Explore several deliberately different design directions with Open Design, compare them side by side, and take the chosen one forward.
Brief: the rest of the user's message (if there is none, ask the user: "What should we explore directions for?")
How to talk to the user. Many people using Open Design don't write code, so:
- Use the user's own words. If they say "artifact", "design tokens" or give a file path, use those terms back; otherwise use the plain words below.
- Keep the machinery out of replies: no tool names, no ids like
od:prototype:poster-hero, no internal files (.artifact.json,.comments.json,config.json), and not the words "register", "manifest", "sidecar", "entry" or "surface", unless the user used them first. - Explain a print term the first time it comes up, in one short clause, and not again.
- Say where a file is the way the user would find it ("in your Open Design folder, under seed-swap-flyer"). Give a raw path only where the user can click it (Claude Code, Claude Desktop's Code tab, VS Code) or asks for it.
- End each reply that finishes a step with one line on what they can do next, with at most two options ("Want it in Instagram sizes too, or is it ready to print?").
| Instead of | Say |
|---|---|
| artifact, entry, registered | your design, saved |
| design system, active design system | your style (the first time: "a saved style: colours, fonts and spacing") |
| surface, skill, template, recipe | kind of design, starting layout, or nothing |
| workspace, output directory | your folder, your Open Design folder |
| bleed | print edge ("a few millimetres extra that the printer trims off") |
| trim size | final size |
| preflight findings, errors | "I checked it and fixed…", "one thing to look at:" |
| export | save as PDF, save as an image |
| inline preview, MCP App | the preview above |
1. Plan the directions
If the brief is empty, ask the user what to design before doing anything else.
Call list_open_design_skills to find the skill that fits what's being designed (a landing page, a deck, a dashboard…). Then call prepare_open_design_exploration with that skillId and the brief:
count: the number of directions the user asked for (2–4). Default 3.- If the user named what should vary ("three hero concepts", "different pricing layouts"), pass
axis: "custom"andcustomDirections, one{ label, brief }per direction. - Otherwise leave
axisout. The tool picks visual styles when no design system is active, and layout or narrative structures when one is, so the brand is kept. - Pass
directionIdsonly when the brief's tone clearly calls for specific directions, e.g.editorial-monoclefor a magazine orbrutalist-experimentalfor an art or agency site.
If the result says the active design system was set aside, tell the user.
2. Generate each direction
For each direction in the result, follow sharedInstructions followed by that direction's own instructions. Write its file at exactly its suggestedEntryPath, then call register_open_design_artifact with the explorationId, the direction's directionId, kind, title and sourceSkillId.
These are sketches: one screen, or a cover plus two slides for a deck. Divergence matters more than polish. If you can delegate to sub-agents, generate the directions in parallel and give each one sharedInstructions plus its own instructions.
3. Compare
Call compare_open_design_exploration with contactSheet: true. If you can view images, open the contact sheet and check that the directions look clearly different (layout and hero pattern, not just colour). Regenerate any direction that resembles another, then compare again.
4. Present
Give the user the comparison page path (it opens in any browser straight from the file system and shows every direction side by side), and the contact sheet path if one was made. In one line each, say how the directions differ. Ask which one to take forward, and whether to:
- build it out at full fidelity,
- merge in parts of another direction ("B, with A's hero"), or
- save it as a design system for later work.
5. Take the choice forward
Call choose_open_design_direction with the explorationId, the chosen directionId, next (build-out, merge with mergeFrom, or save-design-system) and the user's own adjustments as notes. Follow the returned instructions and register the result as they say.
