diff --git a/crates/mcp/src/prompts.rs b/crates/mcp/src/prompts.rs
index 0c0a43926..3633bf3c4 100644
--- a/crates/mcp/src/prompts.rs
+++ b/crates/mcp/src/prompts.rs
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ One undo step covers the whole change; gradients and linked swatches stay linked
     PromptDef {
         name: "trace-and-style",
         title: "Trace an image and style it",
-        description: "Trace a placed raster with Image Trace, then apply a live effect and paint over the result.",
+        description: "Trace an image with Image Trace and expand the trace, then apply a live effect and recolor the result.",
         arguments: &[
             PromptArg { name: "path", description: "Path to the image file", required: true, default: "", values: Values::Fixed(NONE) },
             PromptArg {
@@ -293,8 +293,13 @@ Trace the image at {path} in VectorCraft with the \"{preset}\" preset, then styl
 with the {effect} effect.
 
 Method:
-1. open_file the image: it becomes a document of its own pixel size.
-2. imageTrace.make with the preset name, adjusting `params` — mode blackAndWhite, grayscale,
+1. open_file the image: it becomes a document of the image's size at the resolution it declares
+   (1 px = 1 pt at 72 ppi or when it declares none), with nothing selected.
+   Then run_command select.all to select the image, or pass the image's `id` (inspect_document
+   lists it) to imageTrace.make.
+2. imageTrace.make with the preset name. The Default preset traces in black and white; a color
+   preset such as 6 Colors or 16 Colors, or `params` with mode color, keeps the image's colors.
+   Adjust `params`: mode blackAndWhite, grayscale,
    color (palette limited, fullTone for photos, automatic, or documentLibrary to trace with
    the document's swatches or a swatch `library`) or logo (flat-colour logos only; the Flat Logo
    preset; colours via logoColors), then threshold, colors (colorDetail for
@@ -304,11 +309,16 @@ Method:
    imageTrace.presets to see every preset with its numbers.
    Lower paths and higher corners give the clean, logo-like result; high fidelity needs paths
    near 90. imageTrace.setView {view: \"outlinesWithSourceImage\"} draws the traced outlines
-   over the image on screen to compare them (screenshots show it; exports keep the result).
-3. apply_effect {effect} on the traced shapes. Call apply_effect with no `effect` for the
+   over the image in the app's window to compare them (screenshot {window: true} captures it);
+   render_preview and screenshot without `window` draw the tracing result, as exports do.
+3. imageTrace.expand keeps only the traced paths and removes the source image.
+   imageTrace.makeAndExpand traces and expands in one command, in place of steps 2 and 3.
+4. apply_effect {effect} on the traced shapes. Call apply_effect with no `effect` for the
    catalogue and each effect's parameters.
-4. set_paint over the traced shapes to give the artwork its own colours.
-5. screenshot, then remove the placed image if it is still underneath.
+5. To change the colors, run recolor.colors on the traced shapes, then recolor.apply with a
+   `map` from each traced color to its new color. set_paint gives every selected shape the
+   same fill or stroke.
+6. render_preview or screenshot, and compare the result with the source image.
 
 The trace is real geometry: every traced shape stays selectable and editable.",
     },
@@ -546,6 +556,26 @@ mod tests {
         assert!(e.contains("brief"), "{e}");
     }
 
+    /// trace-and-style selects the opened image before tracing it, expands the trace, recolors it
+    /// instead of painting it one color, and says that screenshots draw the tracing result.
+    #[test]
+    fn trace_and_style_selects_expands_and_recolors() {
+        let v = get("trace-and-style", &json!({"path": "art.png"})).unwrap();
+        let text = v["messages"][0]["content"]["text"].as_str().unwrap_or_default();
+        for step in ["open_file", "select.all", "imageTrace.make", "imageTrace.expand", "apply_effect", "recolor.apply", "render_preview"] {
+            assert!(text.contains(step), "{step}: {text}");
+        }
+        let at = |s: &str| text.find(s).unwrap_or(usize::MAX);
+        assert!(at("select.all") < at("imageTrace.make") && at("imageTrace.make") < at("imageTrace.expand"), "{text}");
+        assert!(text.contains("black and white"), "{text}");
+        assert!(!text.contains("screenshots show it"), "{text}");
+        assert!(!text.contains("own pixel size") && text.contains("resolution it declares"), "{text}");
+        // No step of its own paints the trace with set_paint.
+        let steps: Vec<&str> = text.lines().filter(|l| is_item(l)).filter_map(|l| l.split_once(". ").map(|(_, rest)| rest)).collect();
+        assert!(!steps.is_empty(), "{text}");
+        assert!(steps.iter().all(|s| !s.starts_with("set_paint")), "{steps:?}");
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn completions_rank_prefix_first_and_cap_at_100() {
         let mut b = b();
diff --git a/crates/mcp/src/tests.rs b/crates/mcp/src/tests.rs
index 3777380ed..3410f4fa5 100644
--- a/crates/mcp/src/tests.rs
+++ b/crates/mcp/src/tests.rs
@@ -296,6 +296,60 @@ fn headless_end_to_end() {
     assert_eq!(v["error"]["code"], -32002);
 }
 
