---
title: Discover and run | FLORA API
description: Paste a brief, find the right Technique, generate a grid of options.
---

The most common FLORA MCP workflow: paste a brief into your agent, it finds the right Technique from your team’s library, runs it, and shows the results inline.

**Surface:** Any MCP-compatible chat client (Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, …)\
**Time:** Under a minute\
**Charges:** One run’s worth of credits

## What you type

> I have the Q3 campaign brief below. Find the right FLORA Technique for thumbnail generation and run it with the brief’s key directives.
>
> Brief:
>
> - Audience: 25-40, design-conscious
> - Hook: “Smart living, simple”
> - Brand do: warm minimalism, soft shadows
> - Brand don’t: clip-art, gradients
>
> Give me a 3×3 grid.

## What the agent does

1. list\_techniques

   The agent filters your Technique library for thumbnail generators. It surfaces three Technique cards inline — name, thumbnail, creator, description.

2. retrieve\_technique

   Once you pick one (or the agent auto-picks the best match), it reads the input schema: theme, audience, hook copy, brand do’s and don’ts.

3. create\_technique\_run

   The agent maps your brief onto the Technique’s inputs and submits a run with `count: 9` (or however the Technique expresses “3×3”).

4. retrieve\_technique\_run

   The agent polls until the run completes. The 3×3 grid renders progressively in the chat — each tile labeled with the brief line that drove it.

## What you see

A 3×3 grid of thumbnails appears inline in the chat. No tab switching. The original brief stays in scroll, so the next message you type can reference specific outputs.

## Where it goes next

This is the start of the loop. Common follow-ups:

- **Iterate:** *“Love #4 and #7. Make 5 more variations of those.”* → see [Iterate on favorites](/mcp/recipes/iterate-on-favorites/index.md).
- **Branch:** *“Now take the winners and run them through the Social Motion Technique.”* → see [Stills to motion](/mcp/recipes/stills-to-motion/index.md).
- **Batch:** *“I need this for 12 markets — pull the localization sheet from Drive.”* → see [Batch with a coding agent](/mcp/recipes/batch-with-coding-agent/index.md).

## Tips

- The clearer your brief, the better the Technique match. Including audience and brand do’s/don’ts in plain English gives the agent enough signal to map onto Technique inputs correctly.
- If the agent picks the wrong Technique, say: *“Show me the alternatives.”* It will call `list_techniques` again with a broader filter.
- You can name a Technique explicitly: *“Use the Thumbnail v3 Technique.”* This skips the discovery step.

## Under the hood

```
list_techniques(query="thumbnail")
  → 3 candidates
retrieve_technique(slug="thumbnail-v3")
  → inputs: theme, audience, hook, brand_directives
create_technique_run(slug="thumbnail-v3", inputs={...}, count=9)
  → runId, pollUrl
retrieve_technique_run(runId)  ← polled every few seconds
  → status: "completed", outputs: [9 imageUrls]
```

See the [tools reference](/mcp/tools/index.md) for each tool’s parameters.