@ if not errorlevel 1 set "probe_ok=1"
 del "%probe_tmp%" >nul 2>nul
 exit /b 0
 
+:cache_directory_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot create cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:cache_write_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:curl_missing
+echo impeccable: cannot download engine %version%; curl.exe is unavailable. 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:download_failed
+del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
+echo impeccable: could not download engine %version% from %url%; check network access and the release URL. 1>&2
+
+:setup_failed
+echo Engine %version% setup needs network access and write permission to "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%". 1>&2
+echo Run this launcher ("%~f0") with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command. 1>&2
+echo Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary. 1>&2
+exit /b 127
+
 :fail
 del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
 echo impeccable: no engine binary found (looked in %bin%, %cached%, PATH). 1>&2

.qoder/skills/impeccable/SKILL.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 name: impeccable
 description: Use when the user wants to design, redesign, shape, critique, audit, polish, clarify, distill, harden, optimize, adapt, animate, colorize, extract, or otherwise improve a frontend interface. Covers websites, landing pages, dashboards, product UI, app shells, components, forms, settings, onboarding, and empty states. Handles UX review, visual hierarchy, information architecture, cognitive load, accessibility, performance, responsive behavior, theming, anti-patterns, typography, fonts, spacing, layout, alignment, color, motion, micro-interactions, UX copy, error states, edge cases, i18n, and reusable design systems or tokens. Also use for bland designs that need to become bolder or more delightful, loud designs that should become quieter, live browser iteration on UI elements, or ambitious visual effects that should feel technically extraordinary. Not for backend-only or non-UI tasks.
-version: 4.2.3
+version: 4.3.1
 user-invocable: true
 argument-hint: "[shape · audit|critique · animate|bolder|colorize|delight|layout|overdrive|quieter|typeset · adapt|clarify|distill · harden|onboard|optimize|polish · init|document|extract|live] [target]"
 license: Apache 2.0

.qoder/skills/impeccable/reference/degraded/asset-producer.md

@@ -26,12 +26,12 @@ Every region with `medium: raster` in the spec ships as a plate at its `plate` p
 Per region, in the spec's order:
 
 1. `.qoder/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference crop under `.impeccable/build/crops/`.
-2. Produce the plate. With the API fallback: `.qoder/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --plate <id> --quality high` does the whole step (crop as reference, the spec's plate prompt, output size chosen from the region's aspect, the file written to its plate path, prompt embedded, and the plate scored against the crop). With a harness-native image tool: use the crop as the input image and `.qoder/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as the prompt, write the result to the plate path, then run `.qoder/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt "<the exact prompt>"`.
-3. Read the score line. `PLATE-SCORE` under 50%, or a `PLATE-WARN`, means the plate does not read as the region: open the plate beside the crop, name what drifted (subject, framing, palette, style), tighten the prompt with that, and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and say why in one line.
-4. Transparent cutouts (a figure or object on the page ground): generate on a flat chroma color absent from the subject and key it to alpha before writing the PNG; never ship the keyed background.
+2. Choose the background from the approved region: an isolated figure, object, or line drawing on the page ground is a **transparent cutout**; a photograph, full-frame illustration, or texture stays **opaque**. Save `.qoder/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a UTF-8 prompt file for a cutout; use `--background opaque` otherwise. The transparent prompt preserves reference placement and clear margins, white paint, fine edges, and interior holes.
+3. Produce the plate at its exact spec `plate` path. Create the output directory first and choose a supported output size matching the region's aspect, at least 1.5x its pixel dimensions. Prefer the harness-native image tool with the crop as input and the saved prompt; request a transparent PNG for cutouts, then run `.qoder/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>` (if you refine the prompt, save and embed the exact text sent). With the API fallback, run `.qoder/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` for a cutout, or `--background opaque` otherwise. The API fallback embeds the prompt and records the background in the sidecar. The output must be PNG; the fallback requests native alpha and performs no chroma-keying.
+4. Open the plate beside the crop and compare subject, placement, scale, palette, and style. For cutouts, verify a real alpha channel and inspect composites on light and dark grounds: white paint must stay solid, interior holes must clear, and fine edges must avoid halos. Inspect glass and soft shadows carefully; partial alpha alone does not ensure convincing translucency. Never chroma-key native transparent output or flatten it before saving. If a native tool returns opaque pixels or a painted checkerboard, retry with the API fallback when available; otherwise report the transparency blocker. On a visual miss, tighten the prompt and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and name the drift. The parent runs the plates gate after all assets exist; report `unscored` until a gate score is available.
 
