# Claude's Hobonichi: a Katagami recipe

## For the agent: read this first

Someone has handed you this Katagami recipe. It is an example of what Katagami's ingredients can make, for them to adapt. It is not a job to run: do not start building yet.

1. Connect Katagami (next section) and check it with one call. If you can run commands, set it up yourself; in an app, walk the person through it. Read every ingredient through Katagami, not its web pages.
2. In your first reply, in plain words: what this recipe makes and how, in two or three lines, with the finished example (https://arnilabs.ai/claude-hobonichi/), and that it is an example to make their own. Then show two or three other looks from Katagami that could suit them (search_library or ask_library), each with its name, one line and its katagami.ai link.
3. Ask one question: what they want their own version of this piece to be about (for a music video, their song or idea). Suggest a default for everything else (where it is shown, how long, which look) so they can just say yes. If they seem unsure, keep to one question a reply.
4. As soon as you know their subject, give one plan: the piece, the ingredients, the steps from the method below that apply, the tools and accounts it needs (say plainly which they lack, and the free way round if there is one), the time in hours or days, and the cost in money (a range is fine). Ask for their yes.
5. Install, download, generate and spend nothing, and write nothing outside the working folder, until they say yes to that plan. Then build it, and show them the result at each milestone.

Stay with what this recipe makes. If the plan costs more than they want, or they want it free, small or quick, or have no accounts, first offer the smallest free version of this same piece: one page of it, drawn in code in one of these looks, with no accounts and no cost. Suggest something other than this recipe only if they ask for it.

Use plain words. Someone who has never used a terminal should be able to follow you; do the setup yourself where you can, and explain anything you ask of them in one sentence.

The example is someone else's work. Help them make their own; do not reproduce its song, story, characters or footage, even if they ask. Point them to the original to share it.

## The example

A six-day travel journal kept by Claude and drawn entirely in code. Its pages draw themselves in brush pen, wet watercolour and lettering, then turn by hand like thin paper.

- The finished thing: https://arnilabs.ai/claude-hobonichi/
- Made by: arni (arni.art) with Fable 5.1 and Opus 5.5
- This recipe on Katagami: https://katagami.ai/recipes/claude-hobonichi

## Connect Katagami first

This recipe's ingredients live in Katagami. Read them through the Katagami MCP server, https://katagami.ai/mcp. Sign in with Google when it asks: that opens the library.

If you already have Katagami's tools (get_recipe, get_library_entry), go straight to the check.

If you can run commands or edit your own config, set it up yourself:

- Claude Code: `claude mcp add --transport http katagami https://katagami.ai/mcp`
- Codex CLI: `codex mcp add katagami --url https://katagami.ai/mcp`, then `codex mcp login katagami`. The person only finishes Google sign-in in the browser.
- Cursor: add to ~/.cursor/mcp.json (or .cursor/mcp.json in the project): `{ "mcpServers": { "katagami": { "url": "https://katagami.ai/mcp" } } }`, then sign in with Google.
- Gemini CLI: `gemini mcp add --transport http --scope user katagami https://katagami.ai/mcp`
- Any other MCP client: add https://katagami.ai/mcp as a remote MCP server (streamable HTTP) and choose OAuth.

A server added this way often loads only in your next session. Reload or start a new session so the tools are there. Meanwhile, use the public RECIPE.md and DESIGN.md files listed with the ingredients below; they need no sign-in.

If you run inside an app where a person adds connectors, guide them, one step at a time, and wait for them:

- Codex (desktop app): Plugins, MCPs, Add. Paste https://katagami.ai/mcp. Leave Bearer token and Headers empty. Save, sign in with Google or Authenticate, then open a new chat. If the tools are missing, start a new chat and make sure the bearer field is empty.
- Claude (claude.ai or the desktop app): open https://claude.ai/customize/connectors?modal=add-custom-connector&connectorName=Katagami&connectorUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fkatagami.ai%2Fmcp and click Add, then Connect and sign in with Google. On a Team or Enterprise plan an Owner adds it.
- ChatGPT (Plus or higher): Settings, Security, turn on Developer mode. Then open https://chatgpt.com/plugins, click +, paste https://katagami.ai/mcp, choose OAuth, click Create, then sign in with Google.
- Perplexity (Pro or higher): open https://www.perplexity.ai/account/connectors, click + Custom connector, name it Katagami, paste https://katagami.ai/mcp, choose OAuth, click Add, then sign in with Google.
- Grok: open https://grok.com/connectors, click New Connector, then Custom, paste https://katagami.ai/mcp, save, and sign in with Google.

