Control protocol

Last updated: 2026-10-23 · Change: symbol library panels (window.symbolLibrary, window.symbolLibrary.other, ui.saveSymbolLibrary); previously: synthetic input budgets (#1709); bounded transport waits (#1726).

stylo --control <port> listens on 127.0.0.1:<port> (loopback only). The port must be a number from 1 to 65535 (--control=<port> works too), given once; otherwise the app prints an error and exits before it starts. One JSON request per line: {"id": 1, "method": "ui.inspect", "params": {}} → {"id": 1, "ok": true, "result": {...}} or {"id":1,"ok":false,"error":"..."}.

Set STYLO_CONFIG_DIR to a dedicated directory for an isolated native test profile. Preferences, logs, recovery and user libraries then use that root, without importing the legacy DrawCraft profile. An unset override preserves the usual platform paths and legacy migration; an explicitly empty override disables those paths. STYLO_NO_PREFS continues to disable preference reads and writes. Without the override, a portable.txt or Stylo.portable file beside the executable (as in the Windows portable zip) puts that root in StyloData next to the executable; on macOS the marker and the folder sit next to Stylo.app, for an AppImage next to the .AppImage file, and a Flatpak install has neither. STYLO_NO_PREFS never looks for the marker or creates the folder.

Only requests are read. Every line must be a JSON object with a string method (id and params are optional; blank lines are skipped). Anything else gets one error reply ({"ok": false, "error": "… closing the connection"}) and the server closes the connection, so nothing sent after it on that connection runs. That covers text that isn't JSON, a JSON array or number, an object without method, invalid UTF-8, and a line longer than 4 MiB. An HTTP request (for example a web page's cross-origin fetch to 127.0.0.1:<port>) therefore can't smuggle a command in its body: its request line is rejected first. At most 16 connections are served at once; further ones get an error line and are closed. Clients that get an error reply should reconnect. The port has no authentication, so only enable it while you use it. Idle clients have 5 minutes to start their next line; once the first byte arrives, the complete line must arrive within an absolute 30 seconds (trickled bytes do not renew it). A reply has 60 seconds to be written. Expiration closes the connection and returns its slot (an idle connection is closed without a line, so nothing waits where the next reply would be; a line that stalls gets the usual error line first); persistent clients can send further requests within these bounds, or reconnect after idle expiration. These transport budgets are separate from the existing 60-second command-processing wait. Transport: apps/stylo/src/control_server.rs.

Synthetic input budgets

ui.drag accepts at most 256 steps; ui.click and ui.drag accept at most 16 count. They must be non-negative JSON integers. Omitted values keep their defaults (8 steps, one click); explicit zero still acts as one, as before. Oversized or malformed values return an error before any move, press or release is queued.

All synthetic methods (ui.key, ui.text, ui.move, ui.click, ui.drag, ui.wheel) share a 1,024-event pending-queue limit. The whole request must fit; rejection preserves existing input and does not append a partial gesture. Clients can retry once earlier input has drained. At most 64 control requests run per frame; later requests remain on the channel and another frame is scheduled. These limits cover synthetic input admission, separately from socket transport and command-processing timeouts.

A request the app hasn't answered after 60 s gets {"ok": false, "error": "timeout: …"}. If the app had not started it (it was busy, or its window wasn't being drawn), the request is withdrawn and never runs, and the error says "will not run": retrying is safe. If the app was already running it, the error says "still running": it may yet complete, so check the document before retrying. On macOS the app keeps itself out of App Nap while the control channel is on, so it keeps answering with its window hidden, minimized or covered, or with the screen locked.

Confining file access

stylo --control 7979 --automation-read-root /work/project --automation-write-root /work/project/out

--automation-read-root <dir> and --automation-write-root <dir> (or STYLO_AUTOMATION_READ_ROOT / STYLO_AUTOMATION_WRITE_ROOT; --flag=<dir> works too) confine what the control channel reads and writes, with the same flags as stylo-cli mcp and the other NC apps. Every path a request reads (open, place, relink, library and profile loads, plug-ins…) must lie inside a read root, every path it writes (save, export, package, captures, library saves…) inside a write root; anything else is an ordinary error reply. Paths are made absolute against the app's working directory, links are followed (for a file that doesn't exist yet, its folder's), and the comparison is by whole folder names (/work2 is not inside /work), ignoring case on Windows; .. below a folder that doesn't exist, a link that leads nowhere and Windows device names are refused. A root left out grants none of its access. The roots must be existing folders, or the app doesn't start; without --control they are ignored. See docs/mcp.md › Confining file access for the details.

Each root flag may be given more than once, a path inside any of its folders being allowed (#3546); the command line's folders of a kind replace its environment default. Missing or empty values and another option used as a value stop the desktop before it starts any services, even without --control. For a folder name starting with -, use --flag=-folder or the relative path ./-folder.

What is confined: the requests themselves, the frames that carry input they inject (ui.click, ui.key, ui.text…, so a menu item an agent clicks is confined too), the background saves and exports they start, and window captures. The person at the keyboard is not: files opened from the command line, Finder or a file dialog, and everything done with the mouse and keyboard, work as usual. The preferences that move folders the app reads or writes on its own (Additional Fonts Folder, Additional Plug-ins Folder, Data Recovery's folder, the Templates folder) can only be pointed inside the roots by automation. The app's own folders (preferences, Data Recovery, the library folders, Stylo's Fonts folder) are not confined, since no agent names a path there. A path is checked, then opened: another program that swaps in a link between the two can still win that race.

| ui.dialog.* on importPdf | {field: "page" \| "allPages" \| "range" \| "cropTo" \| "password", value} | opening (app.open, file.open) a PDF or .ai with several pages or a password, or placing one (file.place without page), opens the Import PDF dialog (mode: open or place; pageCount). While __locked is true, set password and ui.dialog.confirm to unlock it (a one-page file then opens or is placed). Then set allPages: false and range ("2-3, 5") to open some pages, or page to place one, and cropTo (bounding, art, crop, trim, bleed, media); ui.dialog.confirm opens or places them (placing keeps the other file.place params, such as link, template and at, in __place). document.open {pages, cropTo, password} and file.place {page, crop, password} do the same without the dialog |

Swatch editors: engine.execute with ui.swatchOptions {name} opens the swatchOptions dialog for a colour swatch (fields name, spot, global, mode: gray/rgb/hsb/lab/cmyk/web, color: "#rrggbb" or a colour object, preview), which previews on the canvas while open; ui.dialog.confirm applies it with swatch.edit as one undo step and ui.dialog.cancel rolls the preview back. For a gradient swatch the dialog has name only (it shows the gradient) and OK renames it; pattern swatches open pattern editing instead. Dropping a gradient (or colour) on a swatch of its kind in the Swatches panel with Alt held replaces it (swatch.edit {name, paint}), unless that is a tint swatch. A swatch dragged from the panel with Alt held also replaces the swatch of its kind it is dropped on, which keeps its name and place (swatch.edit {name, paint: {swatch}}); without Alt, or on a tint swatch or a swatch of another kind, it moves.

Confirmations: deleting swatches from the Swatches panel opens a confirm dialog (fields message, detail); ui.dialog.confirm runs the command it asks about (here swatch.delete) and ui.dialog.cancel drops it.

New swatches and colour groups: ui.newSwatch {spot?, global?, group?} opens the newSwatch dialog prefilled from the active fill or stroke (fields as in swatchOptions plus group; a gradient or pattern only takes name) and ui.newColorGroup {swatches?} opens newColorGroup (fields name, fromArtwork, toGlobal, includeTints, swatches); ui.dialog.confirm runs swatch.new / swatch.newGroup.

The Color Picker is a dialog too: engine.execute {command: "ui.colorPicker", params: {stroke?, color?}} opens it for the fill (or stroke) proxy; ui.dialog.set {field: "hex", value: "00FF00"} (or color, channel, webOnly, swatches) then ui.dialog.confirm applies the colour through paint.setFill / paint.setStroke.

Sample Color from Screen: ui.sampleScreenColor {stroke?, picker?} shows the system's color sampler (macOS, and browsers with an EyeDropper) and returns null at once. When the person at the computer clicks a color anywhere on the screen, it runs paint.setFill (or paint.setStroke) with that color as one undo step, or with picker: true sets the open Color Picker's color; Escape cancels it and the colors stay as they were. The sampled display sRGB color is converted into the working RGB space. ui.inspect reports screenSampler: true until the sampler answers. Without a sampler (Windows, Linux, other browsers) the call returns an error. To read a color from Stylo's own window without a person, call ui.screenshot.

