Agent guide

Give your agent the matching design instructions.

Start with the host's instructions, package.json, flood.json and installed flood/DESIGN.md. Use matching package/CLI versions and declarations. A newer website example does not add APIs to an older installation.

Version 0.2.3 includes the expanded skill, rules and reference bundle, including spacing guidance. Existing projects keep their installed files; compare new guidance before updating customized instructions.

Version 0.2.9 adds ten specialized routed skills for stabilizing and composing the dark base. See Skills for their applicability and full sources. The website index is generated from the same bundle metadata rather than a second handwritten skill catalog. Source additions do not update an already installed package; use the guide set matching your installation.

Version 0.2.10 adds versioned knowledge discovery: info reports installation context, catalog discovers compact metadata, and read loads a selected contract or workflow. The catalog includes typed recipes and semantic token records. Unknown capabilities and version mismatches are explicit; copied host guides remain project-owned.

For discovery, give an agent flood.md/llms.txt. It identifies deployed status and entry points. Follow installation; preview the matching CLI's init with --dry-run before applying it within the user's scope. The CLI does not install an agent runtime or require a hosted Flood service.

Compose from primitives

Flood includes the Flood composition skill. The main Flood skill routes component, website and playground work to it. The manifest installs the full skill under .agents/skills/flood-ui/references/flood-composition/SKILL.md; it is loaded by that router rather than relying on independent discovery of nested skills. Existing installations must compare and merge new guidance deliberately.

Reuse the existing library component; fix the relationship in its proper owner. If a reusable primitive is missing, build or extend it before the composition. Do not replace StatusIndicator with custom text, hide its anatomy, or duplicate a Badge/Progress/Dialog implementation just to make one layout fit.

Files and responsibilities

Project file	For whom / when	Prerequisite	Source of truth	What to check
flood.json	Developer / agent, setup or upgrade	Existing React project	Exact installed release, framework and paths	Matching CLI doctor
flood/DESIGN.md	Designer / developer / agent, every composition	Installed declarations	Version-matched UI contracts	Supported props and rendered states
.agents/skills/flood-ui/SKILL.md	Skill-aware client, Flood UI work	Project context	Short task router	Load only the relevant reference
references/routing.md in the skill folder	Human / agent, resolve ownership	Matching guide set	Responsibility and source matrix	Correct source and prerequisites
references/composition.md in the skill folder	Screen/form author	User content and installed APIs	Composition workflow	Intrinsic actions, responsive forms, close choice labels
references/spacing.md in the skill folder	Designer / developer / agent	Installed tokens and rendered host	Spacing and density decisions	Visible gaps, row pitch, wrapping and nonoverlapping touch targets
references/accessibility.md in the skill folder	Control author / reviewer	Runnable host	Interaction and perception	Names, keyboard, focus, forms and contrast context
references/customization.md in the skill folder	Theme author	Installed token manifest	Semantic override workflow	Resolved roles and affected states/surfaces
references/verification.md in the skill folder	Developer / reviewer, completion	Host checks	Evidence requirements	Commands, manual results and gaps
flood/rules.json	Human / agent / project tooling	Same bundle	Rule IDs, conditions, sources and checks	Evidence for each applicable rule
flood/manifest.json	Installer / reviewer	Matching package	Explicit source → project-path mapping	Complete files; existing files preserved
workflows.json in the skill folder	Agent / reviewer, task selection	Same installed bundle	Workflow applicability	Read relevant skills; applicability is not behavioral proof

Manifest entry and rule guide paths are package-source paths. Resolve them through manifest.files: each source maps to a target relative to the host project root. installedEntry names the installed skill directly. Manifest version and DESIGN header are checked by doctor alongside package alignment; customized guide contents are preserved and must be merged deliberately.

The package publishes DESIGN.md, SKILL.md, rules.json, manifest.json and references/*.md. The website exposes the same sources under /agent/. The routing reference connects each question with its governing source and verification method.

Use only the context needed

For a settings form, read DESIGN.md and SKILL.md, then composition/accessibility. Consult installed declarations for actual Field/Select props and read only those component pages. Before completion use verification. For a color-only change, load customization and the relevant token roles; unrelated guides stay unloaded.

Clients supporting the skill-folder convention can discover it. Others can read it explicitly or link it from existing instructions. The installer preserves AGENTS.md; it does not configure clients or guarantee automatic discovery.

The rules index is data, not an executable policy engine. It cannot make an agent obey guidance or certify accessibility. Host checks and Flood's repository verification supply evidence. Doctor checks package alignment and expected regular files; it does not parse CSS imports or assess visual quality/completed user flows.

Safe installation and upgrades

Init refuses existing owned files and linked destinations before npm runs, then rechecks after installation. During upgrades compare new package sources with installed copies, merge deliberately and retain host requirements. Do not delete customized guides merely to make init succeed.

Import @flood-md/react/styles.css once and compose new dark interfaces in FloodRoot. See layout, components and customization. Flood guidance governs UI use; it grants no authority to publish, delete data, transmit source or bypass the user's instructions.

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