polish

What this skill does

## MANDATORY PREPARATION

Invoke /impeccable — it contains design principles, anti-patterns, and the **Context Gathering Protocol**. Follow the protocol before proceeding — if no design context exists yet, you MUST run /impeccable teach first. Additionally gather: quality bar (MVP vs flagship).

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Perform a meticulous final pass to catch all the small details that separate good work from great work. The difference between shipped and polished.

## Design System Discovery

Before polishing, understand the system you are polishing toward:

1. **Find the design system**: Search for design system documentation, component libraries, style guides, or token definitions. Study the core patterns: color tokens, spacing scale, typography styles, component API.
2. **Note the conventions**: How are shared components imported? What spacing scale is used? Which colors come from tokens vs hard-coded values? What motion and interaction patterns are established?
3. **Identify drift**: Where does the target feature deviate from the system? Hard-coded values that should be tokens, custom components that duplicate shared ones, spacing that doesn't match the scale.

If a design system exists, polish should align the feature with it. If none exists, polish against the conventions visible in the codebase.

## Pre-Polish Assessment

Understand the current state and goals:

1. **Review completeness**:
   - Is it functionally complete?
   - Are there known issues to preserve (mark with TODOs)?
   - What's the quality bar? (MVP vs flagship feature?)
   - When does it ship? (How much time for polish?)

2. **Identify polish areas**:
   - Visual inconsistencies
   - Spacing and alignment issues
   - Interaction state gaps
   - Copy inconsistencies
   - Edge cases and error states
   - Loading and transition smoothness

**CRITICAL**: Polish is the last step, not the first. Don't polish work that's not functionally complete.

## Polish Systematically

Work through these dimensions methodically:

### Visual Alignment & Spacing

- **Pixel-perfect alignment**: Everything lines up to grid
- **Consistent spacing**: All gaps use spacing scale (no random 13px gaps)
- **Optical alignment**: Adjust for visual weight (icons may need offset for optical centering)
- **Responsive consistency**: Spacing and alignment work at all breakpoints
- **Grid adherence**: Elements snap to baseline grid

**Check**:

- Enable grid overlay and verify alignment
- Check spacing with browser inspector
- Test at multiple viewport sizes
- Look for elements that "feel" off

### Typography Refinement

- **Hierarchy consistency**: Same elements use same sizes/weights throughout
- **Line length**: 45-75 characters for body text
- **Line height**: Appropriate for font size and context
- **Widows & orphans**: No single words on last line
- **Hyphenation**: Appropriate for language and column width
- **Kerning**: Adjust letter spacing where needed (especially headlines)
- **Font loading**: No FOUT/FOIT flashes

### Color & Contrast

- **Contrast ratios**: All text meets WCAG standards
- **Consistent token usage**: No hard-coded colors, all use design tokens
- **Theme consistency**: Works in all theme variants
- **Color meaning**: Same colors mean same things throughout
- **Accessible focus**: Focus indicators visible with sufficient contrast
- **Tinted neutrals**: No pure gray or pure black—add subtle color tint (0.01 chroma)
- **Gray on color**: Never put gray text on colored backgrounds—use a shade of that color or transparency

### Interaction States

Every interactive element needs all states:

- **Default**: Resting state
- **Hover**: Subtle feedback (color, scale, shadow)
- **Focus**: Keyboard focus indicator (never remove without replacement)
- **Active**: Click/tap feedback
- **Disabled**: Clearly non-interactive
- **Loading**: Async action feedback
- **Error**: Validation or error state
- **Success**: Successful completion

**Missing states create confusion and broken experiences**.

### Micro-interactions & Transitions

- **Smooth transitions**: All state changes animated appropriately (150-300ms)
- **Consistent easing**: Use ease-out-quart/quint/expo for natural deceleration. Never bounce or elastic—they feel dated.
- **No jank**: 60fps animations, only animate transform and opacity
- **Appropriate motion**: Motion serves purpose, not decoration
- **Reduced motion**: Respects `prefers-reduced-motion`

### Content & Copy

- **Consistent terminology**: Same things called same names throughout
- **Consistent capitalization**: Title Case vs Sentence case applied consistently
- **Grammar & spelling**: No typos
- **Appropriate length**: Not too wordy, not too terse
- **Punctuation consistency**: Periods on sentences, not on labels (unless all labels have them)

### Icons & Images

- **Consistent style**: All icons from same family or matching style
- **Appropriate sizing**: Icons sized consistently for context
- **Proper alignment**: Icons align with adjacent text optically
- **Alt text**: All images have descriptive alt text
- **Loading states**: Images don't cause layout shift, proper aspect ratios
- **Retina support**: 2x assets for high-DPI screens

### Forms & Inputs

- **Label consistency**: All inputs properly labeled
- **Required indicators**: Clear and consistent
- **Error messages**: Helpful and consistent
- **Tab order**: Logical keyboard navigation
- **Auto-focus**: Appropriate (don't overuse)
- **Validation timing**: Consistent (on blur vs on submit)

### Edge Cases & Error States

- **Loading states**: All async actions have loading feedback
- **Empty states**: Helpful empty states, not just blank space
- **Error states**: Clear error messages with recovery paths
- **Success states**: Confirmation of successful actions
- **Long content**: Handles very long names, descriptions, etc.
- **No content**: Handles missing data gracefully
- **Offline**: Appropriate offline handling (if applicable)

### Responsiveness

- **All breakpoints**: Test mobile, tablet, desktop
- **Touch targets**: 44x44px minimum on touch devices
- **Readable text**: No text smaller than 14px on mobile
- **No horizontal scroll**: Content fits viewport
- **Appropriate reflow**: Content adapts logically

### Performance

- **Fast initial load**: Optimize critical path
- **No layout shift**: Elements don't jump after load (CLS)
- **Smooth interactions**: No lag or jank
- **Optimized images**: Appropriate formats and sizes
- **Lazy loading**: Off-screen content loads lazily

### Code Quality

- **Remove console logs**: No debug logging in production
- **Remove commented code**: Clean up dead code
- **Remove unused imports**: Clean up unused dependencies
- **Consistent naming**: Variables and functions follow conventions
- **Type safety**: No TypeScript `any` or ignored errors
- **Accessibility**: Proper ARIA labels and semantic HTML

## Polish Checklist

Go through systematically:

- [ ] Visual alignment perfect at all breakpoints
- [ ] Spacing uses design tokens consistently
- [ ] Typography hierarchy consistent
- [ ] All interactive states implemented
- [ ] All transitions smooth (60fps)
- [ ] Copy is consistent and polished
- [ ] Icons are consistent and properly sized
- [ ] All forms properly labeled and validated
- [ ] Error states are helpful
- [ ] Loading states are clear
- [ ] Empty states are welcoming
- [ ] Touch targets are 44x44px minimum
- [ ] Contrast ratios meet WCAG AA
- [ ] Keyboard navigation works
- [ ] Focus indicators visible
- [ ] No console errors or warnings
- [ ] No layout shift on load
- [ ] Works in all supported browsers
- [ ] Respects reduced motion preference
- [ ] Code is clean (no TODOs, console.logs, commented code)

**IMPORTANT**: Polish is about details. Zoom in. Squint at it. Use it yourself. The little things add up.

**NEVER**:

- Polish before it's functionally complete
- Spend hours on polish if it ships in 30 minutes (triage)
- Introduce bugs while polishing (test thoroughly)
- Ignore systema