Paperbanana

PaperBanana - Academic Illustration Generator

Multi-agent pipeline (Retriever → Planner → Stylist → Visualizer → Critic) for publication-quality academic diagrams, statistical plots, and presentation slides.

API key: Set provider keys in PaperBanana project's .env file. Timeout: 300000 (5 min) for all generation commands.

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Commands

All commands run from project root: cd && python -m paperbanana.cli

Command Selection Decision Tree

Route user requests to the right subcommand before looking up parameters:

| User intent | Signal words | Subcommand | |-------------|--------------|------------| | 方法论/架构/流程图 from text or PDF | "method figure", "架构图", "流程图", "methodology", "pipeline diagram", "论文配图" | generate | | Statistical plot from data file | "plot", "curve", "bar chart", "scatter", "heatmap", has CSV/JSON | plot | | Single presentation slide | "slide", "一张幻灯片", "封面图", single prompt file | slide | | Batch slide generation | "all slides", "批量生成", "N 张幻灯片", prompts/ directory | slide-batch | | Compare generated vs human reference | "evaluate", "对比", "与参考图对比" | evaluate | | Manage reference dataset | "download dataset", "清缓存" | data | | First-time provider config | "setup", "配置 API key" | setup |

Ambiguous input: If user provides just a description with no subcommand signal, default to generate (see Argument Parsing table for details).

Out-of-scope: Pure code generation (matplotlib/seaborn script) is NOT paperbanana's job — those go to matplotlib / scientific-visualization skills. Paperbanana is for AI-driven image generation + critique loops.

> Note (upstream sync pending): Upstream paperbanana CLI also adds subcommands (plot-batch #123, sweep #118) not yet reflected in this table. See the llmsresearch/paperbanana CHANGELOG for the authoritative CLI surface.

generate — Methodology Diagrams

python -m paperbanana.cli generate --input '' --caption '' --optimize --verbose

When user provides inline text (no file): write to temp file, use as --input.

| Parameter | Default | Description | |-----------|---------|-------------| | --input / -i | — | Path to methodology text file or PDF (.pdf requires pip install 'paperbanana') | | --caption / -c | — | Figure caption / communicative intent | | --output / -o | auto | Output image path | | --vlm-provider | gemini | VLM provider: gemini, anthropic, openai, bedrock, openrouter, ollama, claude_code, litellm | | --vlm-model | auto | VLM model name | | --image-provider | auto | Image gen provider: google_imagen, openai, bedrock, openrouter | | --image-model | auto | Image gen model name | | --iterations / -n | 3 | Max critic rounds | | --auto | off | Loop until critic is satisfied (safety cap via --max-iterations) | | --max-iterations | 30 | Safety cap for --auto mode | | --optimize | off | Preprocess inputs (parallel enrichment + caption sharpening) | | --continue | off | Continue from the latest run | | --continue-run | — | Continue from a specific run ID | | --feedback | — | User feedback for the critic when continuing a run | | --aspect-ratio / -ar | auto | Target aspect ratio: 1:1, 2:3, 3:2, 3:4, 4:3, 9:16, 16:9, 21:9 | | --format / -f | png | Output format: png, jpeg, webp | | --dry-run | off | Validate inputs without making API calls | | --exemplar-retrieval | off | Enable external exemplar retrieval before planning | | --seed | — | Random seed for reproducible generation | | --verbose / -v | off | Show detailed agent progress and timing | | --auto-download-data | off | Auto-download expanded reference set (~257MB) on first run | | --venue | — | Academic venue style: neurips, icml, acl, ieee, custom | | --pages | — | Page range for PDF input (e.g., 3-5) | | --config | — | Path to config YAML file |

> Venue styles: --venue neurips applies NeurIPS-specific methodology and plot style guides from data/guidelines/. Each venue has distinct color palettes, layout conventions, and typography expectations.

> PDF input: --input paper.pdf --pages 3-5 extracts text from the specified pages as source context.

> Exemplar advanced flags: --exemplar-retrieval enables retrieval; see generate --help for additional config flags (--exemplar-endpoint, --exemplar-mode, --exemplar-top-k, --exemplar-timeout, --exemplar-retries).

plot — Statistical Plots

python -m paperbanana.cli plot --data '' --intent '' --optimize --verbose

| Parameter | Default | Description | |-----------|---------|-------------| | --data / -d | — | Path to data file (CSV or JSON) [required] | | --intent | — | Communicative intent for the plot [required] | | --output / -o | auto | Output image path | | --vlm-provider | gemini | VLM provider | | --iterations / -n | 3 | Refinement iterations | | --format / -f | png | Output format | | --aspect-ratio / -ar | auto | Target aspect ratio | | --optimize | off | Enrich context and sharpen caption | | --auto | off | Loop until critic satisfied | | --verbose / -v | off | Detailed progress |

