web-static

name	web-static
description	Build modern static websites using semantic HTML and CSS without external dependencies or build systems. Also owns the verification loop for such sites — drives the rendered pages through Chrome DevTools MCP (console, accessibility snapshot, viewport resize, dark/reduced-motion emulation, Lighthouse), executes the checks.md manifest, and audits CSS against Google Baseline. Composes with `web-conventions` (semantic HTML, accessibility, design tokens, Baseline policy). Not for sites needing a small amount of JavaScript — use `web-sprinkles`; not for applications needing client-side state, routing, or templating — use `web-components`. Use when creating or editing static HTML/CSS sites, AND whenever a static site must be verified, audited, or declared green — triggers on "verify the site", "run the checks", "is it green", "lighthouse audit", "baseline check", "checks.md".
argument-hint	[description of the website or page to build]

Build or maintain a static website using $ARGUMENTS. Apply all rules below strictly.

Composition

Compose with /web-conventions — it provides the baseline rules for semantic HTML, accessibility, modern CSS, design tokens, and the Baseline browser-support policy. Rules in this skill override it. When a page needs a small, bounded amount of JavaScript — a theme toggle, a copy button, a client-side filter — use /web-sprinkles, which keeps every rule below except the no-JavaScript constraint. For applications that need client-side state, routing, or templating, use /web-components instead.

Hard Constraints

• No JavaScript — no <script> tags, no inline event handlers, no .js files; a page that genuinely needs a script belongs to /web-sprinkles, not to an exception here
• No external dependencies — no frameworks, libraries, CDNs, or package managers
• No build systems — no transpilation, bundling, preprocessing, Sass, Less, or Tailwind
• No inline styles — all CSS in separate .css files
• Baseline compliance — CSS features per the /web-conventions Baseline policy, enforced by the verification loop below

HTML Rules

HTML semantics, heading hierarchy, labels, and skip links follow /web-conventions.

CSS Rules

Design tokens, logical properties, modern CSS features, accessibility, and the Baseline policy follow /web-conventions. This stack adds:

• Mobile-first responsive design with min-width breakpoints
• Use content-visibility: auto for off-screen sections

CSS Reset Baseline

Every project starts with:

* { box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0; padding: 0; }
body { font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5; }

Interactive Patterns (CSS-Only)

When interactivity is needed, use these approaches — never JavaScript:

• Accordion: <details>/<summary>
• Modal: :target pseudo-class with anchor links
• Tabs: hidden radio buttons with :checked + sibling selectors
• Dropdown menu: :hover + :focus-within
• Mobile hamburger: hidden checkbox with :checked + sibling selectors
• Form styling: appearance: none to customize native controls
• Form validation: standard input types plus constraint attributes (required, pattern, min/max) — the browser validates and blocks submission without any JavaScript; style feedback with :user-invalid/:user-valid (see web-conventions Form Rules)

Page Transitions (Cross-Document View Transitions)

For multipage sites, animate navigation between pages with cross-document view transitions — pure CSS, no JavaScript:

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: no-preference) {
  @view-transition { navigation: auto; }
}

• Opt in on every page (both the outgoing and incoming page must carry the rule)
• Always inside prefers-reduced-motion: no-preference — reduced motion means instant navigation
• Give recurring elements (site header, logo) a view-transition-name for continuity across pages; each name must be unique per page
• Keep transitions subtle and fast; never let them delay content

Baseline exception: cross-document view transitions are Limited availability, which the /web-conventions Baseline policy normally forbids. They are exempt because the failure mode is total graceful degradation — a browser that doesn't understand @view-transition ignores the at-rule and navigates instantly, losing nothing. No @supports wrapper is needed. The exception covers exactly the @view-transition at-rule, view-transition-name, and the ::view-transition-* pseudo-elements — nothing else, and never anything JavaScript-driven (document.startViewTransition stays forbidden by the no-JavaScript constraint).

Performance

• loading="lazy" on below-fold images
• <picture> with WebP sources for responsive images
• Preload critical CSS and fonts
• contain: layout style paint on repeated components

Project Structure

project/
├── index.html
├── css/
│   └── style.css
├── images/
├── fonts/
└── icons/

For small sites, a flat structure (HTML + single style.css + images/) is acceptable.

