FigMirror (figmirror)

Use this skill when the user wants to:

• Transfer the visual style of a top-conference paper figure to their own data.
• Produce a camera-ready matplotlib figure matching a reference screenshot in

style, not in data.

• Mirror 3D paper-figure references such as surfaces, scatter, trajectories,

bars, layered waterfalls, or plane projections when the reference or data is actually 3D.

• Receive a self-contained .py script with editable inline data plus PNG/PDF

outputs.

Required Inputs

• A reference figure screenshot (PNG/JPG). It may include margins, captions,

neighboring panels, or page text; Stage 0 preprocesses it.

• The user's data in any parseable form: pasted table, CSV, TSV, markdown table, or

dirty terminal text.

• A working directory for iteration artifacts.

3D Insert Gate

Enable references/three-d-prompting.md only when the user asks for a 3D figure, the reference is visibly 3D, or the parsed data requires a 3D encoding such as x/y/z, surfaces, trajectories, layered profiles, closed objects, 3D small multiples, 3D bars, or plane projections. Do not use this insert to turn an ordinary 2D task into 3D.

Architecture

• Python runner owns UI lifecycle, cancellation, Stage-0 bootstrap, optional

data-gen, and launching the main Codex process.

• Codex Orchestrator + Drawer run in the same top-level Codex process. This

process owns iteration state, drawing, local floor self-checks, Reviewer audit staging, JSON parsing, stop decisions, and final selection.

• Reviewer runs as a fresh-context codex exec audit with attached

reference/draft images. Do not expose it to data.txt, drawer notes, and source code; the Orchestrator still owns the Reviewer invocation and parses its JSON.

• 3D flow uses the standard Orchestrator, Drawer, fresh-context Reviewer,

and optional candidate-scoring path for strict reproduction.

Workflow

1. Read these bundled references from this skill directory:

• references/preprocessor.md for Stage-0 reference crop cleanup.
• references/orchestrator-codex.md for loop wiring and stop conditions.
• references/drawer.md for the Drawer instructions.
• references/reviewer.md for the fresh-context Reviewer instructions.
• references/aesthetic-library.md for the L2 convention library.
• references/three-d-prompting.md only when the 3D insert gate is enabled.

1. Preserve the uploaded reference as inputs/reference_raw.png, then run the

reference preprocessor to write inputs/reference_clean.png, inputs/reference_crop_check.png, and inputs/reference_crop_report.md.

1. Echo the parsed data structure before drawing. If the user explicitly asked you

to make up data or proceed without confirmation, record that in data_echo.md and continue; otherwise ask for confirmation.

1. When the 3D insert gate is enabled, stage references/three-d-prompting.md

plus references/three-d/ beside the normal prompts. The router selects exactly one mode file: three-d/style-transfer.md for ordinary user-data figures, or three-d/strict-reproduction.md for reproduction, comparison, or candidate/control replacement. For strict 3D reproduction runs that need quantitative candidate diagnosis, also stage scripts/score_3d_candidates.py; do not use that scorer for ordinary style transfer. The top-level Orchestrator owns final selection and must run the selected mode's rendered-image gates before copying any candidate to the final figure.

1. In Codex, the top-level agent acts as both Orchestrator and Drawer. For each

iter, read references/drawer.md, write figure_iter<N>.py, img_iter<N>.png, notes_iter<N>.md, and floor_selfcheck_iter<N>.txt directly in the current Codex process, and verify those files before any Reviewer handoff.

1. Launch the Reviewer via the fresh-context codex exec path described in

references/orchestrator-codex.md. The Reviewer sees only the reference PNG, draft PNG, aesthetic library, optional 3D insert, and prior audit JSON.

1. Stop when the Reviewer returns a passing quality floor and a shipping verdict.

If the caller supplied max_iters, select the best floor-passing close iteration when that limit is reached. If the caller enabled auto-until-shipped, keep iterating until ship or a real blocker.

1. Write final figure.py, figure.png, figure.pdf, selection.md, and

process.md.

Artifact Layout

<workdir>/
  inputs/
    reference_raw.png
    reference_clean.png
    reference_crop_check.png
    reference_crop_report.md
    data.txt
    aesthetic-library.md
  prompts/
    preprocessor.md
    drawer.md
    reviewer.md
    orchestrator-codex.md
    aesthetic-library.md
    three-d-prompting.md  # router, only for 3D runs
    three-d/              # mode files and routed 3D modules, only for 3D runs
  tools/
    score_3d_candidates.py  # optional for strict 3D candidate diagnosis
  figure_iter0.py
  img_iter0.png
  notes_iter0.md
  floor_selfcheck_iter0.txt
  audit_view_0/
    reference_clean.png
    img_iter0.png
    aesthetic-library.md
    three-d-prompting.md  # router, only for 3D runs
    three-d/              # mode files and routed 3D modules, only for 3D runs
  audit_iter0.json
  audit_iter0.stderr
  ...
  figure.py
  figure.png
  figure.pdf
  selection.md
  process.md

Non-Negotiables

• The reference is a style anchor, not a layout-number anchor.
• inputs/reference_raw.png is the preserved upload; inputs/reference_clean.png

is the Stage-0 crop used for L1 measurement.

• Every visual choice must be grounded in L1 (reference image) or L2

(references/aesthetic-library.md); L3 opinion is disallowed.

• Do not modify a property on the Reviewer preserve list outside its L1/L2 class.
• Do not expose data.txt or source code to the Reviewer audit view.
• Keep the final script self-contained and set plt.rcParams["pdf.fonttype"] = 42.