Agent-Skills.md

Agent Skills: Look At - Multimodal File Analysis

This skill should be used when the user asks to 'look at', 'analyze', 'describe', 'extract from', or 'what's in' media files like PDFs, images, diagrams, screenshots, or charts. Triggers include: 'what does this image show', 'extract the table from this PDF', 'describe this diagram', 'what's in this screenshot', 'analyze this chart', 'read this image', 'get text from this PDF', 'summarize this document', or requests for specific data extraction from visual or document files. Use when analyzed/interpreted content is needed rather than literal file reading (which uses Read tool).

UncategorizedID: edwinhu/workflows/look-at

Repository

edwinhu/workflows
edwinhu
5

Install this agent skill to your local

pnpm dlx add-skill https://github.com/edwinhu/workflows/tree/HEAD/skills/look-at

Skill Files

Browse the full folder contents for look-at.

Download Skill

Loading file tree…

skills/look-at/SKILL.md

Skill Metadata

Name
look-at
Description
"This skill should be used when the user asks to 'look at', 'analyze', 'describe', 'extract from', or 'what's in' media files like PDFs, images, diagrams, screenshots, or charts. Triggers include: 'what does this image show', 'extract the table from this PDF', 'describe this diagram', 'what's in this screenshot', 'analyze this chart', 'read this image', 'get text from this PDF', 'summarize this document', or requests for specific data extraction from visual or document files. Use when analyzed/interpreted content is needed rather than literal file reading (which uses Read tool)."

Look At - Multimodal File Analysis

Multi-backend vision tool for PDFs, images, diagrams, and other media files. Routes to Gemini CLI (default), GitHub Copilot (GPT-5.4), or the legacy Python API.

Tool Selection Enforcement

Tool Routing Facts

  • Read on a media file loads the full content into context regardless of how briefly you look at it — a "quick glance" costs the same thousands of tokens as a full read. Content type, not file size, determines the tool.
  • Read on a PDF extracts raw text and loses table structure and visual information; look_at returns it as structured data.
  • Gemini's extraction is accurate for most use cases — start with look_at, escalate to Read only if the extraction is insufficient. Defaulting to Read "for exact text" wastes the context this skill exists to save.

Red Flags

  • Passing an image, PDF, or screenshot path to Read → use look_at.
  • A text-based PDF with structure/tables/charts → still look_at, not Read.

Cost & Context Benefits

| Scenario | Read Tool | look_at Tool | |----------|-----------|--------------| | PDF with table | Extracts raw text (~1000 tokens), loses table structure | Extracts table as structured data (~100 tokens) | | Screenshot | Loads entire image (~500 tokens), requires interpretation | Describes content (~50 tokens) | | Diagram | Shows image (~800 tokens), requires analysis | Explains architecture (~100 tokens) | | Multi-page PDF | All pages loaded (~5000 tokens) | Extracts specific sections (~200 tokens) |

look_at saves 80-95% of context tokens by extracting only relevant information.

When to Use

Use look_at when you need:

  • Media files the Read tool cannot interpret
  • Extracting specific information or summaries from documents
  • Describing visual content in images or diagrams
  • Analyzing charts, tables, or structured data in PDFs
  • When analyzed/extracted data is needed, not raw file contents

Never use look_at when:

  • Source code or plain text files needing exact contents (use Read)
  • Files that need editing afterward (need literal content from Read)
  • Simple file reading where no interpretation is needed
  • Exact formatting or structure must be preserved

How It Works

  1. Provide a file path and a specific goal (what to extract)
  2. look_at.sh routes to the selected backend (Gemini CLI by default)
  3. The backend analyzes the file and extracts requested information
  4. Only the relevant extracted information is returned (saves context tokens)

Usage Pattern

CRITICAL - Display Requirement: Always set the Bash tool description parameter to show a clean invocation:

description: "look-at: [goal text]"

# Default (Gemini CLI — uses bundled quota, no API key needed)
"${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/look_at.sh" \
    --file "/path/to/file.pdf" \
    --goal "Extract the title and date from this document"

# GPT-5.4 via GitHub Copilot
"${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/look_at.sh" \
    --file "/path/to/diagram.png" \
    --goal "Describe the architecture" \
    --backend copilot

# Multi-model consensus (gemini + copilot in parallel)
"${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/look_at.sh" \
    --file "/path/to/diagram.png" \
    --goal "Score this diagram 0-10" \
    --consensus

# Legacy Python API (uses your GOOGLE_API_KEY)
"${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/look_at.sh" \
    --file "/path/to/file.pdf" \
    --goal "Extract the table data" \
    --backend api

${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR} is substituted at skill load time, so the full path is already resolved — no per-call discovery needed.

