Style fields

Field	Type/default	Meaning
extends	style id	Optional parent style. The child inherits resolved settings but must declare its own outDir.
provider	top-level default	Provider registry id for this style. Assets cannot override it.
generator	map	map, 1dir, pixflux, tiles, character, or provider-specific animation/frames.
outDir	string, required	Output directory relative to the manifest.
promptPrefix	""	Prepended to every participating asset prompt.
promptSuffix	""	Appended to every participating asset prompt.
styleImages	[]	{ "path": "..." } reference images. Paths are manifest-relative.
size	integer 16–8192	Square size. Each provider and generator applies its own narrower limits. For PixelLab 1dir, a style reference's dimensions take precedence.
view	string	PixelLab map: low top-down, high top-down, or side. Other generators interpret this separately.
outline	string	PixelLab map: single color outline, selective outline, or lineless.
shading	string	PixelLab map: flat shading, basic shading, medium shading, or detailed shading.
detail	string	PixelLab map: low detail, medium detail, or high detail.
seed	integer	Deterministic provider seed where supported.
palette	hex array, []	The style's palette; # is optional. Sent to providers that take one (pixflux, Retro Diffusion, ComfyUI bindings).
enforcePalette	boolean, false	Snap every downloaded PNG to the nearest palette colour, no dithering. Needs at least two colours. See Palette enforcement.
noBackground	boolean, true	pixflux background removal. Set false for scenes/backdrops.
providerOptions	object, {}	Options grouped by provider id. Only the active provider's object is resolved and hashed.
tileSize	integer 16–256	Edge length for tiles when no style reference supplies geometry.
tileType	enum	hex, hex_pointy, isometric, oblique, octagon, or square_topdown.
tileView	enum	top-down, high top-down, low top-down, or side.
tileFeature	enum	Connectable roads, tileset, or building structural set.
outlineMode	enum	outline or segmentation; segmentation avoids quilted ground seams.
mode	standard	character only. standard, v3, pro, or pro-flash; see Characters.
directions	8	character only. 4 or 8; every engine but standard draws 8.
template	mannequin	character only. Body template: mannequin, or bear, cat, dog, horse, lion; custom for pro-flash.
proportions		character only, standard humanoid bases. A preset (default, chibi, cartoon, stylized, realistic_male, realistic_female, heroic) or multipliers { headSize, armsLength, legsLength, shoulderWidth, hipWidth }, each 0.5 to 2. An asset may override it.
textGuidanceScale	8	character only. How closely a standard base and a template loop follow their text, 1 to 20.
isometric	false	character only. Draw standard bases and every loop in isometric view.
enhancePrompt	false	character only, v3 bases. Let PixelLab expand the prompt into a fuller one before drawing.
styleCharacter		character only, pro bases. The asset id of a generated 8-direction character in this style whose look bases drawn from text or a concept follow. An asset may override it.
styleTraits	all true	character only, pro-flash bases with a style image. { palette, outline, detail, shading } booleans: which traits the style image lends.
mount	object	Stable-cell sheet placement; documented below.
quality	object	Optional native-grid, final-palette, and human-approval contract; documented below.
tags	string array, []	Tags inherited by every generated provider object in the style.

Style inheritance

Use extends for a real variant that differs from a base style by a few settings. Do not copy the whole style:

{
  "styles": {
    "pony-character": {
      "generator": "map",
      "promptPrefix": "score_9, score_8_up, rating_safe",
      "promptSuffix": "clean pixel clusters",
      "seed": 24000,
      "outDir": "art/generated/pony-character",
      "quality": {
        "outDir": "art/native/pony-character",
        "palette": ["#17111f", "#76506f", "#e5a9b8", "#fff1de"],
        "minGridConfidence": "high"
      }
    },
    "pony-explicit": {
      "extends": "pony-character",
      "promptPrefix": "score_9, score_8_up, rating_explicit",
      "seed": 24001,
      "outDir": "art/generated/pony-explicit",
      "quality": {
        "outDir": "art/native/pony-explicit"
      }
    }
  }
}

The child wins for ordinary fields. Arrays and nested objects are replaced, not concatenated or recursively merged. Two fields get a focused merge:

• quality keeps parent keys that the child does not override;
• providerOptions keeps parent provider namespaces and merges each provider's immediate option keys. A deeper object such as bindings is still replaced as a whole.

Inheritance may span several styles. Unknown parents, self-reference, and cycles are errors. Every child must declare outDir; output ownership is never inherited. Omission means inherit, and there is no null deletion marker. Defaults and generator constraints are applied after the chain is resolved.

Only the resolved style reaches planning. A parent edit to a pixel-affecting field therefore changes every child's spec hash; a quality-policy edit changes the child's derived quality state without buying new provider art. extends itself is not runtime or lockfile state.

Generator-specific fields are validated before planning. Important constraints:

• 1dir is square; use style/asset size rather than width/height.
• When size and styleImages are both present, PixelLab derives size from the largest reference image and the declared size is advisory.
• map supports arbitrary asset width and height but not forced palettes or style images. enforcePalette still holds its output to the palette.
• pixflux accepts a forced palette and returns inline output; it has no style-image support.
• tiles cannot combine tileFeature with styleImages because the provider rejects connectable features in style-tile mode.
• ComfyUI frames derives its count from one 2–64 item providerInputs sequence, renders one still per item, and reviews the ordered set atomically.

See generator selection for costs and trade-offs. See mixed-provider projects when styles in one manifest need different backends and budget units.