Design Code

Skill: Design Code

Render components into a target framework via the adapter system.

Steps

• Identify the target framework + styling method from the request (or ask).
• Read frameworks/adapter-protocol.md (the universal contract: token resolution, component contract, styling, dark mode, motion + output rules).
• Load the concrete adapter:
• Full references: frameworks/react-tailwind.md, frameworks/nextjs.md, frameworks/swiftui.md.
• Concise adapters: frameworks/adapters/{vue,svelte,angular,solid,web-components-lit,react-native,flutter,jetpack-compose,vanilla-css,css-in-js}.md.
• No file for the target? Generate an adapter on the fly using the protocol's "author a new adapter" checklist.
• Pull the component spec from components/* and the ARIA pattern from accessibility/aria-patterns.md.
• Resolve all values to tokens (tokens/*.json); apply aesthetic direction if requested (apply-aesthetic skill).

Output rules (mandatory)

Use tokens (never hardcode) · include a11y on every interactive element · handle all applicable of the 8 states · support dark mode at the semantic layer · mobile-first · honor reduced motion · deliver complete files, no placeholders (workflows/redesign-audit.md → Output Completeness).

Verification (mandatory before declaring done)

Code is the highest-stakes output — self-check every time:

• No hardcoded values — every color/size/radius/shadow/duration/font traces to a token (CSS var / theme key / asset). Run scripts/lint_hardcodes.py over the output; zero raw hex/px/ms AND zero raw Tailwind palette utilities (bg-gray-500, text-blue-600) — use semantic utilities/tokens (bg-surface, text-primary). Run scripts/validate_theme_refs.py so every var(--…) resolves to a defined theme token (no floating tokens). One allowed exception: 3rd-party theme-config (MUI/Mantine) mapping our tokens INTO their API.
• All applicable states present — Default, Hover, Focus(-visible ring), Active, Disabled, Loading(+aria-busy), Error, Selected — or justified N/A.
• Accessibility wired — correct role/ARIA per accessibility/aria-patterns.md, keyboard model, focus management, ≥24px target; verify contrast (scripts/contrast.py) for any new color pair.
• Dark mode + reduced motion + responsive — semantic tokens swap; motion has a prefers-reduced-motion fallback; layout is mobile-first.
• Completeness — full files, no // ...; if asked for N, deliver N. If any check fails, fix before returning (run a11y-audit if unsure).
• Single-theme consistency — consume the project's ONE shared token theme (the root CSS-var layer); never define a per-page palette or new colors. Across multiple pages/screens, the same semantic tokens must drive every surface so the whole product stays visually identical and themeable from one place (CLAUDE.md → Single-Theme Consistency).
• One shared primitive layer — build ONE reusable component per atom (Button, Input, Modal, Badge via cva/equivalent); never repeat utility-class clusters inline across files or hand-roll a div-as-modal per screen. Overlays reuse the single Modal primitive: focus trap, role="dialog", aria-modal="true", aria-labelledby, Escape, return focus on close, backdrop (WCAG 2.4.3 + 2.1.2). See examples/golden/Button.tsx + examples/golden/Modal.tsx.
• Font loading — NEVER @import web fonts in CSS (render-blocking). Use a framework loader (next/font) or <link rel="preconnect"> + <link rel="preload"> with font-display: swap; self-host when possible. Font family comes from a token (--font-sans), never a literal.
• Semantic token BY INTENT + consistency — the token's *meaning* must match the action: destructive (Delete/Remove) → action.destructive (danger), never action.primary; secondary = neutral outline/transparent with dark text (never a colored fill → no dark-text-on-blue). The SAME action uses the SAME variant everywhere (a trigger button and its confirm button must match — not red in one place and blue in another). Gates don't catch this — you must.

10. No emoji as icons — use a real icon set (default lucide) as inline SVG with currentColor; never an emoji, including in JS that swaps a label (swap the <svg>, not a text/emoji string). Mentally run scripts/lint_taste.py (it flags emoji-as-icon).

11. Destructive confirmation UX — irreversible actions (delete account/data, anything stated "cannot be undone") need real friction per WCAG 3.3.4 / 3.3.6: a confirmation dialog whose confirm button restates the action ("Delete account", not "Delete"/"OK"/"Yes") and, for high-stakes, a type-to-confirm step. See examples/sample-app/preview.html and content/voice-tone.md.

12. Taste pre-flight — run the 12-point aesthetic check in taste/design-taste.md and, for any rendered HTML, node scripts/taste_audit.mjs <file> (render-based: flags timid type-scale contrast, uniform repetition, over-wide measure, palette sprawl). Taste is heuristic — treat findings as a strong signal and pair with a real screenshot review; it is NOT auto-provable like correctness.

13. Run the gates, then report (mandatory). Before declaring done, RUN node scripts/verify_states.mjs <file> + --dark (every element, default/hover/focus) and node scripts/accuracy_report.mjs; report their actual output. Never type a contrast number or "100%" you didn't just measure (CLAUDE.md → Verification Protocol).