shape
Plan the UX and UI for a feature before writing code. Runs a structured discovery interview, then produces a design brief that guides implementation. Use during the planning phase to establish design direction, constraints, and strategy before any code is written.
What this skill does
## MANDATORY PREPARATION Invoke /impeccable, which 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. --- Shape the UX and UI for a feature before any code is written. This skill produces a **design brief**: a structured artifact that guides implementation through discovery, not guesswork. **Scope**: Design planning only. This skill does NOT write code. It produces the thinking that makes code good. **Output**: A design brief that can be handed off to /impeccable craft, /impeccable, or any other implementation skill. ## Philosophy Most AI-generated UIs fail not because of bad code, but because of skipped thinking. They jump to "here's a card grid" without asking "what is the user trying to accomplish?" This skill inverts that: understand deeply first, so implementation is precise. ## Phase 1: Discovery Interview **Do NOT write any code or make any design decisions during this phase.** Your only job is to understand the feature deeply enough to make excellent design decisions later. Ask these questions in conversation, adapting based on answers. Don't dump them all at once; have a natural dialogue. ask the user directly to clarify what you cannot infer. ### Purpose & Context - What is this feature for? What problem does it solve? - Who specifically will use it? (Not "users"; be specific: role, context, frequency) - What does success look like? How will you know this feature is working? - What's the user's state of mind when they reach this feature? (Rushed? Exploring? Anxious? Focused?) ### Content & Data - What content or data does this feature display or collect? - What are the realistic ranges? (Minimum, typical, maximum, e.g., 0 items, 5 items, 500 items) - What are the edge cases? (Empty state, error state, first-time use, power user) - Is any content dynamic? What changes and how often? ### Design Goals - What's the single most important thing a user should do or understand here? - What should this feel like? (Fast/efficient? Calm/trustworthy? Fun/playful? Premium/refined?) - Are there existing patterns in the product this should be consistent with? - Are there specific examples (inside or outside the product) that capture what you're going for? ### Constraints - Are there technical constraints? (Framework, performance budget, browser support) - Are there content constraints? (Localization, dynamic text length, user-generated content) - Mobile/responsive requirements? - Accessibility requirements beyond WCAG AA? ### Anti-Goals - What should this NOT be? What would be a wrong direction? - What's the biggest risk of getting this wrong? ## Phase 2: Design Brief After the interview, synthesize everything into a structured design brief. Present it to the user for confirmation before considering this skill complete. ### Brief Structure **1. Feature Summary** (2-3 sentences) What this is, who it's for, what it needs to accomplish. **2. Primary User Action** The single most important thing a user should do or understand here. **3. Design Direction** How this should feel. What aesthetic approach fits. Reference the project's design context from `.impeccable.md` and explain how this feature should express it. **4. Layout Strategy** High-level spatial approach: what gets emphasis, what's secondary, how information flows. Describe the visual hierarchy and rhythm, not specific CSS. **5. Key States** List every state the feature needs: default, empty, loading, error, success, edge cases. For each, note what the user needs to see and feel. **6. Interaction Model** How users interact with this feature. What happens on click, hover, scroll? What feedback do they get? What's the flow from entry to completion? **7. Content Requirements** What copy, labels, empty state messages, error messages, and microcopy are needed. Note any dynamic content and its realistic ranges. **8. Recommended References** Based on the brief, list which impeccable reference files would be most valuable during implementation (e.g., spatial-design.md for complex layouts, motion-design.md for animated features, interaction-design.md for form-heavy features). **9. Open Questions** Anything unresolved that the implementer should resolve during build. --- ask the user directly to clarify what you cannot infer. Get explicit confirmation of the brief before finishing. If the user disagrees with any part, revisit the relevant discovery questions. Once confirmed, the brief is complete. The user can now hand it to /impeccable, or use it to guide any other implementation approach. (If the user wants the full discovery-then-build flow in one step, they should use /impeccable craft instead, which runs this skill internally.)
