| name | Webdesign |
| description | Design and integrate web interfaces using Anthropic's Claude Design (claude.ai/design) as the primary engine, with optional downstream handoff to the frontend-design plugin for production code. Drives Claude Design through the Interceptor skill for programmatic access to the authenticated claude.ai session. USE WHEN: web design, UI design, create prototype, design system, design tokens, brand extraction, redesign site, mockup, wireframe, landing page, dashboard design, component library, design-to-code, figma alternative, claude design, frontend design, polish UI, design audit, accessibility review. ALSO USE WHEN: this skill is called as a sub-step of larger site work (blog, admin panel, marketing site) — it integrates designs INTO an existing application, not just greenfield. NOT FOR: static illustrations or diagrams (use Art), logo/brand asset generation (use Art), video/motion graphics (use Remotion), or arbitrary graphic design outside the web/UI domain. |
| license | Complete terms in LICENSE.txt |
| effort | medium |
Voice Notification (REQUIRED FIRST ACTION)
curl -s -X POST http://localhost:31337/notify \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"message": "Running the Webdesign skill", "voice_enabled": true}' > /dev/null
What This Skill Is
Webdesign is the PAI orchestration layer around Claude Design — Anthropic's web-based visual design product launched in April 2026 at claude.ai/design. Claude Design is not a CLI tool or plugin; it is a surface on claude.ai powered by Claude Opus 4.7 vision. This skill bridges the gap by:
- Driving Claude Design programmatically through the Interceptor skill (real-Chrome automation of the authenticated claude.ai session).
- Processing handoff bundles that Claude Design produces, feeding them into local codebases.
- Delegating production code generation to the
frontend-design plugin (Anthropic, auto-activates in Claude Code) when the output is code.
- Integrating designs INTO existing applications — framework-aware diff/patch flow, not greenfield-only.
- Verifying and deploying the result via Interceptor + the project's chosen host.
Claude Design is the engine. Webdesign is the cockpit.
Integration-Aware Operation (CRITICAL)
This skill is frequently called as a sub-step of larger site work — writing a blog post, building an admin dashboard, shipping a marketing page. When invoked from a parent context, the skill:
- Accepts existing-project context as input: framework, token file, component directory, deployment target.
- Produces output as diffs / patches against the existing app, not isolated HTML files.
- Respects existing design tokens and component patterns — does NOT overwrite them unless the user requests a full redesign.
- Routes integration work through
Workflows/IntegrateIntoApp.md.
When invoked standalone for a greenfield design, the skill produces a self-contained prototype and optionally scaffolds a new app.
Customization
User-specific design preferences (color palette, typography, spacing grid, animation timing, framework defaults) live at:
~/.claude/PAI/USER/SKILLCUSTOMIZATIONS/Webdesign/
├── PREFERENCES.md # Design tokens, preferred frameworks
├── README.md
└── EXTEND.yaml
The skill reads PREFERENCES.md if present and passes those tokens into Claude Design's brief and any downstream handoff bundle. Without a customization layer, the skill defaults to Claude Design's own system-extraction output.
Workflow Routing
When executing a workflow, output this notification:
Running **WorkflowName** in **Webdesign**...
| Workflow | Trigger | File |
|---|
| CreatePrototype | "design a prototype", "create prototype", "mockup", "build a design" | Workflows/CreatePrototype.md |
| ExtractDesignSystem | "extract design system", "pull tokens from", "extract brand" | Workflows/ExtractDesignSystem.md |
| RefinePrototype | "iterate on", "refine", "adjust spacing", "change color" | Workflows/RefinePrototype.md |
| WebsiteToRedesign | "redesign this site", "rebuild this URL", "modernize" | Workflows/WebsiteToRedesign.md |
| ExportToCode | "export to code", "ship to code", "send to Claude Code", "process handoff" | Workflows/ExportToCode.md |
| IntegrateIntoApp | "integrate this into", "patch into the app", "land in existing codebase" | Workflows/IntegrateIntoApp.md |
| DeployDesign | "deploy the design", "ship to production" | Workflows/DeployDesign.md |
Prerequisites (PREFLIGHT)
Before running any workflow, confirm:
- Interceptor skill available —
which interceptor returns a path. If not, instruct user to invoke Skill("Interceptor") setup first.
- Authenticated claude.ai session — Interceptor must have a logged-in claude.ai profile. First-run is headed; subsequent runs are headless.
- Claude Design access — User's Claude subscription must include Claude Design (Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise with admin opt-in).
- For
IntegrateIntoApp: parent-project path + framework identifier (next, astro, vitepress, vite-react, vue, vanilla) passed in context.
Missing prerequisites → halt with a clear remediation step. Never silently fall back.
