de-ASCII is a browser, API, and MCP tool that reconstructs PNG images from arbitrary pasted ASCII, ANSI terminal art, Unicode Braille/block/box-drawing art, and ASCII generated by ascii.platphormnews.com. It preserves embedded color when present, estimates luminance and color for monochrome sources, includes text-oriented glyph reconstruction, and can optionally run an AI restoration pass without requiring a reference photo or inventing new text.

Can de-ASCII restore color from ASCII art?

Yes. de-ASCII preserves ANSI color and exact color grids when the source includes them. For monochrome ASCII, it can estimate color deterministically with smart, portrait, cool, warm, or custom palette modes.

Does de-ASCII require an uploaded reference photo?

No. de-ASCII reconstructs from the ASCII source itself. Optional AI enhancement uses only the ASCII-derived reconstruction and embedded or supplied color, and is instructed to preserve the existing composition and visible text instead of creating a new image.

Can de-ASCII make small text more readable?

Use the Text preset or hybrid/glyph rendering with smoothing disabled, higher contrast, and larger cells. The deterministic renderer includes bitmap masks for Latin letters, digits, and common text marks so literal ASCII text, code, signs, and labels remain more legible.

Can de-ASCII reconstruct ASCII streams into browser game assets?

That is the active 136-day roadmap. The target is trusted ASCII streams that reconstruct into browser-game levels, textures, signs, sprites, and UI assets, with replay tests and honest protected or degraded states where a downstream game import is not confirmed.

Documentation

API Reference

de-ASCII ships a public REST API. Public endpoints need no credentials. Protected endpoints accept Authorization: Bearer <PLATPHORM_API_KEY> or X-PlatPhorm-API-Key.

Endpoints

POST/api/deascii

Reconstruct an image from ASCII art, preserving ANSI color or applying deterministic colorization. Returns a PNG data URL.

public

POST/api/deascii/from-ascii

Call ascii.platphormnews.com JSON or NDJSON stream conversion, then reconstruct the output.

public

GET/api/deascii/status

Public-safe renderer limits and AI enhancement readiness. Does not expose secret values.

public

GET/api/charsets

List supported character sets and luminance ramps.

public

GET/api/info

Service metadata, version, and capabilities.

public

GET/api/health

Liveness and uptime check.

public

GET/api/network/status

Live public-safe root graph and MCP gateway integration status.

public

POST/api/webhooks

Subscribe to reconstruction events. Requires PLATPHORM_API_KEY.

protected

POST/api/mcp

Model Context Protocol JSON-RPC endpoint.

public

Reconstruct an image

POST arbitrary ASCII, ANSI terminal art, Unicode Braille, block/quadrant/box-drawing art, or ASCII converter output to /api/deascii. The response contains a base64 PNG data URL plus dimensions, renderer metadata, and optional enhancement status.

curl

curl -X POST https://deascii.platphormnews.com/api/deascii \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "ascii": " .:-=+*#%@\n@%#*+=-:. ",
    "charset": "auto",
    "cellSize": 10,
    "cellAspect": 2,
    "smoothing": 3,
    "renderMode": "tonal",
    "colorize": { "mode": "smart", "strength": 0.88 },
    "contrast": 1.08,
    "sharpen": 0.3,
    "enhance": false
  }'

200 OK

{
  "ok": true,
  "data": {
    "image": "data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgo...",
    "width": 80,
    "height": 16,
    "meta": {
      "rows": 2,
      "cols": 10,
      "charset": "standard",
      "cellSize": 10,
      "cellWidth": 10,
      "cellHeight": 20,
      "renderMode": "tonal",
      "colored": true,
      "sourceColored": false,
      "colorized": true,
      "colorizeMode": "smart",
      "colorizeScene": "portrait"
    },
    "enhanced": false
  }
}

Round-trip from ASCII converter

Use /api/deascii/from-ascii to call the trusted sibling service. Choose transport: "json" for small color-preserving runs or transport: "stream" for large NDJSON chunked artifacts. Stream imports request opt-in compact rgb24-b64-v1 color chunks from ascii.platphormnews.com unless includeColorGrid is set false. The browser tool also accepts #asciiPayload handoffs from ASCII so compact text and chroma grids can open without a server write.

