Meshy 3D — Generation + Printing

Directly communicate with the Meshy AI API to generate and print 3D assets. Covers the complete lifecycle: API key setup, task creation, exponential backoff polling, downloading, multi-step pipelines, and 3D print preparation with slicer integration.

SECURITY MANIFEST

Environment variables accessed:

• MESHYAPIKEY — API authentication token sent in HTTP Authorization: Bearer header only. Never logged, never written to any file except .env in the current working directory when explicitly requested by the user.

External network endpoints:

• https://api.meshy.ai — Meshy AI API (task creation, status polling, model/image downloads)

File system access:

• Read: .env / .env.local in the current working directory only (API key lookup)
• Write: .env in the current working directory only (API key storage, only on user request)
• Write: ./meshy_output/ in the current working directory (downloaded model files, metadata)
• Read: files explicitly provided by the user (e.g., local images passed for image-to-3D conversion), accessed only at the exact path the user specifies
• No access to home directories, shell profiles, or any path outside the above

Data leaving this machine:

• API requests to api.meshy.ai include the MESHYAPIKEY in the Authorization header and user-provided text prompts or image URLs. No other local data is transmitted. Downloaded model files are saved locally only.

All paths below are relative to this skill's own directory (the directory containing this SKILL.md). Resolve them before running.

IMPORTANT: First-Use Session Notice

When this skill is first activated in a session, inform the user:

All generated files will be saved to meshyoutput/ in the current working directory. Each project gets its own folder ({YYYYMMDDHHmmss}{prompt}{id}/) with model files, textures, thumbnails, and metadata. History is tracked in meshy_output/history.json.

This only needs to be said once per session.

IMPORTANT: File Organization

All downloaded files MUST go into a structured meshy_output/ directory in the current working directory. Do NOT scatter files randomly.

• Each project: meshyoutput/{YYYYMMDDHHmmss}{promptslug}{taskid_prefix}/
• Chained tasks (preview → refine → rig) reuse the same project_dir
• Track tasks in metadata.json per project, and global history.json
• Auto-download thumbnails alongside models

The bundled CLI implements this: project-dir, record, and thumbnail subcommands.

IMPORTANT: Shell Command Rules

Use only standard POSIX tools. Do NOT use rg, fd, bat, exa/eza.

IMPORTANT: Run Long Tasks Properly

Meshy generation takes 1–5 minutes. Run each poll as a single Bash call and let it finish — the bundled CLI prints unbuffered progress in real time. Tasks sitting at 99% for 30–120s is normal finalization — do NOT interrupt. Pass a larger --timeout for heavy tasks instead of retrying.

IMPORTANT: Never Rebuild Bundled Scripts

scripts/meshytask.py is the single source of truth for createtask / polltask / download / getprojectdir / recordtask / savethumbnail. Never retype, paraphrase, or "reconstruct" these helpers from memory — not even partially. Compose CLI calls in bash, or write a small Python script that does sys.path.insert(0, "<this skill's scripts dir>") and from meshytask import ....

Step 0: API Key Detection (ALWAYS RUN FIRST)

Only the current session environment and .env / .env.local in the current working directory are checked. Never scan home directories or shell profile files.

python3 scripts/meshy_task.py check-env

Decision After Detection

• READY: key=... → Proceed to Step 1.
• READY: NOKEYFOUND → Go to Step 0a.
• PYTHON_REQUESTS: MISSING → Run pip install requests.

Step 0a: API Key Setup (Only If No Key Found)

Follow [references/setup.md](references/setup.md): create a key at https://www.meshy.ai/settings/api (Pro plan required), verify it against GET /openapi/v1/balance, and optionally persist it to .env in the current project (auto-added to .gitignore).

Step 1: Confirm Plan With User Before Spending Credits

CRITICAL: Before creating any task, present the user with a cost summary and wait for confirmation:

I'll generate a 3D model of "<prompt>" using the following plan:

  1. Preview (mesh generation) — 20 credits
  2. Refine (texturing with PBR) — 10 credits
  3. Download as .glb

  Total cost: 30 credits
  Current balance: <N> credits

  Shall I proceed?

For multi-step pipelines (text-to-3d → rig → animate), show the FULL pipeline cost upfront.

Note: Rigging automatically includes walking + running animations at no extra cost. Only add Animate (3 credits) for custom animations beyond those.

Intent → API Mapping

Step 2: Execute the Workflow

All generation endpoints return {"result": "<taskid>"}, NOT the model — you MUST poll. NEVER read modelurls from the POST response.

Every workflow is a sequence of calls to the bundled CLI scripts/meshy_task.py — do not write your own API code:

Follow the matching recipe in [references/pipelines.md](references/pipelines.md): Text to 3D (preview → refine), Image to 3D, Multi-Image to 3D, Retexture, Remesh, Convert / Resize / UV Unwrap, Auto-Rigging + Animation (textured humanoid + t-pose + face-count gate; look action_id up in the public catalog), Text/Image to Image.

2D Optimization Pre-Step (strongly recommended): prefer the image-to-3d route over direct text-to-3d — for a text-only request, first make a design image via /openapi/v1/text-to-image (nano-banana-pro; characters: generatemultiview: true + pose_mode), then 3D-ify. For low-quality reference images, clean up first via /openapi/v1/image-to-image. 3–9 extra credits typically buy a noticeable quality bump. Skip when the user provides a clean studio shot, and always skip for Creative Lab products (they stylize internally).

3D Printing Workflow

IMPORTANT: When the user's request involves 3D printing, use this section for the ENTIRE workflow — including model generation. Do NOT run the generation workflows above and then come here. This section controls target_formats and other print-specific parameters from the start.

