propagate-ui-pattern

name

propagate-ui-pattern

description

When the user requests a UX-pattern change (keyboard, focus, dismiss, or feedback-display behavior) on a single instance of a recurring component family (Modal, Dialog, Drawer, Form, Card, Toast), grep for sibling instances, present them per-instance, and — when 3+ approved siblings would share the same inline implementation — propose extracting a shared hook/wrapper before applying. Also propagates the visual affordance (kbd hint, aria-keyshortcuts, footer hotkey line) alongside the behavior. Trigger phrases — "add a hotkey to this modal", "Cmd+Enter should submit", "make X close on escape", "autofocus this input", "make sure all my modals do X", "every form should Y", "consolidate this pattern", "dedupe this across components", "show the hotkey hint", "add ⌘↵ badge", "make the shortcut discoverable". Skip for: one-off visual tweaks (use tweak-ui), new features (use add-feature), bug fixes (use fix-bug), changes the user has explicitly scoped to one component ("only in this one").

UX Consistency

Single-instance UX changes silently create drift. The user adds Cmd+Enter to one modal; six other modals stay inconsistent until someone notices months later. This skill catches the propagation question before the diff lands.

The flow

1. Classify the change. Is it a UX pattern (a behavior that users expect to be uniform across similar components) or a one-off (a tweak specific to this component's role)?
2. Identify the component family. What's the recurring type — Modal, Dialog, Form, Drawer, Card, Toast, Popover?
3. Enumerate siblings. Grep the codebase for other instances of that family.
4. Present the list with per-instance recommendations. For each sibling, mark propagate / skip / ask and give a one-line reason.
5. Get per-instance approval. Apply only to the ones the user confirms.

Do not skip steps 3–5. The whole point of the skill is the sibling sweep — implementing the requested change without it defeats the purpose.

Step 1 — Is this a UX pattern?

Classify before enumerating. Misclassifying a one-off as a pattern leaks role-specific behavior across the family (e.g. propagating a destructive-modal hotkey to benign modals); misclassifying a pattern as a one-off creates the silent drift this skill exists to prevent.

Patterns to propagate by default:

• Keyboard shortcuts on dismissable surfaces (Escape closes, Cmd/Ctrl+Enter submits)
• Autofocus on the primary input when a modal/dialog opens
• Click-outside-to-close on non-destructive overlays
• Focus return to trigger element on close
• Loading state placement (button vs. overlay)
• Form submit-on-Enter for single-field forms

Likely one-offs (don't propagate without asking):

• A hotkey tied to that component's specific action (e.g. "G then I" for a Goto-Item picker)
• Behavior tied to a unique business rule ("require typing the project name to delete")
• Changes the user has already scoped ("just in NewAgentDialog")

If unsure, classify as pattern and let the per-instance gate filter false positives.

Step 2 — Find the family

Pick the import or component name that defines the family, not the file path. If the project has a shared primitive (<Modal>, <Dialog> from a UI lib), grep for its consumers. If components are ad-hoc (each file rolls its own dialog div), grep by structural marker — role="dialog", position: fixed.*z-, onKeyDown.*Escape — since there's no import to anchor on.

Zero siblings: If grep returns no other instances, surface "single instance, no propagation needed" before applying — don't proceed silently. The user invoked this skill expecting a sweep; confirming the sweep ran (and was empty) keeps trust.

Ambiguous family: If multiple plausible family roots exist (e.g. <Modal> + <Dialog> + <Sheet>, or hand-rolled dialog divs alongside the shared primitive), grep all of them and group results by root. Present the groups and let the user clarify scope before per-instance approval — don't pick a root and silently exclude the others.

Step 3 — Present, don't auto-apply

Output format:

Found N siblings of <Component>. Recommend per-instance:

1. src/components/views/NewAgentDialog.tsx     — APPLY (target of original request)
2. src/components/views/ProjectDialog.tsx      — APPLY (same submit-form pattern, no destructive action)
3. src/components/views/DeleteConfirmModal.tsx — SKIP (destructive; submit-on-Enter is dangerous)
4. src/components/ui/Modal.tsx                 — N/A (the primitive itself, no submit handler)
5. src/components/views/ProjectPicker.tsx      — ASK (unclear: it's a picker, not a form)

Approve which? (e.g. "1,2,5" or "all except 3")

Same shape works for non-modal families. Example for <Form>:

Found 4 <Form> consumers. Recommend per-instance:

1. src/components/views/SignupForm.tsx       — APPLY (single-input email field; Enter to submit fits)
2. src/components/views/CommentForm.tsx      — APPLY (textarea + send; Cmd+Enter is the standard pairing)
3. src/components/views/SearchForm.tsx       — SKIP (Enter already triggers live search; binding submit would double-fire)
4. src/components/views/MultiStepForm.tsx    — ASK (Enter could mean "next step" or "final submit" — clarify with user)

Surface the asymmetry reasons explicitly — destructive vs. benign, form vs. picker, owns-its-state vs. controlled. Those are the cases where automatic propagation breaks UX.

