Skill of the day: `canvas-design`

canvas-design is an official Anthropic Agent Skill shipped inside the example-skills plugin (marketplace anthropic-agent-skills). It creates original static visual art as .png / .pdf after first writing a design philosophy .md. Use when the ask is a poster, art piece, or other static design — not MCP building, doc coauthoring, or Claude API app code. Install: /plugin install example-skills@anthropic-agent-skills. MDX pillar: reviews (never skills). Checked 2026-09-29.

TL;DR: Two-step skill — philosophy movement as .md, then single-page (unless asked for more) highly visual .pdf/.png plus the philosophy file. Copyright-safe originals only. [GAP]: no solo /plugin install canvas-design@… — install unit is example-skills.

What it does

SKILL.md frontmatter:

• name: canvas-design
• description: Create beautiful visual art in .png and .pdf using design philosophy; use for poster / art / design / other static piece; original designs only (never copy existing artists).
• license: Complete terms in LICENSE.txt → Apache-2.0, Copyright 2026 Anthropic, PBC.

Two steps (compress):

1. Design philosophy creation — name a visual movement; write 4–6 paragraphs as a .md (space/form/color/composition; minimal text; craftsmanship framing).

2. Canvas expression — express that philosophy as a single-page, design-forward .pdf or .png (multi-page when requested), plus the philosophy .md; fonts from ./canvas-fonts; refine pass for pristine craftsmanship.

Also: deduce a subtle conceptual thread from the user request before painting the canvas. Output types emphasized: .md, .pdf, .png only.

When to use / when not

Use when you want a poster, static art piece, or design-forward single canvas — philosophy → canvas, not a generic “make an image” one-liner.

Do not:

• Build MCP servers → live mcp-builder radar — do not re-Intake

• Structured doc co-writing → live doc-coauthoring radar — do not re-Intake

• Claude API / SDK app code → live claude-api radar — do not re-Intake

• Office binary primary (xlsx/docx/pptx/pdf tools) → document-skills plugin (different plugin) — prose sibling only if not linking a live radar you already own elsewhere

• Re-Intake skill-creator / frontend-design / internal-comms (ship-queue or covered elsewhere — no 404 hrefs)

Install (Claude Code)

/plugin marketplace add anthropics/skills

Then Browse → anthropic-agent-skills → example-skills → Install, or direct:

/plugin install example-skills@anthropic-agent-skills

Fact (marketplace.json, 2026-09-29): marketplace name anthropic-agent-skills; plugin example-skills; skill path ./skills/canvas-design. Metadata version 1.0.0 (catalog field — not per-skill semver). Installing pulls the whole example set (siblings include algorithmic-art, brand-guidelines, doc-coauthoring, frontend-design, internal-comms, mcp-builder, skill-creator, and others).

Walkthroughs: add the marketplace · sync Claude.ai skills / plugins · skill-doctor if load/cost looks wrong.

Limits + live pairings

• Demo/reference skill in the official repo; product behavior may differ.
• Ships with the full example-skills bundle — expect siblings, not a minimal single-skill package.
• Emphasizes original work; never copy existing artists.
• Fonts live under ./canvas-fonts in the skill package — do not invent filenames without listing the tree.
• Not a substitute for sibling skills like brand-guidelines / theme-factory when those fit better (siblings exist; only link live CF radars).

Guide / radar	Moment
mcp-builder	Sibling example-skills radar — MCP servers (live 200)
doc-coauthoring	Sibling — structured docs
claude-api	API skill — not canvas art
add anthropics/skills marketplace	First /plugin setup
sync skills / plugins	Claude.ai ↔ Code
skill-doctor	Skill load / context cost

Sources (checked 2026-09-29)

• marketplace.json — marketplace anthropic-agent-skills; plugin example-skills; ./skills/canvas-design; metadata version 1.0.0
• SKILL.md — name, description, two-step philosophy → canvas workflow
• LICENSE.txt — Apache-2.0 · Copyright 2026 Anthropic, PBC.
• Skill tree: github.com/anthropics/skills/tree/main/skills/canvas-design