Gotchas
Accumulate lessons here. Information density is highest in gotchas.
- Claude Design is web-only. There is no API, no MCP server, no plugin. Interceptor is the only programmatic path.
- Real Chrome required. Use the Interceptor skill — it is the only sanctioned browser automation in PAI. Claude Design's UI depends on claude.ai's full session state; CDP-based automation trips bot detection and drops session cookies.
- Handoff bundles are directories, not single files. A bundle contains
PROMPT.md, optional tokens.json, components/, assets/, and framework-specific scaffolding. Treat the whole directory as the unit.
frontend-design plugin auto-activates. When the handoff bundle is fed to Claude Code, the plugin (already installed in the official marketplace) picks up the frontend work automatically — do NOT manually invoke it.- Claude Design's design-system extraction runs during onboarding. For a new codebase you want Claude Design to understand, run
ExtractDesignSystem FIRST before CreatePrototype — otherwise Claude Design uses generic defaults and overrides your tokens.
- Integration ≠ overwrite.
IntegrateIntoApp produces diffs on top of existing code. If the user wants a full redesign that replaces existing UI, explicitly flag this and get confirmation.
- Canva exports are editable. If the user wants a non-developer (marketer, founder) to refine the design, route through
Workflows/ExportToCode.md with --format canva.
- No real-time collab. Claude Design does not support multiplayer editing like Figma. Share via URL export for async review.
- Enterprise gate. Enterprise accounts need an admin to enable Claude Design in Organization settings before the palette icon appears in claude.ai.
- Session quotas. Claude Design burns Opus 4.7 tokens fast. Pro tier is insufficient for sustained pro-design work; Max recommended.
- Output fidelity ≠ production-ready. Claude Design produces polished visuals, but hand-off code often needs a verification + a11y pass. Run
Tools/VerifyDesign.ts post-integration.
- Vision doesn't guess. If the prompt doesn't specify responsive breakpoints, contrast requirements, or dark-mode behavior, Claude Design picks defaults that may not match the target app. Be explicit in the brief.
Examples
Example 1: Create a prototype from a brief
User: "Design a pricing page for an AI security startup — editorial aesthetic, dark only"
→ Invokes CreatePrototype workflow
→ Preflight: Interceptor + authenticated claude.ai session
→ Composes brief with explicit aesthetic, constraints, differentiation
→ Drives claude.ai/design via Tools/DriveClaudeDesign.ts
→ Screenshots output, verifies a11y via Tools/VerifyDesign.ts
→ Returns bundle path + preview URL
Example 2: Land a Claude Design prototype inside an existing Astro app
User: "Integrate this prototype into ~/Projects/landing — it's an Astro site"
→ Invokes IntegrateIntoApp workflow
→ Audits target project (framework, tokens, components)
→ Runs ExtractDesignSystem first to prime Claude Design with app's real tokens
→ Translates prototype to Astro conventions via frontend-design plugin
→ Produces unified diff against the working tree
→ Pauses for human review before applying
→ Applies patch on a branch, runs tests, screenshots in-context
Example 3: Redesign an existing live site
User: "Redesign example.com — modernize, keep the copy, make it brutalist"
→ Invokes WebsiteToRedesign workflow
→ Captures current state (screenshot + HTML + tokens)
→ Writes critique (what works, what's dated, what to preserve)
→ Composes rebuild brief with explicit aesthetic and preserve list
→ Drives Claude Design with critique + original screenshot as input
→ Iterates via RefinePrototype until satisfied
→ Hands off to IntegrateIntoApp or ExportToCode
File Organization
skills/Webdesign/
├── SKILL.md # This file — routing + gotchas
├── README.md # Public-facing intro
├── Workflows/
│ ├── CreatePrototype.md
│ ├── ExtractDesignSystem.md
│ ├── RefinePrototype.md
│ ├── WebsiteToRedesign.md
│ ├── ExportToCode.md
│ ├── IntegrateIntoApp.md
│ └── DeployDesign.md
├── Tools/
│ ├── DriveClaudeDesign.ts # Interceptor wrapper for claude.ai/design
│ ├── ProcessHandoffBundle.ts # Parse bundle → structured brief
│ └── VerifyDesign.ts # Screenshot + a11y probe
└── References/
├── ClaudeDesignCapabilities.md # What Claude Design does / doesn't do
├── InputFormats.md # Prompt patterns, codebase prep
├── ExportFormats.md # html / pdf / pptx / canva / url / bundle
└── HandoffBundleSpec.md # Bundle structure for Claude Code handoff
Execution Log
{"ts":"ISO8601","workflow":"CreatePrototype","brief":"one-line","outputs":["path1","path2"],"duration_s":42}
This log is read-only metadata; it is not part of the public skill distribution.
