Installation

Install from npm (recommended)

Version 2.0.3 is published as @ztothez/design-engineering. The package ships the compiled MCP server, the CLI, and the approved offline knowledge runtime. Release notes are in the GitHub v2.0.3 release.

npm install -g @ztothez/design-engineering@2.0.3zz-design --version

Requirements

• Node.js 22 or newer
• npm
• Chromium for browser verification
• Linux, macOS, or Windows with a Chromium executable supported by Playwright

Install from source

git clone https://github.com/ztothez/ztothez-design-engineering.gitcd ztothez-design-engineeringnpm cinpx --no-install playwright-core install chromiumnpm run buildnpm test

Offline archive verification

The release archive is checked against an explicit distribution allowlist and installed into an empty temporary project during npm run package:smoke. Raw research and historical sources are not included. npm run release:check verifies the offline runtime, checksums, approved retrieval index, and launch path without using the repository's installed packages.

npm run package:smokenpm run release:packnpm run release:checknpm install -g ./.ztothez-design-release/ztothez-design-engineering-2.0.3.tgzzz-design --version

The package declares two equivalent MCP executable names: ztothez-design and zz-design.

MCP configuration

Build the project first, then register the compiled entrypoint as a stdio MCP server. Use absolute paths in agent configuration files. Start the server with npm start — it writes diagnostics to standard error and keeps standard output reserved for MCP JSON-RPC messages.

{  "mcpServers": {    "ztothez-design-engineering": {      "command": "node",      "args": [        "/absolute/path/to/ztothez-design-engineering/dist/cli/index.js"      ],      "env": {        "ZTOTHEZ_DESIGN_ENGINEERING_ROOT": "/absolute/path/to/ztothez-design-engineering"      }    }  }}

Supported agents

Use the equivalent stdio MCP fields in each environment. The command and arguments are identical everywhere; only the config file location changes.

• Codex

  stdio MCP entry in the Codex config file.

• Claude Code

  claude mcp add with command and args.

• Cursor

  mcpServers block in .cursor/mcp.json.

• Windsurf

  mcpServers block in the Windsurf MCP config.

• Antigravity

  stdio server entry with absolute paths.

• GitHub Copilot

  MCP server entry in the Copilot config.

• Kiro

  stdio MCP server registration.

• Qoder

  stdio MCP server registration.

• Lovable Desktop

  Register the same executable as a custom local MCP server under Settings → Connectors.

Development

The active GitHub workflow validates clean-room isolation, both benchmark contracts, the maintained corpus, packed installation, offline release, an archive-free workspace mirror, and the deterministic browser fixture gate. It uploads the resulting evidence.

npm run buildnpm run typechecknpm testnpm run independence:checknpm run release:check