Graphic styles: ui.graphicStyleOptions {name} opens the graphicStyleOptions dialog (field name) for a style and ui.dialog.confirm renames it with graphicStyle.rename (a name another style has returns an error and keeps the dialog open); without name it names a new style made from the selection (graphicStyle.new). ui.mergeGraphicStyles {names} opens the same dialog to name the style ui.dialog.confirm merges from them (graphicStyle.merge). Deleting styles from the panel asks first with a confirm dialog (graphicStyle.delete).

Symbols: ui.symbolOptions opens the symbolOptions dialog (field name) that the Symbols panel's New Symbol asks first; ui.dialog.confirm makes the symbol from the selection with that name (symbol.new). F8 runs ui.symbolOptions without params.

Gradient panel: double-clicking a stop on the panel's slider opens the same gradientStop popover, with a screen field ([x, y], screen points) in place of x/y. The panel's stop eyedropper selects the Eyedropper tool with the tool option stop (the tool to return to; tool.setOption {key: "stop", value: "gradient"}): its next click on art samples the colour there into the selected stop (paint.sampleColor {color, stop}) and switches back. Dragging a swatch, a Fill/Stroke proxy or the panel's gradient thumbnail onto art runs paint.setFill / paint.setStroke (the active proxy) with the paint's params and the object's ids; a colour dropped on the panel's ramp adds or recolours a stop. Alt-clicking a color swatch in the Swatches panel recolors the selected stop as a drop on it does (paint.editGradient {stops}), or the selected point of a freeform gradient (paint.freeform.setPoint); with no stop or point selected, it paints the inactive Fill or Stroke.

Freeform gradients: double-clicking a point with the Gradient tool opens the same gradientStop popover on the selected point (paint.freeform.selectPoint); its fields are color (hex), opacity and spread (percentages), applied by ui.dialog.confirm through paint.freeform.setPoint. ui.key Escape ends the line Lines mode is drawing.

Tool options: double-clicking a tool button runs tool.options {tool}. For gradient it opens the Gradient panel; for eyedropper it opens Eyedropper Options, an eyedropperOptions dialog (fields sampleSize 1/3/5, pickUp and apply, the attribute trees of eyedropper.setOptions) whose ui.dialog.confirm runs eyedropper.setOptions (what appearance.copyFrom copies). For hand it fits the artboard in the window (view.fitArtboard) and for zoom it shows 100% (view.actualSize). For rotate, scale, reflect and shear it opens the same dialog as Object › Transform (dialog kind = the tool id), or fails with nothing selected. For selection, directSelection and groupSelection it opens the Move dialog (kind move), with the same failure; Move opens on the offset of the last drag or Move (dx, dy) and with the copy, objects and preview it was last confirmed with (its patterns is the transformPatternTiles preference, which its OK sets). ui.key Enter with one of those seven tools opens its dialog too (nothing happens without a selection), with the transform tools' origin at their reference point. For lineSegment, arc, rectangularGrid and polarGrid it opens the tool's Tool Options: the dialog its click opens (kind = the tool id), without x and y and with __toolOptions: true, whose ui.dialog.confirm runs tool.setOption {tool, values} and draws nothing; the next drag with the tool and its click dialog use the values (the line's fillLine, the grids' Default Size width, height and reference too). Gradient tool handles snap to anchors, edges and smart guides; Shift constrains them to 45° steps from the constrainAngle preference.

Effect dialogs: engine.execute {command: "effect.dialog", params: {effect, index?, item?}} opens the effect dialog (fields: the effect's parameters, preview). With index it edits that applied effect of item (null: the object's effects) prefilled with its values, and ui.dialog.confirm runs effect.setParams; otherwise confirm runs effect.apply. Choosing an effect that the list already has returns {"pending": "effectExists"} and opens the effectExists question: ui.dialog.confirm opens the applied effect's dialog, ui.dialog.set {field: "discard", value: true} then confirm opens a fresh one that adds another, ui.dialog.cancel drops it. The Transform effect's dialog (effect.dialog {effect: "distort.transform"}) has Transform Each's controls: sliders for scaleH, scaleV (%) and moveH, moveV (pt), an angle dial for rotate, then copies, reflectX, reflectY, reference (0–8, the 9-point grid) and random (each object varies its own way, the same on every redraw).

Plug-in dialogs: engine.execute {command: "plugin.dialog", params: {id}} (Object › Plug-ins) runs an object filter plug-in at once when it takes no parameters, else opens the plugin dialog: one field per declared parameter (named after it), __plugin (the plug-in id) and preview. It previews plugin.run on the canvas while open; ui.dialog.confirm keeps the result as one undo step and ui.dialog.cancel rolls it back. Live-effect plug-ins open the effect dialog (effect.dialog {effect: "plugin.<id>"}). An exporter plug-in with parameters opens the pluginExport dialog once Export As has picked the file: one field per parameter, __plugin, and __export (the export's own parameters); ui.dialog.confirm writes the file. ui.installPlugin {path?} installs a .wasm (without a path it asks for one); see plugins.md.

Overprint Black: the Edit → Edit Colors → Overprint Black… menu item opens a command parameter dialog for edit.colors.overprintBlack (fields remove, percentage, fill, stroke, includeCmyBlacks, includeSpotBlacks); ui.dialog.set then ui.dialog.confirm runs it on the selection.

Color Guide: color.harmony {color, rule, steps?, variation?, amount?} returns the harmony group (base first) and its variation grid; the panel draws the same grid. ui.colorGuideOptions opens the colorGuideOptions dialog (fields steps 1–20, amount 0–100) and ui.dialog.confirm sets the panel's options, which ui.inspect reports as ui.color_guide (variation, steps, amount). Save Colors as Swatches runs swatch.new {colors: [...]} (one swatch per colour, one undo step).

Color Guide Limit to Library: ui.colorGuideLimit {library} (a swatch library id or name, "document" for the document's swatches, "" for none) limits the panel's colours; ui.inspect reports it as ui.color_guide_limit, and color.harmony {..., limitTo} answers the limited guide (every colour snaps to the library's nearest colour, ΔE 2000). Edit or Apply Colors runs ui.recolorDialog {colors, library?} with the harmony colours: on the selected art it recolours as usual; with nothing selected the colours themselves are the rows and ui.dialog.confirm saves them as a new colour group (swatch.newGroup, named by the groupName field).

Color panel options: ui.colorPanel {mode?, options?} picks the panel's mode as its panel menu does (grayscale, rgb, hsb, cmyk or websafe; the active color converts to the mode's model as one undo step) and shows (options: true) or hides (false) the options. It answers {mode, options, shown}: mode is null until a mode is picked, and shown is the mode the panel shows the color in, or tint for a tint of a global or spot swatch. Another mode, lab included, answers an error. The desktop app keeps both settings with its preferences, and ui.inspect reports them as ui.color_mode and ui.color_hide_options.

Color Themes panel (window.panel {panel: "colorThemes"}): its Create tab makes a theme on a harmony wheel and its My Themes tab lists the saved themes; every action runs a command (colorTheme.save, colorTheme.delete, colorTheme.addToSwatches, swatch.newGroup for the theme being made), and colorTheme.list reads the library.

Edit Colors dialogs: ui.colorBalanceDialog opens Adjust Colors (colorBalance: fields mode gray/rgb/cmyk/ global, the channels r g b / c m y k / gray / tint (global mode) from −100 to 100, convert, fill, stroke, preview) and ui.saturateDialog opens Saturate (saturate: intensity −100..100, preview). Both preview on the canvas while open; ui.dialog.confirm keeps the result as one undo step (edit.colors.adjustBalance / edit.colors.saturate) and ui.dialog.cancel rolls it back. Global mode answers with an error until tints of global and spot colours exist; the dialog then stays open.

Recolor Artwork: ui.recolorDialog {colors?, library?, group?} opens the recolor dialog on the selected art (colors: a count for an n-colour job, or colours to assign as the new colours; library: Limit to Library, a library or "document", "" for the first library; group: a colour group, Edit or Apply Color Group). Fields: rows ([{from: [keys], to: key, exclude?}] as recolor.reduce returns them), colors (null for Auto), method, preserveWhite, preserveBlack, preserveGrays, limitTo, groupName, tab (assign or edit), rule (harmony id), linked, preview. Setting colors, a preserve flag or limitTo reduces the rows again (also on ui.dialog.confirm). The dialog previews recolor.apply on the canvas; confirm keeps it as one undo step (with a group, the group is rewritten in the same step; with no art selected only the group changes). In the Swatches panel, double-clicking a colour group's folder, or the options button while a group is selected, opens it.