 Do not redesign. Do not add objects, restyle, or reinterpret; the comp was approved as it is. Do not touch the page code, the spec, or the comp. Do not produce anything the spec does not list; a region the parent forgot goes back as a one-line note, not a plate.
 
 ## Output Contract
 
-Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score>% <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; your line and its line must agree.
+Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score%|unscored> <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; a visual acceptance does not override a failing gate.

.qoder/skills/impeccable/reference/new-work.md

@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ Then, in order, each closed by `.qoder/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable buil
 The comp-led path is a frontier-tier job: it asks the builder to hold a measured layout, place plates at their boxes, and act on numeric readings across a dozen attempts. Smaller or faster models produce a recognisable page and stall under the hero gate; if the model in hand is one of those, say so before the direction round and take the code-led path, or expect the run to end at the hero with its readings unmet.
 
 1. **spec.** Measure the comp: `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --grid` writes a coordinate grid over the comp; open it, name every salient region by grid span in a regions file (text and control regions snap to the largest ink mass inside their span, so a headline named B1:E4 measures as the headline and not the column beside it; `snap: false` keeps the span, and an explicit `box` is taken as drawn) (kind `plate` / `image` / `texture` for anything painted: every illustration, photograph, figure, product object, and material texture; `text` / `control` / `chrome` for what code draws; every region carries a `note` saying what the comp shows there, which the plate prompt and the gate messages read), and run `impeccable comp-spec --comp <comp> --regions <file>`. The spec carries each region's box, sampled palette, and medium; `impeccable comp-spec --print` is the build's reference from here on. Type is measured, not guessed: `impeccable font-match --measure <text region>` reads the comp's cap height, width class, and weight off the pixels, and `impeccable font-match --rank <region> --text "..."` takes its candidates from a fingerprint index of the Google Fonts catalog (the nearest faces to the crop's shape) plus any names you pass with `--candidates`, renders them at that cap height with the region's words, and ranks them by fingerprint distance (its `USE` line is the CSS; its proof sheet shows the comp over the top three); with no browser resolvable it records the catalog's nearest face and says the size is estimated, which is still the choice to build on. Do not install a browser to rank, and never write a `chosen` face into the spec by hand: the gate accepts only what font-match wrote. The spec gate refuses to close until the lead text region is measured and ranked. A region note that describes painted material (a diagram, drawing, photograph, texture) under a code kind is refused at the spec: reclassify it as a plate, or reword the note if code really draws it. The script refuses a regions file that leaves comp ink unnamed (callouts, a parts table, a notes block): what is never named can never be missing, so everything the comp shows gets a region. It also refuses a `text` / `control` / `chrome` region larger than a quarter of the comp: that is a column, not an element, and a column scored as one region hides the plates, tables, and notes inside it. Name each element inside it (`container: true` only when it truly is one undivided element). Anything drawn is a plate: an inline SVG past an icon's budget (a diagram, notation, leader lines with arrows, a "quick approximation" of the artwork) is refused at the hero; icon-sized SVG (under 64px, a few paths) is fine, and a chart the page draws from data at runtime is a chart, not an illustration. Callout lines and arrows that annotate a drawing belong to that drawing's plate, with only their labels set as text. A crop of the comp is never a plate (the plates gate refuses a file that is a resample of the comp region: the comp's grain, its neighbours' edges, and its resolution would ship as the artwork); the crop is the reference the plate is generated from. A plate region's box has to hold its whole artwork with a margin: the spec measures the artwork's contact with the box edges and refuses a box that cuts through it (`bleed: true` only when the page really crops it there), because a plate placed with `object-fit: cover` on such a box shows the artwork minus the side the box lost. Anything not in the spec does not exist on the page: no borders, rules, containers, or chrome the comp does not show. Only three concessions exist: fonts (the closest obtainable face), icon glyphs (close enough, exact if the user chose an icon library; this covers the pictogram only, never a control's chrome, so a chevron, an arrow, a dropdown's border and fill, a button's shape are the comp's), and genuine defects in the comp such as spelling errors.
