Skip to content
Get packs

Custom Ink Brush Builder

Lets an agent design custom Jetpack Ink brushes (tips, pressure/tilt behaviors, textures) for Android apps

Source Download skill
Repository
android/skills
Stars
10,278
Licence
Apache-2.0
Files
6 files

What it does

This skill gives an AI agent detailed guidance and copy-ready Kotlin code for building custom drawing brushes for Android apps that use Jetpack Ink. Once installed, when a developer asks for a custom brush, the agent follows the skill's structure to define brush shapes, make stroke width or opacity respond to stylus pressure, tilt and speed, add textures, smooth input, and save brush definitions. It is aimed at Android developers and does not itself draw anything or change an app without the developer's involvement.

Great for

  • Android developers adding a custom pen, pencil, calligraphy or watercolor brush to a drawing app
  • Teams upgrading from Jetpack Ink 1.0.0 to 1.1.0-alpha03 or later who need custom brush APIs
  • Developers who want working BrushFamily and BrushBehavior code to adapt rather than writing it from scratch

Skip it if

  • Non-developers or people who just want to draw: this is a coding aid, not a drawing app
  • View-based (XML) inking or Compose drawing surface setup, which the skill says to route to other skills, so results may be incomplete
  • Production apps relying on alpha APIs without review: the skill targets 1.1.0-alpha03 and higher, which may change before stable release

Try asking

  • “Create a pressure-sensitive pen brush whose width responds to stylus pressure”
  • “Build a multi-layer pencil brush with a grain texture using TilingTexture”
  • “Make a calligraphy nib brush that changes width with stroke direction and tilt”
  • “Save a custom BrushFamily to a file and load it back with BrushFamily.encode and decode”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Custom Ink Brush BuilderInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 6 original files, the Apache-2.0 licence and an attribution note.

    ink-custom-brush-builder.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip ink-custom-brush-builder.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip ink-custom-brush-builder.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Ask the agent to start from a complete recipe in examples.md (pressure pen, calligraphy, pencil) and then modify it, rather than building from nothing
  • The skill asks the agent to get your permission before editing build files, so review the dependency version changes it proposes in libs.versions.toml and build.gradle.kts
  • Check that the Ink library version in your project matches the version the skill requires before testing generated brushes on a device

What's inside

  • references/android/develop/ui/compose/touch-input/stylus-input/ink-api-brush-apis.md
  • references/brush-behaviors.md
  • references/brush-structure.md
  • references/examples.md
  • references/textures-and-serialization.md
  • SKILL.md

Redistributed unmodified from android/skills under the Apache-2.0 licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.