Library panel: engine.execute {command: "window.swatchLibrary", params: {library}} opens the read-only library panel on a swatch library (ui.inspect shows it as library_panel: {kind, id}; library: null closes it). Clicking a swatch there runs swatch.library.add {library, names: [name], apply} (the active proxy, or the other one with Alt), so one undo step adds and applies it; Shift/Cmd-clicks select swatches and colour groups for Add to Swatches. window.swatchLibrary.other {path?} loads a library file (or another document's swatches) and opens it there; opening a .vcswatches, .gpl or .ase file with app.open does the same. A file with the same extension and bytes as a User Defined library opens as that library. ui.saveSwatchLibrary {names?} opens the saveSwatchLibrary dialog (fields name, format: vcswatches/gpl/ase/css, user: save to the user library folder, selectedOnly with names); ui.dialog.confirm runs swatch.library.save (to a file it asks for a path and suggests name with the format's extension as the file name; the web downloads the file under that name).

Graphic style libraries open in the same panel: window.graphicStyleLibrary {library} (library_panel: {kind: "graphicStyles", id}; library: null closes it). Clicking a style there runs graphicStyle.addFromLibrary {library, name, apply: true, add} (add with Alt), adding and applying it in one undo step; Shift/Cmd-clicks select styles for Add to Graphic Styles. window.graphicStyleLibrary.other {path?} loads a .vcstyles file (or another document's graphic styles) and opens it there; opening a .vcstyles file with app.open does the same. The User Defined libraries are window.userGraphicStyleLibrary1…10 in Window → Graphic Style Libraries. ui.saveGraphicStyleLibrary {names?} opens the saveGraphicStyleLibrary dialog (fields name, user: save to the user library folder, selectedOnly with names); ui.dialog.confirm runs graphicStyle.saveLibrary (to a file it asks for a path and suggests name with .vcstyles as the file name; the web downloads the file under that name).

Symbol libraries open in the same panels: window.symbolLibrary {library} (library_panels kind symbols; library: null closes them). Clicking a symbol there runs symbol.addFromLibrary {library, name}, adding it to the document's Symbols in one undo step; Shift/Cmd-clicks select symbols for Add to Symbols, and a symbol dragged onto the canvas runs it with place: true and the drop point as x, y. window.symbolLibrary.other {path?} loads the symbols of any document Stylo opens (a saved symbol library is a .stylo document) and opens them there. The User Defined libraries are window.userSymbolLibrary1…10 in Window → Symbol Libraries. ui.saveSymbolLibrary {names?} (Save Symbols…, the Symbols panel's Save Symbol Library…) opens the saveSymbolLibrary dialog (fields name, user: save to the user library folder, selectedOnly with names); ui.dialog.confirm runs symbol.saveLibrary (to a file it asks for a path and suggests name with .stylo).

Tile Edge Color: Object → Pattern → Tile Edge Color… (ui.tileEdgeColor) opens the tileEdgeColor dialog (field color: #rrggbb or a preset name such as "Light Blue"); ui.dialog.confirm sets the preference patternTileEdgeColor (prefs.set), the colour pattern editing mode draws the tile edge and the swatch bounds in.

Window title bar: on Windows and Linux the window has no OS decorations and the app bar is the title bar. Its caption buttons (Minimize, Maximize/Restore, Close) sit at the bar's right end, 46 pt each; they are window chrome, not commands, so drive them with ui.click if needed. Close runs app.quit (the same saveChanges questions for modified documents), and empty bar space and the 5 pt window edges move and resize the window. Preferences › User Interface › System Title Bar (systemTitleBar, read when the app starts) gives the window its OS decorations back instead: the OS title then shows the active document (*name — Stylo with unsaved changes) and the app bar drops its brand mark. On macOS the window buttons are centred on the app bar; the web build is unchanged.

Fill/Stroke chips and panel shortcuts: the Control bar's and Properties' Fill and Stroke chips bring their proxy forward (paint.toggleActive {fill}) and open a popover with the Swatches panel (Shift-click: the Color panel's mixer); a swatch clicked there runs paint.setFill / paint.setStroke. The Properties panel has them with nothing selected too (they set up the next object), with the Control bar's Stroke link (the Stroke panel as a popover) and weight spinner. Panel keys (Brushes F5, Color F6, Layers F7, Color Guide Shift+F3, Graphic Styles Shift+F5, Appearance Shift+F6, Align Shift+F7, Transform Shift+F8, Info Cmd+F8, Gradient Cmd+F9, Pathfinder Cmd+Shift+F9, Stroke Cmd+F10, Transparency Cmd+Shift+F10, Attributes Cmd+F11, Symbols Cmd+Shift+F11, Character Cmd+T, Paragraph Cmd+Alt+T, Tabs Cmd+Shift+T, OpenType Cmd+Alt+Shift+T; Cmd is Ctrl on Windows and Linux) run window.panel {panel}, can be changed in Edit › Keyboard Shortcuts (entry panel:<id>, every panel) and pressed with ui.key; ui.menu.list shows them on the Window menu's items. window.panel takes a panel id in any case or the panel's display label ("Layers", "Color Guide").

Collapsing the dock: window.collapseDock {collapsed?} (the » at the top of the dock; omitted toggles) hides the Properties | Layers | Libraries group and puts its three panels as icons at the top of the icon column, under a « that expands them again. While collapsed, those icons and window.panel {panel: "properties"|"layers"|"libraries"} pop the panel out next to the column like the other icon panels (ui.dock_collapsed, ui.open_panel in ui.inspect); expanding with one popped out shows its tab. The state is saved with the preferences and in user workspaces; the built-in workspaces expand the dock.

Floating tool groups: dragging or clicking the tear-off bar down a tool group's flyout (or releasing the long press that opened it over the bar) floats the group as a strip of tool buttons, moved by the same bar and put back in the toolbar by the × at its top; window.floatTools {tool, floating?} does the same for the group of the current layout holding tool (omitted toggles; a tool alone in its slot is an error). While a group floats, the presses that open its flyout raise the strip instead. The strips (ui.floating_flyouts in ui.inspect: the group's tools and the strip's top-left corner) are saved with the preferences and in user workspaces; the built-in workspaces float none.

Edit Toolbar: the ••• button at the bottom of the toolbar (or window.editToolbar {open?}) opens the All Tools drawer beside the toolbar; Escape or a click outside closes it. While it is open, ui.drag a tool from it onto the toolbar to add it (onto a button's top or bottom edge: its own slot before or after; onto its middle: into its group), from the toolbar into it to remove it, or within the toolbar to move it. toolbar.addTool {tool, slot?, place?}, toolbar.removeTool {tool, group?} and toolbar.reset do the same for the current Basic or Advanced toolbar and return its slots; the edits (ui.toolbar_edits) are saved with the preferences. The drawer lists the tools one per row (icon, name, shortcut), each flyout group framed together under its heading; its ☰ menu has Reset and the Basic and Advanced toolbars. Its Show section (toolbar.show {control?, on?}, control one of fillStroke, coloring, drawMode, screenMode) shows or hides the controls under the toolbar's tools, saved with the preferences (ui.toolbar_show). The toolbar names its groups only with Preferences › User Interface › Show Tool Group Labels, off as it ships (#1736).

The Contextual Task Bar: its handle (the grip at its left end) drags it anywhere on the canvas, which always holds it whole, also when the window shrinks. Unpinned, the bar keeps that offset as it follows the selection, until another document becomes active. Its More Options (…) menu has Hide Bar (window.taskBar); Pin Bar Position (window.taskBar.pin {pinned?}, omitted toggles, checked while pinned), which holds the bar where it is across selection changes (the handle still moves it) and, turned off, lets it follow the selection again from there; Reset Bar Position (window.taskBar.reset), which unpins it and puts it back under the selection; and Show Properties Panel. As in Illustrator, neither the position nor the pin is saved: each launch starts with the bar under the selection.

The Free Transform widget: while the Free Transform tool (E) is active, a small box at the canvas's top left holds Constrain over the tool's three modes, Free Transform, Perspective Distort and Free Distort. The buttons set the tool's options, as tool.setOption {key: "mode", value: "free"|"perspective"|"distort"} and {key: "constrain", value} do: Constrain acts as Shift held (proportional scaling, moves and rotations by 45°) and does nothing in the distort modes, where it is greyed. The modifier keys still work while dragging (Cmd on a corner distorts it freely, Cmd+Alt+Shift in perspective, Cmd on a side shears).

Ruler guides are layer objects: guide.add puts a guide on the current layer (or layer), where it shows, hides, locks and is deleted with its layer and is listed in the Layers panel (a click on its row selects it, a drag onto another layer's rows moves it there); guide.setLayer {index?, indexes?, layer} moves guides to another layer, and guide.list gives each guide's layer, shown and editable. Guides on a hidden or locked layer leave the selection and can't be picked, moved or deleted, and no guide goes onto a locked layer; Duplicate copies a layer's guides, Merge Selected and Flatten Artwork keep them on the merged layer (Flatten discards a hidden layer's). Guides in files saved before guides had layers go on the top visible, unlocked layer when the document opens.

