Selkie

In Celtic mythology, selkies are beings that can transform from seals into humans by shedding their seal skins. They often feature in stories of love and longing, where a selkie's human form is hidden away or discovered by a human.

A CLI tool for scaffolding generative art projects. Quickly create projects with p5.js, Paper.js, Three.js, WebGL/GLSL shaders, or ML5.js hand tracking.

Installation

npm install selkie

Usage

Create a new project with one of the available templates:

selkie -t default     # p5.js canvas project
selkie -t svg         # Paper.js vector/SVG project
selkie -t three       # Three.js 3D project
selkie -t glsl        # WebGL shader project
selkie -t ml5-hand    # ML5.js hand tracking project

You'll be prompted for a folder name, then the project will be created with all dependencies installed.

Working on Your Sketch

Each generated project includes a dev server:

cd your-project
npm start             # Opens in browser with live reload

Edit scripts/sketch.js to create your generative art. Press 's' to export PNG/SVG (depending on template).

Building a Single-File Bundle

When you're ready to share your sketch, build it into a single HTML file that works offline on any device:

npm run build

This creates dist/bundle.html - a minified, self-contained file you can:

• Open directly in any browser (no server needed)
• Share via email, USB, or any file transfer
• Upload to any static hosting

Note: The ML5 hand tracking template still requires internet for AI models.

Templates

| Template | Library | Output | Notes | |----------|---------|--------|-------| | default | p5.js | Canvas/PNG | Classic creative coding | | svg | Paper.js | SVG vectors | Perfect for plotters | | three | Three.js | WebGL 3D | 3D graphics | | glsl | Native WebGL | Shaders | Smallest bundle (~5KB) | | ml5-hand | ML5.js | Hand tracking | Requires webcam + internet |

All templates include a seeded random number generator for deterministic/reproducible outputs.