Install Better Design MCP in pi

Setup

1
Install pi
Skip this if you have it. Otherwise run npm install -g --ignore-scripts @earendil-works/pi-coding-agent.
2
Open the config file
Use ~/.pi/agent/mcp.json for every project. .pi/mcp.json covers one project, but it holds your key, so keep it out of git.
3
Paste the block
Merge the Config block below under mcpServers and save. Or run pi mcp add better-design --url https://better-design.com/api/mcp --header "Authorization=Bearer <YOUR_API_KEY>" with your key in place of <YOUR_API_KEY>.
4
Check the connection
Run pi mcp list. It exits with an error when a server is not connected.

Need more detail? Read the official pi MCP documentation.

Config

json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "better-design": {
      "url": "https://better-design.com/api/mcp",
      "headers": {
        "Authorization": "Bearer <YOUR_API_KEY>",
        "X-Better-Design-Client": "pi"
      }
    }
  }
}

Optional: paste this into your agent's instructions so it uses Better Design on every edit.

markdown

<!-- better-design:start -->
## Better Design

For every UI build, run these steps in order, and never present a page that skipped step 2 or 4:
1. Design system: keep the product's own design. Use its theme and components when the code has them, or its `extract-from-url` tokens for a live site. A product with no design of its own, or a brand `extract-from-url` reports as flat, takes `find-design-system`, then `get-design-system-kit`, keeping the brand's colour, font and radius.
2. Principles: `get-ui-principle` before styling, `get-ux-principle` before behavior.
3. Build. A product screen sits inside its app shell, with realistic sample data and an app-scale title. A marketing page keeps its copy beside the product photo, never on top of it, and keeps the site's header and footer links.
4. Review: `get-review-rules`, `check-comprehension` and `inspect-spacing`. Fix every critical and serious finding.

Always use the Better Design MCP tools for any frontend, UI, UX, interaction, flow, form, navigation, dialog, error, onboarding, component, styling, article widget, calculator, estimator, converter, generator, quiz, checklist, React Native, Expo, Three.js, Shopify, or sales work, without me having to explicitly ask. For a calculator or article widget, load `get-widget-guide`; for React Native or Expo, load task guidance with `get-react-native-guide`; for Three.js or React Three Fiber, use `get-three-js-guide`; for Shopify Liquid or theme work, use `get-shopify-guide`; for sales conversations or assets, use `get-sales-principle`. Load visual guidance with `get-ui-principle`, load flow guidance with `get-ux-principle`, and self-review with `get-review-rules` and `check-comprehension`. Run `inspect-spacing` on rendered DOM evidence, or on a simulator's accessibility tree for a native app. For dashboards, deploy the exact source to a public HTTPS preview; `finalize-dashboard-review` must return VALID after Better Design captures it at 390, 1440, and 1728. Start UI builds with `find-design-system`. For a custom brand, call `create-design-system`, poll `get-design-system-status`, and run its React install command in coding hosts; in inline canvases, call `get-design-system-kit` with target `html` and the generated projectId. For a catalog system, call `get-design-system-kit` with target `react` in coding hosts or `html` in inline canvases. For a Shopify store, load `get-shopify-guide`, then call `get-design-system-kit` with target `shopify`.
<!-- better-design:end -->

Setup

Add the rule