Floating panels: dragging a dock tab, a panel icon or a popped-out panel's title out of the dock floats that panel inside the window, and the strip right of the dock's tabs floats the whole Properties | Layers | Libraries group. A floating group moves by its title bar (or the strip right of its tabs); a tab dragged out of it floats on its own; dropped on another group's title bar or tabs it stacks with that group, and dropped on the dock (lit up while the pointer is over it) or closed with its × its panels go back to the tabbed group or the icon column. Dropped on the upper or lower half of another group, floating or docked (a line shows where), a group joins it in a set right above or below it: the groups stack top to bottom, each showing one of its panels, and move together by the top group's title bar, whose × docks them all; a group dragged by its tab strip (a lone panel's tab or the strip right of the tabs) leaves the set. A double-click on a tab collapses a group to its tabs, and another expands it. Dropped on the left edge of the icon column or of a dock column, a set docks as a new dock column there: its groups stack in it as in a floating set, take groups dropped on their edges and tabs, and leave it dragged by their tab strip; the strip along the column's top floats the whole column again, and its × puts its panels back where they live. window.panel.float {panel, x?, y?, onto?, below?, above?, group?, collapsed?} floats a panel (with group, its whole group) with its top-left corner at x, y (window points; default cascaded), or stacks it as a tab with the floating group holding onto, or puts its group in a set right below or above the group holding that panel; collapsed collapses or expands its group; window.panel.dock {panel, group?, column?} puts it back, or with column (true, or the place: 1 next to the icon column, counting left) docks its group and set as a dock column; window.panel.float on a docked panel floats its column. panel takes the window.panel ids and labels, and "tools" for the Tools panel, which floats by its title bar and docks on the window's left edge. window.panel on a floating panel shows its tab (expanding its group). ui.floating_panels in ui.inspect lists the groups (panel ids, the index of the tab shown, the top-left corner, column: the set it is stacked in, top to bottom in list order, collapsed, and docked: the dock column it stands in) and ui.toolbar_pos the Tools panel's corner (null: docked); both are saved with the preferences and in user workspaces (the built-in workspaces dock everything), and a corner saved on a bigger window is clamped into this one when drawn. Floating panels stay inside the app window (no separate OS windows).

Flatten Transparency: ui.flattenTransparencyDialog opens the flattenTransparency dialog for the selection (fields preset: a preset name, setting it loads that preset's options; the option keys of object.flattenTransparency: balance 0–100, lineArtPpi and gradientPpi 1–2400, textToOutlines, strokesToOutlines, clipComplexRegions, antiAlias, preserveAlpha, preserveOverprints; preview, off at first). With preview on it flattens on the canvas while open; ui.dialog.confirm keeps the result as one undo step and ui.dialog.cancel rolls it back. Out-of-range values answer with an error and the dialog stays open.

Flattener presets: ui.flattenerPresetsDialog {selected?} opens Edit → Transparency Flattener Presets (dialog flattenerPresets). Fields: selected (a preset name), then the selected preset's name and option keys. On a saved preset, ui.dialog.set of an option saves it and a new name renames it (both through flattener.presets.save); built-in presets don't change. New, Delete, Import… and Export… are flattener.presets.save {preset}, flattener.presets.delete, flattener.presets.import and flattener.presets.export; ui.dialog.confirm closes. Opening a .vcflattener file with app.open imports its presets. In the Flatten Transparency dialog, Save Preset… keeps the dialog's options as a saved preset.

PDF presets: ui.pdfPresetsDialog {selected?} opens Edit → PDF Presets (dialog pdfPresets, field selected: a preset name). Built-in presets are read-only. New… and Edit… open the preset editor, which ui.pdfPresetDialog {name? (a saved preset to edit) | preset? (the preset a new one starts from)} opens too: dialog pdfPreset, the Save PDF dialog's option fields plus name and description; ui.dialog.confirm runs pdf.preset.save and returns to PDF Presets (a new preset can't take a name in use). Delete, Import… and Export… are pdf.preset.delete, pdf.preset.import and pdf.preset.export; ui.dialog.confirm closes. Opening a .vcpdfpresets file with app.open imports its presets. In the Save PDF dialog, Save Preset… shows a name field (__savePresetAs): while it shows, ui.dialog.confirm saves the dialog's settings as that preset and selects it instead of writing the PDF.

Flattener Preview: window.panel {panel: "flattenerPreview"} shows the panel; ui.flattenerPreview {highlight?, overprints?, preset?, options?, showOptions?} sets it (a preset loads its options, options adjust them), shows it and refreshes its snapshot of the document, answering as flattener.preview does. ui.inspect reports the settings as ui.flattener_preview. The panel keeps its snapshot until Refresh (it notes when the document or the settings changed since); its preview greys the art and paints the highlighted objects or areas red.

Expand: Object → Expand… (ui.expandDialog, or object.expand without params from the menus, palette and shortcuts) opens the expand dialog for the selection. Fields: object, fill, stroke (all on; __object, __fill, __stroke say which the selection has something for, as object.expand.info does, and the others are disabled), gradient (objects or mesh) and steps (1–1000, default 255), which are enabled when fill is on and __gradient says the selection has a gradient fill (object.expand.info's gradient). ui.dialog.confirm runs object.expand with them as one undo step.

Attributes panel: window.panel {panel: "attributes"} (Cmd+F11) shows it; its controls run attributes.set, path.reverse {reversed} and path.setFillRule {rule}, and its Browser button runs the UI command attributes.openUrl {url?}, which opens the URL (default: the selection's) in the web browser and answers {url}. It opens http:, https: and mailto: URLs only, and answers a control request with an error: it hands the URL to another app.

SVG Interactivity panel: window.panel {panel: "svgInteractivity"} shows it; its controls run svgInteractivity.setEvent, svgInteractivity.removeEvent and svgInteractivity.clearEvents, and its Link JavaScript Files… button runs the UI command ui.javascriptFilesDialog, which opens the javascriptFiles dialog (fields file and selected). The dialog's Add and Remove buttons run svgInteractivity.addFile {file} and svgInteractivity.removeFile {file} at once, and ui.dialog.confirm closes it.

Spot Colors: the Swatches panel menu's Spot Colors… (ui.spotColors) opens the spotColors dialog (field useLab: true shows and separates spot colours defined in Lab from their Lab values, false from their working-CMYK equivalents); ui.dialog.confirm runs swatch.spotOptions {useLab} as one undo step.

Scale options: ui.menuDialog {command} opens the dialog a command's menu item opens (object.scale → scale, object.transformEach → transformEach, also Move, Rotate, Reflect, Shear and the Path dialogs). The Scale dialog (scale) and Object → Transform → Transform Each… (dialog transformEach: scaleH, scaleV %, moveH, moveV pt, rotate °, reflectX, reflectY, random, reference 0–8, copy, preview) have the fields corners (Scale Corners) and strokes (Scale Strokes & Effects). They start from the preferences scaleCorners and scaleStrokes, and ui.dialog.confirm keeps them as the preferences (prefs.set) before running object.scale / object.transformEach with them. The Transform panel's checkboxes and flyout item and the Properties panel's checkbox set the same preferences through prefs.set.

Use Preview Bounds: the Align panel flyout's Use Preview Bounds item shows and toggles the usePreviewBounds preference (prefs.set); while it is on, the bounding box and the Transform panel, Properties and Control bar fields measure visual bounds.

Align To: the Align panel's Align To choice is saved with the preferences, and ui.inspect reports it as ui.align_to ("selection" or "artboard"; Align to Key Object stores no choice). The align buttons of the Align panel, the Control bar and the Properties panel run object.align with to: "artboard" when one object is selected, else with "key" while the selection has a key object, else with that choice. The Object → Align items send the same to while every selected object is selected whole. With direct-selected anchor points or segments they send no to, and the points align to their own bounds. object.align from engine.execute or ui.menu.invoke without to keeps the engine's default: the key object while there is one, else the selection.

Width Point Edit: double-clicking a width point with the Width tool, or ui.widthPointEdit {id, index}, opens the widthPoint dialog (fields id, index, t, side1 and side2: the left and right widths in points, linked, adjustAdjoining). ui.dialog.confirm runs stroke.widthPoint.set with them; ui.dialog.set {field: "discard", value: true} then confirm (the Delete button) removes the point with stroke.widthPoint.remove.

Corners: double-clicking a Live Corners widget with the Selection or Direct Selection tool, or ui.corners {id?, corners?}, opens the corners dialog for a path's corners (the Direct-Selected ones, else every corner; fields id, corners: anchor indices of the path with its corners uncut, a rectangle's 0–3 clockwise from the top-left, kind: round, invertedRound or chamfer, radius in points; kind or radius is absent while the corners differ). ui.dialog.confirm runs object.setLiveShape with them.

