# Thorbis Design References

> A project-owned, source-linked visual reference shelf. Images are evidence for a decision, never the decision.

This file is the contract for the curated image collection under `content/inspiration/files/` and its metadata registry at `content/inspiration/collection.json`.

## Authority

Use context in this order:

1. `DESIGN.md` — visual, interaction, state, and platform law.
2. `AGENTS.md` — the operating contract and verification gates.
3. `COMPONENTS.md` — component ownership and accessible adoption rules.
4. One or more smallest-owning `.agents/skills/` files.
5. This file and the selected image references — provenance-backed visual evidence.
6. Research — rationale and comparative evidence.

An image, research source, ShadCN example, or user preference never overrides the first four authorities.

## Reference metadata

Every project-owned image must retain:

- a stable `id` derived from its file;
- the local `asset`/`file` and a source URL when one exists;
- creator, source label, attribution status, and capture date;
- searchable `topics`, `profiles`, `devices`, `patterns`, and `surfaces`;
- related `ruleRefs` using canonical research-section ids;
- a short `referenceRole`, `use`, and `refuse` statement.

The image binary is only the visual sample. The metadata is the retrieval contract. Do not add an uncredited external image, scrape a private collection, or copy a source's identity, product language, layout, or behavior.

## Selection protocol

For each task, record or infer the query plus audience, device, profile, pattern, and surface. The MCP `get_design_context` tool selects the smallest owning skills and a bounded reference set from those facets.

- `compact`: up to 3 documents, 2 skills, 4 images, and 8 focused rule matches.
- `standard`: up to 6 documents, 3 skills, 6 images, and 14 focused rule matches.
- `deep`: up to 10 documents, 5 skills, 8 images, and 24 focused rule matches.

Rules and selected skills come before images. If no image matches the facets, return no image and continue from the rules. If a source is useful, preserve its credit URL beside the image. Treat tags and rule references as retrieval hints, not permission to imitate.

## MCP handoff

Start with `get_design_context`. Use its `selection`, `authority`, `skills`, `rules`, `references`, `verification`, and `refusals` fields as the working packet. Use `get_document` for the complete source of truth when a focused excerpt is insufficient. Use `search_inspiration` for a narrower, facet-filtered visual question and `get_inspiration` for one item.

The server is read-only and bounded. It may return Markdown image previews and MCP `resource_link` entries, but it does not copy image binaries into prompts or claim that a reference is a shipped Thorbis surface.

## Review checklist

- [ ] The query and task facets are explicit or conservatively inferred.
- [ ] `DESIGN.md`, `AGENTS.md`, and the smallest owning skill were read first.
- [ ] Each image has a source/creator and an attribution status of `ready` before recommendation.
- [ ] Each image has a concrete use and refusal note.
- [ ] The selected image set is within the context budget.
- [ ] The implementation cites the rule ids it follows and keeps recovery, responsive, keyboard, and degraded states visible.