Related in Design
contribute
IncludedLocal-only OSS contribution command center. Auto-refreshes the user's in-flight PR and issue state on invoke so conversations start with full context — no need to brief Claude on what's in flight. Helps the user find issues to contribute to on GitHub, builds per-repo dossiers of what each upstream expects (CLA, DCO, branch convention, AI policy, draft-first, review bots, issue templates), runs deterministic gates before any external action so AI-assisted contributions don't reach maintainers as slop. State is markdown-only: candidate files at ~/.contribute-system/candidates/, repo dossiers at ~/.contribute-system/research/, append-only event log at ~/.contribute-system/log.jsonl. No database, no cloud calls. Use when the user asks about their PRs / issues / contributions, wants to find new work to take on, claim an issue, build/refresh a repo's dossier, or draft a Design Issue or PR. Trigger with "/contribute", "what's my PR status", "find a contribution", "claim issue X", "draft a Design Issue for Y", "refresh dossier for Z".
architectural-analysis
IncludedUser-triggered deep architectural analysis of a codebase or scoped subtree across eight modes — information architecture, data flow, integration points, UI surfaces, interaction patterns, data model, control flow, and failure modes. This skill should be used when the user asks to "diagram this codebase," "map the architecture," "show the data flow," "give me an ERD," "trace control flow," "find the integration points," "verify the layout pattern," "audit the UX architecture," or any similar request whose primary deliverable is mermaid diagrams plus cited reports under docs/architecture/. Dispatches haiku/sonnet sub-agents in parallel for per-mode exploration, then verifies every citation mechanically before any node lands in a diagram. Not for one-off prose explanations of code (use code-explanation) or for high-level system design from scratch (use system-design).
mcp
IncludedModel Context Protocol (MCP) server development and tool management. Languages: Python, TypeScript. Capabilities: build MCP servers, integrate external APIs, discover/execute MCP tools, manage multi-server configs, design agent-centric tools. Actions: create, build, integrate, discover, execute, configure MCP servers/tools. Keywords: MCP, Model Context Protocol, MCP server, MCP tool, stdio transport, SSE transport, tool discovery, resource provider, prompt template, external API integration, Gemini CLI MCP, Claude MCP, agent tools, tool execution, server config. Use when: building MCP servers, integrating external APIs as MCP tools, discovering available MCP tools, executing MCP capabilities, configuring multi-server setups, designing tools for AI agents.
react-native-skia
IncludedDesign, build, debug, and optimise high-polish animated graphics in React Native or Expo using @shopify/react-native-skia, Reanimated, and Gesture Handler. Use when the user wants canvas-driven UI, shaders, paths, rich text, image filters, sprite fields, Skottie, video frames, snapshots, web CanvasKit setup, or performance tuning for custom motion-heavy elements such as loaders, hero art, cards, charts, progress indicators, particle systems, or gesture-driven surfaces. Also use when the user asks for fluid, glow, glass, blob, parallax, 60fps/120fps, or GPU-friendly animated effects in React Native, even if they do not explicitly say "Skia". Do not use for ordinary form/layout work with standard views.
plaid
IncludedProduct Led AI Development — guides founders from idea to launched product. Six capabilities: Idea (discover a product idea), Validate (pressure-test the idea against fatal flaws, problem reality, competition, and 2-week MVP feasibility), Plan (vision intake + document generation), Design (translate image references into a design.md spec), Launch (go-to-market strategy), and Build (roadmap execution). Use when someone says "PLAID", "plaid idea", "help me find an idea", "product idea", "idea from my business", "idea from my expertise", "plaid validate", "validate my idea", "pressure-test", "is this idea good", "find fatal flaws", "validate the problem", "plan a product", "define my vision", "generate a PRD", "product strategy", "plaid design", "design from image", "translate image to design", "create design.md", "extract design tokens", "plaid launch", "go-to-market", "launch plan", "GTM strategy", "launch playbook", "plaid build", "build the app", "start building", or "execute the roadmap".
nextjs-framer-motion-animations
IncludedAdds production-safe Motion for React or Framer Motion animations to Next.js apps, including reveal, hover and tap micro-interactions, whileInView, stagger, AnimatePresence, layout and layoutId transitions, reorder, scroll-linked UI, and lightweight route-content transitions. Use when the user asks to add, refactor, or debug Motion or Framer Motion in App Router or Pages Router codebases, especially around server/client boundaries, reduced motion, LazyMotion, bundle size, hydration, or route transitions. Avoid for GSAP-style timelines, WebGL or 3D scenes, heavy scroll storytelling, or CSS-only effects unless Motion is explicitly requested.