---
title: The specification dial
description: "Spec density controls how far the result drifts from what you imagined — not whether it works."
---

The [skeleton](/prompting/anatomy) tells you where each decision lives; this page tells you how hard to turn each one. How much you specify sets how much you delegate — it controls how far the result can drift from what you imagined, not whether it works. Mood-level prompts ("snappy", "cinematic") get a designer's interpretation: coherent, but the agent picks the colors, staging, and details. Dense specs — hexes, timestamps, easings, pinned techniques — get *your* frame.

Three settings:

1. **Mood words** — "a warm, minimal logo sting". Fastest to write; the agent owns the look.
2. **Style tokens** — exact hexes, named textures ("halftone-dot", "paper-cut matte", "8-bit pixel"), type direction ("condensed caps", "thin geometric sans, wide tracking"). Cheap precision, no downside.
3. **Full visual spec** — every element gets shape + color + position + timing (see [visual specs](/prompting/visual-specs)). Use when you're recreating a specific look.

Density never hurts — a stronger model just uses less of its own taste. It matters most for technique choices a smaller model won't default well. Two worth pinning every time:

- **3D**: any real depth, lighting, or camera motion → say **"Three.js via the adapter"**. CSS perspective transforms read flat on lighting-critical scenes, and Three.js is a supported seek-safe runtime.
- **Sequencing**: resolve simultaneity in the text. "The counter fades out and READY stamps in at 4s" produces an overlap; "fades out fully by 4.2s; at 4.2s READY stamps in" doesn't.

*Next: [Vocabulary that changes output](/prompting/vocabulary) — the exact words that turn a mood into a specific framework setting.*
