Use skills and optional plugins

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

Start with glyphs for a general task or context check. Use a focused skill when you already know the task is OpenType feature inspection, icon-font encoding, kerning, spacing, outline work, an italic first pass, or Glyphs script and plug-in development. Use glyphs-mcp-scripting for live runs, Macro Panel snippets, and iterative debugging; use glyphs-mcp-development for reusable workspace artifacts. Use glyphs-mcp-release for repository release preparation and publication gates; it does not require an open font except for an explicitly selected live QA pass.

Before you use a skill

• Glyphs MCP is installed.
• For live font work, the local server is running at http://127.0.0.1:9680/mcp/ and your client is connected. Workspace-only development can start offline.
• 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.

Client compatibility

Client	Repo-local skills	User skills	MCP connection	Embedded feedback UI
Codex and ChatGPT plugin hosts	Installed plugin bundle or .agents/skills	~/.codex/skills	Bundled plugin connection or Codex MCP config	Available on compatible MCP Apps hosts
Claude Code	.claude/skills	~/.claude/skills	Claude CLI MCP config	Text and structured results
Cursor	.agents/skills or explicit .cursor/skills fallback	~/.cursor/skills	.cursor/mcp.json	Text and structured results
GitHub Copilot CLI	Installed plugin bundle or .agents/skills	Copilot skill install	Bundled plugin connection or Copilot MCP config	Text and structured results

The Glyphs installer manages only the existing Codex and Claude Code standalone skill targets. Agent plugin installation is always host-owned. Cursor and GitHub Copilot setup remain manual unless you choose their plugin package. This repository's .agents/skills bridge is the shared repo-local source; .cursor/skills remains an explicit Cursor fallback.

Claude Code loads project skills from .claude/skills and personal skills from ~/.claude/skills; see Claude's skills documentation. The ordinary Claude App MCP connection provides tools, but does not imply that Claude Code filesystem skills are loaded into every Claude chat surface.

Optional multi-host plugin

The package at plugins/glyphs-mcp carries native manifests for Codex, Claude Code, Cursor, and GitHub Copilot CLI. All four manifests use version 1.11.0 and load the same skills/ directory and .mcp.json. Individual skills do not carry separate release numbers; they inherit the package version. The MCP server reports the aligned version of the native Glyphs MCP plug-in.

Install the native Glyphs plug-in and start its server before enabling an agent plugin. The plugin is optional: skip this section if you prefer the repo-local or global standalone skills and manual MCP connection documented below.

Codex and compatible ChatGPT hosts

codex plugin marketplace add thierryc/Glyphs-mcp
codex plugin add glyphs-mcp@glyphs-mcp

Start a new task after installation. Refresh or remove it with:

codex plugin marketplace upgrade glyphs-mcp
codex plugin add glyphs-mcp@glyphs-mcp
codex plugin remove glyphs-mcp@glyphs-mcp
codex plugin marketplace remove glyphs-mcp

Use $glyphs for the general launcher. Compatible OpenAI hosts can also render the embedded feedback UI.

Claude Code

claude plugin marketplace add thierryc/Glyphs-mcp
claude plugin install glyphs-mcp@glyphs-mcp

Update or remove it with:

claude plugin marketplace update glyphs-mcp
claude plugin update glyphs-mcp@glyphs-mcp
claude plugin uninstall glyphs-mcp@glyphs-mcp
claude plugin marketplace remove glyphs-mcp

Claude namespaces plugin skills. The general launcher is /glyphs-mcp:glyphs. See Claude Code's plugin documentation for scope and workspace-trust behavior.

Cursor

The repository includes .cursor-plugin/marketplace.json. When the Cursor agent CLI is installed, register that repository-hosted marketplace with:

cursor-agent plugin marketplace add https://github.com/thierryc/Glyphs-mcp

Run cursor-agent, open /plugin, choose the added marketplace, and install glyphs-mcp. Cursor currently completes repository-marketplace installation and lifecycle actions in the interactive /plugin or Settings → Plugins surface rather than a non-interactive install command. Use that surface to refresh or update, uninstall the plugin, and remove the custom marketplace.

For a direct local installation that is easy to inspect and update, link the shared package into Cursor's local plugin directory:

mkdir -p ~/.cursor/plugins/local
ln -s /absolute/path/to/Glyphs-mcp/plugins/glyphs-mcp ~/.cursor/plugins/local/glyphs-mcp

Pull updates in the checkout and restart Cursor to reload them. Remove only the local link with unlink ~/.cursor/plugins/local/glyphs-mcp. Cursor can discover the glyphs skill automatically; an explicit request such as Use the glyphs skill remains portable. Repository delivery here is separate from future submission to Cursor's public marketplace. See Cursor's plugin documentation.

