blender-kiln — The 3D Asset Forge

A complete 3D asset production pipeline for Claude Code, powered by Blender MCP.

From a text brief to an optimized, export-ready GLB — in one session.

What it does

Kiln is a Claude Code skill that turns you into a 3D asset production studio. It orchestrates Blender (via MCP), AI generation (Hunyuan3D, Pollinations/FLUX), and marketplace search (PolyHaven, Sketchfab) into a single coherent pipeline.

[1] CONFIG → [2] BRIEF → [3] SOURCE → [4] IMPORT → [5] CLEANUP → [5b] TEXTURING → [6] OPTIMIZE → [7] EXPORT

Pipeline phases

Key features

• Multi-method creation: AI generation (Hunyuan3D 2.x — local or cloud), scripted modeling (Blender Python), geometry nodes, or marketplace sourcing
• Local AI generation: run Hunyuan3D-2 Mini on your machine — NVIDIA GPU for full pipeline, Apple Silicon for shape generation
• Environment auto-detection: /kiln setup scans your system and guides installation
• Reference images: provide an image per asset (path, URL, or drag-and-drop) — guides all creation methods (AI input, scripted proportions, texture assignment), enriches the brief, and enables post-export visual comparison
• Concept art input: text prompt (Pollinations/FLUX), image path, image URL, or nano-banana (optional)
• Smart recommendations: auto-suggests the best creation method based on asset type and style
• Material audit: detects procedural nodes that will be lost on GLTF export, proposes bake workflow
• Post-export validation: 8-point checklist (Babylon.js sandbox, Three.js console, material spot-check)
• Character support: T-pose enforcement, rigging patterns, bone validation, Blender 5.x bone collections
• Multi-asset sessions: cross-asset coherence (scale, materials, poly budget)
• Batch mode: wizard collects scene/theme/palette/reference images upfront, generates a YAML manifest, runner executes autonomously — ideal for overnight production or large asset sets
• Full logging: every asset produces a production log with copy-paste prompts

Commands

Requirements

Required

• Blender 4.x+ with the Blender MCP addon running (port 9876)

3D Generation (choose one or both)

On Mac (Apple Silicon): local shape generation works via MPS, texture generation falls back to skill's Blender-based texturing.
On Windows + NVIDIA GPU: full pipeline runs locally — shape + texture, zero cloud dependency.

Optional

• nano-banana MCP — alternative concept art generation via Gemini (requires API key with billing)
• gltf-transform — npm install -g @gltf-transform/cli (texture compression, Draco)
• gltfpack — npm install -g gltfpack (mesh simplification, LOD generation)
• Sketchfab API token — free account, for marketplace downloads
• Reality Converter / usdzconvert — USDZ export (macOS)

Installation

As a Claude Code plugin (recommended)

/plugin marketplace add elithril/blender-kiln
/plugin install blender-kiln@blender-kiln

Then run /kiln setup to detect your environment and install what's missing.

As a standalone skill

git clone https://github.com/elithril/blender-kiln.git ~/.claude/skills/blender-kiln

Restart Claude Code, then run /kiln setup.

Layout

Once installed, the skill directory looks like this:

~/.claude/skills/blender-kiln/
├── SKILL.md
└── references/
    ├── ai-generation.md
    ├── batch-mode.md
    ├── setup-install.md
    ├── characters.md
    ├── cli-tools.md
    ├── export-targets.md
    ├── naming-conventions.md
    ├── sourcing-strategy.md
    ├── texturing-strategy.md
    ├── topology-rules.md
    ├── uv-materials.md
    └── validation-checklist.md

Skill structure

Total: ~3,250 lines of production-tested 3D pipeline knowledge.

Iron rules

The skill enforces 26 rules (21 core + 5 batch-specific). Key ones:

1. Always get_scene_info() before each phase
2. Always get_viewport_screenshot() after each modification
3. Never hard-cap poly count — alert if out of range, never block
4. Never silently destroy — decimate/simplify always interactive
5. Always keep the .blend file — in compact mode, only original + final + .blend + log
6. Never export_apply=True for GLTF — modifiers balloon file size
7. Always run material export audit before GLTF export
8. Never use gltf-transform optimize — use individual steps

Output

Two storage modes, configurable at pipeline start:

Compact (default) — minimal footprint, .blend is the recovery point:

generated-assets/
└── wooden-chair/
    ├── wooden-chair_original.glb
    ├── wooden-chair_final.glb
    ├── wooden-chair.blend
    └── wooden-chair_log.md

Full — all intermediate files for debug/comparison:

generated-assets/
└── wooden-chair/
    ├── wooden-chair_original.glb
    ├── wooden-chair_clean.glb
    ├── wooden-chair_textured.glb
    ├── wooden-chair_optimized.glb
    ├── wooden-chair_final.glb
    ├── wooden-chair.blend
    └── wooden-chair_log.md

Batch mode — assets grouped under a batch folder with manifest and report:

generated-assets/
└── batch-corporate-office-2026-04-02/
    ├── batch-manifest.yaml
    ├── batch-report.md
    ├── desk/
    ├── chair/
    └── keyboard/

At the end of a multi-asset session, Kiln proposes a cleanup of intermediate files with per-asset size breakdown.

License

MIT © Nicolas Dolphens