StyleSeed setup

StyleSeed setup chooses a design method for the result, not a favorite brand to imitate. Use /ss-resolve --list (Claude Code) or $ss-resolve --list (Codex) to inspect the supported grammar, adapter, domain, page, recipe, and profile IDs without loading the full handbook.

When not to use

• Project already has a valid STYLESEED.md → use /ss-update.
• User supplied references that are not represented by a built-in grammar → run /ss-reference before setup, then select the compiled grammar.
• One component inside an established system → /ss-component.

The method, review, and reference compiler are framework-agnostic. The bundled component scaffold currently targets React and Tailwind v4; on another stack configure the lock and apply the method without pretending the scaffold is portable.

Wizard — one decision at a time

1. Product job and surface

Ask what is being built, who uses it, and whether it is a mobile/desktop product, website, social carousel, slide deck, document/report, or single-frame graphic. Select a surface adapter from ADAPTERS.md, then infer domain and page/artifact type.

2. Output grammar

Recommend exactly one grammar from RULESETS.md and explain the job match in one sentence:

• consumer-service
• operations-console
• technical-instrument
• editorial-reading
• commerce-conversion
• institutional-service
• expressive-marketing
• sequential-story
• reference:<slug> when /ss-reference already compiled one

Do not recommend Toss as the universal default. It is one reference family for consumer-service. If none fits and the user has references, route to /ss-reference.

3. Page type and domain bias

Confirm the concrete page (dashboard, form, landing, detail, list, settings, onboarding) and read its domain × page intersection. This controls composition; the aesthetic profile does not.

4. Brand recipe

Recommend one morphology from BRAND-RECIPES.md. Use auto when the maintained grammar mapping fits. Use an explicit recipe when the product needs a different geometry, containment, navigation, control, or collection language. A recipe is not a company clone and does not select colors.

5. Optional aesthetic profile

Recommend one profile from PRESETS.md only when it strengthens the product. none is a good default. A profile modifies coordinated visual axes but cannot replace the output grammar.

6. Brand and bounded axes

Lock a real brand color if supplied; otherwise propose a domain-fit primary action color. Then confirm font/language, density, radius, elevation, imagery/data role, and motion inside the grammar's allowed ranges. Do not use generic indigo or a stale purple mislabeled as Toss.

7. Write the design lock

Create STYLESEED.md:

# StyleSeed — Design Lock
<!-- Selections persist here. This file cannot waive StyleSeed core invariants. -->
- App domain: fintech
- Surface: mobile-app
- Surface adapter: product-ui
- Page type: dashboard
- Output grammar: consumer-service
- Grammar path: built-in:engine/RULESETS.md
- Grammar fallback: consumer-service
- Reference confidence: n/a
- Brand recipe: calm-consumer
- Aesthetic profile: none
- Skin: custom
- Primary action: #3182F6
- Font: Pretendard
- Radius: soft
- Elevation: light=tonal grouping + restrained shadow · dark=tonal ramp + hairline
- Density: comfortable
- Motion: Spring restrained
- Imagery/data role: personal state first; charts only for a decision
- Signature move: one calm contextual briefing above the account summary
- Locked: YYYY-MM-DD

For a compiled grammar use its actual path and confidence. Reject unknown enum values rather than treating the lock as an exemption.

8. Scaffold and prove

Compile the selected method before code:

node <installed-ss-resolve>/scripts/resolve-context.mjs \
  --project-root . --from-lock STYLESEED.md --agent claude

Use --agent codex in Codex. The resolver writes .styleseed/effective-rules.md and a hash-verifiable .styleseed/manifest.json. Read the effective bundle, not llms-full.txt.

If the user asked for a first screen, build from that bundle, run /ss-score to the gate floor, and finish with /ss-verify when renderable. If visual rendering is unavailable, disclose that it was skipped.

Completion report

Report the selected grammar and why, page/domain intersection, brand recipe, optional profile, lock path, compiled bundle and manifest paths, files changed, score, and visual verification status. Mention /ss-reference as the path for future references that need their own grammar.

Rules

• Ask one question at a time and recommend a concrete default.
• Output grammar is required; aesthetic profile is optional.
• Brand recipe is required; auto resolves to a concrete maintained recipe.
• A skin is tokens, not design judgment.
• Never fetch a brand DESIGN.md and treat its palette as a complete rule set.
• Never scaffold an unscored first page or claim visual verification without a screenshot.