StyleSeed router

Registry-first artifact boundary

When .styleseed/project.json and .styleseed/artifacts/index.json exist, resolve the requested artifact ID first, then read only .styleseed/bundles/<artifact-id>.md and .styleseed/manifests/<artifact-id>.json. Never fall back to the global legacy bundle for a registry project. Legacy projects may use .styleseed/effective-rules.md only when no registry exists.

This router chooses exactly one first workflow. It is the primary entry skill when a user asks for StyleSeed help in general terms.

First principles

• Help coding agents repeat expert design decisions, not replace expert authority with presets. Preserve approved project choices; identify unsupported or unresolved choices before routing to work that would change them. A score is not human acceptance.
• Resolve the current artifact first when .styleseed/project.json and .styleseed/artifacts/index.json exist.
• Never fan out to “run every StyleSeed skill.”
• Never copy the full design handbook into this router. Route to the maintained skill that already owns the workflow.
• Learning is an optional extension, not part of the core install. Only after an explicit capture request such as “remember this lesson” may the router check whether ss-learn is separately installed. If absent, state the dependency precisely; never auto-install it.
• If the request is ambiguous, ask one bounded clarification question that decides the first workflow.

Registry-first artifact boundary

If the project uses the artifact registry:

• read the current artifact context first;
• when one artifact is clearly in scope, route with that artifact;
• when multiple artifacts exist and the user did not name one, ask one bounded artifact question;
• do not resolve all artifacts unless the user explicitly asks for all artifacts.

One-workflow routing table

Choose exactly one first workflow:

• ss-setup for first-time method setup, missing lock/setup, or “set up StyleSeed for this project.”
• ss-build for implementing or redesigning a concrete screen/component/page when the direction is already known.
• ss-reference for compiling supplied references that are not already represented by a maintained grammar.
• ss-studio for creative direction, exploration, concept generation, or multi-direction concept work.
• ss-audit for critique, heuristic review, UX issue finding, or “what is wrong with this screen.”
• ss-score for code/design quality scoring or gate-floor measurement.
• ss-verify for rendered pixel inspection, screenshot review, or visual verification.
• ss-update for refreshing an installed StyleSeed payload or checking whether it is current.
• ss-resolve and its read-only scripts/styleseed-doctor.mjs for local installation integrity, configuration, compiled-rule drift, or missing/stale evidence diagnosis. Do not substitute an update, recompilation, or visual inspection for a status-only request.
• separately installed ss-learn only for explicit learning capture requests; otherwise report that the optional learning extension is unavailable.

Bounded clarification rules

Ask one bounded clarification question only when needed to choose the first workflow:

• setup vs build: “Should I set up the design method first, or build the screen with the current method?”
• build vs reference: “Should I build from the current method, or compile the supplied reference into a project-local grammar first?”
• build vs studio: “Do you want one concrete implementation path, or three creative directions first?”
• audit vs score vs verify: “Do you want UX critique, code-score gating, or pixel verification first?”
• multi-artifact registry: “Which artifact should I resolve first: <id-a> or <id-b>?”

After one bounded question is answered, route to exactly one first workflow.

Direct invocation compatibility

Granular ss-* skills remain backward compatible. If the user explicitly invokes ss-setup, ss-build, ss-reference, ss-studio, ss-audit, ss-score, ss-verify, ss-update, or ss-learn, use that direct skill instead of rerouting.