Before this workflow, follow the once-per-session update preflight.

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, palette, 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. Palette recipe

Recommend one semantic palette from PALETTE-RECIPES.md. Use auto when its maintained recipe mapping fits. An explicit palette must still preserve semantic roles, surface/chrome separation, status cues, and validated contrast. The recipe is a product posture, not a finite swatch list. When the user supplies a key color, select perceptual character, light/dark environment, surface temperature, and accent relationship; $ss-resolve then derives the actual OKLCH ramps and roles. Palette selection is not permission to recolor every surface.

6. 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.

7. Brand and bounded axes

Lock a real brand color if supplied; otherwise start from the selected palette's primary role. For a supplied key, recommend calm|balanced|vivid|deep from the product posture rather than asking for an unbounded mood word. Then confirm light/dark mode, neutral|warm|cool surfaces, and auto|tonal|adjacent|contrast accent relationship. 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.

7a. Spatial relationships

Explain the intended groups and spacing tradeoff before selecting numbers. Preserve existing spacing tokens. For registry product UI, use the resolver's spatial roles guide to recommend and persist page inset, section/group/stack/inline gaps, and component inset separately. Keep typography and hit targets independent. Legacy setup keeps native tokens; do not invent unparsed lock fields. Recommendations are starting proposals, not approved or measured quality.

8. 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
- Palette recipe: quiet-mineral
- Key color: #3182F6
- Palette character: calm
- Palette mode: light
- Palette harmony: auto
- Surface temperature: neutral
- 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.

9. 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, palette 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.
• Palette recipe is required; auto resolves to a contrast-verified semantic palette.
• 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.