Registry · API for Taste

Package anatomy

Everything in the registry is a taste package: a directory (or archive) with metadata and assets. Git is a first-class distribution channel; a networked registry can index the same format later.

packages/<package-id>/
  package.json       # id, name, version, tags, license, authors, citations
  CONSTITUTION.md    # natural-language standard
  exemplars/         # text, url manifests, images, screenshots…
  anti_exemplars/    # border-defining failures
  context/           # optional skill-like notes & checklists
  tools/             # optional tool-call sequences (YAML/JSON)
  evals/             # golden candidates & expected rulings

Seed example: packages/editorial-techne/ in the repository.

Metadata that matters

Field	Purpose
id / version	Stable identity; semver for breaking constitution changes
tags	Discovery: brutalist-web, lab-figures, anti-slop…
domains	Where the package claims competence
media	text, image, url, multimodal—honest about support
license	Reuse rules for exemplars and constitution (curators must trust this)
authors	Attribution; human or org curator
citations	Papers, posts, datasets that motivate the standard

MCP design target

The Model Context Protocol is the de facto USB-C for agent tools. A Taste MCP server should expose a small, stable tool set so any MCP client (Cursor, Claude, VS Code, custom hosts) can use packages without bespoke integrations.

Tool	Behavior
taste_search	Query packages by tags, text, domain, media type
taste_get	Load package metadata + constitution by id@version
taste_score	Score a candidate under a package; return reasons
taste_retrieve	Return nearest exemplars / anti-exemplars for a query
taste_transfer	Guidance for applying the package in a new domain
taste_compare	Rank multiple candidates under one package

Resources (read-only): taste://packages/{id}, taste://tags/{tag}. Implementation status: design target; HTTP endpoints today preview the same verbs.

Agent skills

Agent Skills package procedural know-how (playbooks, examples, optional code) for assistants. Taste packages are complementary: they encode judgment and can export as skills so a host that understands skills—but not yet MCP—still benefits.

Positioning relative to projects like Impeccable: those are excellent single-standard skill families. This registry is the substrate for many standards—design dialects, prose schools, scientific figure manners, curator moodboards—discoverable by tags and loadable on demand.

Export sketch

taste skill export editorial-techne → folder with SKILL.md (constitution + usage), exemplars, anti-exemplars, and optional eval snippets. Install beside other skills; agents cite package id in logs.

Example agent flows

GEN-UI

Before scaffolding a page

taste_search(tags=["editorial","ui"]) → taste_get → generate under constitution → taste_score → revise if weak.

LOOKUP

Concept → examples

taste_retrieve(package, "quiet competence in product copy") → few-shot exemplars + anti-exemplars into context.

WRITE

Chapter under a school

Load prose package → draft → score → if borderline, retrieve near-miss anti-exemplars and rewrite.

TRANSFER

Same taste, new medium

Music or cinema package → taste_transfer to landing page or research UI; keep lineage in the PR description.

Governance notes

Attribution

Packages must name curators. Forks cite parents. Training on packages without license clearance is out of scope for “good citizen” clients.

Licenses

Constitutions and text exemplars should declare licenses. Image rights are the hard part—prefer links + descriptions when rights are unclear.

Safety

Aesthetic packages can encode bias. Registry hygiene + optional AesBias-style checks on multimodal judges; see Evals.

Quality bar

A package without anti-exemplars is a mood, not a border. Seed policy: prefer sharp small sets over giant soft clouds.

Evals & benchmarks Model Contribute on GitHub