ck:stitch

Google Stitch — AI Design Generation

Generate high-fidelity UI designs from text prompts via Google Stitch. Export Tailwind/HTML, orchestrate design-to-code pipelines with existing UI skills.

Free tier: 400 credits/day + 15 redesign credits/day. Resets at midnight UTC.

Setup

1. API Key

Get an API key at https://stitch.withgoogle.com → Settings → API Keys.

Add STITCH_API_KEY=sk_... to ~/.claude/.env (or ~/.claude/skills/.env).

Running install.sh auto-adds the placeholder if missing — just fill in the value.

2. Install SDK

cd ~/.claude/skills/stitch/scripts && npm install

Or run ~/.claude/skills/install.sh which handles this automatically.

3. Optional

# In ~/.claude/.env
STITCH_PROJECT_ID="my-project"    # Default project (auto-creates "claudekit-default" if unset)
STITCH_QUOTA_LIMIT="200"          # Override daily limit

4. MCP Server (optional)

Add to ~/.claude/.mcp.json for native design context in Claude Code:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "stitch": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["@_davideast/stitch-mcp", "proxy"],
      "env": { "STITCH_API_KEY": "${STITCH_API_KEY}" }
    }
  }
}

See references/stitch-mcp-setup.md for alternative options (gcloud, auto-installer).

Quick Start

# Check quota
npx tsx scripts/stitch-quota.ts check

# Generate design
npx tsx scripts/stitch-generate.ts "A checkout page with payment form and cart summary"

# Export as HTML + DESIGN.md
npx tsx scripts/stitch-export.ts <screen-id> --format all --output ./stitch-exports/

Actions

generate

Generate UI design from text prompt.

npx tsx scripts/stitch-generate.ts "<prompt>" [--project <id>] [--device MOBILE|DESKTOP|TABLET] [--variants <count>]

Returns: screen ID, preview image URL. With --variants: additional design alternatives.

export

Export generated design as HTML/Tailwind, screenshot, or DESIGN.md.

npx tsx scripts/stitch-export.ts <screen-id> [--format html|image|all] [--output <dir>]

Outputs:

• design.html — Semantic HTML with Tailwind CSS classes
• design.png — Screenshot of the design
• DESIGN.md — Agent-readable design spec (colors, typography, spacing, components)

quota

Check and manage daily quota.

npx tsx scripts/stitch-quota.ts check       # Show remaining credits
npx tsx scripts/stitch-quota.ts increment   # Bump after generation
npx tsx scripts/stitch-quota.ts reset       # Force reset (auto-resets daily)

edit

Refine an existing design.

const editedScreen = await screen.edit("Make the header darker and add a search bar");

Orchestration Pipeline

Design-to-Code Flow

1. Check quota — Run stitch-quota.ts check. If exhausted, suggest ck:ui-ux-pro-max fallback.
2. Generate — Run stitch-generate.ts with user's design prompt
3. Review — Show generated design image to user for feedback
4. Variants (optional) — Generate alternatives if user wants exploration
5. Export — Run stitch-export.ts --format all to get HTML + DESIGN.md
6. Implement — Hand off exported artifacts to implementation skill:
   • ck:frontend-design — React/Vue/Svelte components from Tailwind export
   • ck:ui-ux-pro-max — Full page layouts with style guide integration
   • ck:ui-styling — Design token extraction from DESIGN.md
7. Track quota — Run stitch-quota.ts increment

Handoff Protocol

• Export creates DESIGN.md in project root or plan directory
• Implementation skills detect DESIGN.md and use it as design spec
• DESIGN.md takes precedence over text descriptions when present
• If no DESIGN.md exists, skills fall back to normal text-based design flow

See references/design-to-code-pipeline.md for detailed patterns and examples.

Quota Management

• 400 credits/day + 15 redesign/day, resets at midnight UTC
• Local tracking via ~/.claudekit/.stitch-quota.json
• Warns when remaining credits < 20%
• Fallback: When exhausted, use ck:ui-ux-pro-max for text-based design generation

See references/quota-management.md for strategies.

Limitations

• No React export — HTML/Tailwind only; Claude converts to React/Vue components
• Non-responsive layouts — Must add breakpoints manually during implementation
• No animations — Static designs only; add micro-interactions in code
• Single-user — No multiplayer/collaboration features
• Hard daily quota — No paid tier to increase limits
• Generic output risk — Combine with style guides for differentiation

References

Topic	File
SDK API	references/stitch-sdk-api.md
MCP Setup	references/stitch-mcp-setup.md
Pipeline Patterns	references/design-to-code-pipeline.md
Quota Strategy	references/quota-management.md