AI agent skill · by @BuilderIO

Visual Edit

Open a running local app in Design overview mode as URL-backed iframe screens for visual editing, flow review, duplication, and route-state exploration. Use when the user asks to inspect, compare, or edit a real local app visually in Design.

Archived 2026-10-23 · Source updated 2026-09-17 · License: MIT. Check the original repository for the latest version.

SKILL.md instructions

# Visual Edit

Use `/visual-edit` when the user wants to inspect or edit a real local app
visually instead of generating standalone Alpine HTML. The source of truth is
the running localhost app plus its route URLs. Design shows those routes as
iframe-backed screens on the infinite canvas.

## Installation

`npx @agent-native/core@latest skills add visual-edit` installs the skill and
hosted Design MCP connector. `npx skills@latest add BuilderIO/agent-native
--skill visual-edit` installs instructions only; page-capable WebMCP hosts need
no connector installation.

## Put Design Beside The Chat

Prefer the interactive MCP App returned by `open-visual-edit` when the coding
host renders it. The user gets the Design canvas beside the conversation, and
**Apply design updates** can submit the bounded source-edit handoff back to the
current host conversation through the standard MCP Apps message bridge. The
host may ask the user to confirm the current conversation or choose a new one.

Otherwise, `openUrl` is a credential-free, read-only fallback that is safe to
show in model text or retain in logs. Do not claim that fallback is editable:
the edit capability is intentionally available only to the host-managed MCP App
launcher, where it is hidden from the model and redeemed once.

- In Codex Desktop, Claude Desktop, and other hosts with an inline browser,
  prefer that surface. In VS Code use its Design webview/deep link. If no
  inline surface exists, return the normal **Open design** link.

Prefer the MCP App surface for a connected Design plugin, then the host's
browser/preview tool as the universal fallback. Keep the canvas beside chat
when the host supports rearrangeable panes.

ChatGPT, Claude Desktop, and other hosts with an inline browser should open
the Design surface in that browser by default. Use an external browser only
when the user asks for it or the host has no inline browser. The page exposes
its Design actions through WebMCP, so no MCP connector installation is needed
for a host that can call page-local tools.

Inside Design, use **Show/Hide UI** from the `Cmd K` menu or press Figma's
`Shift \` shortcut to toggle all editing chrome so only the canvas remains.
The same action is available from Design's empty-canvas context menu.

## Core Model

- Each screen is a URL-backed iframe, not copied HTML.
- Each screen keeps URL metadata: `connectionId`, `routeId`, `path`,
  `url`, `bridgeUrl`, title, and viewport size.
- Localhost Edit mode renders the running app through the local bridge as a live
  iframe with the same editor bridge used by HTML designs. It is never a frozen
  static DOM snapshot. Editing is direct DOM manipulation against that live
  document; the parallel `/snapshot` fetch feeds the editable source model only
  and must never be rendered in the frame.
- **The `/visual-edit` skill needs no Design account sign-in.**
  `open-visual-edit` mints a five-minute, single-use capability for the exact
  `/visual-edit/:designId` local-editor route. The MCP host redeems it outside
  model-visible text, then opens the existing editor with localhost edit access.
  This capability is not an account session: `/_agent-native/session` remains
  signed out, and account-backed save/share/generate actions remain denied.
- The editor page registers a stable page-local WebMCP tool named
  `get-visual-edit-prompt`. Call it after canvas edits to retrieve the latest
  bounded source instructions instead of copying stale chat text. It returns
  `status: "empty"` when there is nothing to apply. If a previous editor
  session ended with unapplied edits, it returns `status: "session-ended"`
  with the pending count; `status: "unknown"` means the session marker
  could not be read and must not be treated as an empty result.
- The `open-visual-edit` action is owned by Design. From another app such as
  Clips, invoke it through the connected Design MCP server at
  `https://design.agent-native.com/mcp` (or the editor page's WebMCP helper),
  not `pnpm action` in the target app: that local action registry does not
  contain Design actions. Without an account session, it uses a
  workspace-scoped principal only inside the CLI call; HTTP, MCP, and tunneled
  callers cannot select it.
- Public links are always read-only, including on loopback. Loopback peer
  identity is not an authentication boundary because a tunnel or reverse proxy
  can make a remote request appear local. A bare `/visual-edit/:designId` or
  `/design/:designId` URL carries no capability and must never release the
  connection's `previewToken`.
- The live editor is same-origin through the local bridge proxy. This boots
  CSR apps and root-relative assets, but it is still a localhost editing proxy:
  app-origin cookies, WebSockets/HMR, SSE, and non-GET app API calls may need a
  future dev-server/plugin integration for perfect parity with the app's own
  origin.
- The canvas is the editing view; Interact runs the normal URL with rails and a
  device bar. Interact preserves navigation, scrolling, links, and controls;
  the canvas pans/zooms and suppresses native frame interaction.
- While a localhost screen has pending live visual edits, do not switch back to
  Interact until the user either applies the edits to source or explicitly
  aborts/discards the preview.
- Alt-drag duplicates a localhost frame and its URL metadata. Change the copy's
  path/query for another state; preserve the order of named or numbered flows.
  Shorthand like `localhost:1234/onboarding/1` means
  `http://localhost:1234/onboarding/1`.