GitHub Copilot CLI

copilot plugin marketplace add thierryc/Glyphs-mcp
copilot plugin install glyphs-mcp@glyphs-mcp

Direct repository installation is also supported:

copilot plugin install thierryc/Glyphs-mcp:plugins/glyphs-mcp

Update or remove a marketplace installation with:

copilot plugin marketplace update glyphs-mcp
copilot plugin update glyphs-mcp
copilot plugin uninstall glyphs-mcp
copilot plugin marketplace remove glyphs-mcp

Use /glyphs-mcp/glyphs for the plugin-qualified general skill. GitHub documents the complete Copilot CLI plugin command and manifest reference. Copilot cloud agents can opt into plugins through repository settings, but this repository deliberately does not add .github/copilot/settings.json or enable the plugin automatically.

Repo-local skills

The authored skill source lives in skills/.

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

• Codex, Cursor, and GitHub Copilot CLI: .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 to inspect the current Glyphs context and help with my font task.

Claude Code example:

Use the glyphs skill to inspect the current Glyphs context and help with my font task.

Cursor example:

Use the glyphs skill to inspect the current Glyphs context and help with my font task.

GitHub Copilot CLI example:

Use the glyphs skill to inspect the current Glyphs context and help with my font task.

For the standalone MCP path, keep the same localhost endpoint. Examples:

codex mcp add glyphs-mcp-server --url http://127.0.0.1:9680/mcp/
claude mcp add --scope user --transport http glyphs-mcp http://127.0.0.1:9680/mcp/
copilot mcp add glyphs-mcp-server --url http://127.0.0.1:9680/mcp/ --type http

Cursor uses .cursor/mcp.json; see Connect a client for the manual JSON configuration and transport checks.

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.

For a manual global Cursor install, copy the 11 skill directories from skills/ into ~/.cursor/skills/, preserving each directory's SKILL.md and supporting files.

Available skills

Skill	Use it for	Example prompt
glyphs	General tasks, connection and context checks, and workflow routing	Use $glyphs to inspect my current Glyphs context and help with this font task.
glyphs-mcp-development	Reusable, documentation-grounded Glyphs Python scripts and six plug-in scaffolds	Use $glyphs-mcp-development to create a reporter plug-in in this workspace.
glyphs-mcp-outlines-docs	Outline edits and their specialized live-code fallback, plus selected nodes, components, anchors, and docs lookup	Use the glyphs-mcp-outlines-docs skill to inspect selected nodes and fetch only the docs pages I need.
glyphs-mcp-italic-first-pass	Experimental Roman-to-italic construction drafts with a narrowly guarded Python fallback	Use the glyphs-mcp-italic-first-pass skill to review selected glyphs in recommended Balanced mode before applying an italic first pass.
glyphs-mcp-scripting	Safe live vibe coding, Macro Panel snippets, read-only probes, and iterative script debugging	Use $glyphs-mcp-scripting to run a read-only script that reports the current font and selected layers.
glyphs-mcp-features	OpenType features and stylistic-set glyph groups with Glyphs links	Use the glyphs-mcp-features skill to list glyphs by style set with group links.
glyphs-mcp-icon-font	Stable icon-font Unicode and PUA assignment workflows	Use the glyphs-mcp-icon-font skill to audit this icon font and preserve its existing mappings.
glyphs-mcp-kerning	Kerning bumper review and approved applies	Use the glyphs-mcp-kerning skill to review kerning collisions and do a dry run first.
glyphs-mcp-litsquare-metadata	LitSquare metadata, semantic path roles, and layer-specific IconGrid centering	Use $glyphs-mcp-litsquare-metadata to inspect inherited LitSquare metadata without changing it.
glyphs-mcp-spacing	Spacing review and approved applies	Use the glyphs-mcp-spacing skill to review spacing for the selected glyphs and do a dry run first.
glyphs-mcp-release	Version, docs, packaging, validation, signing, and publication gates	Use $glyphs-mcp-release to prepare version 1.11.0 and stop before external publication.

Operating rules

• Begin with review tools; treat any tool annotated as an edit as a separate approval boundary.
• Read current font, master, glyph, layer, or selection before changing anything.
• Prefer dedicated tools over free-form code.
• For live scripting mutations, review the exact snippet_only code and target, then approve only unchanged execution; revised code requires new approval.
• 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.
• Create reusable scripts and plug-ins in the workspace; install or run them only after a separate explicit request.

Related docs

• Agent skills
• Codex and ChatGPT plugin UI
• First session
• Command set