Design Scout

Design Scout is a browser workspace for researching physical-digital product ideas, generating object concept images with MuleRun, animating them with image-to-video, and saving every run to SQLite.

The static frontend can be hosted publicly with MuleRun Pages. The local backend package adds the SQLite job API and the agent toolkit that searches the generated-media dataset.

What Is Included

• index.html plus design-scout-v17.js and design-scout-v10.css: the web app.
• design_scout_backend/: the packaged Python backend.
• services/: compatibility wrappers for older commands/imports.
• model-config.example.json: agent tool configuration.
• example.env: local environment template.
• job-service-client.js: browser client for /api/jobs and /api/agent.

Backend Package

The real backend package is design_scout_backend.

design_scout_backend/
  __init__.py
  __main__.py
  cli.py
  image_agent.py
  job_service.py
  mcp_server.py

Run it directly from this repo:

python3 -m design_scout_backend

The old command still works through a compatibility wrapper:

python3 services/job_service.py

You can also install the package in editable mode:

python3 -m pip install -e .
design-scout --help
design-scout-mcp --help
design-scout-service

CLI

The package exposes a general CLI:

design-scout --help

During local development you can run the same CLI without installing:

python3 -m design_scout_backend.cli --help

Start the backend:

design-scout serve

Inspect resolved paths and config:

design-scout config
design-scout config --json

Work with jobs:

design-scout jobs list
design-scout jobs list --json
design-scout jobs export ./design-scout-jobs.sqlite3
design-scout jobs upsert ./job.json
design-scout jobs clear --yes

Use a different database or config path:

design-scout --db-path /tmp/design-scout.sqlite3 jobs list
design-scout agent search --db-path /tmp/design-scout.sqlite3 --query "pcb actuator enclosure"

Use the agent toolkit from the terminal:

design-scout agent tools
design-scout agent dataset --json
design-scout agent search --image "https://example.com/reference.jpg" --query "autonomous assembly machine" --limit 5

MCP Server

Design Scout can also run as a stdio MCP server:

design-scout mcp

or directly:

python3 -m design_scout_backend.mcp_server

After editable install, a dedicated script is also available:

design-scout-mcp

Example MCP client config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "design-scout": {
      "command": "python3",
      "args": [
        "-m",
        "design_scout_backend.mcp_server",
        "--root",
        "/path/to/mulerun-sample"
      ]
    }
  }
}

The MCP server exposes these tools:

• design_scout_config
• design_scout_jobs_list
• design_scout_jobs_upsert
• design_scout_agent_tools
• design_scout_agent_dataset
• design_scout_search_images

Local Setup

Copy the env template:

cp example.env .env

Set at least:

MULEROUTER_SITE=mulerun
MULEROUTER_BASE_URL=https://api.mulerun.com
MULEROUTER_API_KEY=your-mulerun-key-here

Start the backend:

python3 -m design_scout_backend

Open:

http://127.0.0.1:8787

Environment Variables

• DESIGN_SCOUT_ROOT: root folder containing the static app and config files. Defaults to this repo when running locally.
• JOB_SERVICE_HOST: backend host, default 127.0.0.1.
• JOB_SERVICE_PORT: backend port, default 8787.
• JOB_SERVICE_DB_PATH: SQLite database path, default ./data/design-scout-jobs.sqlite3.
• JOB_SERVICE_STATIC_ROOT: static files served by the backend, default ..
• JOB_SERVICE_ALLOWED_ORIGINS: comma-separated CORS allow-list.
• DESIGN_SCOUT_JOB_SERVICE_URL: frontend API base path, default /api.
• IMAGE_AGENT_MODEL_CONFIG: model/tool config path, default ./model-config.example.json.
• IMAGE_AGENT_SEARCH_ENDPOINT: optional external image-search endpoint.
• IMAGE_AGENT_SEARCH_AUTH: optional auth header value for the external search endpoint.

API

Jobs:

• GET /api/jobs/health
• GET /api/jobs
• POST /api/jobs
• DELETE /api/jobs
• GET /api/jobs/export

Agent:

• GET /api/agent/tools
• GET /api/agent/dataset
• POST /api/agent/search-images

Search request example:

{
  "image": "https://example.com/reference.jpg",
  "query": "pcb actuator enclosure",
  "limit": 8
}

Agent Toolkit

Agents should import the toolkit from the package:

from pathlib import Path
from design_scout_backend import ImageAgentToolkit
from design_scout_backend.job_service import list_jobs

toolkit = ImageAgentToolkit(
    jobs_loader=list_jobs,
    config_path=Path("model-config.example.json"),
)

tools = toolkit.tools()
dataset = toolkit.dataset()
results = toolkit.search_images({
    "image": "https://example.com/reference.jpg",
    "query": "pcb actuator enclosure",
    "limit": 5,
})

Generic tool invocation is also supported:

toolkit.invoke("search_images", {"query": "autonomous assembly machine"})

The dataset contract is stable:

design-scout-image-dataset-v1

The implementation is environment-dependent. model-config.example.json decides which tools are enabled. By default, the toolkit uses metadata_search. If you enable http_image_search, the backend posts this payload to your configured endpoint:

{
  "dataset": {},
  "image": "https://example.com/reference.jpg",
  "query": "pcb actuator enclosure",
  "limit": 8,
  "tool": "external-image-search"
}

The endpoint should return either:

{
  "results": []
}

or a raw JSON array of results.

Set "required": true or "require_tools": true when you want the agent to fail instead of falling back to metadata search.

Public Page

The static page is deployed at:

https://c7p6rcsu.mule.page

The public page can load the UI, generate through the user's MuleRun key, and use browser-side job storage. The full SQLite job service and agent API require the local Python backend.

Verification

Run syntax checks:

python3 -m py_compile design_scout_backend/*.py services/*.py
python3 -m design_scout_backend.cli --help
python3 -m design_scout_backend.mcp_server --help
node --check --input-type=module < design-scout-v17.js
node --check --input-type=module < job-service-client.js

Smoke-test the toolkit:

python3 - <<'PY'
from pathlib import Path
from design_scout_backend.image_agent import ImageAgentToolkit

jobs = lambda: [{
    "id": "demo",
    "created_at": "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z",
    "updated_at": "2026-01-01T00:00:00Z",
    "status": "succeeded",
    "object": "PCB actuator enclosure",
    "query": "robot harness service cover",
    "category": "electromechanical system",
    "aspect_ratio": "16:9",
    "prompt": "A generated product render",
    "brief": "Controller PCB and actuator packaging",
    "references_json": "[]",
    "job_type": "image",
    "task_id": "task-demo",
    "image_url": "https://example.com/demo.png",
    "video_url": "",
}]

toolkit = ImageAgentToolkit(jobs, config_path=Path("model-config.example.json"))
print(toolkit.search_images({"query": "pcb actuator", "limit": 3})["tool"])
PY