slide — Presentation Slides

python -m paperbanana.cli slide --input '' --resolution 4k

| Parameter | Default | Description | |-----------|---------|-------------| | --input / -i | — | Path to slide prompt markdown file [required] | | --caption / -c | auto | Slide intent description | | --output / -o | auto | Output image path | | --image-model | auto | Image gen model | | --vlm-model | auto | VLM model name | | --iterations / -n | 3 | Max critic rounds | | --style / -s | — | Style preset name (see table below) | | --list-styles | off | List all available style presets and exit | | --resolution / -r | 4k | Output resolution: 1k, 2k, 4k | | --config | — | Path to config YAML file |

slide-batch — Batch Slide Generation

python -m paperbanana.cli slide-batch --prompts-dir '' --resolution 4k

| Parameter | Default | Description | |-----------|---------|-------------| | --prompts-dir | — | Directory containing slide prompt markdown files [required] | | --output-dir | auto | Output directory | | --image-model | auto | Image gen model | | --style / -s | — | Style preset applied to all slides | | --iterations / -n | 3 | Max critic rounds per slide | | --resolution / -r | 4k | Output resolution |

Style Presets (23 available)

Use --style with slide or slide-batch. Use --list-styles to see all.

| Style | Source | Best For | |-------|--------|----------| | blueprint | baoyu | Architecture, system design, technical | | chalkboard | baoyu | Classroom, teaching, education | | corporate | baoyu | Business, investor, quarterly reports | | minimal | baoyu | Executive briefings, clean/simple | | sketch-notes | baoyu | Tutorials, guides, beginner content | | watercolor | baoyu | Lifestyle, wellness, artistic | | dark-atmospheric | baoyu | Entertainment, gaming, cinematic | | notion | baoyu | SaaS, product, dashboards | | bold-editorial | baoyu | Product launches, keynotes, marketing | | editorial-infographic | baoyu | Science communication, explainers | | fantasy-animation | baoyu | Storytelling, magical, children | | intuition-machine | baoyu | Academic research, bilingual | | pixel-art | baoyu | Gaming, retro, developer culture | | scientific | baoyu | Biology, chemistry, medical | | vector-illustration | baoyu | Creative, children, flat design | | vintage | baoyu | Historical, heritage, expedition | | tech-keynote | elite-ppt | Apple/Tesla premium minimalism | | creative-bold | elite-ppt | Google/Airbnb energetic innovation | | financial-elite | elite-ppt | Goldman Sachs/McKinsey sophistication | | biotech | sci-slides | Life sciences, genomics | | neuroscience | sci-slides | Brain research, cognitive science | | ml-ai | sci-slides | Machine learning, deep learning | | environmental | sci-slides | Ecology, climate, sustainability |

evaluate — Comparative Evaluation

python -m paperbanana.cli evaluate --generated '' --reference '' \
  --context '' --caption ''

| Parameter | Default | Description | |-----------|---------|-------------| | --generated / -g | — | Path to generated image [required] | | --reference / -r | — | Path to human reference image [required] | | --context | — | Path to source context text file [required] | | --caption / -c | — | Figure caption [required] | | --vlm-provider | gemini | VLM provider for evaluation | | --verbose / -v | off | Detailed progress |

data — Manage Reference Datasets

python -m paperbanana.cli data download   # Download expanded reference set (~257MB)
python -m paperbanana.cli data info       # Show cached dataset info
python -m paperbanana.cli data clear      # Remove cached dataset

ablate-retrieval — Retrieval Ablation (Advanced)

Research utility for running baseline vs retrieval ablation (k sweep). See ablate-retrieval --help for details.

setup — Interactive Setup Wizard

python -m paperbanana.cli setup

Guides through API key configuration and provider selection. No flags needed.

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Provider Selection

| Provider | VLM | Image Gen | Setup | |----------|-----|-----------|-------| | Google Gemini | Flash / Pro | Imagen 3 | GOOGLE_API_KEY | | Anthropic Claude | Claude 4 | — | ANTHROPIC_API_KEY | | OpenAI | GPT-4o | DALL-E 3 | OPENAI_API_KEY | | AWS Bedrock | Claude / Nova | Nova Canvas | AWS credentials | | OpenRouter | Various | Various | OPENROUTER_API_KEY | | LiteLLM | 100+ backends | via backend | LITELLM_MODEL / LITELLM_API_KEY | | Ollama | Local models | — | OLLAMA_BASE_URL / OLLAMA_MODEL | | Claude Code | via claude CLI | — | Claude Code signed in (no key) |

Use --vlm-provider and --image-provider flags to select providers per command.