Perspective plane options: double-clicking a plane widget of the perspective grid, or ui.perspectivePlane {plane}, opens the perspectivePlane dialog (fields plane: left, right or ground; location: points along the plane's normal; objects: none, move or copy). ui.dialog.confirm runs perspective.plane.move with them.

Units: dialog distance fields (Move's dx/dy, shape sizes, Offset Path's offset, Split Into Grid's gutters and totals, Artboard Options' sizes, effects' distances, transformEach's moveH/moveV, New Document's width/height, the length preferences in preferences) show in the General unit (the active document's units, or unitsGeneral without a document). Through ui.dialog.set a number is in points and a string may carry its unit ("10 mm"; a bare number in a string is points). The preferences dialog's unitsGeneral starts as the active document's units, and OK sets them. newDocument has units (a unit label; print presets start in unitsGeneral, screen presets in Pixels).

Document Setup: File → Document Setup… (file.documentSetup, Cmd+Alt+P) opens the documentSetup dialog. Its fields are what document.setup reports (units, bleed [top, bottom, left, right] in pt, outlineImages, highlightSubstitutedFonts, highlightSubstitutedGlyphs, gridSize, gridColors, simulatePaper, flattenerPreset, discardWhiteOverprint, language, quotes, typographersQuotes, superscript, subscript, smallCapsSize, exportText, backgroundContents) plus tab (General, Transparency or Type) and bleedLinked. ui.dialog.confirm runs document.setup with them as one undo step; a bad value answers with an error and the dialog stays open.

New Document: File → New… (file.newDialog, Cmd+N) opens the newDocument dialog. Its fields are file.new's params (preset, name, width and height in pt, units, artboards, artboardLayout, bleed, backgroundContents, colorMode, rasterEffectsPpi, previewMode) plus category (the tab: Recent, Saved, Mobile, Web, Print, Film & Video, Art & Illustration, Branding, Social), advanced (Advanced Options open), bleedLinked and presetName (Save Preset's name). Setting preset to a name from file.newPresets fills the other fields from that preset; changing a field afterwards makes the settings custom (preset becomes ""). More Settings is the newDocumentMore dialog over the same fields (its Profile is category). ui.dialog.confirm runs file.new with the fields (with previewMode: "pixel" the app turns Pixel Preview on); on an error the dialog stays open.

Swatch Conflict: through the app, when the pasted objects' global or spot swatches conflict with the document's (see clipboard.conflicts) and the params have no swatchConflict, every Paste command opens the swatchConflict dialog instead and answers {dialog: "swatchConflict"}. Fields: conflicts ([{name, document, clipboard, spot}]), index (the conflict asked about), choice (merge or add), applyToAll and choices (the answers so far). ui.dialog.confirm records the answer and asks about the next conflict (with applyToAll, answers the rest the same); the last one runs the paste with swatchConflict. ui.dialog.cancel pastes nothing.

Paste placement: through the app, edit.paste and edit.pasteWithoutFormatting without center, dx or dy paste at the centre of the view. The Paste menu items are enabled while the system clipboard holds something to paste (SVG, PDF, text or a bitmap on Windows; text or a bitmap on macOS; text on Linux, whose paste keys still take a bitmap; SVG on the web, whose paste keys also take pictures and files), even with nothing copied in the app (looked at up to four times a second; ui.menu.list shows it). The Layers panel menu (≡ on the dock's tab strip while Layers shows) lists the layer commands (New Layer…, Duplicate and Delete Selection, Options for Selection…, clipping mask, isolation, Locate Object, Merge Selected, Flatten Artwork, Collect in New Layer, Release to Layers, Reverse Order, Template, Hide/Outline/Lock Others or Show/Preview/Unlock All Layers), Paste Remembers Layers (layer.pasteRemembersLayers, checked when on) and Panel Options…. Layer Options is the layerOptions dialog (ui.layerOptions {ids?}, ui.newLayer {sublayer?}), Panel Options the layersPanelOptions dialog (ui.layersPanelOptions), and ui.layersExpand {ids?, open?} opens or closes rows; see the Layers panel section of docs/mcp.md for the row commands (layer.setCurrent, layer.highlight, layer.move…).

File Info: File → File Info… (file.info from the menu or Cmd+Alt+Shift+I; ui.fileInfoDialog for agents) opens the fileInfo dialog. Its fields are what file.info reports (title, author, authorTitle, description, keywords (a list: the chips), rating, copyrightStatus, copyrightNotice, copyrightUrl; created and modified are shown read-only) plus __keyword, keywords typed but not added yet (comma-separated; OK adds them). ui.dialog.confirm runs file.info with them as one undo step; a bad value answers with an error and the dialog stays open.

Document Raster Effects Settings: Effect → Document Raster Effects Settings… (ui.rasterEffectsSettingsDialog for agents) opens the rasterEffectsSettings dialog. Its fields are what document.rasterEffectsSettings reports (resolution, colorModel, background, antiAlias, clippingMask, addAround in pt, preserveSpotColors); ui.dialog.confirm runs it with them as one undo step; a bad value keeps the dialog open. Object → Rasterize… opens a command dialog for object.rasterize whose fields (ppi, colorModel, background, antiAlias, clippingMask, addAround) start from these settings.

Missing linked files: app.open of a document whose linked images' files can't be found (document.open's missingLinks) opens the missingLinks dialog for the first (fields missing: [{name, path, ids}], modified, applyToAll, path). ui.dialog.set {field: "path", value} then ui.dialog.confirm replaces it with that file (links.relink; without path a file is picked), and with applyToAll the others are looked for by name in the same folder; ui.dialog.set {field: "discard", value: true} then confirm ignores it (the images keep their preview), with applyToAll the rest too. The next missing file is asked about after each answer; ui.dialog.cancel stops asking. Then, with the preference updateLinks: "askWhenModified", modified linked files are offered for update in a confirm dialog whose ui.dialog.confirm runs links.update. The same happens when the app's window comes back to the front and a linked file of the active document changed meanwhile (asked once per change of a file); with "automatically" the files are read again at once, with "manually" the Links panel shows them as modified.

Find Linked Files: in the missingLinks dialog, ui.dialog.set {field: "searchFolder", value} then ui.dialog.confirm is Find in Folder…: the dialog becomes findLinks, which looks in that folder and its subfolders for every file the dialog still asks about (links.findFiles). Fields: document (the document's uid), missing ([{name, path, ids}]), modified, back, state (empty, searching, done, stopped or failed), search (the search's id), folder, found (links.findFiles's links, with the files found), searched, skipped, unreadable, stopped, error, picks (the file chosen for each row of missing, or null; with each search result, a row not chosen in the dialog gets its only same file, else its only file found), touched (the rows whose file was chosen in the dialog; search results leave their pick as it is), copy (Copy into the document's folder, shown for a saved document) and searchFolder. ui.dialog.set {field: "searchFolder", value} then ui.dialog.confirm searches that folder and keeps the dialog open. The fields change as frames draw the dialog; links.findFiles {} reports the search directly. ui.dialog.confirm without searchFolder is Relink: each row with a file runs links.relink {ids, path, copy}, one undo step each (copy for images only: a placed document is relinked where its file is), and it returns {relinked, failed}; the status line names the first file that failed. With back (opened from missingLinks), the rows left without a file and those that failed go back to that dialog, then the modified files are offered for update. ui.dialog.cancel closes it and stops its search. ui.findLinksInFolder {folder?, ids?} (Find in Folder… in the Links panel menu) asks for a folder (or takes folder), then opens the dialog for the files of ids, else of the selected linked images and placed documents, else the missing ones; with nothing to look for, it fails with "No linked files to look for" and asks for no folder. On the web, ui.findLinksInFolder is disabled, links.findFiles can't start a search and the dialog doesn't open.

