Use when choosing the right Boxel host command combination to create new cards or edit existing instances from the AI assistant.
Use when DECIDING a Boxel card's visual language — mood, palette, typography direction, asset direction, one visual signature, the design-playbook process. This is the taste/decision layer. NOT for implementing tokens or CSS inside templates (that's boxel-ui-guidelines) and NOT for creating/editing Theme, StyleReference, or BrandGuide card artifacts (that's boxel-theme-development).
Use when running, navigating, or orchestrating tasks inside the live Boxel application — switching between Code Mode and Interact Mode, calling host commands (search-cards, switch-submode, show-card, patch-fields, apply-markdown-edit, reindex, etc.), or any operation that drives the Boxel UI. Activates for Boxel-app runtime work, not for writing card definitions (see boxel for that).
Use when adding or working with file-typed fields (FileDef, ImageDef, MarkdownDef, PngDef, CsvFileDef). Activates when a card needs to reference an image, document, or other file asset.
Use when authoring a `markdown` template (static markdown format) on a CardDef or FieldDef — defaults, markdownEscape, and markdown helpers.
Use when the user names an outcome ("show a chart", "let users pick a color", "build a dashboard", "summarize comments", "embed AI image generation", "lay out a moodboard") and you need a working code example to start from. This skill is the bridge between user intent and the existing patterns in Boxel realms. Index your search by what the user wants to DO, not by which CardDef/FieldDef class to extend. Activates when the user asks "do we have a pattern for…", "how is X typically done", or names a feature outcome that isn't in core syntax.
Use when creating or editing a user-authored Boxel skill — a markdown file whose `boxel.kind: skill` frontmatter makes it loadable by AI assistant rooms. Covers the SKILL.md format contract, the frontmatter schema, tool declarations (codeRef forms, requiresApproval), placement conventions, and how to verify the skill indexed correctly. Activates for "write me a skill", "add a tool to my skill", or a skill that isn't showing up in the skill chooser.
Use whenever creating, reading, or editing Boxel cards (.gts files), card instances (.json), fields, templates, queries, or anything in a Boxel realm. Required for any Boxel coding work — covers CardDef, FieldDef, contains/linksTo, templates, formats, queries, and core patterns. Companion skills - boxel-design (visual decisions), boxel-ui-guidelines (template UI), source-code-editing (SEARCH/REPLACE), boxel-environment (running the Boxel app).