-2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (ink on flat ground is generated on a chroma key and keyed to alpha, so it sits on the page's own ground rather than a second paper); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable generate-image --plate <id>` does one region end to end and scores it against the crop; a harness-native image tool takes the crop (`impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>`) as its input image and `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as its prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt`. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
+2. **plates.** Every raster region ships as a plate: an illustration, photo, or figure regenerated at asset resolution from its comp crop, UI text removed, at its `plate` path (isolated ink, figures, or objects use native transparent PNG so they sit on the page's own ground; photos and textures stay opaque); a texture (paper, cloth, grain) is a clean patch of the comp region mirror-tiled to size, generated only when no clean patch exists. `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference; save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a prompt file for a cutout, or use `--background opaque` otherwise. Prefer the harness-native image tool with that crop and prompt, then `impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>`. The API fallback is `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` (use `--background opaque` for full-frame assets); create the output directory first. Verify actual alpha, white foregrounds, fine edges, and clear holes on light and dark grounds; do not chroma-key native output. The plates gate scores the assets against the comp; also inspect placement and scale visually. With parallel subagents, spawn the shipped asset producer (`impeccable-asset-producer`; `impeccable_asset_producer` in codex; `/impeccable-asset-producer` in Cursor; on GitHub Copilot say "Use the impeccable-asset-producer agent") with the spec path and let it produce them all; without subagents, produce them here. A crop of the comp is a reference, never a shipping pixel. The gate checks every plate exists, is at least 1.5x the region's size, and reads as the region. Page code waits for this gate: a page written before its plates exist is a page that draws its material in CSS. A single-file deliverable changes nothing here: the plate is produced the same way and inlined as a data URI. `--force` exists for one case only, the user downgrading the comp's authority in words you quote in `--reason`; the script refuses every other reason.
 3. **hero.** `impeccable build-phase scaffold` first: it writes the measured layout as CSS custom properties (`.impeccable/build/scaffold/layout.css`: `--r-<id>-x/y/w/h` in % of the comp, plus cap height, font-size, family, and weight where measured) and a reference page (`hero-reference.html`) with every region at its box and every plate placed. Bind the numbers to your own semantic structure, an element per region; the reference is a check on positions, never the page, and overlapping boxes are overlapping boxes. Then build only the first viewport, at the comp's own dimensions, the comp's words copied verbatim (the user approved that comp with those words; rewording is a stated decision after the hero passes, never a silent one inside it), every text region sized from its measured cap height and set in its ranked face, plates first: place every plate at its spec box (`object-fit: cover`, an `<img>`, a background image, or an inlined data URI named for it) before any text or control, capture into `.impeccable/review/hero-repro.png`, run `impeccable build-phase record hero` once so you see the plate regions read as match before any text exists, then lay the semantic layer over the plates from the spec's palette and boxes and advance. The gate first refuses while any plate is unreferenced by the source, then runs `impeccable comp-diff`, writes `.impeccable/review/diff/hero/` (side-by-side, heatmap, one paired crop per region, `report.json`), and passes at 72% overall with no hard veto outstanding (a missing region, a contradicted plate or text block, an SVG illustration, a clipped plate, invented ink block at any score); above the bar, the numeric readings become advisories printed with the pass, and the polish pass before responsive is where they get fixed: the gate also reads each text region's cap height, line count, weight, ink colour, and position against the comp, each chrome strip's height off its rule, and the frame for ink where the comp is calm (a kicker, an extra nav item, a divider), and says each miss as a number ("cap height 78px in the build, 103px in the comp"); those numbers are the edit. When it fails, open the region crops it lists, in order, before editing: a region scored `missing` needs its material, `contradicted` needs its structure re-derived from the spec box, `drift` is where size and spacing edits belong; the gate refuses a third attempt that only nudges values on the same region. This is where the run's ambition is won or lost, and a retry here costs minutes where a rebuild verdict at the finish costs the run.
 4. **sections.** Build the rest of the surface inside the spec's system: the same corner language, line weights, and palette, and nothing the comp never shows. Where the comp does not cover a region, it inherits the recorded system.
 5. **motion.** The signature interaction, reveals, and motion, orchestrated once rather than scattered.

