creative-director-skill MCP — Use Cases, Install & Live Demo

Why use it

Key features

20+ ideation methodologies encoded as structured prompts
Cannes-calibrated evaluation rubric
Recursive refinement: generate → score → revise
Handles the full arc from brief to deck
Works across Claude, GPT, Gemini

Live Demo

What it looks like in practice

creative-director-skill.replay ▶ ready

0/0

Install

Pick your client

~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json · Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "creative-director-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/smixs/creative-director-skill",
        "~/.claude/skills/creative-director-skill"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Open Claude Desktop → Settings → Developer → Edit Config. Restart after saving.

~/.cursor/mcp.json · .cursor/mcp.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "creative-director-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/smixs/creative-director-skill",
        "~/.claude/skills/creative-director-skill"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Cursor uses the same mcpServers schema as Claude Desktop. Project config wins over global.

VS Code → Cline → MCP Servers → Edit

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "creative-director-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/smixs/creative-director-skill",
        "~/.claude/skills/creative-director-skill"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Click the MCP Servers icon in the Cline sidebar, then "Edit Configuration".

~/.codeium/windsurf/mcp_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "creative-director-skill": {
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/smixs/creative-director-skill",
        "~/.claude/skills/creative-director-skill"
      ],
      "_inferred": true
    }
  }
}

Same shape as Claude Desktop. Restart Windsurf to pick up changes.

~/.continue/config.json

{
  "mcpServers": [
    {
      "name": "creative-director-skill",
      "command": "git",
      "args": [
        "clone",
        "https://github.com/smixs/creative-director-skill",
        "~/.claude/skills/creative-director-skill"
      ]
    }
  ]
}

Continue uses an array of server objects rather than a map.

~/.config/zed/settings.json

{
  "context_servers": {
    "creative-director-skill": {
      "command": {
        "path": "git",
        "args": [
          "clone",
          "https://github.com/smixs/creative-director-skill",
          "~/.claude/skills/creative-director-skill"
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

Add to context_servers. Zed hot-reloads on save.

claude mcp add creative-director-skill -- git clone https://github.com/smixs/creative-director-skill ~/.claude/skills/creative-director-skill

One-liner. Verify with claude mcp list. Remove with claude mcp remove.

Use Cases

Real-world ways to use creative-director-skill

How to go from a client brief to 3 strong concepts

👤 Creatives, strategists, marketers ⏱ ~60 min intermediate

When to use: You have a brief and need more than 'the first idea I thought of'.

Prerequisites

Skill cloned — git clone https://github.com/smixs/creative-director-skill ~/.claude/skills/creative-director-skill

Flow

Extract the insight

From this brief, distill the human insight. One sentence.✓ Copied

→ Sharp insight statement
Diverge with methodologies

Generate 15 concepts using SIT, Bisociation, and SCAMPER.✓ Copied

→ Varied, structured concepts with method tags
Score and pick 3

Score each concept on the Cannes-style rubric. Pick the top 3.✓ Copied

→ Scored list + reasoning for the three
Refine

For the top 3, produce a one-page treatment each.✓ Copied

→ Treatments presentable to the client

Outcome: Three distinct, defensible concepts instead of one safe one.

Pitfalls

Diverge step produces 15 variations of the same idea — Force multiple methodologies; reject close neighbors
Scoring rewards familiar over fresh — Weight novelty explicitly in the rubric prompt

Pressure-test a favorite idea before pitching

👤 Anyone attached to one concept ⏱ ~30 min intermediate

When to use: You love an idea but don't know if you love it because it's good.

Flow

State the idea

Here's the idea. Play harsh senior CD: what's wrong with it?✓ Copied

→ Pointed critique, not soft feedback
Compare against alternatives

Generate 5 alternative routes via different methodologies. Score all 6 against the brief.✓ Copied

→ 6-way comparison

Outcome: Either confirmed commitment or clean pivot — both are wins.

Pitfalls

Claude softens criticism — Explicitly ask for CD-level directness; re-ask if it hedges

Combinations

Pair with other MCPs for X10 leverage

creative-director-skill + mck-ppt-design-skill

Turn the selected treatments into a client-ready deck

Turn the three treatments into a 10-slide pitch deck using the Mck layouts.✓ Copied

creative-director-skill + social-media-caption-generator-claude-skill

Extend the winning concept into platform-specific posts

Take the winning concept and generate IG / TikTok / LinkedIn adaptations.✓ Copied

Tools

What this MCP exposes

Tool	Inputs	When to call
insight-extraction	brief	Step 1
ideation-methodologies	insight + methodology selection	Step 2
cannes-scoring	concept set	Step 3
concept-treatment	chosen concepts	Step 4

Cost & Limits

What this costs to run

API quota: none beyond LLM
Tokens per call: ~10–30k for full arc
Monetary: free
Tip: Run diverge once with many methodologies, not many times with one — divergence is where tokens pay off

Security

Permissions, secrets, blast radius

Credential storage: none

Data egress: none

Ideas generated in-session are yours; confirm IP handling with your employer / client

Troubleshooting

Common errors and fixes

Concepts feel same-y

Force different methodologies explicitly; limit overlap

Scoring feels arbitrary

Ask Claude to show scoring rationale per dimension

Alternatives

creative-director-skill vs others

Alternative	When to use it instead	Tradeoff
claude-ads-skill	You want ad-unit-specific output, not full CD process	Narrower scope
marketing-skill-pack-skill	You need broader marketing, not just creative	More planner, less creative

More

Resources

📖 Read the official README on GitHub

🐙 Browse open issues

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