Missing fonts: once the missing linked file questions are answered, or at once when there are none, app.open of a document whose type uses fonts that aren't available (text.missingFonts) opens the missingFonts dialog, one document at a time, and so does links.editOriginal of a placed document. When another dialog takes its place (Import PDF for a file opened next, for example), the dialog opens again once that one closes. Fields: document (the document's uid), fonts ([{family, style, status, resolved}]), fontsNextToDocument (the Fonts folder next to the document, or empty), state (empty, searching, done, stopped or failed), search (the search's id), folder, found (text.findFontFiles's fonts, with the files found), searched, skipped, unreadable, stopped, error and chosen (the files to add; a font's first file is chosen when the search finds it). Its buttons are Find Fonts and Close, with Search Fonts Folder, Find in Folder… and, once files are found, Add Fonts in the dialog. ui.dialog.set {field: "discard", value: true} then ui.dialog.confirm is Find Fonts: the dialog closes and Type › Find Font opens (dialog findFont) with the first missing font selected. ui.dialog.set {field: "searchFolder", value} then ui.dialog.confirm searches that folder (text.findFontFiles), keeps the dialog open and clears searchFolder, also when the search doesn't start. The fields change as frames draw the dialog; text.findFontFiles {} reports the search directly. ui.dialog.confirm without discard or searchFolder is Add Fonts: it copies the files in chosen (text.addFontFiles) and closes the dialog. ui.dialog.cancel (Close) closes it and stops its search. After Find Fonts or Close, the dialog doesn't open again for that open. ui.missingFontsDialog {folder?} opens the dialog for the active document, searching folder when given. ui.findFontsInFolder {folder?} (Find in Folder… in Type › Find Font…, shown when the document misses fonts) asks for a folder, then opens the dialog searching it. The web shows a status line instead of the dialog, and both commands are disabled there.

Text Import Options: placing a .txt file through the app (file.place with a file and no text options, the Place dialog, a drop) opens the textImport dialog (fields platform: windows/mac, characterSet: unicode/ansi, removeLineReturns, removeParagraphReturns, replaceSpaces, spaces). ui.dialog.confirm places the file as area type with those options (file.place {text: {…}}).

System clipboard formats: through the desktop app, edit.copy and edit.cut publish what clipboard.flavours lists to the system clipboard (once they are written, the status bar shows the first of the PNG's and PDF's warnings, such as an image that couldn't be decoded), and every Paste command first loads what another app copied (clipboard.importSvg, importPdf, importEps, importText or importImage, centred in the view; the desktop app reads PDF and EPS from the Windows clipboard and, with SVG, from the macOS pasteboard, and an .eps file, or a .ai or .ait file that holds a PDF or PostScript, copied in a file manager anywhere; a copied .ai or .ait file that holds a PDF loads with importPdf {editingData: true}, which reads its editing data); an import error answers the Paste with that error and pastes nothing. Cmd+V also pastes a bitmap or PDF with no text beside it (on the key's release, as egui sends no Paste event for it). Screenshots paste on every platform: Windows reads PNG, else CF_DIBV5/CF_DIB, macOS the pasteboard's PNG or TIFF, Linux image/png, and the web the picture the browser's paste event carries (#457).

File menu details: file.openRecent1…file.openRecent30 open the recent files the recentFilesCount preference lists (0 hides them all; file.recentFiles returns the listed paths), file.reveal shows the document's file in the system file manager (desktop only; answers {path}), and file.newFromTemplate without params opens a file picker in the Templates folder (preference templatesFolder). Older native files open as " [Converted]" (preference appendConverted), so their Save asks for a new .stylo name. Native files reopen at the view they were saved with.

DXF Options: Export As… with the DXF format (file.exportAs {format: "dxf"}, then the save dialog), or ui.dxfOptionsDialog {path?, …document.exportDxf options} for agents, opens the dxfOptions dialog. Its fields are document.export params: version, unit (a unit name such as Millimeters), scale, scaleLineweights, colors (8, 16, 256, true), rasterFormat (png, jpeg), preserve (appearance, editability), selectedOnly, alterPaths, outlineText, plus path and the artboard choice. ui.dialog.confirm checks them (a bad value, or Export Selected Art Only with nothing selected, keeps the dialog open), remembers them for the next DXF Options and writes the file (asking for a path when there is none). Export As also lists DWG, greyed out: setting its format to dwg shows, and on confirm answers, the hint to export DXF instead.

DXF Import Options: opening a DXF drawing through the app (app.open, file.open, a drop) or placing one (file.place with a .dxf file and no dxf options, which answers {"dialog": "dxfImport"}) opens the dxfImport dialog (mode: open or place; layouts, units and version describe the drawing). Its fields are the document.open dxf options: layout (one of layouts), fit, unit (a unit name such as Millimeters) and scale (1 unit = scale drawing units; ignored with fit), scaleLineweights, center, mergeLayers. ui.dialog.confirm opens or places the drawing (placing keeps the other file.place params in __place) and remembers fit, scaleLineweights, center and mergeLayers for the next drawing; an error (an unknown layout, art too large at that scale) keeps the dialog open.

Placement Options: the Links panel's flyout (or ui.placementOptionsDialog {ids?} for agents) opens the placementOptions dialog for the selected images (fields ids, preserve: transforms/bounds/fileDimensions/ fit/fill, align: topLeft … bottomRight, clip). ui.dialog.confirm runs links.placementOptions with them as one undo step. The Links panel (window.panel {panel: "links"}) shows links.list and the first selected image's links.info; links.editOriginal and links.reveal (Edit › Edit Original, Show in Folder) hand the linked file to the system and return {path}. Edit Original opens only a regular file whose extension is a format document.open reads, and answers a control request with an error unless the file is a placed document (which opens in a tab).

Package: File → Package… (ui.packageDialog) opens the package dialog for a saved document (a document never saved gets a confirm dialog whose OK runs file.saveAs). Fields: folder (the location), name (the package folder), copyLinks, linksFolder, relink, copyFonts, report. ui.dialog.confirm saves unsaved changes, runs file.package and then opens a confirm dialog whose OK runs file.showPackage {folder}; the web downloads the zip instead. Document Info's flyout picks a category and Save… runs docInfo.save {path?, selectionOnly?}.

Slices: through the app, object.slice.options and object.slice.divide with no params open their dialogs on the selected slices. sliceOptions (fields kind: image/noImage/htmlText, name, url, target, message, alt, text, background: ""/matte/#rrggbb, hAlign, vAlign; __html says whether HTML Text applies) runs object.slice.options on ui.dialog.confirm; divideSlices (fields divideRows, rows, rowMode: count/size, rowHeight, and divideColumns, columns, columnMode, columnWidth) runs object.slice.divide. Read slice options with slice.list.

The Slice tools: ui.pointer drags with the slice tool make a user slice (Shift square, Alt from the centre; one undo step). With sliceSelection a click selects a slice (Shift toggles), a drag moves the selected slices, a drag on a selected user slice's handle resizes it, a double click opens sliceOptions and ui.key Delete deletes the selected slices. Hidden or locked slices (view.slices.hide, view.slices.lock) can't be picked.

EPS Options: Export As… with the EPS format (file.exportAs {format: "eps"}, then the save dialog), or ui.epsOptionsDialog {path?, …document.exportEps options} for agents, opens the epsOptions dialog. Its fields are document.export params: previewFormat (none, tiffBw, tiffColor), transparentPreview, overprints (preserve, discard), flattenerPreset (a built-in or saved preset's name), includeLinkedFiles, thumbnails, cmykPostScript, compatibleGradients, level (2, 3), plus path and the artboard choice (useArtboards, range). ui.dialog.confirm checks them (a bad value or an unknown preset keeps the dialog open), remembers them for the next EPS Options and writes the file(s), asking for a path when there is none. With Use Artboards and two or more artboards, it writes a central file of the whole document under the chosen name and one {stem}_{artboard}.eps per artboard.

Data Recovery: at launch, copies left behind by a crash open the recovery dialog (never copies another running instance keeps, so instances started side by side for screenshots don't get it). Fields: copies ([{file, title, saved}], from file.recovery.list) and discard. ui.dialog.confirm restores them all (file.recovery.restore each, opening " [Recovered]" documents), discard: true then confirm deletes them, ui.dialog.cancel keeps them for the next launch. While copies are written in the background ui.inspect lists them under background ("Saving recovery data for ").

Native save options: File → Save As to a native or .ai file opens the saveOptions dialog after the save panel (heading "Stylo Options" or "PDF-compatible .ai Options"). Fields: separateArtboards, all (true: every artboard; false: range, such as "1-3, 5"), includeLinked, embedProfiles, pdfCompatible, compress, and for native files version and preview. A bad range keeps the dialog open; ui.dialog.confirm writes the file and the artboards' files. A .ai file's aiVersion comes first: "pdf" (the default) or "7" (legacy, heading "Legacy .ai Options"), which takes only transparentImages ("flatten" or "omit"), hiddenObjects ("layer", "omit" or "visible", the Hidden Objects menu), outlineText (the Text menu: false Editable, true Outlines) and, with several artboards, the artboard picker: boards, one bool per artboard (default: those last saved, else all), saved as range, one file per checked artboard. OK is disabled with none checked.

EMF and WMF: Export As… lists both formats (file.exportAs {format: "emf"} or "wmf"); they have no options dialog, so ui.dialog.confirm asks for the path and writes the file (one per artboard with Use Artboards). Open and Place read .emf and .wmf; a paste of image/emf from a system clipboard service runs clipboard.importEmf.

