houdini-material-library

name	houdini-material-library
description	Authoring skill — manage reusable material presets as JSON library files, handle texture assignment (image nodes / file paths), reload textures from disk, configure OCIO color management and list available color spaces, inspect material/shader connections and assignments. Pair with houdini-materials (create/assign) and houdini-lookdev (shader-network editing, adapter-owned presets).
license	MIT
compatibility	dcc-mcp-houdini 0.1+, Houdini 19.5+, dcc-mcp-core 0.19.45+
allowed-tools	Bash Read Write Edit
metadata	{"dcc-mcp":{"dcc":"houdini","layer":"domain","stage":"authoring","version":"1.0.0","tags":["houdini","materials","library","presets","textures","color-management","ocio","shader","assignment","authoring"],"search-hint":"material library, texture management, material preset, color space, OCIO, image reload, shader assignment","search-aliases":["save material preset","load material preset","material library","texture assignment","reload texture","color management","ocio config","shader assignment","list color spaces","material connections"],"example-prompts":["Save the clay material as a preset named warm_clay in the library","List all material presets in the project library","Assign the brick texture to the basecolor of /mat/wall_shader","Reload all textures in the scene","List the available OCIO color spaces","Which objects is /mat/metal assigned to?"],"intent":"Manage material presets library, textures, color management, and inspect material connections/assignments.","recall-context":{"app_type":"houdini","domain":"lookdev","workflow-stage":"authoring","task-category":"mutate"},"requires":[],"produces":["material_preset","texture","image_node","color_space"],"preconditions":[{"type":"software","name":"houdini","version":">=19.5"}],"side-effects":{"creates":true,"modifies":true,"targets":["material","texture","image_node","color_config"]},"tools":"tools.yaml"}}

houdini-material-library

Typed material-library tools that complement houdini-materials (material create/assign) and houdini-lookdev (shader-network editing and adapter-owned presets).

Tool groups

• library-presets: save_material_preset, load_material_preset, list_material_presets, delete_material_preset — JSON files under a user-supplied library_dir (defaults to ~/.dcc-mcp/houdini/material_library/, override with DCC_MCP_HOUDINI_MATERIAL_LIBRARY_DIR).
• library-textures: assign_texture, list_images, reload_image.
• library-color: set_color_management, list_color_spaces (both read Houdini's OCIO configuration).
• library-query (read-only): get_material_connections, get_shader_assignment.

Context limitations

• Presets vs lookdev presets: This skill operates on a library directory (library_dir) — independent of the houdini-lookdev adapter-owned preset store. A library preset captures the full node type and all settable scalar parameters; lookdev presets capture evaluated values only. Choose the library path when sharing across projects; choose lookdev presets for quick per-user snapshots.
• Texture mapping: assign_texture creates a file texture VOP (arnold::image / mtlximage / principledshader map) or sets a string file-path parameter on the target material node.
• OCIO: list_color_spaces reads from Houdini's active OCIO config; set_color_management sets the OCIO environment variable and triggers a Houdini refresh when possible.

Tracer-bullet flow

1. houdini_materials__create_material(material_name="brick_wall")
2. assign_texture("/mat/brick_wall", "basecolor", "/path/to/brick.exr")
3. list_color_spaces() → discover available options
4. set_color_management(color_space="ACEScg")
5. save_material_preset("/mat/brick_wall", "brick_wall", library_dir="/proj/lib")
6. get_shader_assignment(material_path="/mat/brick_wall") → see which objects use it