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dotCooCoo
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data.placeholder.add with role qr and the insertion point in text bound the QR code to the first selected frame, which the caret was not in. It now returns "qr placeholders bind to a frame", as a QR field there does. A field inserted at the insertion point left the caret before its marker, so a second field went in front of the first. The caret now moves past the marker, as after typing. Docs: docs/agents.md.
127 lines
8.1 KiB
Markdown
127 lines
8.1 KiB
Markdown
# Driving DesignCraft from agents and scripts
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Every user-visible action in DesignCraft is a command (`crates/engine/src/cmd`), and every command is reachable
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three ways — pick whichever fits the agent:
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| Surface | Use it when | Entry point |
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| **CLI** | One-shot jobs, shell pipelines, CI: build or edit a document and export it | `designcraft-cli run`, `script`, `app`, `describe`, `commands` |
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| **MCP** | Claude and other MCP clients; images of pages and the window come back as content | `designcraft-cli mcp` ([mcp.md](mcp.md)) |
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| **Control channel** | Your own client driving the running app (JSON lines over TCP) | `designcraft --control 7979` ([control-protocol.md](control-protocol.md)) |
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## Discover commands
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```sh
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designcraft-cli commands footnote # every command whose id/label/menu mentions "footnote"
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designcraft-cli describe xref.insert # label, menu path, shortcut and parameters of one command
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```
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Parameters are documented on each command (`params`), e.g. `{anchor? | paragraph?: text to find | story? + para?, format?}`.
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## Scripts: several commands, later ones using earlier results
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A script is one command per line (`command.id {json params}`; `#` comments), JSON lines, or a JSON array of
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`{command, params}`, in UTF-8 with or without a byte order mark. A parameter string `"$N.path"` becomes that value
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of step N's result: N is the 0-based step index (comments and blank lines are not steps, `$last` is the previous
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step) and the path goes through result fields and array indices (`"$1.story"`, `"$3.ids.0"`); `"${N.path}"`
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interpolates inside longer strings. Any other string starting with `$` stays as written (`"$1-$2"`, `"$5 off"`), and
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`$$` writes a literal `$` anywhere (`"$$1"` passes `$1`, a GREP group). In text parameters `\n` starts a new paragraph and `\u2028` is a forced line
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break (`\u000b`, Word's line break, is read as one too). Most commands ignore parameters they don't know instead of rejecting them, so check names with `describe`.
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`designcraft-cli script --help` prints this reference.
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```sh
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cat > page.dcs <<'DCS'
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frame.create {"rect": [72, 72, 540, 300], "content": "text", "text": "Results of the survey"}
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text.select {"story": "$0.story", "anchor": 0, "focus": 0}
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footnote.insert {"text": "Survey run in 2026."}
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frame.create {"rect": [72, 320, 540, 500], "content": "text", "text": "See ."}
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text.select {"story": "$3.story", "anchor": 4, "focus": 4}
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xref.insert {"paragraph": "Results", "format": "Paragraph Text & Page Number"}
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DCS
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designcraft-cli script page.dcs --save page.designcraft --export page.pdf --export page.png
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designcraft-cli script page.dcs --connect 7979 # the same steps, live in the running app
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```
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The result is JSON: `{"completed": n, "results": [...]}`, plus `failedIndex` / `failedCommand` / `error` when a step
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fails (the exit status is non-zero; `--keep-going` records errors and continues). `run --cmd ID=JSON` accepts the
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same references, and MCP's `batch` tool takes `commands` or `script` text with them.
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`run` works through its arguments in order. `--page`, `--scale` and `--pdf-options` apply to the `--export` /
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`--all-pages` that follow them, so one run can write several sizes
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(`run --sample --scale 0.5 --export small.png --scale 2 --export large.png`); one with no export after it is an error.
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`--export` writes the file type its extension names: `.png` or `.jpg` (a page), `.pdf`, `.designcraft`, `.idml`,
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`.epub`, `.html`, and `.rtf` or `.txt` (the story being edited or of the selected frame). A name with no extension
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is a PNG of the page; another extension is an error, and nothing runs.
