Give Windsurf a design system

Cascade builds features end to end, but like every agent it re-decides styling each turn: a slightly different accent here, new spacing there, a fresh font on the next screen. A design system removes the guesswork: one set of semantic tokens and a written DESIGN.md that Cascade follows, so the whole app looks like one product instead of ten prompts.

1. 1

   Open Windsurf's MCP config

   Open the settings menu (branded Devin Settings since Windsurf joined Cognition), go to Cascade > MCP Servers, and choose to edit the raw config (~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json).

2. 2

   Add the identityforge server

   Paste the entry below into the mcpServers object (merge it alongside any existing servers).

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   {
     "mcpServers": {
       "identityforge": {
         "command": "npx",
         "args": ["-y", "identityforge@latest", "mcp"]
       }
     }
   }

3. 3

   Refresh MCP servers

   Back in Cascade's MCP panel, refresh so the identityforge tools load.

4. 4

   Ask Cascade to theme the app

   Give product, audience, and mood; it uses search_themes, get_design_md, and apply_theme.

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   Use Identity Forge to pick a clean, editorial theme for a
   recipe site, apply it, and follow the DESIGN.md.

Because Windsurf can run terminal commands, the client-agnostic paths work without any config edit: Cascade (or you) just runs one command:

1. 1

   CLI apply

   Writes DESIGN.md + a tokens file into the current directory. Ask Cascade to read DESIGN.md and wire the tokens in.

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   identityforge apply ambient-sage

2. 2

   shadcn registry

   Installs the kit's CSS variables directly for shadcn/ui projects.

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   npx shadcn add https://identityforge.io/r/ambient-sage.json

The Cursor guide covers the same MCP flow with a supported install command, and the pillar guide links every tool. To understand the payload, read what a DESIGN.md is.

• Cascade MCP - Devin Docs: Windsurf documentation now lives under docs.devin.ai; MCP servers for the Cascade agent are configured in ~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json via Devin Settings > Cascade > MCP Servers.