Trigger when the user mentions: print, 3d print, slicer, slice, bambu, orca, prusa, cura, multicolor, multi-color, 3mf, figurine, miniature, statue, physical model, desk toy, phone stand.

Decision: White Model vs Multicolor

1. Detect installed slicers first: python3 scripts/slicers.py detect
2. Ask the user: "White model (single-color) or multicolor?"
3. If multicolor: check for multicolor-capable slicer (OrcaSlicer, Bambu Studio, Creality Print, Elegoo Slicer, Anycubic Slicer Next), ask maxcolors (1-16, default 4) and maxdepth (3-6, default 4), confirm cost: 40 credits (+10 if repair is needed)
4. (Recommended) After generation, run a printability analysis (POST /openapi/v1/print/analyze, FREE). Run POST /openapi/v1/print/repair (10 credits) only if status = error.

Then follow the full walkthroughs in [references/printing.md](references/printing.md):

• White Model Pipeline (20 credits): generate untextured (targetformats: ["obj"]) → download OBJ → scripts/fixobj.py (Y-up→Z-up, scale to mm, center, bottom at Z=0) → open in slicer
• Multicolor Pipeline (40 credits): generate + texture (refine/retexture REQUIRED) → multi-color API → download 3MF → open in multicolor slicer. The multi-color API outputs 3MF directly — no coordinate conversion, no target_formats needed at generation.
• Creative Lab (36 credits): photo → prototype (6) → build (30) → textured GLB, ready to print; multicolor via model_url.
• Print-quality checklist (wall thickness, overhangs, base stability, …) is in [references/printing.md](references/printing.md#manual-sanity-checks-in-addition-to-the-automated-analyze-api).

Key rules: always detect slicer first and report; always run the FREE analyze for production/functional prints; repair only on error (or warning when quality matters); repair does NOT preserve textures (repair → re-texture → multicolor); if OBJ is unavailable, download GLB and import manually; after opening in a slicer, remind the user to check print settings (layer height, infill, supports).

Step 3: Report Results

After task succeeds:

1. Downloaded file paths and sizes
2. Task IDs (for follow-up: refine, rig, retexture)
3. Available formats (list model_urls keys)
4. Credits consumed + current balance (task JSON has consumed_credits; run balance)
5. Suggested next steps:

- Preview done → "Want to refine (add textures)?" - Model done → "Want to rig this character?" - Rigged → "Want to apply a custom animation?" - Any textured model → "Want to 3D print this? Multicolor printing is available!" - Any model → "Want to 3D print this?"

Error Recovery

On any failure, follow [references/troubleshooting.md](references/troubleshooting.md): HTTP status handling (401/402/422/429/5xx), retry policy, and known task FAILED messages. The bundled CLI auto-reports the current balance on 402 and exits non-zero with the server's error message on failure.

Known Behaviors & Constraints

• 99% stall: Normal finalization (30–120s). Do NOT interrupt.
• Asset retention: Files deleted after 3 days (non-Enterprise). Download immediately.
• PBR maps: Must set enable_pbr: true explicitly.
• Refine: Works with meshy-5, meshy-6, or latest — pick the same family as your preview for consistency. 10 credits regardless of model. (meshy-4 is retired → 400.)
• Deprecated params: symmetrymode no longer affects output; artstyle is ignored by Meshy-6; use posemode instead of the old isatpose flag; use textureresolution ("2k"/"4k"/"8k") instead of hdtexture; on image-to-3d use modeltype: "smart-topology" (with aimodel: "meshy-t2") instead of the deprecated "lowpoly". Smart Topology is image-to-3d only — Text to 3D and Multi-Image to 3D don't have it.
• Rigging needs textures: rig the textured task (text-to-3d refine, or image-to-3d with shouldtexture: true) — untextured meshes are unsupported, so a mesh-only preview fails. Also: bipedal humanoid only, ≤300k faces via inputtaskid, and a modelurl model must face +Z.
• Inspect before downloading: pass multiviewthumbnails: true on image-to-3d / multi-image-to-3d and read thumbnail_urls (front/right/back/left, 512×512 PNG) instead of pulling a 50–200 MB GLB just to check the result. ~3s extra latency.
• Never hardcode action_id: fetch GET https://api.meshy.ai/web/public/animations/resources (public, no key, ?category= to narrow) and match the user's intent against name / category. IDs are not 1..N — the catalog includes -2, -1, 0.
• consumedcredits: Every task GET response includes consumedcredits — read it to report the real credits spent rather than estimating. A FAILED task reports 0 (credits are refunded), so a transient failure can be retried without re-approving the spend.
• Rigging: Humanoid bipedal only, polycount ≤ 300,000 (enforced by check-faces).
• Printing formats: White model → OBJ with scripts/fix_obj.py. Multicolor → 3MF from Multi-Color Print API. Always detect slicer first.
• Download format: Ask the user which format they need before downloading. GLB (viewing), OBJ (printing), 3MF (multicolor), FBX (games), USDZ (AR). Do NOT download all formats.
• 3MF for multicolor: Multi-Color Print API outputs 3MF directly — no need to request 3MF from generate/refine. For non-print use cases needing 3MF, pass "3mf" in target_formats.
• Timestamps: All API timestamps are Unix epoch milliseconds.

Execution Checklist

• Ran API key detection (check-env, Step 0) — checked env var and .env / .env.local only
• API key verified (never printed in full)
• Presented cost summary and got user confirmation
• Composed the workflow from bundled script calls (never retyped the helpers)
• Followed the matching recipe in references/pipelines.md or references/printing.md
• Reported file paths, formats, task IDs, and balance
• Suggested next steps

Additional Resources

For the complete API endpoint reference including all parameters, response schemas, and error codes, read [reference.md](reference.md).