TIFF, BMP and Targa Options: Export As… with the TIFF, BMP or Targa format (file.exportAs {format: "tiff"}, then the save dialog) opens tiffOptions, bmpOptions or tgaOptions: the raster rows of PNG Options (ppi, background, antiAlias), then TIFF's colorModel (rgb, cmyk, gray; a CMYK document starts on cmyk), byteOrder (little, big), lzw and embedIcc; BMP's colorModel (rgb, gray), fileFormat (windows, os2), depth (1, 4, 8, 16, 24, 32), reduction and dither (4 and 8 bits), rle and flipRows; Targa's depth (16, 24, 32). The BMP dialog keeps its choices writable together (OS/2 falls back to 24 bits and turns RLE and flipped rows off; RLE turns flipped rows off). ui.dialog.set the fields and ui.dialog.confirm writes the file(s) with document.export.

Save for Web: File → Export → Save for Web (Legacy)… (file.saveForWeb, Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+Shift+S) opens the saveForWeb dialog on the remembered settings (webExport.settings). Its fields are the document.exportForWeb settings (format, colors, reduction, dither, quality, colorTable, width, percent, output…; set preset to load a preset) plus __view (original, optimized, 2up, 4up), __zoom (fit or a percentage), __kbps and __color (the colour table's selected colour). ui.dialog.confirm remembers the settings and saves (a save panel for the image, or the page with HTML output; the web downloads the files); with discard: true it is Done: it remembers the settings and closes. file.saveForWeb with settings saves without the dialog, and file.saveForWeb.browser writes the HTML page to a temporary folder and opens it in the default browser (desktop). Both return the export's warnings, and the status bar shows the first one as Save As shows a save's notes.

PSD Options: Export As… with the PSD format (file.exportAs {format: "psd"}, then the save dialog) opens psdOptions: the raster rows of PNG Options (ppi, background, antiAlias), then colorModel (rgb, cmyk, gray; a CMYK document starts on cmyk), layers (true: Write Layers; false: Flat Image, whose background list starts at White), maxEditability and hiddenLayers (with layers) and embedIcc. ui.dialog.set the fields and ui.dialog.confirm writes the file(s) with document.export.

Print: File → Print… (file.print with no params, Ctrl/Cmd+P) opens the print dialog on the document's print settings. Its fields are the print.setup settings (copies, artboards, range, media, orientation, placement, scaling, marks, bleed, output, graphics, color, margin…; a section is an object, as {field: "marks", value: {"trim": true}}) plus printer (a name from print.printers, "" the system's default) and toFile (save the job as a PDF), and the UI-only __section (General, Marks and Bleed, Output, Graphics, Color Management, Advanced, Summary) and __sheet (the page the preview shows, 0-based). ui.dialog.confirm (Print) keeps the settings with the document (print.setup, one undo step) and prints them: to the printer through the system's print queue (the web: the browser's print dialog), else, with toFile or no printing available, a save panel for the PDF. With discard: true it is Done: it only keeps the settings. Settings that can't print (a missing artboard, a range of no tiles) answer with an error and keep the dialog open. file.print {settings?, printer?, toFile?, path?} prints without the dialog; print.printers lists the printers and print.printerSetup {printer?} opens their system settings (Setup…). Desktop submission returns {background: true, printed: false, printer, status} while the spooler runs on a worker. ui.inspect lists it under background; completion or refusal appears in ui.status. Quit waits for submissions. PDF/PostScript export and the browser's print dialog retain their existing command results.

Agents still get {printers: [{name, default}], service, setup} from print.printers; discovery failure yields an empty list. Print replies preserve pages, bytes, format and warnings alongside the pending fields above. Validation/start failures use the existing control reply {ok: false, error: "…"}; later spooler failures appear in ui.inspect → ui.status, with no second reply or structured backend error object. Headless MCP keeps its engine-only file.print result (path or dataBase64, plus the same print metadata); no spooler fields are added there.

Print presets: in the print dialog, preset names the print preset whose settings were loaded last; setting it (ui.dialog.set {field: "preset", value: "Posters"}) loads that preset's settings, and the list reads [Custom] once they differ. Save Preset… shows a name field (__savePresetAs): while it shows, ui.dialog.confirm saves the dialog's settings as that preset (print.presets.save) and selects it instead of printing. ui.printPresetsDialog {selected?} opens Edit → Print Presets (dialog printPresets, field selected); [Default] is protected. New… and Edit… open the preset editor, which ui.printPresetDialog {name? (a saved preset to edit) | preset? (the preset a new one starts from)} opens too: dialog printPreset, the Print dialog's settings fields plus name; ui.dialog.confirm runs print.presets.save and returns to Print Presets (a new preset can't take a name in use). Delete, Import… and Export… are print.presets.delete, print.presets.import and print.presets.export; ui.dialog.confirm closes. Opening a .vcprintpresets file with app.open imports its presets.

Modifiers on synthetic input: ui.key, ui.click, ui.drag and ui.wheel take shift, alt, ctrl and cmd (Command on macOS, Ctrl elsewhere), and the app holds them for the frames the input spans, as if the keys were down: a key's press, its text and its release; a click's press and release; a drag from the press through every move to the release. Every handler sees them (Shift+arrow nudges by the big increment, Alt+arrow nudges a copy, Shift-clicking a Layers selection square adds to the selection); the keyboard's own modifiers apply again afterwards.

Cutting tools: Mirror & Cut (mirrorCut), Line Cut (lineCut) and Rectangle Cut (rectCut) cut the selected paths and compound paths. ui.tool.select one, then drag with ui.pointer: the cut previews live and the release keeps it as one undo step (ui.key Escape cancels). They run path.mirrorCut, path.lineCut and path.rectCut, which an agent can call directly. Mirror & Cut's tool options (tool.setOption, shown in the Control bar) are axis (free | vertical | horizontal; a constrained axis follows the pointer and a click places it) and keep (left | right | top | bottom); Alt on release keeps the other side.

Puppet Warp (puppetWarp): with art selected, the tool shows pins at once (automatic ones at the centre and the end of each limb until pins are placed). ui.pointer clicks on the art add pins (each new pin is selected; Shift-click adds a pin to the selection or takes it out), dragging a pin moves every selected pin and warps the art, and Alt-dragging near (not on) a selected pin turns the art around it. A click off the mesh adds nothing: the cursor shows not-allowed there and the canvas says so. ui.key Delete or Backspace removes the selected pins. Adding, deleting and each drag are one undo step each, running object.puppetWarp {rest: true, …}; the pins live in the document, so Undo/Redo take them back with the art, they stay across tool switches while the selection is unchanged, and another selection starts afresh. object.puppetWarp.pins reads them. Its tool options (tool.setOption, shown in the Control bar) are expand (Expand Mesh, points, 0 allowed), showMesh (on by default) and selectAllPins (true selects every pin, false none); ui.inspect → toolOptions lists the pins the tool last showed and the selected ones.

Colour adjustment effects (Effect → Color Adjustments) open the effect dialog like the other effects (effect.dialog {effect: "adjust.hueSaturation"}): its fields are the effect's parameters (sliders for the amounts, channel for Curves and Levels, points for Curves, color for Shift to Color) and they preview live; set them with ui.dialog.set and ui.dialog.confirm to apply (Curves also has a graph: drag its points). Object → Vector Halftone… (engine.execute {command: "ui.menuDialog", params: {command: "object.vectorHalftone"}}) opens the vectorHalftone dialog (fields shape, frequency, angle, mode, color, invert, clip, keepOriginal, preview): it previews live and ui.dialog.confirm keeps the halftone as one undo step.

Tool options last: tool.setOption {key, value} or {values: {…}} (and tool to set another tool's) sets them, and the options a tool keeps (Liquify brush and tool options, Mirror & Cut, Puppet Warp, Symbolism, drawing tools) stay when you switch tools or documents and are saved with the preferences. The Liquify tools share their Global Brush Dimensions (width, height, angle, intensity).

Perspective grid: View → Perspective Grid → Define Grid… (ui.perspectiveGridDialog) opens the perspectiveGrid dialog prefilled from the grid. Its fields are those of perspective.grid.define (kind, units, scale, gridline, angle, distance, horizonHeight, thirdVp, leftColor, rightColor, groundColor, opacity; lengths in units, so setting units converts them). ui.dialog.confirm runs perspective.grid.define; a refused value keeps the dialog open.