Step 4 — Extract before applying (when 3+ siblings will share the same code)

If the approved list has 3 or more siblings that would each get the same inline implementation (same useEffect keydown handler, same onKeyDown block, same focus-trap setup), stop and propose extraction before writing any of the per-site changes. Two or fewer → just inline it; the abstraction isn't worth its own seam yet.

Read all approved sites before designing the seam. Note each site's ref shape, event source, and any local quirks (debounce, conditional skip, alt keybinding). The hook/wrapper signature must fit the union of these needs — not the first site you opened. Skipping this step bakes site-1's quirks into the abstraction and forces every other site into adapter code.

Pick the seam by what the behavior needs:

• Pure behavior, no markup (keyboard shortcut, focus return, click-outside) → custom hook: useSubmitOnCmdEnter(formRef, onSubmit), useEscapeToClose(onClose).
• Behavior + wrapper element (focus trap, scroll lock) → wrapper component or extend the shared primitive itself.
• Behavior tied to a specific primitive's lifecycle (autofocus on Dialog open) → push into the primitive's props (<Dialog autoFocusFirstInput>).

Present the proposal in one block:

3 sites approved (NewAgentDialog, ProjectDialog, EditTagDialog) — same Cmd+Enter handler each.
Proposed seam: `useSubmitOnCmdEnter(formRef, onSubmit)` in src/hooks/.
Each call site loses ~6 lines; new hook is ~12 lines.
Proceed with extraction, or inline at each site? (e/i)

If the user picks extraction, write the hook/wrapper first, then migrate sites one-by-one, then verify the inline duplicates are gone (grep for the keydown literal). If the user picks inline, apply directly.

Step 5 — Apply (behavior + its visual affordance)

A UX pattern usually has two halves: the behavior (the keydown handler, the focus call, the dismiss) and the affordance (the <kbd>⌘↵</kbd> hint in the button, the autofocus ring, the "Esc to close" footnote). When you propagate the behavior, propagate the affordance too — otherwise siblings have the feature but no one discovers it.

Before writing the diff, check the original site (or the most-polished sibling) for:

• A <kbd> / <Shortcut> / hotkey-hint element inside the primary button
• An aria-keyshortcuts attribute
• A footer line like "Press Esc to close" or "⌘K to search"
• A focus ring or visual cue tied to the behavior

Replicate whichever exist. If none exist on any site, surface that as a one-line flag at the end ("none of these modals show the hotkey to the user — worth adding?") rather than fixing it unilaterally.

Apply changes (extracted seam + migrated sites, or inline edits) in one batch. For each ASK that the user approved, briefly confirm the variant fits (e.g. some modals may need a different keybinding because Enter already does something).

NEVER

• NEVER apply the requested change to siblings without asking Instead: Present the list, get per-instance approval, then apply. Why: Sibling asymmetry is often intentional (destructive modals, role-specific dialogs). Auto-propagating turns a UX win into a regression that's hard to spot in review.

• NEVER skip the sibling sweep on the assumption "the user only meant this one" Instead: Run the grep anyway. If siblings exist, present them. The user can answer "just this one" in two seconds. Why: The user usually doesn't know how many siblings exist — that's the whole reason this skill is needed. Trusting their initial scope is how drift happens.

• NEVER include the primitive (<Modal>, <Dialog> base component) in the apply list Instead: Mark it N/A and apply only to consumers — unless the change genuinely belongs in the primitive (e.g. a focus trap that every consumer should inherit). Why: Pushing consumer-specific behavior into the base component leaks role-specific logic into shared code and forces every other consumer to opt out.

• NEVER present the sibling list without per-instance reasons Instead: Each row gets APPLY/SKIP/ASK plus a one-line reason. Why: A bare list forces the user to re-derive the asymmetry analysis for every row. The reason column is the value the skill provides.

• NEVER expand scope to other UX changes you noticed during the sweep Instead: Mention them in one line at the end ("noticed ProjectDialog also lacks autofocus — flag for later?") and stop. Why: The user invoked a specific change. Bundling other improvements turns a focused diff into a sprawling one and obscures the requested change in review.

• NEVER run this skill for changes the user has already scoped explicitly Instead: If the user said "only in NewAgentDialog" or "just this modal", skip the sweep and implement directly. Why: Re-litigating an already-scoped decision wastes the user's time and trains them that the skill is noise.

• NEVER extract a shared hook/wrapper for 1–2 sites Instead: Inline at each site. Revisit extraction when a 3rd site joins. Why: A hook used twice costs more in indirection than it saves in lines. The Rule of Three exists because abstractions designed from two examples usually mis-fit the third.