Verification Loop (Chrome DevTools MCP)

The site ships with zero tooling, so verification happens from the outside: drive a real browser through the Chrome DevTools MCP tools (chrome-devtools) and assert against what it renders. This loop defines green for this stack — when a composed skill (/sbce, /continuous-testing) asks "are you green?", it means exactly this. Never declare a page done from reading its source; the rendered page is the oracle. If the chrome-devtools MCP tools are unavailable, report the loop as not runnable — do not silently skip it or self-certify.

Serve

Serve the site root with zws, the zero-dependency single-file Java development server: java zws <site-root> (serves http://localhost:3000, caching disabled). If zws is not on the PATH, use the copy bundled with the composed web-conventions skill: java <web-conventions skill dir>/scripts/zws <site-root>.

Two optional flags:

• --live — watches the site root and reloads connected browsers on every file change, via a one-line SSE script injected into served HTML. Use it while authoring, never during the verification loop: the injected script and its /reload stream would show up in the console, network, and snapshot checks and contaminate the no-JavaScript evidence. Verify against a plain java zws <site-root> instance.
• --single — SPA fallback (extension-less unknown paths serve index.html). Not for this stack: static multi-page sites have a real file behind every URL, and the fallback would mask broken links as false 200s. It belongs to web-components. Open pages via new_page/navigate_page. Verification tooling never ships with the site, so this violates no constraint — the no-JS/no-dependency rules govern the artifact, not the harness. file:// URLs work for a single page but break root-relative links; prefer the server. evaluate_script is permitted for read-only inspection (e.g. getComputedStyle) — it runs in the test browser, not in the site.

Standard checks — every page, every run

1. Console — list_console_messages: no errors, no failed requests (also proves the no-JavaScript constraint holds).
2. Structure — take_snapshot (accessibility tree): exactly one main, no skipped heading levels, a label on every form input, aria-label on each nav when several exist, skip link first in tab order, alt text on every image.
3. Responsive — resize_page to 375×667 and 1280×800: the layout adapts, and mobile patterns (hamburger, stacked columns) appear only at the narrow width.
4. Preferences — emulate with colorScheme: dark: the page restyles. The MCP cannot emulate reduced motion, so check it statically: read-only evaluate_script over document.styleSheets (or a source grep) confirms the prefers-reduced-motion: reduce query exists and neutralizes animations/transitions.
5. Lighthouse — lighthouse_audit (covers accessibility, best-practices, SEO — not performance): accessibility = 100 (includes WCAG AA contrast), best-practices and SEO ≥ 90. When performance is in question, invoke /web-performance-reviewer (throttled traces, Core Web Vitals, waterfall) — on explicit request, never part of standard green.

Project checks — checks.md

Site-specific behavior lives in checks.md at the site root (one per BC directory when composed with /bce): one labeled line per check, mechanically executable — exact URL, viewport, and expected observation, resolved with the same MCP tools.

# Checks
- [nav-mobile] / at 375px: snapshot contains button "Menu"; nav links hidden until checked
- [R1.2] /catalog/ at 1280px: every workshop is an <article> containing a <time>

Labels are stable identifiers — never renumber, retire instead of reuse. When composed with /sbce, the label is the requirement id (R1.2), which makes the spec↔check trace grep-visible — all /sbce needs. Write each check as an observation the browser can contradict ("snapshot contains button 'Menu'"), never as a judgment ("menu looks right") — the next run must be able to disagree.

Baseline check

Classify each CSS feature the stylesheets use by its Baseline status from knowledge — no external validation services. A Widely Available feature passes; a Newly Available feature passes only when wrapped in @supports with a graceful fallback (per the /web-conventions Baseline policy); Limited availability fails the loop — with one exception: the cross-document view-transition features named in the Page Transitions section pass despite Limited status, provided they sit inside a prefers-reduced-motion: no-preference media query. One caveat keeps this honest: the DevTools browser is Chrome, so a page rendering correctly proves Chrome support, never Baseline — when a feature's status is uncertain, report the uncertainty instead of guessing.

When composed with /web-latest (experiments and PoCs), this check is replaced by that skill's support-floor report — an inventory of below-Widely features instead of a gate.

Green

Green = standard checks pass on every page, every checks.md line passes, and the Baseline check passes. Report per check — label → pass/fail with the observed evidence — then fix and re-run. Anything less than all-green is red; there is no "mostly green".

What NOT to Do

In addition to the /web-conventions prohibitions (layout tables, <br> spacing, non-semantic <div>, inline styles):

• Do not use onclick or any inline event handlers
• Do not add JavaScript for interactions achievable with CSS
• Do not use CSS frameworks or preprocessors