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Moûsa

Recorded 13 October 2026 · Codex

Ilo with title-card portraits: Codex

The comparison again, with Codex's own image tool allowed: each arm painted a portrait for its title card from Moûsa's brief, and Moûsa checked each against the arm's palette.

Host
Codex
Model
the Codex CLI's default model
Moûsa
0.5.0
Started
13 October 2026
Time
8.1 minutes
Qloo requests
16
Pictures
Codex image generation

Play both

The design's own files as the session left them, running sandboxed on a separate origin.

With Qloo Open full screen
Without Qloo Open full screen

Moûsa · Comparison

For an audience that loves Hollow Knight, Spirited Away, Sigur Rós, Nujabes and Paterson

With Qloo and Without Qloo: the same brief, the same frozen prediction and the same stages. Only the source of the taste differs.

ComparisonGameCodexPrediction frozen 13 October 2026

0.58

heuristic distance between the two designs, from 0 (alike) to 1

0.19 Palette0.94 Part ids0.84 Words

5 of 5With Qloo: design devices rest on what the model did not predict

5Without Qloo: design devices rest on the model's own prediction, with no Qloo data

Samefrozen prediction in both arms

Side by side

The last reviewed captures of each arm, paired by what they show.

frame · pose

With Qloo: frame · pose
With Qloo
Without Qloo: frame · pose
Without Qloo

frame · walk

With Qloo: frame · walk
With Qloo
Without Qloo: frame · walk
Without Qloo

frame · kindle

With Qloo: frame · kindle
With Qloo
Without Qloo: frame · kindle
Without Qloo

frame

With Qloo: frame
With Qloo
Without Qloo: frame
Without Qloo

Before any data: the model's own prediction

Frozen before Qloo was asked, so what Qloo adds can be told apart from what the model already assumed. An entry a measured name matches is marked; the match is liberal, so it only lowers what counts as new.

The design the model would make from it alone

A small hooded road worker in a wind-worn teal cape, carrying an amber lantern, walking in a measured rhythm and speaking in concrete, spare observations.

#263e48#65877f#c3ccbb#e9b96a#302e3e

Type: none sketched

#road-hood#cape-tail#lantern-cage#work-boots
  • worn hem
  • warm lantern
  • small nod
  • offering flame

The audience it expected

Players who love solitary journeys, gentle surrealism, musical repetition and the poetry of ordinary work.

Pacing

slow-pacedcontemplativelyrical

Surfaces

weatheredsofthandmade

Tone

melancholic measuredgentlehopeful

Shared qualities

quietatmospheric measuredeveryday ritual

Art styles

Hand-Drawn measuredWatercolorPainterly measured

The works it expected them to love

Games

Journey matched Kino's Journey (TV)Ori and the Blind ForestGRIS measured

Films

Princess MononokePerfect DaysMy Neighbor Totoro

TV

MushishiOver the Garden WallSamurai Champloo

Music

BonoboÓlafur ArnaldsTycho

Books

The Little PrinceA Wizard of EarthseaThe Summer Book

What Qloo measured

What this audience loves, the qualities those works share and the tags ranked for it. New means the prediction did not contain it.

Look qualities

  • Atmospheric predictedin My Happy Marriage, Nick Drake and Radiohead
  • Intimate newin Grimgar, Ashes and Illusions, Nick Drake and Beach House
  • minimalist newin the Microphones, Sun Kil Moon and Strawberry Shortcakes
  • Surreal newin Neutral Milk Hotel, Paprika and We Are the Strange
  • Raw newin Neutral Milk Hotel, Mount Eerie and Dancer in the Dark

Mood qualities

  • melancholic predictedin Angel Beats!, Anomalisa and Sufjan Stevens
  • character-driven newin Are You Human Too?, Yona of the Dawn and It's Such a Beautiful Day
  • emotional newin My Happy Marriage, Elliott Smith and Kiki's Delivery Service
  • Conflicted newin Are You Human Too?, Beyond the Boundary and Paprika
  • curious newin Paprika, Kiki's Delivery Service and Vermilion Souls

Meaning qualities

  • Love newin Beyond the Boundary, Nick Drake and Elliott Smith
  • Reflective newin I'm Not a Robot, Kino's Journey and Anomalisa
  • Mortality newin Sufjan Stevens, Sun Kil Moon and Mount Eerie
  • Mature newin Grimgar, Ashes and Illusions, My Happy Marriage and Dancer in the Dark
  • The outsider newin I'm Not a Robot and Dancer in the Dark

Pacing

Enchanting newMajestic newOperatic newVisually Austere newFolkloric newCross Cultural new

Surfaces

Sculptural Designs newLuxurious Packaging newTimeless Elegance newFluid Silhouettes newQuality Craftsmanship newRomantic new

Tone

utility newMotivational newCommunity-Oriented newthoughtfulness newurban cool newThoughtful new

Art styles

stylized new3D new2D newPixel Art newhand-drawn predictedPainterly predicted

Games

  • Hades newstylized · 2D · hand-drawn
  • Death's Door new3D · Stylized · Painterly
  • Shadow of the Colossus new3D · Realistic · Cinematic
  • Outer Wilds new3D · Stylized · Low-Poly

Films

  • Anomalisa newMoody · Melancholic · Character studies
  • Moonrise Kingdom newNostalgic · Boat · Adultery
  • Synecdoche, New York newAtmospheric · Art and creativity · Electronic translator
  • Melancholia newTraumatized · Reflective · Part of trilogy

Films, lesser known

  • Kiki's Delivery Service newResourceful · Intimate · Emotional
  • We Are the Strange newSurreal · Diy punk aesthetic · Atmospheric

Layer by layer

Each arm's devices for the same layer of the design.