.qoder/skills/impeccable/reference/visualize.md

@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ What the comp shows is measured, not remembered. new-work.md section 6 runs the
 
 ## Plates and provenance
 
-Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (`impeccable generate-image --plate <id>`, or the harness image tool with the crop as input and the spec's plate prompt). Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.qoder/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
+Every raster region's plate is produced in the plates phase, before any page code, by the shipped asset producer or in the current thread (use `impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` and save `impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` to a prompt file; pass the crop and prompt to the harness image tool, or use `impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high`). For isolated cutouts, add `--background transparent` to both the plate-prompt and API generation commands; use native PNG alpha and preserve white paint and clear gaps. Use `--background opaque` for full-frame imagery. Create output directories first and inspect alpha on light and dark grounds. Generation context is part of the asset: after generating any image with any tool, run `.qoder/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <image> --prompt "<prompt>"` with the exact string the tool received (`impeccable generate-image` does this itself), so the intent lives inside the file; `--read` recovers it, `--scan <dir>` lists rasters still missing one. The embedded prompt plus the region's row in the spec is the raster's **provenance**, and every raster the artifact references carries it; a sourced, stock, or pre-existing raster embeds its origin instead. A raster created or replaced later, in a fix batch or a reviewer's rebuild, is produced the same way; a raster a fix abandons is deleted in the same batch.
 
 Convert images with a converter `impeccable context` reported at boot (the IMAGE_TOOLS line); probe only when it reported none, at most once per session, never per image.
 

.qoder/skills/impeccable/scripts/VERSION

@@ -1 +1 @@
-0.1.4
+0.1.5

.qoder/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable

@@ -87,6 +87,11 @@ fi
 # Last resort: fetch this version's binary for the current platform from the
 # public release channel into the user cache. Needs network; sandboxes without
 # egress preinstall the binary on PATH instead.
+setup_help() {
+  echo "Engine $version setup needs network access and write permission to $cache_root/bin/$version." >&2
+  echo "Run this launcher ($0) with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command." >&2
+  echo "Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary." >&2
+}
 fetch_url() {
   if command -v curl >/dev/null 2>&1; then
     curl -fsSL --retry 2 -o "$tmp" "$1" 2>/dev/null
@@ -119,7 +124,18 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
   [ "$os" = windows ] && asset="$asset.exe"
   url="$base/engine-v$version/$asset"
   tmp="$cache_root/bin/$version/.impeccable.part.$$"
-  mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null
+  if ! mkdir -p "$cache_root/bin/$version" 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot create cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
+  # Check the actual staging file, not just directory existence: a cache from
+  # an earlier run can be readable but no longer writable inside a sandbox.
+  if ! (umask 077; : > "$tmp") 2>/dev/null; then
+    echo "impeccable: engine $version is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: $cache_root/bin/$version" >&2
+    setup_help
+    exit 127
+  fi
   fetched=0
   if fetch_url "$url"; then
     fetched=1
@@ -180,6 +196,9 @@ if [ -n "$version" ] && [ "$os" != unknown ] && [ "$arch" != unknown ]; then
     exec "$cached" "$@"
   fi
   rm -f "$tmp" 2>/dev/null
+  echo "impeccable: could not download engine $version from $url; check network access, the release URL, and curl or wget availability." >&2
+  setup_help
+  exit 127
 fi
 
 echo "impeccable: no engine binary for $os-$arch found (looked in $bin, $cached, PATH)." >&2