Object → Envelope Distort's dialogs open through their menu items or ui.menuDialog {command}. Make with Warp… (object.envelope.makeWithWarp) opens envelopeWarp (fields style, horizontal, bend, h, v, preview, and reset); while an envelope is selected the menu shows Reset with Warp… instead, and the same item, shortcut or object.envelope.resetWithWarp opens it with reset: true and the envelope's values. Make with Mesh… / Reset with Mesh… open envelopeMesh (rows, cols, reset, and maintainShape when resetting). Envelope Options… (object.envelope.options) opens envelopeOptions (antiAlias, preserveShape, fidelity, distortAppearance, distortLinearGradients, distortPatternFills) with the selected envelope's values, or with nothing selected the defaults for new envelopes. They preview live while an envelope is involved, and ui.dialog.confirm keeps the result as one undo step.

Liquify Tool Options: double-clicking a Liquify tool (tool.options {tool: "twirl"}) opens a liquifyOptions dialog. Its fields are tool, the Global Brush Dimensions width, height (pt), angle, intensity (%) and usePressure, then the tool's options detail, simplify and simplifyOn (Warp, Twirl, Pucker, Bloat), rate (Twirl), complexity, affectAnchors, affectIn and affectOut (Scallop, Crystallize, Wrinkle), horizontal and vertical (Wrinkle, %), and showBrush. ui.dialog.confirm runs tool.setOption {tool, values}. ui.pointer events take pressure (0..1, default 1): it is the Liquify intensity while Use Pressure Pen is on.

Freehand Tool Options: double-clicking the Pencil, Paintbrush, Smooth, Blob Brush or Eraser tool (tool.options {tool: "pencil"}) opens a freehandOptions dialog. Its fields are tool and the options the tool keeps: fidelity (pt; Pencil, Paintbrush, Smooth), fill (Pencil, Paintbrush), keepSelected (Pencil, Paintbrush, Blob Brush; on by default for the Pencil and Paintbrush and off for the Blob Brush, and while it is off the path a stroke draws, continues or merges into is not selected afterwards), mergeOnlySelection (Blob Brush; off by default, and while it is on a stroke merges only with selected blobs), closeWithin and editWithin (screen pixels, 0 turns it off; Pencil, Paintbrush) and size (pt; Blob Brush, Eraser). ui.dialog.confirm runs tool.setOption {tool, values}.

ui.pointer events also take holdMs (0..60000): the pointer then holds still that long, button down, before the next event. Twirl, Pucker and Bloat keep applying while held (a repeat of the last point every 0.1 s), exactly as for the same time held with the mouse. Liquify leaves type, symbols, images, graphs, meshes, envelopes, repeats and blends as they are and says so in the status bar.

Perspective grid presets: in the perspectiveGrid dialog, name is the preset whose fields are loaded (setting the fields of a preset, as the Preset menu does, keeps its name; other changes clear it, which reads [Custom]). Save Preset… sets __mode: "save" and __from: "define" with name the new preset's name: ui.dialog.confirm then saves the fields as that preset (perspective.presets.save) and returns to Define Grid on it. View → Perspective Grid → Save Grid as Preset… (ui.savePerspectivePreset) opens the same dialog in save mode; OK saves and closes. Edit → Perspective Grid Presets… (ui.perspectivePresetsDialog {selected?}) opens dialog perspectiveGridPresets (field selected): New… and Edit… open the preset editor (perspectiveGrid with __mode: "edit", __original the preset edited), whose OK runs perspective.presets.save and comes back; Delete, Import… and Export… are perspective.presets.delete, import and export. View → Perspective Grid → One/Two/Three Point Perspective list that type's built-in views and the saved presets (ui.perspectiveUserPreset<type>.<n>, hidden while empty). Opening a .vcperspective file with app.open imports its presets.

Blend Options (Object › Blend › Blend Options…, ui.blendOptions, the Blend tool's double-click, Alt-click and toolbar button) opens the blendOptions dialog on the selected blend's options: spacing (smooth | steps | distance), steps, distance (pt), orientation (page | path) and preview; it previews live and ui.dialog.confirm keeps the change as one undo step. With no blend selected (__target: "defaults") OK sets what new blends start with. The Blend tool (ui.tool.select {tool: "blend"}): ui.pointer down on an object, then on another, blends them; down on an anchor point blends from that point; each further object clicked joins the blend. A selected blend shows its spine. With Direct Selection (directSelection) a ui.pointer drag from a spine point moves it (object.blend.spine.moveAnchor, one undo step) and, once a point is clicked, from one of its handles reshapes the curve, and a drag on a curved spine segment bends it (object.blend.spine.reshapeSegment); the Anchor Point tool (anchorPoint) bends any segment of a selected blend's spine, straight ones too. Direct and Group Selection pick a blend's key objects. With the Pen tool a click on a selected blend's spine adds a point (on a point no key sits on, deletes it).

Perspective grid view options: View → Perspective Grid lists Show/Hide Grid, Show/Hide Rulers, Snap to Grid (checked), Lock/Unlock Grid and Lock Station Point (checked); ui.menu.list reports the current labels. They run perspective.grid.show, rulers, snap, lock and lockStation.

Perspective grid widgets: the Plane Switching Widget is fixed in a corner of the canvas (ui.pointer with space: "screen" reaches it at the same pixels whatever the zoom); a press on it with any tool picks the plane while the grid shows. ui.key with key "1"…"4" picks the left, horizontal, right or no plane. Double-clicking the Perspective Grid tool (tool.options {tool: "perspectiveGrid"}) opens perspectiveGridOptions (fields show, position: topLeft, topRight, bottomLeft, bottomRight); ui.dialog.confirm runs perspective.widget.options.

Envelopes on the canvas: pointer_gesture with the Mesh tool (mesh) or Direct Selection on a selected mesh envelope drags its points (a press on a point focuses it, and a press on one of the focused point's handle ends drags that handle); a Mesh tool click inside a mesh envelope adds a row and a column. While an envelope or its content is selected the Control bar shows its controls (Edit Envelope / Edit Contents, warp style, orientation, bend and distortions or mesh rows and columns, Reset, Envelope Options); each runs an object.envelope.* command.

Shared panel docking

Panel arrangements support tab grouping and reordering, horizontal and vertical splits, and movable, resizable floating groups inside the application window. Drag a panel tab, or use its context menu. Floating groups remain within the application viewport.

The shared layout begins with the existing workspace on the first docking operation. Workspace saves retain its groups, active tabs, split sizes, floating geometry, and the positions of hidden panels. Resetting a built-in workspace restores its default dock.

• window.panel.move {panel, anchor, zone?, before?} moves a panel into the target group. zone is tab (default), center, left, right, top, or bottom; before reorders tabs by panel ID. The destination must already be visible.
• window.panel.float {panel, x?, y?, width?, height?} detaches a panel.
• window.panel.dock {panel, anchor?, zone?, before?} returns a panel to its previous dock placement when possible, or to the supplied destination.
• window.panel.activate {panel} reveals and selects a panel, restoring its saved position when possible. window.panel.close {panel} hides it.
• window.panel.collapse {panel, collapsed?} shows the dock group holding a panel as its tabs only, as a double-click on a tab does (without collapsed it toggles), and makes the panel the group's shown one; showing another of its panels expands the group. Only a group that is the whole dock or sits above or below another collapses (one beside another is refused). Floating groups collapse with window.panel.float {panel, collapsed}. Returns {panel, collapsed}.

Panel IDs are stable across themes. Invalid IDs, non-finite or invalid geometry, and invalid destinations return an error without changing the arrangement.

window.panel.layout {action} also accepts the shared, externally tagged action schema. For example, {"action":{"MoveFloating":{"panel":"properties","rect":[44,66,360,450]}}} updates a floating group's position and size; {"action":{"ResizeSplit":{"path":[],"size":{"Ratio":0.35}}}} resizes the root divider (false/true path entries select first/second children). Move with placement: {"Tab":{"before":"swatches"}} reorders tabs, and SetStackOpen {panel,open} / ResizeStack {panel,height} control accordion entries. The UI dispatches these same commands. Unknown panel IDs, invalid geometry, and stale split paths return an error without changing the workspace.

Synthetic input hardening checklist

• Validate counts and reserve the whole gesture before queue mutation.
• Bound pending events across all synthetic methods, preserving rejected requests' prior queue.
• Yield after a finite control-request batch per frame; retain later requests and schedule another frame.

Transport hardening checklist

• Bound idle, partial-line and reply-write waits without renewing a partial-line deadline per byte.
• Release connection slots on worker exit, including timeout and failed worker creation.
• Preserve correlated replies and persistent connections within the transport budgets.

In the browser: window.stylo

The web build has no TCP server (a page can't listen on a socket), so it offers the same methods to the page itself, as promises on window.stylo (apps/stylo-web/src/api.rs). An agent driving Stylo in a browser tab, or a host app showing it in an <iframe>, uses the commands it would send to the desktop app:

Errors reject with an Error carrying the method's message. Requests run on the UI's next frame, so a hidden tab (whose frames the browser pauses) answers when it is shown again.

Revision history