## Useful Canvas Sets

Use a focused batch of 3-7 frames by default: one ordered frame per requested
route/query state, repeat routes at requested desktop/tablet/mobile viewports,
and include URL-addressable empty, loading, error, modal-open, or selected-item
states. Keep the Screens section readable so Layers remains useful while
editing. Do not expand beyond 7 frames unless the user explicitly asks for an
exhaustive audit or a complete route inventory.

Do not expand every discovered route or every viewport unless the user asks for
an exhaustive audit. Preserve the user's labels and sequence so the canvas
reads like the workflow they described.

## Select And Reprompt

When a chat message begins with `[Reprompt selection]`, the selected subtree is
a hard write boundary. The only mutation path is `propose-node-rewrite` with
the exact `repromptId`, target, and `baseVersionHash` captured in
`design-reprompt-pending:<designId>:<fileId>`. Never use `apply-visual-edit`,
`apply-source-edit`, `write-source`, `write-local-file`, `edit-design`, or any
other content-writing action for that request. Clarifying questions are allowed,
but a requested change must remain a proposal.

Produce one variant by default. Produce two or three only when the instruction
asks for options. A retry includes `priorProposalId`; keep the same target and
base version, incorporate the feedback, and call `propose-node-rewrite` again.
The UI previews the returned subtree without persisting it.

Use `resolve-node-rewrite` for the accept/reject lifecycle. Accept applies the
chosen variant as one version-checked inline/Yjs content transaction so one
undo restores the prior structure; reject clears the proposal without changing
content. For conversational resolution such as "apply the second one," call
`view-screen`, read the active `design.reprompt.proposal`, and pass its
`proposalId` plus the zero-based `variantIndex` to `resolve-node-rewrite`.

## Review Quality

Treat the running app as truth, preserving its component language, tokens, route
state, and content. Compare visual edits before/after at requested viewports and
check meaningful URL, hover, focus, scroll, and modal states.

## Account And Sharing Model

- The capability permits live iframe inspection, session-local edits, undo/redo,
  **Apply design updates**, and **Copy prompt**. These hand bounded source
  instructions to the coding agent; they do not persist account-owned Design data.
- Public `/design/:id` links stay read-only without a signed-in owner/editor
  session. Never use the local capability to upgrade that ordinary sharing
  surface.
- Prefer links returned by Design actions or `/_agent-native/open` deep links;
  never surface `_session=` tokens or hand-build capability URLs.
- Do not attempt account-backed write actions with the browser capability. The
  trusted local `open-visual-edit` CLI call may register its bridge, create or
  reuse its workspace-owned local design, and place screens without an account.
  Direct source-file action writes, generation, saving into an account, and
  sharing still require an authenticated action caller. If a signed-out visitor
  wants those durable account operations, send them through the framework
  sign-in return flow first.

## Required Local Bridge

The live-edit bridge is unlocked by a shared secret (the "bridge token") that
must match on two sides: the local bridge process, and the user's connection row
in Design (which the browser reads to authorize `/live-edit-bridge`,
`/read-file`, `/write-file`). Get them to match by letting the
`open-visual-edit` action mint the token, then starting the
bridge with it. This is the only ordering that works for the remote-MCP flow —
the bridge cannot push its own token to the server without a CLI auth token, so
the server mints instead and the bridge adopts.

From the target app repo, make sure its dev server is running, then:

**1. Discover routes without starting a durable bridge** (one-shot, exits):

```bash
npx @agent-native/core@latest design connect --url http://localhost:5173 --root . --json
```

This prints the manifest (routes + capabilities). Parse it to build
`routeManifest` for the next step. (Skip this if the user already gave explicit
paths/URLs to place.)

Inside the agent-native monorepo itself, use the workspace CLI instead of
`npx` — `npx` installs the last published `@agent-native/core`, which will not
contain local changes and costs a slow install on every call:

```bash
pnpm dev:cli design connect --url http://localhost:5173 --root templates/<app> --json
```

**2. Call `open-visual-edit`** (see Action Flow below) with NO `bridgeToken`.
The server mints one, stores it on the user's connection row, copies it into the
placed screens' metadata, and returns it to you as `bridgeToken`. Capture it.