stream import

curl -X POST https://deascii.platphormnews.com/api/deascii/from-ascii \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "transport": "stream",
    "asciiRequest": {
      "image": "data:image/png;base64,...",
      "outputColumns": 220,
      "charset": "detailed",
      "grayscale": false,
      "colorPayload": "compact",
      "colorGridEncoding": "compact",
      "chunkLineCount": 64
    },
    "deascii": {
      "cellSize": 10,
      "cellAspect": 2,
      "renderMode": "tonal"
    }
  }'

Request parameters

Field	Type	Default	Description
ascii	string	—	Required. Plain ASCII, ANSI terminal art, Unicode Braille/block/box art, or converter output to reconstruct.
charset	string	"auto"	standard \| detailed \| blocks \| minimal \| braille \| auto
cellSize	number	10	Pixels rendered per character cell (1-32).
cellAspect	number	2	Height multiplier when cellHeight is not set. Use 2 for ASCII converter round-trips.
smoothing	number	3	Optimized edge-aware blur passes to soften output (0-6).
renderMode	string	"tonal"	tonal \| hybrid \| glyph. Glyph and hybrid modes use bitmap masks for Latin letters, digits, Braille dot cells, Unicode block/box glyphs, and common text marks.
colorize	object	{"mode":"smart","strength":0.88}	Optional deterministic color restoration for monochrome ASCII: none \| smart \| portrait \| cool \| warm \| palette.
inverted	boolean	false	Set true for dark-on-light ASCII.
background	number	0	Luminance for empty cells (0-1).
contrast	number	1.08	Luminance contrast multiplier (0.25-2).
sharpen	number	0.3	Unsharp mask amount after smoothing (0-2).
autoWrap	boolean	false	Wrap very long single-line pasted ASCII.
autoFitOutput	boolean	true	Scale oversized requested output under the pixel and canvas guardrails instead of failing.
maxOutputPixels	number	12,000,000	Direct PNG allocation budget. Metadata reports requested and emitted dimensions.
maxOutputDimension	number	32,767	Per-axis browser/server output guardrail.
adaptiveQuality	boolean	true	Reduce expensive smoothing/sharpening on very large outputs.
colors	string[][]	—	Optional expanded hex color grid from ascii.platphormnews.com JSON output.
colorGrid	object	—	Optional compact rgb24-b64-v1 packed color grid from ASCII for smaller exact-color requests.
enhance	boolean	false	Run the AI restoration/enhancement pass against the current reconstruction.
enhancePrompt	string	—	Optional image-model instruction override. Keep it restoration-focused and text-preserving; do not ask for a new scene.

Webhook events

reconstruction.startedreconstruction.completedreconstruction.failedhealth.degradedhealth.restored

FAQ

Why do the defaults favor tonal reconstruction now?

Tonal mode, source-aspect cells, edge-aware smoothing, and compact exact color grids produce the closest image match for ASCII generated by ascii.platphormnews.com. Hybrid and glyph modes remain available when character texture is the goal.

How does de-ASCII keep payloads smaller without losing color?

ASCII text stays line-preserving and compact. Exact source color can travel as rgb24-b64-v1 colorGrid data instead of expanded ANSI escape sequences or large hex row arrays.

How should I reconstruct small text, code, signs, or UI labels?

Use the Text preset in the browser or API settings close to hybrid/glyph mode, smoothing 0, higher contrast/sharpening, and larger cells. The deterministic renderer has bitmap masks for Latin letters, digits, and common text marks so literal ASCII text remains more legible.

Does AI enhancement regenerate the image?

No. AI enhancement is treated as image restoration against the deterministic de-ASCII output. Prompts tell the model to preserve composition and clarify existing visible text evidence without inventing new words, numbers, symbols, or labels.

Can this become a browser game asset pipeline?

Yes. The roadmap tracks streaming ASCII from trusted converters into browser games, then reconstructing it as level maps, textures, signs, sprites, and other game assets over the next 136 days.

Machine-readable resources

Need the MCP integration? See the MCP guide →