plaid-ui-skills

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

Plaid UI Skills

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

When to Apply

Reference these guidelines when:

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

Colors

• MUST use dark backgrounds (lightness < 20) for primary surfaces - detected lightness: 11
• MUST use #1B1B1B as page background (surface-base)
• MUST use #7FB4D5 for primary actions and focus states (accent)
• SHOULD reduce color palette (currently 17 colors detected)
• MUST maintain text contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for accessibility

Semantic Tokens

Token	HEX	RGB	Usage
surface-base	#1B1B1B	rgb(27,27,27)	Page background
surface-raised	#1376C1	rgb(19,118,193)	Cards, modals, raised surfaces
surface-overlay	#A6C5D9	rgb(166,197,217)	Overlays, tooltips, dropdowns
text-primary	#40645C	rgb(64,100,92)	Headings, body text
text-secondary	#2D4B49	rgb(45,75,73)	Secondary, muted text
text-tertiary	#9E9E9F	rgb(158,158,159)	Additional text
border-default	#373D3E	rgb(55,61,62)	Subtle borders, dividers
accent	#7FB4D5	rgb(127,180,213)	Primary actions, links, focus

Typography

• MUST use Inter as primary font family
• SHOULD use single font family for consistency
• MUST use 72px / 700 for primary headings
• MUST use 23px / 400 for body text
• SHOULD reduce font weights (currently 4 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	72px	700	#7CD5B9	1
body	Inter	23px	400	#BDE4F1	1
text-19px	Inter	19px	500	#2D4B49	1
text-19px	Inter	19px	500	#93CAE6	1
text-19px	Inter	19px	400	#D1D1D1	1
text-17px	Inter	17px	400	#7FB4D5	1
text-16px	Inter	16px	500	#83BEE0	1
text-15px	Inter	15px	400	#35615B	1
text-15px	Inter	15px	400	#374D5A	1
text-14px	Inter	14px	400	#364854	1

Typography Reference

Font Families:

• Inter (used 20x)

Font Sizes: 7px, 11px, 12px, 13px, 14px, 15px, 16px, 17px, 19px, 23px, 72px

Spacing

• MUST use 4px grid for spacing
• SHOULD use spacing from scale: 3px, 4px, 5px, 6px, 11px, 41px
• SHOULD use 5px 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: 18px, 19px, 26px, 32px
• SHOULD use 26px+ radius for pill-shaped elements
• SHOULD limit border widths to: 1px, 2px, 3px
• SHOULD use 26px 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: 18px, 19px, 26px, 32px

Layout

• MUST design for 1920px base viewport width
• SHOULD use consistent element widths: 5px, 6px, 24px, 77px, 210px
• 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: 874px

Components

Buttons

Variant	Background	Text	Border	Height	Radius
Ghost	transparent	#D1D1D1	none	-	-

Interactive States

Focus

• MUST use 2px outline with accent color (#7FB4D5)
• MUST use 2px outline-offset
• NEVER remove focus indicators

Hover

• Buttons (primary): lighten background by 10%
• Buttons (secondary): use #1376C1 background
• List items: use #1376C1 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