**3. Start the persistent bridge adopting that token** (single line; prefer the
env var so the secret does not appear in `ps`):

```bash
AGENT_NATIVE_BRIDGE_TOKEN="<bridgeToken from step 2>" npx @agent-native/core@latest design connect --url http://localhost:5173 --root . --daemon
```

(Equivalently, pass `--bridge-token <token>`.) This starts a detached bridge on
`http://127.0.0.1:7331`, adopts the server-minted token — so bridge and row
agree and live-edit authorizes with no self-registration — and stays alive after
the command exits.

For a manual health/manifest check on the running bridge:

```bash
curl http://127.0.0.1:7331/health
```

`/health` needs no token. The full manifest at `/manifest.json` is
preview-token protected, so an unauthenticated `curl` of it returns
`{"ok":false,"error":"invalid or missing preview token"}` — that response means
the bridge is up, not that it is broken.

Only use `--json` for the step-1 route probe. Never use `--json`, `--once`,
or `--dry-run` for the durable step-3 bridge: they print the manifest and exit,
so Design falls back to a non-editable live iframe.

The bridge listens on a single fixed port (7331) and refuses to start for a
second, different app. It is detached with no log file, so if `--daemon` reports
a timeout, check for a stale process (`lsof -ti:7331`) before retrying.

If local Design uses PGlite, never invoke the in-process CLI against that server:
both open the same directory and the second owner is rejected. For a signed-out
local test, start Design with `AUTH_DISABLED=1`, open `/visual-edit`, and call
the server-action `open-visual-edit` through `window.__agentNativeWebMcp` after
it registers. This keeps one PGlite owner; `get-visual-edit-prompt` is only the
post-edit handoff. With auth enabled, sign in to hosted Design MCP or use shared
Postgres before using the CLI action.

## Action Flow

When a real Chrome browser is available, start the target app's local Design
bridge first, then call the Design page's own `open-visual-edit` WebMCP tool
directly in the signed-in Design tab. It uses that tab's session, so no hosted
MCP connector, OAuth flow, or synthetic CLI user is needed. The page action
reuses the running bridge and intentionally omits bridge credentials; it cannot
spawn or retoken a local process. If no matching bridge is running, use the
headless ordering in **Required Local Bridge** once, then retry the page tool.
Use the connected Design MCP path below for headless hosts or older builds.

From another app, call the connected Design MCP tool
`mcp__agent-native-design__open-visual-edit` with the JSON arguments below. It
registers or refreshes the localhost bridge,
mints and stores the bridge token, creates or reuses a Design project, places
URL-backed screens, stores visual-edit context, and navigates to overview mode
in one call. Never run `pnpm action` from the target app's checkout: its local
registry does not contain Design actions.

Call it BEFORE starting the durable bridge (step 3 above): it does not contact
the bridge, so the bridge need not be running yet, and you need its returned
`bridgeToken` to start the bridge with a matching secret. Omit `bridgeToken`
on the call so the server mints one.

```json
{
  "title": "Docs homepage visual edit",
  "devServerUrl": "http://localhost:5173",
  "bridgeUrl": "http://127.0.0.1:7331",
  "rootPath": "/absolute/path/to/app",
  "routeManifest": { "...": "from /manifest.json" },
  "paths": ["/", "/pricing", "/checkout?step=payment"]
}
```

The action returns `designId`, `connectionId`, `bridgeToken`, `screens`,
`urlPath`, and a credential-free `openUrl`. Its MCP App metadata separately
carries the one-time editor launcher so the host can redeem it without showing
the capability to the model or retaining it in the action link. Keep
`designId`/`connectionId` in the chat context for follow-ups, and pass
`bridgeToken` to `design connect` (step 3) to start the bridge. On follow-up
calls reusing an existing `connectionId`, the same token is returned (it is
minted once and reused), so the running bridge stays valid.

### Desktop and mobile side by side

Pass `viewports` to place every requested route once per viewport. Frames lay
out as a grid: one row per route, one column per viewport. Presets are
`desktop` (1280x900), `laptop` (1440x900), `tablet` (834x1112), and `mobile`
(390x844); an explicit `{ "label": "...", "width": N, "height": N }` also works.

```json
{
  "title": "Tasks responsive visual edit",
  "devServerUrl": "http://localhost:5173",
  "bridgeUrl": "http://127.0.0.1:7331",
  "rootPath": "/absolute/path/to/app",
  "paths": ["/tasks", "/inbox"],
  "viewports": ["desktop", "mobile"]
}
```

Prefer this over two separate calls with `defaultWidth`/`defaultHeight`: it
keeps each route's viewports aligned in a row and titles them
`Tasks — Desktop` / `Tasks — Mobile` so the canvas reads clearly. `viewports`
overrides `defaultWidth`/`defaultHeight`. With no `routes`/`paths`, it expands
every route in the localhost manifest, which is usually far more frames than
the user wants — name the paths.

