Flato Design MCP Guide

Use this skill whenever the user wants an AI agent to operate a Flato design through MCP.

Flato is an editable visual design canvas. The MCP server gives agents tools, resources, prompts, project targeting, image capabilities, and feedback. It is not a hidden one-shot design agent. The agent must read current Flato context explicitly and then call concrete MCP tools.

Account And Plan Boundaries

A Flato account is required for OAuth. A paid Flato subscription is not required to install, connect, or start using Flato Design MCP.

Do not tell users they must subscribe before connecting. If an MCP response says a feature is limited by plan, usage, export, workspace, or credits, report that specific limitation and suggest the next available path.

Required Bootstrap

Before any design write:

1. Read Flato MCP resources when the host exposes resource reading.
2. Read flato://canvas/fundamentals-v1, or call

flato_get_canvas_fundamentals as a fallback.

1. Call flato_whoami.
2. Establish a target project:

• New design: call flato_create_project.
• Existing editor/project URL: call flato_use_project.
• Share URL: call flato_use_share_link to create an editable copy.

1. If the response says the live editor is needed, open editorUrl when the

host supports URL opening. Otherwise ask the user to open it.

1. Poll flato_get_project_status until canWrite=true.
2. Call flato_get_design_context before each create or edit sequence.

Do not call write tools until canWrite=true.

Targeting Rules

• Prefer projectId for saved projects.
• Use clientId only when targeting a specific live editor tab.
• Use draftId for an unsaved /editor canvas.
• Never guess pageId or blockId.
• Use ids returned by a fresh flato_get_design_context or flato_get_state.
• Selection is only a call-time snapshot. Re-read context before a

selection-dependent edit.

Write Rules

• Create pages with flato_create_pages.
• Update existing pages or blocks with flato_update_pages.
• Use updateBlocks[].blockId for existing blocks and createBlocks for new

blocks.

• Change canvas size, grid, padding, page/global background defaults, or scope

with flato_update_canvas.

• Set reusable project CSS with flato_set_global_style. CSS must be scoped

under .Canvas.

• Delete blocks with flato_delete_block.
• Switch, duplicate, delete, or move pages with flato_page_operation.
• Use flato_make_backup before risky broad edits.

Resource Policy

Do not rely only on tool descriptions for design work. MCP resources and prompts are part of the operating contract.

Expected resources include:

• flato://canvas/fundamentals-v1
• flato://prompt-skills
• flato://prompt-skills/general-design-default
• flato://prompt-skills/presentation-cover
• flato://prompt-skills/social-visual
• flato://prompt-skills/brand-system
• flato://brand-kits

Read brand-kit resources when the user asks for branded, marketing, sales, presentation, or customer-facing output.

Interaction Rules

Page-level interactions are authored through interactiveScript on flato_create_pages and flato_update_pages.

Rely on current MCP tool schemas and flato://canvas/fundamentals-v1 for the full interaction contract. Do not duplicate or guess unsupported schema fields.

Supported inline events include click/input/change and desktop hover/mouse events such as onclick, onchange, oninput, onmouseover, onmouseout, onmouseenter, and onmouseleave.

Hover is supported for desktop experiences. Include click/tap behavior or a visible fallback when mobile touch users matter.

Asset Rules

Asset tools such as image search, generation, editing, and understanding do not mutate the design unless a specific write tool places the returned URL into a page or block.

Do not claim an image is in the design until it has been explicitly written into the canvas.

Paid image generation or editing may consume the authenticated Flato user's credits.

Feedback And QA

After a write:

1. Inspect mcpFeedback when present.
2. Re-read flato_get_design_context.
3. Use layoutIssueSummary as the compact layout QA signal.
4. Fix only reported page or block ids when possible.
5. For important output, call flato_export with PNG or JPG preview quality and

then flato_understand_image for visual QA.

Export Rules

Use flato_export to export a page, all pages, or a block from a connected Flato browser editor. Supported formats are PNG, JPG, PDF, and image-only PPTX where applicable. PPTX supports page or all-pages exports, not block exports.

For visual QA, prefer PNG or JPG with preview quality and pass the returned image URL to flato_understand_image.

Safety

• Do not ask users for passwords or bearer tokens.
• Do not inspect local OAuth or token stores.
• Do not invent project, page, block, brand-kit, or prompt-skill ids.
• Do not rebuild a whole design when a targeted fix is enough.
• If a command times out after a write, re-read context before retrying.

Final Report

When done, report:

• target projectId
• affected page ids and important block ids
• whether a backup was created
• final mcpFeedback.status when available
• final layoutIssueSummary
• exported file or visual QA result when performed