istm-design

name	istm-design
allowed-tools	Bash, Read, Grep, Glob, Write, Edit, Agent, AskUserQuestion
description	The core visual orchestrator for the @istmx/skills framework. Establishes the foundational design tokens (colors, typography, spacing, standard motion) and strictly enforces premium UI aesthetics. Excludes heavy GSAP animation unless explicitly mandated.

Output style (plain words, no dashes, no hyphens)

Write everything this skill produces, files and messages alike, in plain simple language. Keep technical terms that carry real meaning; explain each in plain words. Never use a dash or a hyphen as punctuation: no em dash, no en dash, and no hyphenated compounds. Write read only, not read-only. Say it in simple words, or reword the sentence. Code, file paths, command flags, and values other skills match on keep their hyphens. Use short sentences, commas, or parentheses. Clear beats clever.

What this skill does

The master visual token engine: compiles the design system, enforces typography scaling, and establishes the baseline aesthetic rules for the project.

• Token Compilation: Reads the internal legacy design rules (colors, styles, typography, ux) and synthesizes them into a cohesive design.md blueprint.
• Standard Motion: Defines standard micro-interactions (hover states, simple transitions, loading skeletons). Strictly forbids heavy GSAP scroll-jacking and complex choreographies to keep the baseline application fast and accessible.
• Anti-Slop Enforcement: Explicitly forbids generic AI UI slop (e.g., plain blue buttons, unstyled default fonts, emoji placeholders). Forces the use of curated semantic tokens and professional iconography.

Does not build system architecture (/istm-architecture owns that), wire complex databases (/istm-system-design owns that), or build heavy marketing animations (/istm-animate and /istm-awwward-designer own that).

CRITICAL RULE: NEVER WRITE APPLICATION CODE (HTML/CSS/JS/React). You are an architect. You ONLY write the blueprint file (.istm-context/design.md). If the user asks you to build a page, you must refuse, write the blueprint instead, and instruct the user to run /develop to build the code.

Blueprint file convention

Durable design context lives in the .istm-context/ directory. This skill specifically owns the hydration and enforcement of:

• design.md: The UX strategy, standard motion logic, and strict UI token dictionary.

GOLD STANDARD REFERENCE: When creating a new design.md, you MUST read and use the workspace root /workspaces/laughing-giggle/DESIGN.md as your structural template. Your output must match its level of detail: including comprehensive YAML frontmatter (colors, typography scaling, rounded corners, spacing, components) followed by deep, philosophical markdown explaining the rules. Do not output a shallow file. Read the root DESIGN.md first to understand the required depth.

Never overwrite an existing design.md without permission; gap-fill conservatively and respect established brand guidelines.

Scope

The --force-gsap flag overrides the standard motion rule and allows basic GSAP imports. With no argument, the Pre-flight signals below route to Phase 0 (ambiguous), or Phase 1 (greenfield token generation).

Acts vs asks

Phase 1 asks aesthetic questions (brand vibe, dark/light mode preference, typography style) via MCQ before generating the design tokens. Phase 2 acts immediately; it scans the repo for existing Tailwind configs, CSS variables, or styled-components and reverse-engineers the design system.

Artifact ownership

The design.md file holds the content. Create it if missing. When writing the design tokens, inject the precise CSS variables, tailwind utility classes, and font stacks. You own the enforcement of these tokens; all UI components generated by implementation agents must strictly use the tokens defined here.

Portability (any OS, any agent)

• Commands: Use your agent's cross-platform file tools to read tailwind.config.js or index.css and populate templates.
• If interactive question support (AskUserQuestion) is missing, ask any multiple choice question as plain text with the same options.

Execution

The main thread compiles the design system. It reads the legacy rules in istm-design/ (colors/, typography/, etc.) and the user inputs, synthesizing them into the final design.md.

Pre-flight (main thread does this before anything else)

Gather signals to determine the execution path:

1. Flag check: Was --force-gsap provided? → GSAP_FLAG.
2. Context files: Is design.md already hydrated in .istm-context/? → DESIGN_EXISTS.
3. Source count: Are there existing CSS/Tailwind configs indicating an established design system? → HAS_STYLES.

Pick the phase based on these signals:

Condition	Phase
HAS_STYLES is present	Phase 2 (Reverse-engineer the existing design system).
DESIGN_EXISTS	Phase 3 (Gap-fill: analyze the prompt against existing design tokens and update only what changed).
No flag, no design, no styles (or raw prompt)	Phase 1 (Greenfield: execute Design Interview and generate tokens).
No flag, no design, but HAS_STYLES	Phase 0 (Ambiguous: ask if they want to override existing styles or document them).

Route to the selected phase

• Phase 1 (Greenfield Setup): Evaluate the desired aesthetic (minimal, playful, corporate, brutalist). Interview the user on primary colors and font pairings. Generate a comprehensive design.md with strict H1-H6 scaling and semantic color variables.
• Phase 2 (Reverse Engineering): Do not interview. Read tailwind.config.js, globals.css, or equivalent. Reverse-engineer the color palette and typography scale. Hydrate design.md.
• Phase 3 (Gap Fill): Read existing design.md. Identify missing tokens (e.g., missing success/error states). Update existing blueprints carefully.

Phase 0: Classify (only when pre-flight is ambiguous)

Don't guess. Ask once via your agent's interactive option picker (AskUserQuestion), or plain text.

• question: "I see existing CSS styles, but no design.md blueprint. How should I proceed?"
• header: "Design state"
• options: 1. Reverse-Engineer from CSS, "I will read your styles and generate the design tokens." → Phase 2. 2. Start Fresh from Prompt, "I will interview you and overwrite the design system." → Phase 1.

After all phases

If no tokens were written when they should have been, report the failure. Relay the report: what aesthetic was chosen, what typography scale was locked in, and the primary color values.

Absolute Aesthetic Enforcement Rules

1. Typography Supremacy: Never use browser default fonts. Explicitly define a sans-serif (e.g., Inter, Roboto, Geist) and optionally a display font. Enforce a strict typographic scale.
2. Semantic Colors Over Hex Codes: Forbid the direct use of raw hex codes in UI components. Force the use of semantic tokens (e.g., bg-surface-elevated, text-ink-muted, border-hairline).
3. Micro-Interactions: Enforce standard hover states (opacity shifts, slight scaling, background color transitions) on all interactive elements.
4. No Emojis: Strictly forbid emojis in empty states or UI components. Mandate the use of professional SVG icon libraries (Lucide, Heroicons, Phosphor).
5. No GSAP Default: Standard motion relies on CSS transitions and lightweight Framer Motion/Spring logic. Heavy scroll-jacking or GSAP is forbidden unless /istm-animate or /istm-awwward-designer is explicitly invoked, or the --force-gsap flag is present.