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wtf is pictionary?

laulpogan/pictionary — explained in plain English

Analysis updated 2026-05-18

2TypeScriptAudience · developerComplexity · 2/5LicenseSetup · easy

TL;DR

A small tool that blurs a text prompt into an image before sending it to Claude, using the resulting misreads to simulate the removed temperature setting.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((Pictionary))
    What it does
      Renders prompts to blurred images
      Simulates temperature via misreads
      Measures output diversity
    Tech stack
      TypeScript
      sharp
      Claude Code
    Use cases
      Add controlled variety to answers
      Pack text cheaper as an image
      Benchmark output diversity
    Audience
      Claude power users
      Prompt experimenters

Code map

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Why would anyone build with this?

REASON 1

Simulate a temperature-like control on newer Claude models that no longer accept it.

REASON 2

Pack a large text file into an image to potentially lower token billing.

REASON 3

Benchmark how much output variety a given blur level actually produces.

REASON 4

Teach Claude Code, via the bundled skill, when to use image packing and when not to.

What's in the stack?

TypeScriptsharpClaude Code

How it stacks up

laulpogan/pictionaryadun-denton/chinvatagbara286/saint-cms
Stars222
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyeasymoderateeasy
Complexity2/54/52/5
Audiencedeveloperdeveloperdeveloper

Figures from each repo's GitHub metadata at analysis time.

How do you spin it up?

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min

Not meant for text that must stay byte-exact, like IDs, hashes, or code to be edited.

MIT licensed, free to use, modify, and share for any purpose including commercial use.

Wtf does this do

Pictionary is a playful tool built around a quirk of newer Claude models. Those models no longer accept the temperature setting, a parameter that used to let people control how random or varied an AI's answers were. Instead of asking for that control back through a prompt, this project takes a different route: it turns your text prompt into an image, then blurs that image by a chosen amount before feeding it to the model. Because the model has to read blurry text from a picture instead of clean text, its occasional misreadings act like a stand in for the randomness the temperature setting used to provide. The author tested this and found that turning up the blur level made Claude's answers to the same question noticeably more varied, roughly three times more so at higher blur than at none. To use it, you install the tool globally, add its accompanying skill to Claude Code, and then run a command that packs a text file into a blurred image at whatever blur level you want. Inside Claude Code, you then have the model read that image file instead of the original text file. Beyond the temperature trick, the tool has a second, more practical side effect: images are billed differently than text by the model, and packing enough text into a single image page can end up cheaper than sending the equivalent plain text, especially at higher pixel density settings, though a dry run mode lets you check whether this actually saves money for a specific file before committing to it. The author is upfront that this is a small, half-joking project rather than a serious, production-ready sampling system, and warns against using it for text that must be read back exactly, like ID numbers, hashes, or code meant to be edited, since misreading blurry text is part of how it works. It has one runtime dependency and is released under the MIT license.

Yoink these prompts

Prompt 1
Walk me through installing Pictionary and packing my first prompt into a blurred image.
Prompt 2
Explain how blurring a prompt image simulates the removed temperature parameter.
Prompt 3
Show me how to use the dry-run mode to check if packing a file would save money.
Prompt 4
Help me pick a density setting that balances cost savings against text fidelity.

Frequently asked questions

wtf is pictionary?

A small tool that blurs a text prompt into an image before sending it to Claude, using the resulting misreads to simulate the removed temperature setting.

What language is pictionary written in?

Mainly TypeScript. The stack also includes TypeScript, sharp, Claude Code.

What license does pictionary use?

MIT licensed, free to use, modify, and share for any purpose including commercial use.

How hard is pictionary to set up?

Setup difficulty is rated easy, with roughly 5min to a first successful run.

Who is pictionary for?

Mainly developer.

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