.qoder/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable.cmd

@@ -68,18 +68,27 @@ rem another launcher's probe: fail fast and quiet instead.
 if defined IMPECCABLE_LAUNCHER_PROBE exit /b 127
 if not defined version goto fail
 where curl.exe >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto curl_missing
 if not defined IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE set "IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE=https://github.com/pbakaus/impeccable/releases/download"
-if not exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if exist "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%\" goto cache_ready
+mkdir "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" >nul 2>nul
+if errorlevel 1 goto cache_directory_failed
+:cache_ready
+rem Check the staging file too: an existing directory may be read-only.
+rem Redirection failures do not reliably update ERRORLEVEL in cmd.exe;
+rem branch on the command's failure directly. Never treat a directory as a
+rem staging file (later del cleanup would prompt to delete its contents).
+if exist "%cached%.part\" goto cache_write_failed
+(type nul >"%cached%.part") 2>nul || goto cache_write_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-%arch%.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
 if not errorlevel 1 goto verify
-if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto fail
+if not "%arch%"=="arm64" goto download_failed
 set "asset=impeccable-windows-x64.exe"
 set "url=%IMPECCABLE_DOWNLOAD_BASE%/engine-v%version%/%asset%"
 curl.exe -fsSL -o "%cached%.part" "%url%" >nul 2>nul
-if errorlevel 1 goto fail
+if errorlevel 1 goto download_failed
 
 :verify
 call :check_download
@@ -176,6 +185,28 @@ if not errorlevel 1 set "probe_ok=1"
 del "%probe_tmp%" >nul 2>nul
 exit /b 0
 
+:cache_directory_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot create cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:cache_write_failed
+echo impeccable: engine %version% is not installed; cannot write to cache directory: "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%" 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:curl_missing
+echo impeccable: cannot download engine %version%; curl.exe is unavailable. 1>&2
+goto setup_failed
+
+:download_failed
+del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
+echo impeccable: could not download engine %version% from %url%; check network access and the release URL. 1>&2
+
+:setup_failed
+echo Engine %version% setup needs network access and write permission to "%IMPECCABLE_HOME%\bin\%version%". 1>&2
+echo Run this launcher ("%~f0") with engine-probe in a terminal that has those permissions, then retry the original command. 1>&2
+echo Alternatively, set IMPECCABLE_HOME to a writable cache location, or IMPECCABLE_BIN to a preinstalled engine binary. 1>&2
+exit /b 127
+
 :fail
 del "%cached%.part" >nul 2>nul
 echo impeccable: no engine binary found (looked in %bin%, %cached%, PATH). 1>&2

.rovodev/skills/impeccable/SKILL.md

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 ---
 name: impeccable
 description: Use when the user wants to design, redesign, shape, critique, audit, polish, clarify, distill, harden, optimize, adapt, animate, colorize, extract, or otherwise improve a frontend interface. Covers websites, landing pages, dashboards, product UI, app shells, components, forms, settings, onboarding, and empty states. Handles UX review, visual hierarchy, information architecture, cognitive load, accessibility, performance, responsive behavior, theming, anti-patterns, typography, fonts, spacing, layout, alignment, color, motion, micro-interactions, UX copy, error states, edge cases, i18n, and reusable design systems or tokens. Also use for bland designs that need to become bolder or more delightful, loud designs that should become quieter, live browser iteration on UI elements, or ambitious visual effects that should feel technically extraordinary. Not for backend-only or non-UI tasks.
-version: 4.2.3
+version: 4.3.1
 user-invocable: true
 argument-hint: "[shape · audit|critique · animate|bolder|colorize|delight|layout|overdrive|quieter|typeset · adapt|clarify|distill · harden|onboard|optimize|polish · init|document|extract|live] [target]"
 license: Apache 2.0