Argument Parsing

| Input Pattern | Action | |---------------|--------| | generate | Generate with file + caption | | generate | Write to temp file, auto-caption, generate | | plot | Plot mode | | slide | Generate presentation slide | | slide-batch | Batch generate slides | | evaluate | Comparative evaluation | | Just a description (no subcommand) | Default to generate |

Error Handling

Two types of API failure can occur during generation. Handle them differently:

Type 1: Image Generation API Failure (Visualizer)

The image provider (Gemini Imagen, DALL-E, Nova Canvas) fails to return an image.

| Error | Cause | Action | |-------|-------|--------| | 429 / ResourceExhausted | Rate limit | Wait 30s, retry up to 3 times | | 500 / 503 / ServerError | Provider outage | Switch to fallback provider (see chain below) | | 400 / InvalidArgument | Bad prompt (too long, policy violation) | Shorten/rephrase prompt, retry once | | 401 / 403 | Invalid API key | Stop and ask user to run setup | | Timeout (>60s no response) | Network or provider hang | Retry once, then switch provider |

Fallback chain: google_imagen → openai → bedrock → openrouter. Use the next provider in chain that has a valid API key in .env. If all fail, stop and report the error.

Type 2: VLM Critic API Failure

The VLM provider (Gemini Flash, Claude, GPT-4o) fails during quality evaluation.

| Error | Cause | Action | |-------|-------|--------| | 429 / Rate limit | Too many requests | Wait 15s, retry up to 3 times | | JSON parse failure | VLM returned malformed response | Do NOT treat as "approved". Retry once with stricter prompt. If still fails, mark output as UNREVIEWED | | 500 / 503 | Provider outage | Switch VLM provider (see chain below) | | Timeout (>30s) | Network hang | Retry once, then skip Critic and mark as UNREVIEWED |

VLM fallback chain: gemini → anthropic → openai → openrouter.

Critical rule: A Critic failure must NEVER silently approve an image. If Critic cannot evaluate, the output status must be UNREVIEWED, not APPROVED. Report this clearly to the user.

Recovery with --continue

Use --continue to resume after any failure:

| Scenario | Command | |----------|---------| | Pipeline crashed mid-generation | --continue (resumes latest run) | | Want to iterate on a specific run | --continue-run | | Want to provide feedback for next iteration | --continue --feedback "make the arrows thicker" |

The run directory preserves all intermediate state (plans, images, critic feedback). --continue picks up from the last successful step.

Batch Mode (slide-batch) Resilience

When generating multiple slides, a single slide failure should NOT kill the batch:

1. Log the failure for the specific slide
2. Continue generating remaining slides
3. At the end, report which slides succeeded and which failed
4. User can re-run with --continue to retry only failed slides

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🔴 User Confirmation Checkpoints

Paperbanana is CLI-first, but three user-facing actions are expensive or irreversible. 🛑 STOP and ask for explicit confirmation before running any row below — do not proceed on assumed consent.

| 🔴 Trigger | 🛑 STOP — Confirm before proceeding | |------------|--------------------------------------| | --auto with --max-iterations > 5 | 🛑 STOP. Show: cap, est. API cost (≈ iterations × $0.04), est. wall time (≈ iterations × 30s). Ask: "Proceed with up to N iterations?" Do not kick off until user says yes. | | --auto-download-data on first run | 🛑 STOP. Announce: "reference dataset will be downloaded to cache (~257MB full_bench, or lightweight curated set in upstream ≥ #112)". Ask: "Continue?" Do not download until confirmed. | | setup wizard | 🛑 STOP. Before writing to .env, show the exact keys and preview of values (redact secrets after 4 chars). Ask: "Save to .env?" Do not write until confirmed. |

✅ No checkpoint needed: normal generate / plot / slide (no --auto, within iteration cap 3) — these are short, cheap, and the Critic loop is self-bounded. Run them directly.

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⛔ Anti-Patterns — Red-Line Blacklist

Hard "do NOT" rules. Each maps to a failure mode already encoded above — this section consolidates them into one scannable list.

| ⛔ Anti-pattern | Why it's wrong | Do this instead | |-----------------|----------------|-----------------| | Treating a Critic API failure as "approved" | Ships an unreviewed image as if it passed QA | Mark UNREVIEWED, never APPROVED; report to user | | Proceeding past a 🔴 checkpoint without confirmation | Burns API budget / overwrites .env on assumed consent | 🛑 STOP at every checkpoint row; wait for explicit yes | | Writing matplotlib/seaborn scripts | That's scientific-visualization's job, not paperbanana | Route code-gen away; paperbanana = AI image gen + critique loop | | Killing the whole slide-batch on one slide failure | Loses N−1 good slides over 1 bad one | Log the failure, continue, report survivors, retry via --continue | | Full regeneration after a mid-run crash | Throws away plans/images/critic state, wastes API spend | Resume with --continue / --continue-run | | Routing every "make a figure" to generate | plot (data files) and slide (presentation) have dedicated paths | Run the Command Selection Decision Tree first | | Inventing CLI flags not in the parameter tables | Upstream CLI surface drifts (see #115/#118/#123 note) | Verify with --help; don't fabricate flags |

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After Generation

1. Parse output to find image path
2. Use Read tool to display the generated image
3. Report Run ID, iteration count, and Critic feedback
4. If any outputs are marked UNREVIEWED, warn the user explicitly
5. **If user expresses dissat

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Source & license

This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code.

• Author: PlutoLei
• Source: PlutoLei/paperbanana-skill
• License: MIT
• Homepage: https://github.com/llmsresearch/paperbanana

Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above.