IMPORTANT:

  • Always use absolute paths for files
  • Always set Bash tool description to "look-at: [goal]" for clean UX

Backends

| Backend | CLI | Model | Cost | Best For | |---------|-----|-------|------|----------| | gemini (default) | gemini CLI | Gemini (CLI default) | Bundled quota | General vision, diagrams, documents | | copilot | GitHub Copilot CLI | GPT-5.4 | Copilot subscription | Second opinions, consensus | | api | look_at.py | Gemini API (configurable) | Your API key | Agentic mode, custom models |

Consensus Mode

--consensus runs gemini and copilot in parallel and outputs both results under labeled headers (=== GEMINI ===, === COPILOT (GPT-5.4) ===).

When to use: Visual verification of diagrams where a single model may miss or underscore defects. Trust the stricter score — if any backend flags BLOCKING, treat it as BLOCKING.

Response Rules

When using look_at, the response includes:

  • Only the extracted information matching the goal
  • Clear statement if requested information is not found
  • Concise output focused on the goal (no preamble)

Use this extracted information directly in continued work without loading the full file into context.

Supported File Types

| Type | Extensions | MIME Types | |------|-----------|------------| | Images | .jpg, .jpeg, .png, .webp, .heic, .heif | image/* | | Videos | .mp4, .mpeg, .mov, .avi, .webm | video/* | | Audio | .wav, .mp3, .aiff, .aac, .ogg, .flac | audio/* | | Documents | .pdf, .txt, .csv, .md, .html | application/pdf, text/* |

Model Options

| Model | Use Case | Speed | Cost | |-------|----------|-------|------| | gemini-2.5-flash-lite | Default - fast, cheap analysis | Fastest | Lowest | | gemini-3-flash | More complex extraction needs | Fast | Low | | gemini-3-flash-preview | Agentic vision with code execution | Fast | Low | | gemini-3-pro-preview | Highest accuracy required | Medium | Medium |

Default is gemini-2.5-flash-lite for optimal speed/cost ratio.

Agentic Vision Mode

For complex visual reasoning tasks, use the --agentic flag to enable code execution. This allows Gemini to:

  • Zoom into specific regions of an image for detailed analysis
  • Count objects precisely using programmatic analysis
  • Perform calculations on visual data (measurements, statistics)
  • Process structured data in images (charts, tables) with higher accuracy

When to use --agentic:

  • Counting objects in an image ("How many items are in this photo?")
  • Reading fine details ("What does the small text in the corner say?")
  • Analyzing charts with specific data points ("What's the exact value for Q3?")
  • Complex spatial reasoning ("Which element is closest to the center?")

Usage:

"${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/look_at.sh" \
    --file "photo.jpg" \
    --goal "Count the number of people in this image" \
    --agentic

Note: Agentic mode automatically uses gemini-3-flash-preview regardless of the --model setting.

Common Patterns

REMEMBER: Always use description: "look-at: [goal]" in the Bash tool call.

Extract Specific Information

# Bash tool call with:
# description: "look-at: Extract the executive summary section"
"${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/look_at.sh" \
    --file "report.pdf" \
    --goal "Extract the executive summary section"

Describe Visual Content

# Bash tool call with:
# description: "look-at: List all UI elements and their layout"
"${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/look_at.sh" \
    --file "screenshot.png" \
    --goal "List all UI elements and their layout"

Analyze Diagrams

# Bash tool call with:
# description: "look-at: Explain the data flow and component relationships"
"${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/look_at.sh" \
    --file "architecture.png" \
    --goal "Explain the data flow and component relationships"

Extract Structured Data

# Bash tool call with:
# description: "look-at: Extract the table data as JSON"
"${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/look_at.sh" \
    --file "table.pdf" \
    --goal "Extract the table data as JSON with columns: name, value, date"

Count Objects (Agentic)

# Bash tool call with:
# description: "look-at: Count the number of people in the photo"
"${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/look_at.sh" \
    --file "crowd.jpg" \
    --goal "Count the number of people visible in this image" \
    --agentic

Analyze Chart Details (Agentic)

# Bash tool call with:
# description: "look-at: Extract specific data points from the chart"
"${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/scripts/look_at.sh" \
    --file "quarterly_chart.png" \
    --goal "Extract the exact values for each quarter and calculate the year-over-year change" \
    --agentic

Environment Setup

Required environment variable:

export GOOGLE_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"

Required Python package:

pip install google-genai

For pixi-managed projects, add to pixi.toml:

[dependencies]
google-genai = ">=1.0.0"

Cost Optimization

  • Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite is the most cost-effective option
  • Only extracts requested information (saves on output tokens)
  • Avoids loading full files into main conversation context
  • Use specific goals to minimize unnecessary processing

Troubleshooting

| Issue | Solution | |-------|----------| | API key not set | Set GOOGLE_API_KEY environment variable | | File not found | Use absolute paths, verify file exists | | Large file timeout | Break into smaller files or use lower-quality images | | Rate limit errors | Add retry logic or use batch processing | | Empty response | Check that goal is clear and specific |

Examples

See examples/ directory for:

  • analyze_pdf.sh - PDF document extraction
  • describe_image.sh - Image analysis
  • extract_table.sh - Structured data extraction

Related Skills

  • /gemini-batch - For batch processing of many files
  • Standard Read tool - For text files needing exact contents