ASCII85 Encoding Skill

Overview

Encoding reads the `text` as UTF-8 bytes and processes them in groups of four. Each group is treated as an unsigned 32-bit number and written as five base-85 digits, using the characters `!` (33) to `u` (117). A full group of four zero bytes is shortened to the single character `z`. A final group with fewer than four bytes is padded with zeros, and only n+1 characters are kept for n input bytes, so no padding appears in the output.

`format` controls the delimiters. `standard` returns the bare digits; `btoa` wraps them in `<~` and `~>`. On decode with `format=btoa`, input that does not start with `<~` and end with `~>` is rejected with a 400. Whitespace inside an encoded string is ignored, characters outside the `!` to `u` range return an error naming the position, and a final group of a single character is rejected because it cannot hold a byte. The decoded bytes are read back as UTF-8.

`original_length` and `encoded_length` are character counts of the input and output strings. `compression_ratio` is the encoded length divided by the original length, as a percentage with two decimals; for ASCII input it sits near 125%, plus 4 characters when `btoa` delimiters are added. Because it counts characters rather than bytes, non-ASCII input shows a higher ratio. On the Free plan the `format` parameter is ignored, so output is always `standard`, and `format` and `compression_ratio` are returned as null on encode.

Live Test ASCII85 Encoding Skill Skill →

The tool

Once your client is connected to the VerveKit server, this appears in its tool list as ASCII85EncodingSkill. It is read-only and open-world — it fetches and never mutates anything on your side — so most clients call it without asking you to confirm.

{
  "name": "ASCII85EncodingSkill",
  "arguments": {
    "text": "Hello World"
  }
}

You do not name the tool yourself; the model picks it. Asking about Hello World in the terms this skill covers is enough for it to reach for ASCII85EncodingSkill on its own — naming it explicitly also works, and is the way to force the call.

Connecting

One server URL covers every skill in the catalog, including this one. Authorization is OAuth: the client opens a browser once, and there is no key to paste into a config file.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "vervekit": {
      "url": "https://api.vervekit.com/v1/mcp"
    }
  }
}

https://api.vervekit.com/v1/mcp

Per-client setup — Claude, Cursor, VS Code, ChatGPT — is on the MCP setup page.

Arguments

These are the properties on the tool's inputSchema, so a well-behaved client validates them before the call is made. Premium arguments are accepted on every plan but only take effect on plans that include them.

What the model gets back

The result carries a structuredContent object matching the tool's declared outputSchema, so a client reads fields without parsing prose. status is "ok" and error is null on success; a null field means the value was not available for that input, not that the call failed.

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{
  "status": "ok",
  "error": null,
  "data": {
    "original_text": "Hello World",
    "encoded": "87cURD]i,\"Ebo7",
    "format": "standard",
    "original_length": 11,
    "encoded_length": 14,
    "compression_ratio": "127.27%"
  }
}

Response fields

Paths are relative to data. Premium fields are absent rather than zeroed on plans that do not include them, so check for presence instead of comparing to 0.

Failure modes

Errors come back as tool errors carrying a sentence the model can act on, not a bare status code. Error handling covers the full list.

A call costs 1 credit each time the tool actually runs; a model that reasons about the tool without calling it costs nothing.

Use cases

Data Encoding

Encode binary data for text-based transmission with better compression than Base64

PDF Processing

Handle ASCII85-encoded data in PDF files and PostScript documents

Data Serialization

Serialize binary data for storage in text-based formats like JSON or XML

Compression

Achieve better compression ratios for binary data in text-only protocols

Other ways to use ASCII85 Encoding Skill

Set up ASCII85 Encoding Skill on VerveKit, or reach the same source a different way. Your VerveKit account and credits work on all of them — one key, one balance.

Related

More in Data Conversion: