scan-scss-styling

name	scan-scss-styling
version	2.0.0
last_reviewed	"2026-04-22T00:00:00.000Z"
description	[Documentation] Use when scanning SCSS architecture, BEM conventions, mixins, variables, theming, and responsive patterns.

Quick Summary

Goal: Scan project stylesheets → populate docs/project-reference/scss-styling-guide.md with BEM methodology usage, SCSS architecture, mixin/variable inventory, theming patterns, responsive breakpoints, and design token conventions.

Workflow:

1. Classify — Detect styling approach and scan mode
2. Scan — Parallel sub-agents discover patterns with file:line evidence
3. Report — Write findings incrementally to report file
4. Generate — Build/update reference doc from report
5. Fresh-Eyes — Round 2 verification validates all variable names and file paths

Key Rules:

• Generic — works with any CSS methodology (SCSS, Less, CSS Modules, Tailwind, CSS-in-JS) MUST ATTENTION detect styling approach FIRST — scan patterns differ significantly
• Every variable value, mixin signature, and breakpoint must come from actual declarations
• Focus on project conventions — NOT generic CSS tutorials

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Scan SCSS Styling

Phase 0: Detect Styling Approach & Mode

[BLOCKING] Before any other step, run in parallel:

1. Read docs/project-reference/scss-styling-guide.md

   • Detect mode: Init (placeholder) or Sync (populated)
   • In Sync mode: extract section list → skip re-scanning well-documented sections

2. Detect styling approach:

Signal	Approach	Agent Emphasis
*.scss files present	SCSS/Sass	Both agents (variables + BEM)
*.less files present	Less	Adapt variable patterns to Less syntax
*.module.css/*.module.scss	CSS Modules	Focus on naming conventions, composition
tailwind.config.* present	Tailwind CSS	Config-first: extract theme overrides, custom utilities
styled-components/emotion in deps	CSS-in-JS	Component-level style colocation, theme provider
Multiple approaches	Hybrid	Document each separately with clear boundary

3. Detect BEM usage:

Signal	BEM Adoption	Notes
block__element--modifier patterns in templates	Active BEM	Document separator style and nesting rules
Mixed BEM and utility classes	Partial BEM	Document which layer uses which approach
Only utility classes (Tailwind, Bootstrap)	No BEM	Document utility class conventions instead

4. Load styling config from docs/project-config.json designSystem.tokenFiles if available.

5. Detect source scope for token discovery (whitelist):

   • src/**/styles/**/*.{scss,css} — global styles
   • src/**/themes/**/*.{scss,css} — theme files
   • src/**/tokens/**/*.{scss,css} — token files
   • EXCLUDE: node_modules, dist, .nx, coverage, component-local styles

Evidence gate: Confidence <60% on primary approach → report uncertainty, proceed with Agent 1 (structure) only.

Phase 1: Plan

Create TaskCreate entries for each sub-agent and each verification step. Do not start Phase 2 without tasks created.

Phase 2: Execute Scan (Parallel Sub-Agents)

Launch 2 general-purpose sub-agents in parallel. Each MUST:

• Write findings incrementally after each category — NEVER batch at end
• Cite file:line for every variable name, mixin, and example
• Confidence: >80% document; 60-80% note as "observed (unverified)"; <60% omit
• Declarations only — NOT usages when cataloguing variables and mixins

All findings → plans/reports/scan-scss-styling-{YYMMDD}-{HHMM}-report.md

Agent 1: SCSS Architecture & Variables

Think (Import chain dimension): What's the entry point? Where do global styles load? Is there a predictable import order (reset → tokens → utilities → components)? What breaks if the order changes?

Think (Variable declaration dimension): Which variables are authoritative declarations vs usages? Are CSS custom properties mirroring SCSS variables (dual-declaration pattern)? What's the naming convention (BEM-inspired, semantic, functional)?

Think (Breakpoint dimension): Where are breakpoints defined? Is there a responsive mixin or just raw media queries scattered across files? Mobile-first or desktop-first?

• Glob for **/*.scss (or detected extension) within whitelist scope
• Find global stylesheet entry points and their @import/@use/@forward chains
• Grep for SCSS variable declarations (^\s*\$[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_-]*\s*:) — dedupe, group by category
• Grep for CSS custom property declarations (--[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_-]*\s*:) in :root or theme blocks
• Find mixin definitions (@mixin\s+[a-zA-Z]) — capture signature + one usage example
• Find function definitions (@function\s+[a-zA-Z])
• Find breakpoint definitions — extract values from media queries and breakpoint variables

Quality gate: If a variable category has <3 unique declarations OR >200, log "scope too narrow/broad — manual refinement required."

Agent 2: BEM Patterns & Theming

Think (BEM convention dimension): What's the exact separator style (double-underscore __, double-dash --, or variants)? What's the maximum nesting depth before patterns break? Are modifiers on blocks, elements, or both?

Think (Theming dimension): How many themes exist? Is theming via CSS custom property overrides, SCSS theme maps, or class-based switching? How does a developer add a new theme?

Think (Component scoping dimension): Are styles co-located with components (scoped) or global? What naming convention prevents cross-component contamination?

• Grep for BEM class patterns in templates/HTML (__ and -- separators) — find 5+ concrete examples
• Find BEM naming conventions in SCSS (nesting patterns, &__element, &--modifier)
• Discover theming patterns — CSS custom property overrides, theme class switching, dark mode
• Find component-scoped vs global style patterns and where each is used
• Look for z-index management (variables, scale, stacking context rules)
• Find animation/transition conventions (duration variables, easing variables)
• Identify color palette — grep declarations only (hex, hsl, rgb in variable declarations)

Phase 3: Analyze & Generate

Read full report. Apply fresh-eyes protocol:

Round 1 (main agent): Build section drafts from report findings.

Round 2 (fresh sub-agent, zero memory):

• Do ALL variable names in examples exist as actual declarations? (Grep verify — declarations, not usages)
• Do mixin names in examples match actual @mixin definitions? (Grep verify)
• Do color values come from declarations, not fabricated hex codes?
• Are breakpoint values read from actual config, not assumed from common values?

Target Sections

Section	Content
BEM Methodology	Separator style, nesting rules, block/element/modifier examples from actual components
SCSS Architecture	File organization, import chain, global vs component style boundary
Mixins & Functions	Table: name, signature, purpose, file:line — declarations only
Variables & Tokens	Table: category (color/spacing/type/breakpoint), variable name, purpose, file:line
Theming	Theme approach, CSS custom property blocks, how to add/modify a theme
Responsive Patterns	Breakpoint definitions, responsive mixin usage, mobile-first vs desktop-first
Color Palette	Color variables/tokens grouped by semantic role (not raw hex list)
Z-Index Scale	Z-index variable definitions and layer naming conventions
Anti-Patterns	What NOT to do — global overrides, specificity hacks, hardcoded values

Phase 4: Write & Verify

1. Write updated doc with <!-- Last scanned: YYYY-MM-DD --> at top
2. Surgical update only — preserve unchanged sections
3. Verify (Glob): ALL stylesheet file paths in examples exist
4. Verify (Grep): ALL variable names match actual declarations — NOT usages
5. Verify (Grep): ALL mixin names match actual @mixin definitions
6. Report: sections created vs updated, approach detected, undocumented styling gaps

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[IMPORTANT] Use TaskCreate to break ALL work into small tasks BEFORE starting — including tasks per file read. Prevents context loss from long files. Simple tasks: ask user whether to skip.

Prerequisites: MUST ATTENTION READ before executing:

Critical Thinking Mindset — Every claim needs traced proof, confidence >80% to act. Anti-hallucination: Never present guess as fact — cite sources, admit uncertainty, self-check output, cross-reference independently. Certainty without evidence = root of all hallucination.

Scan & Update Reference Doc — Surgical updates only, NEVER full rewrite.

1. Read existing doc first — understand structure and manual annotations
2. Detect mode: Placeholder (headings only) → Init. Has content → Sync.
3. Scan codebase (grep/glob) for current patterns
4. Diff findings vs doc — identify stale sections only
5. Update ONLY diverged sections. Preserve manual annotations.
6. Update metadata (date, version) in frontmatter/header
7. NEVER rewrite entire doc. NEVER remove sections without evidence obsolete.

Output Quality — Token efficiency without sacrificing quality.

1. No inventories/counts — stale instantly
2. No directory trees — use 1-line path conventions
3. No TOCs — AI reads linearly
4. One example per pattern — only if non-obvious
5. Lead with answer, not reasoning
6. Sacrifice grammar for concision in reports
7. Unresolved questions at end

AI Mistake Prevention — Failure modes to avoid:

Verify AI-generated content against actual code. AI hallucinates variable names, mixin signatures, and hex color values. Grep to confirm existence before documenting. NEVER invent variable values, hex colors, breakpoint values, or mixin signatures. Grep declarations — NOT usages — to confirm before documenting. Trace full dependency chain after edits. Always trace full chain. Surface ambiguity before coding. NEVER pick silently.

IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION read existing doc first, scan codebase, diff, surgical update only. Never rewrite entire doc.

IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION output quality: no counts/trees/TOCs, 1 example per pattern, lead with answer.

MUST ATTENTION apply critical thinking — every claim needs traced proof, confidence >80% to act. Anti-hallucination: never present guess as fact.

MUST ATTENTION apply AI mistake prevention — holistic-first debugging, fix at responsible layer, surface ambiguity before coding, re-read files after compaction.

Closing Reminders

IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION break work into small TaskCreate tasks BEFORE starting IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION detect styling approach in Phase 0 — patterns differ significantly by approach IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION NEVER invent variable values, hex colors, or mixin signatures — grep declarations IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION sub-agents write findings incrementally after each category — NEVER batch at end IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION declarations only for variables/mixins — NOT usages — in the catalog IMPORTANT MUST ATTENTION when Round 1 finds issues, Round 2 fresh-eyes after fixing validates variable names and values. Clean Round 1 ENDS the scan.

Anti-Rationalization:

Evasion	Rebuttal
"Styling approach obvious, skip Phase 0 detection"	Phase 0 is BLOCKING — SCSS vs Tailwind vs CSS-in-JS require completely different agent patterns
"Variable names look standard ($primary-color)"	Grep-verify every variable name against actual declarations — AI hallucinates variable names
"Breakpoints are probably 768px/1024px"	Read breakpoint declarations — NEVER assume common values
"Color values look right"	ALL color values must come from grep of actual declarations
"Usages and declarations are the same thing"	NEVER mix them — document only declarations as authoritative
"Skip Round 2 even when Round 1 found issues"	Clean Round 1 ends the scan. When issues exist, fresh-eyes mandatory after fixing — main agent rationalizes fabricated variable values.

[TASK-PLANNING] Before acting, analyze task scope and break into small todo tasks and sub-tasks using TaskCreate.