### Managing screens and breakpoints manually

Select a screen and use the right-rail **Screen** section to switch between
Static HTML and URL-backed modes, edit its route/path, choose a localhost
connection, add another URL screen, or remove the selected screen. URL mode
keeps the iframe live; switching to Static stores a sanitized snapshot of the
current frame, including its current client state when the page can provide it.
The same operations are available to a page-capable agent through
`add-localhost-screens`, `update-screen-source`, `add-breakpoint`, and
`remove-breakpoint`.

### Adding more page frames later

Call `open-visual-edit` again with the same `designId` and `connectionId` and
only the new paths. Existing frames for the same route and viewport are
refreshed in place rather than duplicated, and a frame the user has dragged or
resized keeps its position unless you explicitly pass `x`/`y`/`width`/`height`.

```json
{
  "designId": "<existing-design-id>",
  "connectionId": "<existing-connection-id>",
  "devServerUrl": "http://localhost:5173",
  "paths": ["/settings", "/team"],
  "startY": 2200
}
```

Do NOT add `defaultWidth`/`defaultHeight` just to restate the default size:
supplying either one marks the viewport as explicitly requested, which
overwrites frame sizes the user has already adjusted on the canvas.

For a numbered flow the user describes in chat, keep the labels and order:

```json
{
  "designId": "<existing-design-id>",
  "connectionId": "<existing-connection-id>",
  "devServerUrl": "http://localhost:1234",
  "routes": [
    { "url": "localhost:1234/onboarding/1", "title": "Screen 1" },
    { "url": "localhost:1234/onboarding/2", "title": "Screen 2" },
    { "url": "localhost:1234/onboarding/3", "title": "Screen 3" }
  ]
}
```

If no `routes` or `paths` are supplied, `open-visual-edit` uses every route
from the localhost manifest.

Fallback, only when `open-visual-edit` is unavailable:

1. Register or refresh the bridge with `connect-localhost`, passing the
   `/manifest.json` result as `routeManifest` and `capabilities`.
2. Create or reuse a Design project with `create-design`.
3. Place URL-backed screens with `add-localhost-screens`.
4. Navigate to overview mode with `navigate`.

## Open The Design Surface

- Use the `link`, `deepLink`, or MCP App embed returned by Design actions so the
  user sees the canvas. Prefer the MCP App; its host launcher carries the
  one-time capability. The credential-free `openUrl` is read-only fallback.
- Never return or open a hand-built `/design/:id?_session=...` URL.
- If the user is working in VS Code, the Agent-Native extension can open the
  same URL via
  `vscode://builder.agent-native/open?url=<encoded-design-url>`. Its
  `Agent-Native: Open Design Canvas` command also starts the local bridge and
  opens hosted Design in the VS Code side panel.
- Once `open-visual-edit` returns the expected `screenCount`, hand back the
  link and stop. Do not open it yourself in a browser-automation tool to
  screenshot or poll until it renders — a cold dev server can take 10-30s
  regardless of who's watching, and that wait adds nothing the response didn't
  already confirm. Reach for browser automation only if the user later reports
  the canvas is broken.

## Applying Visual Edits Back To Source

Canvas edits on a localhost screen do not write source as you make them. They
accumulate as pending edits and the editor shows an **Apply design updates**
button on the canvas. In an MCP App, clicking it hands the bounded structured
prompt to the current host coding conversation. In an ordinary browser or
standalone Design page, it falls back to the local Design agent. The dropdown's
**Copy prompt to your agent** action is the universal manual fallback.

When the page detects ChatGPT, Claude, or a WebMCP host, that copy action uses
the short instruction **Call the get-visual-edit-prompt WebMCP tool and apply
the returned instructions.** The primary Apply button sends the same pending
batch to the host turn when the host bridge is available. In a normal browser,
the copied text remains the detailed source handoff.

- Style, text, and drag/drop structure edits all collect into the same pending
  batch, so the user can make several changes and apply once.
- After the write lands, the target app's own dev-server HMR refreshes the
  frames — no manual reload. If frames do not refresh, the write did not land;
  say so rather than assuming.
- The separate disk-icon "Apply to source" button is the deterministic
  whole-file HTML/CSS writer. It is intentionally disabled for compiled
  `.jsx`/`.tsx` routes — those must go through the agent path above.