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## Table of contents bookmarks
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`toc.generate` accepts `createBookmarks: true` to generate page-level PDF bookmarks from the
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included paragraph styles and their levels. `toc.update` refreshes their titles, hierarchy and
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destinations. Refresh keeps the generated outline at its previous position, preserving manual
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bookmarks before and after it; disabling the option removes only the generated
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bookmarks. Without `createBookmarks`, `toc.generate` keeps the document's existing TOC setting,
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which is off when there is no TOC yet, so a script that makes a new TOC gets no bookmarks unless
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it passes `createBookmarks: true`. The Table of Contents dialog differs: its Create PDF Bookmarks
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option is on by default for a new TOC, and for an existing one it shows the saved setting.
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## Color themes
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`color.extractTheme {id?}` previews up to five RGB colours from a placed raster image (or the selected image).
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`swatch.addColorTheme {colors, name?}` adds that palette as a colour group in one undo step.
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Extraction samples the whole source image on a bounded grid, weights partial transparency, and ignores fully transparent pixels.
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The image must contain at most 16 million pixels. PDF/SVG graphics are unsupported. This is local median-cut extraction,
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not Adobe's palette algorithm. In the UI, click an image with the Color Theme Tool (Shift+I), or choose Color Theme…
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in the Swatches panel menu with one image selected. Cancel keeps the document unchanged.
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## PDF/X-4 validation
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`designcraft-cli validate-pdf FILE.pdf` prints JSON with `valid` and `issues`, and exits non-zero
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when a built-in check fails. Checks cover PDF version, output intent and profile, Info and XMP
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identification, image interpolation, encryption, trim boxes, Type 3 fonts, device RGB under a CMYK
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output intent, and unembedded fonts drawing visible text (including placed PDF forms). Render
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mode 3 (invisible OCR text) is exempt from the font-embedding check. PDF/X-4 export reports these
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issues as warnings; it does not embed or outline placed fonts. These checks are not a complete
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external PDF/X certification.
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## Data merge
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`data.source.select {path, sheet?}` links a CSV/TSV/`.xlsx` file to the document (`data.source.update` re-reads it,
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`data.source.remove` drops it); `data.fields` lists its fields. `data.placeholder.add {field, role?, story?, at?, end?, item?}`
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marks text or a frame as a field (`role`: text, image, qr, hyperlink). An image field (a `@` column) inserted at a text
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insertion point, or typed there as `<<name>>`, merges as an inline image at its natural size, scaled down to fit the
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frame. The merge writes only text into a table cell or a note: an image field inserted there is refused unless `role`
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is `text`, and its `<<name>>` marker, inserted or typed, merges as the path. A QR field (a `#` column) or `role: "qr"`
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at a text insertion point is refused; bind it to a frame with `item` instead. A field inserted at the insertion point
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puts the caret after its marker. An image
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path is absolute or relative to the data file's folder, then the document's; a path that starts with one separator
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(`\Photos\a.jpg`) is tried from the drive's root first. `data.options` sets records, tiling and image fitting;
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`data.preview {record}` / `data.preview.stop` show one record without saving it.
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`data.merge` now **creates a new document** and leaves the template unchanged (the old `spread` parameter, which
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appended pages to the template, is an error). It uses the linked source, or inline `csv` / `rows` / `path` / `bytes`:
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```sh
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echo 'data.merge {"path": "people.csv", "records": "range", "range": "1-20"}' | designcraft-cli script - --in template.designcraft --save merged.designcraft
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```
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## The running app
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```sh
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designcraft --sample --control 7979 &
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designcraft-cli app type.changeCase '{"case": "title"}' # any command
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designcraft-cli app --method ui.screenshot '{"path": "/tmp/w.png"}' # any control-channel method
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```
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`ui.menu.invoke {command}` without params acts like choosing the menu item: a command labelled "…" opens its
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dialog, which `ui.dialog.set` / `ui.dialog.confirm` fill in and close like a user would.
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## Parent pages
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In the Pages panel, right-click a parent row and choose **Delete Parent**. The equivalent
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command is `layout.parents.delete {id}`, using the parent spread's numeric ID. It deletes that
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parent's shared artwork and clears its assignments from document pages and other parents.
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Local override copies remain as ordinary editable objects; document pages and their own content
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remain. Undo restores the parent and its relationships in one step. Deleting the last parent
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returns the canvas to document pages. Parent navigation is a separate operation.
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