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Use skills

Glyphs MCP ships focused workflow skills in skills/. They do not replace MCP tools; they teach an agent how to use those tools safely for recurring Glyphs tasks.

Use skills when you want the agent to follow a known workflow for connection checks, OpenType feature inspection, kerning, spacing, or outline work.

Before you use a skill​

  • Glyphs MCP is installed.
  • The local server is running at http://127.0.0.1:9680/mcp/.
  • Your client is connected.
  • You have either opened this repository in the client or installed the skills globally.

If the client is not connected yet, start with Connect a client.

Repo-local skills​

The authored skill source lives in skills/.

This repo exposes the same skill bundle through client-specific bridges:

  • Codex: .agents/skills
  • Claude Code: .claude/skills

Open this repository in the client, trust or reload the workspace if needed, then invoke the skill by name.

Codex example:

Use $glyphs-mcp-connect to verify my Glyphs MCP setup, call list_open_fonts, and tell me which font_index to use next.

Claude Code example:

Use the glyphs-mcp-connect skill to verify my Glyphs MCP setup, call list_open_fonts, and tell me which font_index to use next.

Global skills​

Use the installer when you want the bundled skills available without opening the repo:

python3 install.py

Enable Install Glyphs MCP agent skills for Codex and/or Claude Code. The installer copies the bundled glyphs-mcp-* skills into:

  • ~/.codex/skills/
  • ~/.claude/skills/

Reload or restart the client after installation.

Available skills​

SkillUse it forExample prompt
glyphs-mcp-connectStartup checks, endpoint verification, and first health checksUse the glyphs-mcp-connect skill to verify my setup and call list_open_fonts.
glyphs-mcp-featuresOpenType features and stylistic-set glyph groups with Glyphs linksUse the glyphs-mcp-features skill to list glyphs by style set with group links.
glyphs-mcp-kerningKerning bumper review and approved appliesUse the glyphs-mcp-kerning skill to review kerning collisions and do a dry run first.
glyphs-mcp-spacingSpacing review and approved appliesUse the glyphs-mcp-spacing skill to review spacing for the selected glyphs and do a dry run first.
glyphs-mcp-outlines-docsOutline edits, selected nodes, components, anchors, and docs lookupUse the glyphs-mcp-outlines-docs skill to inspect selected nodes and fetch only the docs pages I need.
glyphs-mcp-italic-first-passGuarded roman-to-italic first-pass copy and slant workflowsUse the glyphs-mcp-italic-first-pass skill to review selected glyphs with the default +12 Glyphs slant before applying an italic first pass.

Operating rules​

  • Choose the narrowest useful Glyphs MCP tool profile first.
  • Read current font, master, glyph, layer, or selection before changing anything.
  • Prefer dedicated tools over free-form code.
  • Use dry runs before apply steps.
  • Require explicit approval before confirm-gated mutations.
  • Never auto-save the font unless a human explicitly asks for it.
  • Use docs_search and docs_get instead of loading broad documentation into context.