# Rules

The pixel-art craft this project encodes. One source of truth, consumed three
ways:

- **Claude Code** reads these files directly from the plugin.
- **Every other MCP client** reads them as `rules://` resources served by the
  MCP server, so Codex, Gemini CLI and Cursor get the same discipline.
- **The tools themselves** implement the mechanical parts — palette snapping,
  hue-shifted shading, the validation checks — so an agent that never reads a
  word of this still cannot casually break the palette.

Read `rules://index` for the list, or start at `00-core-principles.md`.
Files are numbered in bands ([ADR-0011](../docs/adr/0011-pixel-art-knowledge-base.md)):
`0x` core discipline, `1x` technique, `2x` colour and materials, `3x`
characters, `4x` animation, `5x` creatures, `6x` environments, `7x` objects and
3D, `8x` effects and UI, `9x` style. Subject files carry ` ```grid ` templates;
`node --experimental-strip-types scripts/rule-templates.ts [outDir] [code]`
renders them to PNG, and `tests/rules.test.ts` holds them to the format `draw`
op `grid` accepts.

Changing a rule here changes behaviour everywhere. Skills reference rules by
name rather than restating them, so a rule has exactly one place to be wrong.