obsidian-ui-skills

name	obsidian-ui-skills
description	Obsidian's UI design system. Use when building interfaces inspired by Obsidian's aesthetic - dark mode, Inter font, 4px grid.
license	MIT
metadata	{"author":"design-skills","version":"1.0.0","source":"https://obsidian.md"}

Obsidian UI Skills

Opinionated constraints for building Obsidian-style interfaces with AI agents.

When to Apply

Reference these guidelines when:

• Building dark-mode interfaces
• Creating Obsidian-inspired design systems
• Implementing UIs with Inter font and 4px grid

Colors

• MUST use dark backgrounds (lightness < 20) for primary surfaces - detected lightness: 0
• MUST use #000000 as page background (surface-base)
• MUST use #6930C7 for primary actions and focus states (accent)
• SHOULD reduce color palette (currently 24 colors detected)
• MUST maintain text contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for accessibility

Semantic Tokens

Token	HEX	RGB	Usage
surface-base	#000000	rgb(0,0,0)	Page background
surface-raised	#FEFEFD	rgb(254,254,253)	Cards, modals, raised surfaces
surface-overlay	#151027	rgb(21,16,39)	Overlays, tooltips, dropdowns
text-primary	#858585	rgb(133,133,133)	Headings, body text
text-secondary	#3A2F66	rgb(58,47,102)	Secondary, muted text
text-tertiary	#555555	rgb(85,85,85)	Additional text
border-default	#2F2F2F	rgb(47,47,47)	Subtle borders, dividers
warning	#FEFEFD	rgb(254,254,253)	Warning states, cautions
accent	#6930C7	rgb(105,48,199)	Primary actions, links, focus

Typography

• MUST use Inter as primary font family
• SHOULD use single font family for consistency
• MUST use 78px / 700 for primary headings
• MUST use 14px / 400 for body text
• SHOULD reduce font weights (currently 5 detected)
• MUST use text-balance for headings and text-pretty for body text
• SHOULD use tabular-nums for numeric data
• NEVER modify letter-spacing unless explicitly requested

Text Styles

Style	Font	Size	Weight	Color	Count
heading-1	Inter	78px	700	#CDCDCD	1
text-41px	Inter	41px	500	#8D8D8D	1
text-24px	Inter	24px	semi_bold	#393939	1
text-20px	Inter	20px	400	#695C94	1
text-19px	Inter	19px	500	#939393	1
text-19px	Inter	19px	400	#DDB5F8	1
text-16px	Inter	16px	500	#666666	1
text-16px	Inter	16px	semi_bold	#B8B8B8	1
body	Inter	14px	400	#707070	1
body-secondary	Inter	14px	400	#747474	1

Typography Reference

Font Families:

• Inter (used 71x)

Font Sizes: 7px, 8px, 9px, 10px, 11px, 12px, 13px, 14px, 16px, 19px, 20px, 24px, 41px, 78px

Spacing

• MUST use 4px grid for spacing
• SHOULD use spacing from scale: 1px, 2px, 3px, 4px, 5px, 6px, 7px, 8px
• SHOULD use 2px as default gap between elements
• NEVER use arbitrary spacing values (use design scale)
• SHOULD maintain consistent padding within containers

Borders

• MUST use border-radius from scale: 3px, 4px, 5px, 6px, 8px, 11px, 23px
• SHOULD use 23px+ radius for pill-shaped elements
• SHOULD limit border widths to: 1px, 2px
• SHOULD use 4px as default border-radius
• NEVER use arbitrary border-radius values (use design scale)
• SHOULD use subtle borders (1px) for element separation

Border Radius Reference

Scale: 3px, 4px, 5px, 6px, 8px, 11px, 23px

Layout

• MUST design for 1920px base viewport width
• SHOULD use consistent element widths: 8px, 11px, 10px, 12px, 9px
• SHOULD maintain text-heavy layout with clear hierarchy
• NEVER use h-screen, use h-dvh for full viewport height
• MUST respect safe-area-inset for fixed elements
• SHOULD use size-* for square elements instead of w-* + h-*

Detected Layout Patterns

• Main Content: width: 1920px, height: 1080px
• Main Content: width: 1920px, height: 643px

Components

• MUST use 0px height for input fields

Buttons

Variant	Background	Text	Border	Height	Radius
Ghost	transparent	#3A2F66	none	-	-

Inputs

• Height: 0px

Interactive States

Focus

• MUST use 2px outline with accent color (#6930C7)
• MUST use 2px outline-offset
• NEVER remove focus indicators

Hover

• Buttons (primary): lighten background by 10%
• Buttons (secondary): use #FEFEFD background
• List items: use #FEFEFD background

Disabled

• MUST use opacity: 0.5
• MUST use cursor: not-allowed

Interaction

• MUST use an AlertDialog for destructive or irreversible actions
• SHOULD use structural skeletons for loading states
• MUST show errors next to where the action happens
• NEVER block paste in input or textarea elements
• MUST add an aria-label to icon-only buttons

Animation

• NEVER add animation unless it is explicitly requested
• MUST animate only compositor props (transform, opacity)
• NEVER animate layout properties (width, height, top, left, margin, padding)
• SHOULD use ease-out on entrance animations
• NEVER exceed 200ms for interaction feedback
• SHOULD respect prefers-reduced-motion

Performance

• NEVER animate large blur() or backdrop-filter surfaces
• NEVER apply will-change outside an active animation
• NEVER use useEffect for anything that can be expressed as render logic