BRAND.md (thebrand.md) is an open standard for brand identity files. A single markdown file with YAML frontmatter that replaces 50-page brand guides. It has four layers: Strategy (audience, positioning, personality, references, promise, guardrails), Voice (identity, taglines, manifesto, message pillars, phrases, vocabulary, tonal rules, social bios), Visual (approved core colors, typefaces, logo invariants, imagery territory, art direction), and optional Governance (naming, claims, accessibility commitments). The Visual layer holds approved identity primitives only; the applied visual system (design tokens, ramps, semantic roles, type scales, layout, components, motion) belongs in a DESIGN.md, and one brand can have several, one per surface. Supports hierarchy: one master brand with product brands that inherit and override selectively (branded-house, endorsed, sub-brand, independent architectures). Available as a Claude Code plugin: install via /plugin marketplace add caiopizzol/brand.md, then use /brand to generate a BRAND.md for any project. The plugin researches your market, interviews you, and produces a complete brand identity. MIT licensed. Spec at thebrand.md. Source at github.com/caiopizzol/brand.md. Created by Caio Pizzol (caiopizzol.com), Head of DX at SuperDoc.
Open Standard

Give AI tools your brand context.

A single file in your project root. Strategy, voice, and approved identity primitives, readable by every AI tool.

Install Plugin See example
The Problem

Every AI agent writing copy, generating social posts, or designing pages has zero brand context. You paste guidelines into every prompt, or you get generic output.

Like AGENTS.md gives coding agents instructions, and llms.txt gives LLMs website context, BRAND.md gives any tool the brand context it needs to stay on-brand.

What it looks like
A complete brand in one file
Markdown with YAML frontmatter. Renders on GitHub. Any editor highlights it. Any AI tool reads it. Abbreviated on purpose: required sections are left out, so the excerpt below is not a conformant file.
BRAND.md
--- name: "Acme" tagline: "Build faster, break nothing" specVersion: "0.3.0" version: 1 language: en --- # Acme ## Strategy ### Overview Acme is a deployment platform for teams that ship daily. Not a CI/CD pipeline. Not a hosting provider. Zero-downtime deployment infrastructure. ### Promise Ship with confidence. Every time. If it works locally, it works in production. ### Guardrails If it sounds like marketing, rewrite it. ## Voice ### Tonal Rules - Write like an engineer explaining to another engineer. - Never use "revolutionary" or "game-changing." - Calm confidence. Always. | We Say | We Never Say | |-------------------------|---------------------------| | "Zero-downtime deploys" | "Seamless cloud solution" | | "Ships in seconds" | "Blazingly fast" | ## Visual ### Core Colors - Deep Navy #0F172A (mandatory): weight and steadiness - Sky Blue #38BDF8 (mandatory): the one point of energy - Avoid: gradients, neon, anything that feels "startup-y"
Structure
Four layers
Each layer builds on the previous. Strategy informs Voice. Voice and Strategy inform Visual. Governance is optional.
01
Strategy
Why the brand exists and where it stands. The foundation everything else builds on.
  • Overview
  • Audience
  • Positioning
  • Personality
  • References
  • Promise
  • Guardrails
02
Voice
How the brand speaks and writes. The most directly useful layer for AI tools generating content.
  • Identity
  • Tagline & Slogans
  • Message Pillars
  • Phrases
  • Vocabulary
  • Tonal Rules
03
Visual
Approved identity primitives. What is invariant, not how one surface applies it.
  • Logo & Marks
  • Core Colors
  • Typefaces
  • Imagery
  • Art Direction
04
Governance
What the brand may say and commit to. Optional, and never invented.
  • Naming
  • Claims
  • Accessibility
Hierarchy
One brand, many products
Like CLAUDE.md, BRAND.md supports directory-based hierarchy. Product brands inherit from the master brand and only define what's different.
directory tree
acme/ ├── BRAND.md ← master brand (Acme Corp) ├── cloud/ │ └── BRAND.md ← product (Acme Cloud) └── analytics/ └── BRAND.md ← product (Acme Analytics)
01
Branded House
Master brand dominates. Product is an extension. Inherits almost everything.
  • Google → Google Maps
02
Endorsed
Product leads, parent endorses. Own identity with parent visible.
  • Marriott → Courtyard
03
Sub-brand
Shared DNA, distinct personality. Parent and product work together.
  • Apple → iPhone
04
Independent
Own identity. Parent is background. Full override.
  • P&G → Tide
Boundary
One identity, many surfaces
BRAND.md owns durable identity. DESIGN.md owns a self-contained visual system for one surface.
acme/
BRAND.md one identity ├── website/DESIGN.md an independent literary journal ├── product/DESIGN.md a research archive workstation └── decks/DESIGN.md a museum exhibition catalog
The same identity legitimately reads differently as a marketing site, a product interface, and a printed document. That is why the brand file cannot own the design system.

If it should survive a complete visual redesign, it belongs in BRAND.md. If it could change during that redesign without repositioning the company, it belongs in DESIGN.md.

The dependency runs one way. A DESIGN.md declares brand: ../BRAND.md. BRAND.md does not track its designs. Read the contract →
Generate one
Three commands
The Claude Code plugin researches your market, interviews you, and generates a complete BRAND.md.
01
Add marketplace
Add the BRAND.md marketplace to Claude Code.
/plugin marketplace add caiopizzol/brand.md
02
Install plugin
Install the brand-md plugin from the marketplace.
/plugin install brand-md@brand-md
03
Run it
The skill researches competitors, interviews you, and generates your BRAND.md.
/brand-md:brand
Specification
23 sections. 4 layers.
15 required, 8 optional. Read the full spec →