Design Data Agent

What it does

When your agent uses it

• The user asks about design tokens
• A design system
• Spec-conformance
• Drift detection

Example prompts

• “/design-data-agent”

Requirements

• Node.js
• Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): mcp__design-data-agent__primer, mcp__design-data-agent__query_tokens, mcp__design-data-agent__suggest_token, mcp__design-data-agent__resolve_token, mcp__design-data-agent__describe_component, mcp__design-data-agent__validate_usage, mcp__design-data-agent__diff_datasets, mcp__design-data-agent__write, mcp__design-data-agent__start_authoring_session, mcp__design-data-agent__authoring_session_step_intent, mcp__design-data-agent__authoring_session_step_classification, mcp__design-data-agent__authoring_session_step_values, mcp__design-data-agent__authoring_session_commit, mcp__design-data-agent__authoring_session_cancel, mcp__design-data-agent__authoring_session_get, mcp__design-data-agent__authoring_session_list

Workflow steps

6 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

1. 1start_authoring_session — start a session (returns session_id)
2. 2authoring_session_step_intent — provide natural-language intent; get token suggestions
3. 3authoring_session_step_classification — set layer, property, name fields
4. 4authoring_session_step_values — set mode-specific value rows
5. 5authoring_session_commit — validate and write the token to disk
6. 6authoring_session_cancel — cancel without writing

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit dc75d47. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

• Tool permissions

  Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:

  • mcp__design-data-agent__primer
  • mcp__design-data-agent__query_tokens
  • mcp__design-data-agent__suggest_token
  • mcp__design-data-agent__resolve_token
  • mcp__design-data-agent__describe_component
  • mcp__design-data-agent__validate_usage
  • mcp__design-data-agent__diff_datasets
  • mcp__design-data-agent__write
  • mcp__design-data-agent__start_authoring_session
  • mcp__design-data-agent__authoring_session_step_intent

  …and 6 more on the same allowed-tools line.

  From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

• Runs code

  Shell commands in SKILL.md call:

  • npx

  From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

• Network

  Hosts in commands or code, which the agent is likely to contact:

  • spectrum.adobe.com

  From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

• Credentials

  Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

  From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Design Data Agent loads about 2k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 77 tokens; SKILL.md has 671 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~77

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~2k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from adobe/spectrum-design-data at commit dc75d47, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© adobe). 671 words, ~1,954 tokens.

name

design-data-agent

description

Validate, query, resolve, diff, and author spec-conformant design tokens and components using the design-data MCP tools against a local dataset. Use when the user asks about design tokens, a design system, token lookup, spec-conformance, drift detection, or token authoring on custom data.

allowed-tools

mcp__design-data-agent__primer, mcp__design-data-agent__query_tokens, mcp__design-data-agent__suggest_token, mcp__design-data-agent__resolve_token, mcp__design-data-agent__describe_component, mcp__design-data-agent__validate_usage, mcp__design-data-agent__diff_datasets, mcp__design-data-agent__write, mcp__design-data-agent__start_authoring_session, mcp__design-data-agent__authoring_session_step_intent, mcp__design-data-agent__authoring_session_step_classification, mcp__design-data-agent__authoring_session_step_values, mcp__design-data-agent__authoring_session_commit, mcp__design-data-agent__authoring_session_cancel, mcp__design-data-agent__authoring_session_get, mcp__design-data-agent__authoring_session_list

metadata.author

adobe

metadata.version

1.14.2

when_to_use

Trigger on: design system, design tokens, spec-conformant, drift, validate tokens, token authoring, custom dataset, DESIGN_DATA_PATH, design-data validate…

export DESIGN_DATA_PATH=./packages/design-data/tokens
export DESIGN_DATA_SPEC_PATH=./packages/design-data

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "design-data-agent": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "@adobe/design-data-agent-mcp@latest"],
      "env": {
        "DESIGN_DATA_PATH": "./packages/tokens/src",
        "DESIGN_DATA_COMPONENTS": "./packages/design-data/components",
        "DESIGN_DATA_FIELDS": "./packages/design-data/fields"
      }
    }
  }
}

property=background-color
property=*background*
property=background-color|property=border-color
$schema=https://spectrum.adobe.com/page/design-token/

https://github.com/adobe/spectrum-design-data/tree/main/tools/design-data-agent-mcp/skills/design-data

© adobe, Apache-2.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in tools/design-data-agent-mcp/skills/design-data of adobe/spectrum-design-data.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit dc75d47