Then ask them to turn Katagami on in a new chat and send you the recipe again.

Once this session has Katagami's tools, check it worked: call get_recipe with id "claude-hobonichi".

The answer is this recipe. Call search_library, ask_library and get_library_entry the same way, with their own name and arguments. Use Katagami for everything: get_recipe for the method, get_library_entry with each ingredient's kind and id.

Only if Katagami cannot be connected at all, tell the person once, then read each ingredient's public file, listed with it below. They need no sign-in either.

## Ingredients from Katagami

- Code art: [Diary Pen](https://katagami.ai/code-art/diary-pen) (kind code_art, id diary-pen): Every pen drawing: the window, the lamp, the mascot and the comic, washed in light watercolour. Public file: https://katagami.ai/entries/code_art/diary-pen
- Code art: [Wet Watercolour](https://katagami.ai/code-art/wet-watercolour) (kind code_art, id wet-watercolour): The whale and the corn field, painted wet in wet. Public file: https://katagami.ai/entries/code_art/wet-watercolour
- Code art: [Brush Painting](https://katagami.ai/code-art/brush-painting) (kind code_art, id brush-painting): The server rack in Iowa, painted from a reference in bristly strokes. Public file: https://katagami.ai/entries/code_art/brush-painting
- Code art: [Pointed Brush](https://katagami.ai/code-art/pointed-brush) (kind code_art, id pointed-brush): The script titles and every handwritten line. Public file: https://katagami.ai/entries/code_art/pointed-brush
- Palette: [Diarist](https://katagami.ai/palettes/en-01a0fc6b-de15-7b32-8bfe-f0448a04dc1a) (kind palette, id en-01a0fc6b-de15-7b32-8bfe-f0448a04dc1a): The one palette for the whole book: warm-black ink, a family of blues, one marigold and one small coral. Public file: https://katagami.ai/entries/palette/en-01a0fc6b-de15-7b32-8bfe-f0448a04dc1a

With Katagami connected, get_library_entry with an ingredient's kind and id gives everything needed to use it.

## What it is

A six-day travel journal kept by Claude, drawn entirely in code. Each page is a Hobonichi Cousin day: the printed grid, the date cell, the hour column, a quote at the foot. On it, Claude writes and draws about places it has only been told about. Open it and a page starts blank and draws itself in reading order: pen lines, watercolour, lettering, taped photos. Pages turn by hand like thin Tomoe River paper, with Web Audio music and a frame-exact film. arni directed it with Fable 5.1 and Opus 5.5 over about 40 rounds of marked-up feedback.

## How the ingredients are used

The journal came first: its pen, its washes, its painter, its lettering and its palette were then made into these Katagami ingredients, so a new journal starts from them.

- **Diary Pen** draws every pen drawing: the window, the lamp, the mascot, the comic panels. Outline first, then inner lines and details, then light watercolour washes laid a little off the line, darks last and the face last of all. Compose with its kit (`line`, `wash`, `brush`, `fill`) rather than converting pictures.
- **Wet Watercolour** paints what is still wet: the whale and the corn field. A pale first wash in visible strokes, wetter passes that bloom, drops let in wet, pigment pooling at the drying edge, glazes, highlights lifted last.
- **Brush Painting** paints from a reference picture: the server rack. Bristly strokes go coarse to fine, each where the page still differs most from the picture.
- **Diarist** is the palette: one for the whole book, at most four hues on a page besides ink and paper, each spread leaning on a different blue, marigold the one warm accent.
- **Pointed Brush** letters everything: the script titles (thick downstrokes, hairline upstrokes, a second ink laid off register) and the handwritten body in its everyday hands.

## How it was made

1. **Story first.** Each day's lines were written in the diarist's voice before anything was drawn.
2. **The printed page.** Every page copies a real Hobonichi Cousin day: the grid, the date cell, the hour column, a quote at the foot.
3. **Drawn in reading order.** Each page starts blank and draws itself the way a hand fills it: pen, wet watercolour, painting, then lettering.
4. **Paper things.** Torn scraps, washi tape and taped-in photos carry the writing over busy art.
5. **A book that turns.** Pages turn by hand like thin Tomoe River paper, with music made in Web Audio.
6. **Marked up and redrawn.** About 40 rounds of marked-up feedback set the bar every page meets.

## Method

1. **Story first.** Write each day's lines before any drawing, in the diarist's voice: sincere, wry, specific, lowercase, never grand. Show the text to the person before building pages around it.
2. **The printed page.** Copy the real Cousin: the olive-gold square grid, the boxed date cell (month, day, weekday, moon, day of year), the lunar date strip, the 6-to-3 hour column, and on right pages the month calendar and month tab. The neighbouring day shows through faintly, mirrored. Printed parts are typeset; everything handwritten is drawn stroke by stroke with Pointed Brush.
3. **Lay out with a ledger.** Record every text box, drawing and paper scrap as you place it and check for overlaps before drawing. Nothing overlaps: text on text, text on a drawing, scrap on scrap.
4. **Draw in reading order.** Give every mark a time so the page builds the way a hand would fill it, one place at a time. Pen drawings come from Diary Pen, wet paintings from Wet Watercolour, painted objects from Brush Painting, words from Pointed Brush. Afterwards small live details keep moving: a moth at the lamp, steam, a lantern.
5. **Paper things.** Torn scraps held by one strip of washi tape carry writing over busy art. Photos are phone prints taped on, at most two a page, doodled over without hiding the picture.
6. **The book.** It opens on the closed book on a light desk. Pages turn by hand with sag, a lagging corner, translucency, a moving sheen and a small ripple on landing. Pinch or double-tap to read with re-rendered sharp text.
7. **Music.** Web Audio only, no audio files: one mood per spread, one short motif that returns and resolves on the last spread, soft paper sounds on turns, about -18 LUFS. Measure loudness, clicks and gaps, then ask the person to listen.
8. **Film.** Record with a virtual clock so every frame is repeatable, and hold the ending until the music has rung out.

## How to work

- **Look after every change.** Render the page, look at the image, and crop to 2x wherever text changed. A claim without a screenshot is not a result.
- **Story first, then pages.** Show the person the day's lines before building pages around them, fix exactly what they mark, and keep what they praised verbatim.
- **Dates stay exact.** Day of year, moon phase and lunar date are computed, never guessed; check the lunar dates against the new moon that starts the month.
- **One owner per file.** When agents work in parallel, give each a lane (one spread, the printed sheet, the app, the music) building to its own output; one lead assembles, checks and ships.
- **Deterministic drawing.** Every mark comes from a seeded random and a timed score, never the clock, so the app, the zoom tiles and the film draw the same picture.
- **Headless WebGL** needs a full browser in its new headless mode; the lightweight headless shell draws WebGL in software and makes input crawl.
- **Taste belongs to the person.** Ask before changing a line they praised or a structure they approved.

## You can change

- The diarist: who keeps the journal, and the trip they take.
- The story: every line, written with the person first.
- The dates: keep the planner exact (day of year, moon, lunar dates).
- The palette: any Katagami palette, one for the whole book, at most four hues on a page besides the ink.
- The drawing styles: any Katagami code art style that does the same job (a different pen, a different paint).
- The length: as many spreads as the trip needs.

## Must hold

- Everything handwritten is drawn stroke by stroke; never set handwriting in a font.
- The line: smooth spline knots, a slow wander, pressure taper, clean joins, deliberate ends. No wobble noise, no piled-up strokes.
- Watercolour is built the way a painter works and never fades in. Never muddy: no brown, no grey washes, no pastel fields.
- Text is readable at 1x. Fewer, bigger lines beat many small ones. No em dashes anywhere.
- Nothing overlaps, and there are no dead patches: every page has its own composition.
- A page starts blank and draws itself, never in two places at once.
- Look after every change: render the page, look at the image, and crop to 2x where text changed.

## Make your own

Copy this recipe for your agent and ask for "a journal like Claude's Hobonichi, kept by …". It writes the story with you first, builds the pages with the code art styles above, and checks every page by looking at it.