Connect an agent

New to Rtistree? Read Core concepts: an agent is the interface for how you, your agent and the engine work together.

Rtistree provides a CLI, an MCP server and a TypeScript SDK. The engine renders locally; your host supplies the model and any vision capability.

MCP over stdio

Install Rtistree in a project and create a scene using the quickstart. Use this configuration shape in an MCP client that accepts mcpServers:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rtistree": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": [
        "/absolute/path/to/my-art/node_modules/rtistree/dist/cli.js",
        "serve",
        "/absolute/path/to/my-art/scene.json"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Replace both paths with real absolute paths. Use an absolute path to your Node executable if the host does not inherit your terminal’s PATH. Configuration location and field wrappers vary by client; the underlying command is always node <cli.js> serve <scene>. The server writes protocol messages only to stdout.

On connection, the client receives concise art-direction instructions. The full versioned guide is available as the rtistree://guides/art-direction resource and through studioHelp. Some clients do not automatically expose server instructions or resources to the model; in that case, explicitly tell the agent to call studioHelp first.

Example task:

Read Rtistree’s art-direction guide, inspect this project and render it. Create one representative asset before expanding the family. Compare its silhouette and grayscale values, inspect it at the intended display size, and record technical, functional and visual findings separately. Revise failed criteria before exporting.

The server exposes inspection, rendering, crop inspection, typed edits, undo/redo, verification, critiques, program execution, pipelines and staged production. Rendering tools return PNG image content; use a vision-capable agent to judge appearance. Structured inspection alone cannot establish that an image looks good.

CLI agents

npx rtistree art-guide
npx rtistree inspect scene.json
npx rtistree render scene.json -o review.png
npx rtistree studio-help

Read the JSON guide, open the rendered image, then choose a focused edit. Do not substitute a successful verify result for visual review. CLI command details are in the reference.

SDK hosts

import { rtistreeAgentInstructions, artDirectionGuide, Project } from 'rtistree';

const project = await Project.open('./scene.json');
const image = await project.render();
// Include rtistreeAgentInstructions in your host's agent instructions.
// Expose artDirectionGuide and image.png to the agent through your host's tools.

These exports contain guidance; importing them does not automatically insert anything into an external agent’s context. The host must perform that integration. The renderer has no built-in model client, API key handling or automatic visual critic.

Trust and review

Run only painting programs and recipes you trust. The JavaScript VM is not a security sandbox. Normal rendering does not execute recipes. Keep an agent’s access scoped to the intended project, and inspect its proposed changes and outputs as appropriate to your workflow.

The art-direction workflow documents sample selection, connected construction, ground contact and existing production review gates. It makes lessons available; it does not guarantee model compliance or artistic quality.