+/// The trace-and-style prompt's steps, run in its order on an image drawn here: each one
+/// succeeds, the expanded trace holds no image, and its paths keep the image's colors.
+#[test]
+fn trace_and_style_prompt_steps_run_in_order() {
+    let mut s = server();
+    // 60 × 40 pixels: a red and a blue block on white.
+    let png = tmp("trace-and-style.png");
+    image::RgbImage::from_fn(60, 40, |x, y| match (x, y) {
+        (5..25, 5..35) => image::Rgb([220, 30, 30]),
+        (35..55, 5..35) => image::Rgb([30, 60, 200]),
+        _ => image::Rgb([255, 255, 255]),
+    })
+    .save(&png)
+    .unwrap();
+    let path = png.to_str().unwrap();
+    let v = rpc(&mut s, 1, "prompts/get", json!({"name": "trace-and-style", "arguments": {"path": path}}));
+    let prompt = v["result"]["messages"][0]["content"]["text"].as_str().unwrap().to_string();
+
+    let ok = |s: &mut Server, id: u64, name: &str, args: Value| {
+        let r = call(s, id, name, args);
+        assert_eq!(r["isError"], false, "{name}: {r}");
+        serde_json::from_str::<Value>(&text_of(&r)).unwrap_or(Value::Null)
+    };
+    let command = |s: &mut Server, id: u64, command: &str, params: Value| {
+        assert!(prompt.contains(command), "the prompt names {command}: {prompt}");
+        ok(s, id, "run_command", json!({"command": command, "params": params}))
+    };
+    ok(&mut s, 2, "open_file", json!({"path": path}));
+    command(&mut s, 3, "select.all", json!({}));
+    let traced = command(&mut s, 4, "imageTrace.make", json!({"preset": "6 Colors"}));
+    assert!(traced["colors"].as_u64().unwrap() > 1, "{traced}");
+    command(&mut s, 5, "imageTrace.expand", json!({}));
+    ok(&mut s, 6, "apply_effect", json!({"effect": "stylize.scribble"}));
+    let colors = command(&mut s, 7, "recolor.colors", json!({}));
+    let from = colors["colors"].as_array().unwrap().iter().filter_map(|c| c["hex"].as_str()).find(|h| *h != "#ffffff").unwrap().to_string();
+    command(&mut s, 8, "recolor.apply", json!({"map": {from.as_str(): "#00aa00"}}));
+    let r = call(&mut s, 9, "render_preview", json!({}));
+    assert_eq!(r["isError"], false, "{r}");
+
+    // No image is left, and the paths carry more than one fill color, the new one among them.
+    let doc = ok(&mut s, 10, "inspect_document", json!({}));
+    let (mut kinds, mut fills) = (vec![], std::collections::BTreeSet::new());
+    let mut stack: Vec<&Value> = doc["layers"].as_array().unwrap().iter().collect();
+    while let Some(n) = stack.pop() {
+        kinds.push(n["kind"].as_str().unwrap_or_default().to_string());
+        if let Some(fill) = n["fill"].as_str().filter(|f| f.starts_with('#')) {
+            fills.insert(fill.to_string());
+        }
+        stack.extend(n["children"].as_array().into_iter().flatten());
+    }
+    assert!(!kinds.iter().any(|k| k == "Image"), "{kinds:?}");
+    assert!(fills.len() > 1 && fills.contains("#00aa00") && !fills.contains(&from), "{fills:?}");
+}
+
 #[test]
 fn headless_path_gesture_undo() {
     let mut s = server();