version: "1.0.1" name: mcbe-json-ui-texture-design description: Select, specify, and generate original Minecraft Bedrock JSON UI textures from catalog evidence. Use for buttons, panels, icons, state sets, pixel-art style, palettes, dimensions, and same-stem nine-slice metadata; use a layout skill separately for control geometry.

MCBE JSON UI Texture Design

Turn asset-catalog evidence into an original, implementation-ready texture set without copying private or restricted source art.

Evidence first, skill second

Research the real evidence before applying anything written in this skill, and say which step answered:

1. The target pack itself: its _ui_defs.json, manifests, the files the request names, and the current Content Log.
2. Pinned official vanilla evidence: references/official/bedrock-samples-ui at the revision in references/official/bedrock-samples-ui.lock.json, node tools/vanilla-name-check.mjs <name> for any control, #binding, $variable, button id, renderer or screen file, the full local mirror under references/upstreams/bedrock-samples when present, and docs/83-vanilla-ui-1.26.50-diff.md for names that moved or disappeared.
3. Registered upstream sources and their cards: node tools/design-library.mjs sources --source ID and node tools/design-library.mjs patterns --source ID for the official docs, Wiki snapshots, schemas and sample addons pinned in config/design-research-lock.json (commit-pinned raw URLs for every file), then the repository docs/.
4. Only when steps 1–3 do not answer: this skill's own references. Label such guidance "inferred from skill guidance", never "confirmed".

A name, offset, selector or rule found in steps 1–3 overrides this skill. Older third-party references and example packs stay valid pattern evidence; do not delete or rewrite them because a vanilla name moved. Without this repository checkout, follow the same order with the official samples and docs you can reach and report which steps were unavailable.

Contract

• Input: UI function, control role, required states, intended display size, stretch behavior, target palette/style, and redistribution boundary.
• Output: cited evidence summary, structured asset brief, image-generation prompt when requested, state/file matrix, and same-stem nine-slice contract when applicable.
• Success: every visual choice is tied to catalog evidence or labeled as a new design decision; files form a coherent state set; no private path, source-specific name, or identifiable original composition is exposed.

Workflow

When selecting a style or palette, use references/style-directions.md before the brief. Load one style card; retain catalog measurements separately from proposed colors and decoration.

For pixel asset sets, palette/cluster review, frame animation or atlas handoff, read references/pixel-art-production.md and select one production method. It adapts reviewed external workflows without loading or installing their complete Skills or tools.

If that method needs source-specific craft/export detail, node tools/research-context.mjs context --topic pixel-craft or --topic asset-export retrieves one reviewed topic. For a supplied indexed library, use asset.learn with texture-state or nine-slice; original art remains subject to its own reuse limits.

1. Read references/asset-brief-contract.md before producing a brief or generation prompt.
2. Run registered asset.catalog, then query asset.context by role and state. If the local semantic catalog is unavailable, fall back to asset.search with role/state/shape/size terms and inspect several distinct results.
3. Record only abstract evidence: function, role, state behavior, dimensions, aspect ratio, alpha use, stretchability, nine-slice margins, palette characteristics, edge weight, corner treatment, and pixel density.
4. Separate reusable cross-source patterns from one-source styling. Do not infer a universal rule from one pack or one texture.
5. Produce the asset brief and state/file matrix before generating pixels. For resizable surfaces, define the PNG and same-stem JSON together.
6. Invoke imagegen only when the user explicitly asks to create or edit an image. A request for analysis, a prompt, a brief, or a plan does not authorize generation.
7. Validate dimensions, transparency, state completeness, naming, and nine-slice sidecars; then hand display-size decisions to mcbe-json-ui-visual-design or IR authoring.

Boundaries

• Treat local asset-library files as analysis evidence unless redistribution permission is independently confirmed.
• Never include absolute paths, private source IDs, server names, creator watermarks, or source-specific filenames in public prompts or briefs.
• Create a new composition and style specification; do not request a pixel-for-pixel recreation of a catalog item.
• Do not stretch decorative corners or borders. Use verified or newly designed nine-slice margins for scalable surfaces.
• Do not claim an image is usable in Bedrock until the target RP contains it and its JSON UI reference is statically checked; runtime rendering remains a separate check.