## Editing URLs

Keep localhost screens as URL files plus `screenMetadata[fileId]`. Do not
replace them with copied `srcdoc` HTML unless the user explicitly asks for a
frozen snapshot. To change a state, rerun `open-visual-edit` with the new
path/query, use the Screen settings section, call `update-screen-source`, or
duplicate the screen and update the copy's URL metadata.

## Local Files in the Code Tab

Once a connection is registered, the design editor's Code panel (left rail →
Code, or `navigate --view editor --designId <id> --leftPanel code`) shows a
local-files workspace root for that connection next to the design's own files.
Treat that root like VS Code opened at the connected project directory: file
tree, search, open/edit, and save are backed by the real local files. It lists
the connected app's text/code files through the bridge
(`list-local-files` / `read-local-file`); build output, `node_modules`,
`.git`, and secret-looking paths (`.env*`, key files) are always excluded.

- Browsing and reading need only editor access on the design plus the running
  bridge.
- Saving goes through `write-local-file`: the first save opens the
  write-consent dialog (an 8-hour, folder-scoped grant) and retries
  automatically once granted. Only text/code files are writable; secret paths
  are always blocked.
- If the agent calls `write-local-file` directly (not through a UI save) and it
  fails with "no write-consent grant", call `request-localhost-write-consent`.
  It opens the write-consent dialog in the editor, or reports `alreadyGranted`
  if one already exists. Granting is human-only —
  `grant-localhost-write-consent` is hidden from agents, so you cannot approve
  it yourself. Tell the user to click "Allow writes", then retry
  `write-local-file` once. Do not keep retrying blindly: the write stays
  blocked until the user approves.
- Saves are conflict-checked against the file's on-disk version — a file that
  changed since it was read fails with a version conflict instead of being
  overwritten.

## React Source Writeback

- Use compiler/debug provenance (project-relative file, line, column,
  component, and runtime multiplicity) to locate React/TSX source. Treat it as
  evidence, not as permission for a generic AST structural transform.
- Read `positionPrecision` on every anchor before you trust `line`/`column`.
  `authored` means those are the real JSX coordinates. `transformed` means they
  are the dev server's own output coordinates — React 19 removed `_debugSource`
  and exposes only an owner stack, so this is the normal case on a Vite/Next
  dev server, and the line will not match the file. `unknown` means no tier was
  reported. On anything but `authored`, use the file and component to find the
  element by its JSX shape and re-derive the line from the file you read; never
  edit at the reported line.
- A single-instance leaf text edit, literal `className`/`class` edit, or flat
  literal `style={{ ... }}` property may use `apply-visual-edit` with a
  `local-file` source and a complete `target.sourceAnchor`. Forward the
  anchor's `positionPrecision` with it — the action refuses a `transformed`
  anchor with `status: "needsAgent"` instead of seeking to a line that means
  something else in the authored file. Preview first (omit `persist`), inspect
  `proposedDiff`, then call with `persist: true`.
- Reparenting, grouping/ungrouping, wrappers, dynamic expressions, repeated
  `.map()` instances, shared components, breakpoint-scoped edits, and
  cross-file changes go through the coding agent with complete subject/target
  anchors and their runtime relationship. `apply-visual-edit` refuses these
  with `status: "needsAgent"` rather than guessing.
- Before each write, read the file and pass its exact `versionHash` to
  `write-local-file` with `requireExpectedVersionHash: true`; on conflict,
  re-read and re-plan. Keep the optimistic preview until HMR/runtime confirms
  the result. Human write consent remains mandatory and agents cannot grant it.

## Verification

For a plain "open this app" request, `open-visual-edit`'s own response is
the verification — see Open The Design Surface. Reach for the checks below
only to diagnose an actual report, or to confirm an applied edit landed:

- `list-localhost-connections` returns the expected connection and routes.
- The Design editor opens in overview mode.
- Every requested screen renders the intended localhost URL, showing real app
  content rather than an endless loading spinner.
- The screen iframe carries a `src`, not a `srcdoc`. A localhost screen with a
  `srcdoc` is a bug, not a slow load — check it in the browser devtools before
  reporting the canvas as working.
- Alt-dragging a screen copies the URL-backed frame, not an inline HTML clone.
- A query/path edit changes only the target screen's URL metadata and iframe.
- `get-visual-edit-prompt` returns the latest pending source handoff from the
  page without requiring a Design account.
- The Code tab shows a local-files root for the connection and opens its files.