Designer Skill MCP

Plug-and-play MCP. UI superpowers for your agent. Setup · How it works · References · Tools · Development. Its 14 documented tools cover design, reference. It runs locally over stdio via the published package.

People who work with design and reference and want it reachable from Claude, Cursor, VS Code, or another MCP client. The project is written in JavaScript.

VERIFIED ACTIVE

LAST COMMIT 2026-09-27 · ★ 43 · #19 OF 96 MAINTAINED DESIGN · VERIFIED 2026-09-30

MIT · JavaScript servers · how we verify → /methodology

01 · Install Designer Skill MCP

before you install - you'll need

Set DESIGNER_SKILL_HTTP_TOKEN before connecting.

Claude Code

claude mcp add pymodel-designer-skill -- npx -y @pymodel/designer-skill-mcp

Claude Desktop / Cursor / VS Code - add to config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "pymodel-designer-skill": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@pymodel/designer-skill-mcp"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Same JSON for Cursor. For VS Code, rename the top-level key from `mcpServers` to `servers`.

Using another client? Same JSON, different key

Claude Desktop · mcpServers

Cursor · mcpServers

VS Code · servers

Windsurf · mcpServers

Zed · context_servers

Cline · mcpServers

Roo Code · mcpServers

Continue · mcpServers

LibreChat · mcpServers

Gemini CLI · mcpServers

Codex CLI · mcp_servers

Full setup guides: every client.

02 · Evidence

Security posture

What to check before giving this server access to your agent - from the registry, GitHub, and our own probes. We don't score safety; we show what's verifiable.

runs as local process (stdio) - runs on your machine with your user's permissions

license MIT - declared in the repository

npm package @pymodel/designer-skill-mcp - published under the repo owner's npm scope (@pymodel)

registry namespace io.github.PyModel is GitHub-verified and matches the repo owner

03 · What Designer Skill MCP can do

Prose above is summarized from the project's README and registry record - no invented capabilities.

What you can build

With this server connected, an agent can load one reference by name (designer or ux/), map a request → verb(s) + at most four references to read, and validate a context-grounded direction record.

Capability map

Tools grouped from the project's README - what Designer Skill MCP lets an agent do.

read & search

8 tools - e.g. Scope and verification contract (call first); SKILL.md router and reference map; Load one reference by name (designer or ux/)

get_preflight_brief · get_design_system · get_reference · list_commands · get_command · get_palette_seed…

Load

1 tool - e.g. Read PRODUCT.md / DESIGN.md from the project (absolute cwd)

load_project_context

Anti

1 tool - e.g. Advisory style and truthful-content review guidance

anti_slop_checklist

Dispatch

1 tool - e.g. Map a request → verb(s) + at most four references to read

dispatch_intent

Commit

1 tool - e.g. Validate a context-grounded direction record

commit_design_direction

Detect

1 tool - e.g. Deterministic static scan (44 rules): coverage, file hashes, gaps

detect_antipatterns

Review

1 tool - e.g. Static gate per required rule; never claims rendered readiness

review_and_gate

Latest releases

v0.21.1 · 2026-09-26

designer-skill-mcp v0.21.1 · NIBLET_TOKEN values that are not Niblet account keys (niblet_at_…) are no longer sent; the tools return setup guidance instead and never echo the value. get_design_reference now matches…

v0.21.0 · 2026-09-26

designer-skill-mcp v0.21.0 · .designer-skill config files with a legacy hook section are now rejected (CONFIG_INVALID); rename hook to detector. Scans: when git fails inside a work tree (timeout, output cap…

v0.20.0 · 2026-09-26

designer-skill-mcp v0.20.0 · the HTTP transport now requires --root on every bind, loopback included. Gate: config.local.json can no longer hide files (ignoreFiles) or waive required-rule values; detect_antipatterns…

04 · Who maintains Designer Skill MCP

designer-skill-mcp is maintained by pymodel. We track 2 MCP servers from pymodel - 2 actively maintained, 50 combined GitHub stars, oldest repo from Jun 2026. Full record: all servers from pymodel.

claude-agy-mcp Delegate heavy tasks from Claude Code to the Antigravity CLI (Gemini) with quota-aware failover. ★ 7

05 · Facts

repository: github.com/pymodel/designer-skill
category: design - ranked #19 of 96 actively-maintained design servers as of 2026-09-30.
release cadence: 8 releases in the last 90 days (latest 2026-09-26)
registry: io.github.PyModel/designer-skill-mcp (active, first published 2026-09-24 · 5 versions)
packages: npm:@pymodel/designer-skill-mcp

06 · Designer Skill MCP FAQ

Is Designer Skill MCP still maintained?

Yes - as of 2026-09-30, its last commit was 2026-09-27 and it shipped 8 releases in the last 90 days. We re-verify nightly.

What can Designer Skill MCP do?

With this server connected, an agent can load one reference by name (designer or ux/), map a request → verb(s) + at most four references to read, and validate a context-grounded direction record.

How do I install Designer Skill MCP?

Run `npx -y @pymodel/designer-skill-mcp`. The README documents one environment variable (DESIGNER_SKILL_HTTP_TOKEN) to set first. Set DESIGNER_SKILL_HTTP_TOKEN before connecting. You can also paste the ready-made client config above.

Does Designer Skill MCP run locally?

Yes - it's a stdio server: it runs on your machine (via npx) with your user's permissions. Your data stays local unless the server itself calls external APIs.

07 · Alternatives to Designer Skill MCP

Alternatives to Designer Skill MCP

Maintained design servers if Designer Skill MCP isn't the fit.

More design MCP servers · HIG Doctor · Figbridge · Memoire · Screens Design

More JavaScript MCP servers · Quicknode MCP Server · Barevalue · Qveris · Leafengines · Redact MCP · see all