.rovodev/skills/impeccable/reference/degraded/asset-producer.md

@@ -26,12 +26,12 @@ Every region with `medium: raster` in the spec ships as a plate at its `plate` p
 Per region, in the spec's order:
 
 1. `.rovodev/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --crop <id>` writes the reference crop under `.impeccable/build/crops/`.
-2. Produce the plate. With the API fallback: `.rovodev/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --plate <id> --quality high` does the whole step (crop as reference, the spec's plate prompt, output size chosen from the region's aspect, the file written to its plate path, prompt embedded, and the plate scored against the crop). With a harness-native image tool: use the crop as the input image and `.rovodev/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id>` as the prompt, write the result to the plate path, then run `.rovodev/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt "<the exact prompt>"`.
-3. Read the score line. `PLATE-SCORE` under 50%, or a `PLATE-WARN`, means the plate does not read as the region: open the plate beside the crop, name what drifted (subject, framing, palette, style), tighten the prompt with that, and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and say why in one line.
-4. Transparent cutouts (a figure or object on the page ground): generate on a flat chroma color absent from the subject and key it to alpha before writing the PNG; never ship the keyed background.
+2. Choose the background from the approved region: an isolated figure, object, or line drawing on the page ground is a **transparent cutout**; a photograph, full-frame illustration, or texture stays **opaque**. Save `.rovodev/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable comp-spec --plate-prompt <id> --background transparent` to a UTF-8 prompt file for a cutout; use `--background opaque` otherwise. The transparent prompt preserves reference placement and clear margins, white paint, fine edges, and interior holes.
+3. Produce the plate at its exact spec `plate` path. Create the output directory first and choose a supported output size matching the region's aspect, at least 1.5x its pixel dimensions. Prefer the harness-native image tool with the crop as input and the saved prompt; request a transparent PNG for cutouts, then run `.rovodev/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable embed-prompt <plate> --prompt-file <prompt.txt>` (if you refine the prompt, save and embed the exact text sent). With the API fallback, run `.rovodev/skills/impeccable/scripts/impeccable generate-image --ref <crop.png> --prompt-file <prompt.txt> --out <plate.png> --size <WxH> --quality high --background transparent` for a cutout, or `--background opaque` otherwise. The API fallback embeds the prompt and records the background in the sidecar. The output must be PNG; the fallback requests native alpha and performs no chroma-keying.
+4. Open the plate beside the crop and compare subject, placement, scale, palette, and style. For cutouts, verify a real alpha channel and inspect composites on light and dark grounds: white paint must stay solid, interior holes must clear, and fine edges must avoid halos. Inspect glass and soft shadows carefully; partial alpha alone does not ensure convincing translucency. Never chroma-key native transparent output or flatten it before saving. If a native tool returns opaque pixels or a painted checkerboard, retry with the API fallback when available; otherwise report the transparency blocker. On a visual miss, tighten the prompt and regenerate once. Two misses on one region: keep the better plate, mark it `needs_parent_review`, and name the drift. The parent runs the plates gate after all assets exist; report `unscored` until a gate score is available.
 
 Do not redesign. Do not add objects, restyle, or reinterpret; the comp was approved as it is. Do not touch the page code, the spec, or the comp. Do not produce anything the spec does not list; a region the parent forgot goes back as a one-line note, not a plate.
 
 ## Output Contract
 
-Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score>% <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; your line and its line must agree.
+Return one line per raster region: `<id> <plate path> <WxH> <score%|unscored> <accepted|needs_parent_review|blocked> <one-line note or ->`. Then `blockers` (missing spec, missing comp, no image capability, exhausted key) and `assumptions`, each global and minimal. Nothing else: no summary, no praise, no implementation advice. The parent runs `impeccable build-phase advance` to verify the plates against the same spec; a visual acceptance does not override a failing gate.