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Create a Mesh Model Variant

Add a new variant to an existing static meshed asset-generation version (asset_kind = "mc-model", "sn-model", or "dc-model" — one 3D model sculpted from a signed-distance field and meshed by the mc, sn, or dc binary). The full procedure is in Creating a Mesh Model Variant.

The key constraint: an asset-generation case declares no references at all and resolution rejects any (common or per-variant) — there is no target model. The asset_kind and the [voxel] volume are fixed at the version level, so a variant cannot switch the meshing binary or change the field bounds. A variant varies only the brief (an additive spec) the model sculpts toward: a tighter palette, a stricter operation budget, a required CSG technique (mirror-only symmetry, hard unions, dc --sharp edges).

For an animated meshed case (a [model] rig, any -animation kind)? See Create a Mesh Animation Variant. For a static VOXEL (cube) case? See Create a Voxel Model Variant.

Steps

Section titled “Steps”
  1. Choose a consistent slug (e.g. symmetric) and display name (e.g. Mirror-Symmetric) naming the constraint the variant imposes — favor one a reviewer can observe in the extracted mesh.
  2. Write specs/<slug>.md: an additive brief stated as a delta against the common brief (“same subject, volume, and mesher, except …”), with precise, testable constraints (exact colors, an operation cap, the required CSG technique). It may reference the common specs but not another variant’s spec.
  3. Create variants/<slug>.toml (a standalone TOML file whose top-level keys are the variant’s fields; dest defaults to source) and add its path to the variants list in test-case.toml (first = default). Do not declare a [voxel] table or asset_kind here — both are version-level:
variants/symmetric.toml
slug = "symmetric"
name = "Mirror-Symmetric"
description = "Same subject, volume, and mesher, built left/right symmetric using the mirror op."
spec = [{ source = "specs/symmetric.md" }]

spec entries are additive on the common ones; within one variant no two seeded specs may share a dest. A variant declares no review_items — an asset-generation case has no reviewer checklist. Do not add a reference — resolution rejects any reference for this test type.

Validate

Section titled “Validate”
Terminal window
tcab seed   --test-case <slug> --version <version> --variant <new-variant>
tcab prompt --test-case <slug> --version <version> --variant <new-variant>

Seed and render the new variant and re-check the existing ones to confirm nothing else changed — the brief resolves self-contained (no target model seeded) and leaves the [voxel] volume and meshing binary intact.