prototype

Builds throwaway UI variations, several radically different layouts on one route switchable from a floating bar, to answer 'what should this look like' before committing to a design. Use when the question is what a page, screen, or dashboard should look like, or for design options to compare: 'mock up a UI', 'what should this page look like', 'try a different layout'. Runs on the real stack by default (real header, data, and density) or as a self-contained HTML mockup; the user flips between variants, keeps one or bits of each, and discards the rest. When the bundled design skill resolves in your session, prefer it for a hand-editable design canvas; this skill for switchable variations of your own UI. Logic or state questions: /prototype:pressure-test. Not for an interactive parameter explorer whose output returns as a prompt: that is the first-party playground skill, routed via /playgrounds:use where the upstream playground plugin is installed from its marketplace.

Builds a throwaway interactive terminal app to pressure-test business logic, a state machine, a data model, or an API surface before committing to it. Use when the question is whether a state model, reducer, or data shape holds up under real cases: 'does this state machine handle X then Y', 'sanity-check this data model', 'feel out the API'. Any question answered by driving state by hand and watching it change. Produces a portable pure logic module (liftable into production) behind a disposable shell, a terminal app by default, or a self-contained HTML demo a non-developer can drive by clicking buttons when no terminal fits. Captures the validated answer in a durable note. Not for visual or design questions. Use /prototype:explore-directions for those.