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I don't think the idea is to use the visual representation of the SSH key as a security mechanism but rather to have an SSH key that looks cool when you visualize it.

Isn't the whole point of VisualHostKey in ssh to act as a security mechanism, i.e. "yes this looks like the correct server key" on first use on a new client that doesn't already have the key in known_hosts?

That's not how randomness works. The expected duration of the attack is only determined by how close they want to get to your artwork.

For example, if you pick the first key you generate, it obviously doesn't mean the attacker can get the same art in one try.

so the exact same as any other crypto key?

The number of minutes being greater than the heat death of the universe

Is the runtime of this application "a number of minutes greater than the heat death of the universe" to find something that could pass off as matching the target visualhostkey?