palette

With Qloo

Plum and coral against a cold flame

Intimate look quality · newminimalist look quality · newAtmospheric look quality · predicted
#502747#d86559#efcbb3#171d33#a5e8ef

Without Qloo

Teal cloth and amber glass

quiet quality · own predictionatmospheric quality · own prediction
#263e48#65877f#c3ccbb#e9b96a#302e3e

imagery

With Qloo

Sculptural stylized title portrait

stylized art style · newRiME game · newSculptural Designs surface · new
A picture made for Sculptural stylized title portrait

Without Qloo

Pigment dusk portrait

Watercolor art style · own predictionatmospheric quality · own predictionweathered surface · own prediction
A picture made for Pigment dusk portrait

motion

With Qloo

Hesitate then open

Enchanting pacing · newConflicted mood quality · new

Without Qloo

Measured road steps

contemplative pacing · own prediction

voice

With Qloo

Admit fear and offer care

Love meaning quality · newElliott Smith music · newmelancholic mood quality · predicted
I nearly turned back too. May I stay a moment?
Here. You can have some of mine.
I thought it would feel less lonely. It does.

Without Qloo

Plain observations

everyday ritual quality · own predictiongentle tone · own predictionMushishi TV · own prediction
The wind gets here before I do.
Then I'll take it a little at a time.
A little warmth. Then the next.

structure

With Qloo

Round hood and cupped lantern

Fluid Silhouettes surface · newSculptural Designs surface · newIt's Such a Beautiful Day film · new
#low-round-hood#coral-shoulder-wrap#cupped-lantern#patched-coat

Without Qloo

Pointed hood and split cape

Journey game · own predictionPrincess Mononoke film · own prediction
#road-hood#cape-tail#lantern-cage#work-boots

Each arm's own review

The agent of each arm judged its own captures against its own plan.

With Qloo

Round 2: 4 met, 0 partly, 0 missed.

All four criteria met after improving leg contrast. These are visual judgments, not measured audience preference.

Check: 1.00, 5 of 5 devices in the files.

With Qloo: the full report

Without Qloo

Round 2: 4 met, 0 partly, 0 missed.

All four visual criteria met after restricting the handle to the near hand. No measured taste used.

Check: 1.00, 5 of 5 devices in the files.

Without Qloo: the full report

Limits

  • One pair is one sample. Model variance alone makes two designs differ, so one distance does not isolate what Qloo changed; repeat the pair before calling a difference the data's effect.
  • The distance is a heuristic over the palettes, part ids and words of the files the two arms changed differently. It does not measure quality or what people prefer.
  • The headline counts devices anchored to what the prediction did not contain. It shows that the data changed the specification, not that the result is better.

What the agent did

49 Moûsa calls, 4 refused by a validator and repaired; 0 reads, 6 writes and 12 shell commands. Tool names, stages and outcomes only: no file contents, commands or model text.

Codex session

  1. shell error
  2. mousa_status
  3. shell ×2
  4. design_compare prepare
  5. taste_profile plan
  6. taste_profile plan
  7. design_validate prediction
  8. design_validate prediction
  9. taste_profile baseline
  10. shell
  11. design_validate reading
  12. design_validate dna refused: TASTE_PROTOCOL_INVALID
  13. design_validate dna refused: TASTE_PROTOCOL_INVALID
  14. design_validate reading
  15. design_validate dna
  16. design_validate plan
  17. image prompt
  18. shell ×3
  19. write
  20. shell
  21. image register
  22. design_check
  23. design_capture
  24. design_capture
  25. design_capture
  26. design_capture
  27. design_validate review
  28. write
  29. design_check
  30. design_capture round 2
  31. design_capture round 2
  32. design_capture round 2
  33. design_capture round 2
  34. design_validate review
  35. taste_profile measure
  36. taste_ask pacing
  37. design_validate reading
  38. design_validate dna refused: TASTE_PROTOCOL_INVALID
  39. design_validate dna refused: TASTE_PROTOCOL_INVALID
  40. design_validate dna
  41. design_validate plan
  42. image prompt
  43. shell
  44. write
  45. design_check
  46. shell
  47. image register
  48. design_capture
  49. design_capture
  50. design_capture
  51. design_capture
  52. design_validate review
  53. write
  54. design_check
  55. design_capture round 2
  56. design_capture round 2
  57. design_capture round 2
  58. design_capture round 2
  59. design_validate review
  60. design_compare compare
  61. shell ×2
  62. write ×2

Run it again

Models vary from run to run, so a new session reaches its own design; the prediction it freezes and the measurement are compared in the same way.

The request

Use $mousa:compare to build Ilo twice, with Qloo and without it, from one frozen prediction, then compare the two. The brief: Design Ilo, the playable lamplighter of The Long Dusk, the game in this folder, for one moment on the Vesper Cliffs: walking the cliff road, answering the keeper and waking the cold beacon. My audience loves Hollow Knight, Spirited Away, Sigur Rós, Nujabes and the film Paterson. Make Ilo a character this audience would want to play: their look, the way they move and the way they speak. Keep the world, its lore, the keeper and Ilo's fixed facts. Write the character's description and lines in English. Use the Moûsa plugin, so the design rests on what this audience actually loves. In each version, give Ilo a portrait for the title card, made with your image generation tool.

The command

From the repository at commit ce34915:

node scripts/run-codex-live.mjs --run --from examples/long-dusk --brief-file scripts/briefs/long-dusk-compare-portrait-codex.md --images
  • Your own Qloo API key as QLOO_API_KEY in this repository's .env.
  • Codex CLI, signed in.
  • Codex image generation on your own ChatGPT plan.

The record's files

The same evidence as data and as pictures, for reading without this site.

The report on its ownrecord.jsonThe whole report as one pictureThe card