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Surface for agents

The tools of Surface for coding agents, and which tool to choose.This page as Markdown
Statuscurrent on 2026-11-06, for version 0.
Related documentsMCP server, skills, plugins, llms.txt, ADR-0107
A coding agent knows little about Surf. Surf looks like Svelte, so an agent often writes syntax that does not exist in Surf. Surface gives agents four tools. Each tool works alone, and they work best together.
Tool
What it gives
Where it runs
MCP server
The documents of this version, and the checks of the compiler
surf mcp on your computer, or the hosted server
Skills
Short rules that an agent reads when it writes Surf code
The folder of skills of your agent
Plugins
The MCP server, the skills, a subagent and a rule, in one install
Claude Code, Codex CLI and Cursor
llms.txt
The documents as plain text files
This website

1. Choose a tool

  • Your agent has plugins. Install the plugin. It adds the other tools.
  • Your agent has MCP. Add the MCP server. Use the local server when surf is on your computer. Use the hosted server when it is not.
  • Your agent reads files or web pages only. Give it llms.txt, or one document as Markdown.

2. How the tools help

The compiler knows each name of the language. A wrong utility, a wrong method or a wrong attribute is a compile error. So the best tool is the compiler itself:
  • The agent reads the document of the feature.
  • The agent writes the code.
  • The agent sends the code to check_code.
  • The agent fixes each error, and sends the code again.
  • The agent stops when check_code reports no error.
check_code runs surf check and surf lint. It does not run the code, and it writes no file.

3. Instructions for your project

Put this text into the instructions file of your project, for example AGENTS.md or CLAUDE.md:
text
This project uses Surface. Its language is Surf. Surf is not Svelte, React or Flutter.Before you write Surf code, call `list_sections` and `get_documentation` of the `surface` MCP server.Call `check_code` on each new text until it reports no error. Then call `format_code`.
The text is short, so it costs little context. The skills and the documents give the details when the agent needs them.