ui-styling skill

---
name: ui-styling
description: Style UIs with shadcn/ui components (Radix UI + Tailwind CSS). Use for accessible components, themes, dark mode, responsive layouts, design systems, color customization.
license: MIT
version: 1.0.0
---

# UI Styling Skill

Comprehensive skill for creating beautiful, accessible user interfaces combining shadcn/ui components, Tailwind CSS utility styling, and canvas-based visual design systems.

## Reference

- shadcn/ui: https://ui.shadcn.com/llms.txt
- Tailwind CSS: https://tailwindcss.com/docs

## When to Use This Skill

Use when:
- Building UI with React-based frameworks (Next.js, Vite, Remix, Astro)
- Implementing accessible components (dialogs, forms, tables, navigation)
- Styling with utility-first CSS approach
- Creating responsive, mobile-first layouts
- Implementing dark mode and theme customization
- Building design systems with consistent tokens
- Generating visual designs, posters, or brand materials
- Rapid prototyping with immediate visual feedback
- Adding complex UI patterns (data tables, charts, command palettes)

## Core Stack

### Component Layer: shadcn/ui
- Pre-built accessible components via Radix UI primitives
- Copy-paste distribution model (components live in your codebase)
- TypeScript-first with full type safety
- Composable primitives for complex UIs
- CLI-based installation and management

### Styling Layer: Tailwind CSS
- Utility-first CSS framework
- Build-time processing with zero runtime overhead
- Mobile-first responsive design
- Consistent design tokens (colors, spacing, typography)
- Automatic dead code elimination

### Visual Design Layer: Canvas
- Museum-quality visual compositions
- Philosophy-driven design approach
- Sophisticated visual communication
- Minimal text, maximum visual impact
- Systematic patterns and refined aesthetics

## Quick Start

### Component + Styling Setup

**Install shadcn/ui with Tailwind:**
```bash
npx shadcn@latest init
```

CLI prompts for framework, TypeScript, paths, and theme preferences. This configures both shadcn/ui and Tailwind CSS.

**Add components:**
```bash
npx shadcn@latest add button card dialog form
```

**Use components with utility styling:**
```tsx
import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button"
import { Card, CardHeader, CardTitle, CardContent } from "@/components/ui/card"

export function Dashboard() {
  return (
    <div className="container mx-auto p-6 grid gap-6 md:grid-cols-2 lg:grid-cols-3">
      <Card className="hover:shadow-lg transition-shadow">
        <CardHeader>
          <CardTitle className="text-2xl font-bold">Analytics</CardTitle>
        </CardHeader>
        <CardContent className="space-y-4">
          <p className="text-muted-foreground">View your metrics</p>
          <Button variant="default" className="w-full">
            View Details
          </Button>
        </CardContent>
      </Card>
    </div>
  )
}
```

### Alternative: Tailwind-Only Setup

**Vite projects:**
```bash
npm install -D tailwindcss @tailwindcss/vite
```

```javascript
// vite.config.ts
import tailwindcss from '@tailwindcss/vite'
export default { plugins: [tailwindcss()] }
```

```css
/* src/index.css */
@import "tailwindcss";
```

## Component Library Guide

**Comprehensive component catalog with usage patterns, installation, and composition examples.**

See: `references/shadcn-components.md`

Covers:
- Form & input components (Button, Input, Select, Checkbox, Date Picker, Form validation)
- Layout & navigation (Card, Tabs, Accordion, Navigation Menu)
- Overlays & dialogs (Dialog, Drawer, Popover, Toast, Command)
- Feedback & status (Alert, Progress, Skeleton)
- Display components (Table, Data Table, Avatar, Badge)

## Theme & Customization

**Theme configuration, CSS variables, dark mode implementation, and component customization.**

See: `references/shadcn-theming.md`

Covers:
- Dark mode setup with next-themes
- CSS variable system
- Color customization and palettes
- Component variant customization
- Theme toggle implementation

## Accessibility Patterns

**ARIA patterns, keyboard navigation, screen reader support, and accessible component usage.**

See: `references/shadcn-accessibility.md`

Covers:
- Radix UI accessibility features
- Keyboard navigation patterns
- Focus management
- Screen reader announcements
- Form validation accessibility

## Tailwind Utilities

**Core utility classes for layout, spacing, typography, colors, borders, and shadows.**

See: `references/tailwind-utilities.md`

Covers:
- Layout utilities (Flexbox, Grid, positioning)
- Spacing system (padding, margin, gap)
- Typography (font sizes, weights, alignment, line height)
- Colors and backgrounds
- Borders and shadows
- Arbitrary values for custom styling

## Responsive Design

**Mobile-first breakpoints, responsive utilities, and adaptive layouts.**

See: `references/tailwind-responsive.md`

Covers:
- Mobile-first approach
- Breakpoint system (sm, md, lg, xl, 2xl)
- Responsive utility patterns
- Container queries
- Max-width queries
- Custom breakpoints

## Tailwind Customization

**Config file structure, custom utilities, plugins, and theme extensions.**

See: `references/tailwind-customization.md`

Covers:
- @theme directive for custom tokens
- Custom colors and fonts
- Spacing and breakpoint extensions
- Custom utility creation
- Custom variants
- Layer organization (@layer base, components, utilities)
- Apply directive for component extraction

## Visual Design System

**Canvas-based design philosophy, visual communication principles, and sophisticated compositions.**

See: `references/canvas-design-system.md`

Covers:
- Design philosophy approach
- Visual communication over text
- Systematic patterns and composition
- Color, form, and spatial design
- Minimal text integration
- Museum-quality execution
- Multi-page design systems

## Utility Scripts

**Python automation for component installation and configuration generation.**

### shadcn_add.py
Add shadcn/ui components with dependency handling:
```bash
python scripts/shadcn_add.py button card dialog
```

### tailwind_config_gen.py
Generate tailwind.config.js with custom theme:
```bash
python scripts/tailwind_config_gen.py --colors brand:blue --fonts display:Inter
```

## Best Practices

1. **Component Composition**: Build complex UIs from simple, composable primitives
2. **Utility-First Styling**: Use Tailwind classes directly; extract components only for true repetition
3. **Mobile-First Responsive**: Start with mobile styles, layer responsive variants
4. **Accessibility-First**: Leverage Radix UI primitives, add focus states, use semantic HTML
5. **Design Tokens**: Use consistent spacing scale, color palettes, typography system
6. **Dark Mode Consistency**: Apply dark variants to all themed elements
7. **Performance**: Leverage automatic CSS purging, avoid dynamic class names
8. **TypeScript**: Use full type safety for better DX
9. **Visual Hierarchy**: Let composition guide attention, use spacing and color intentionally
10. **Expert Craftsmanship**: Every detail matters - treat UI as a craft

## Reference Navigation

**Component Library**
- `references/shadcn-components.md` - Complete component catalog
- `references/shadcn-theming.md` - Theming and customization
- `references/shadcn-accessibility.md` - Accessibility patterns

**Styling System**
- `references/tailwind-utilities.md` - Core utility classes
- `references/tailwind-responsive.md` - Responsive design
- `references/tailwind-customization.md` - Configuration and extensions

**Visual Design**
- `references/canvas-design-system.md` - Design philosophy and canvas workflows

**Automation**
- `scripts/shadcn_add.py` - Component installation
- `scripts/tailwind_config_gen.py` - Config generation

## Common Patterns

**Form with validation:**
```tsx
import { useForm } from "react-hook-form"
import { zodResolver } from "@hookform/resolvers/zod"
import * as z from "zod"
import { Form, FormField, FormItem, FormLabel, FormControl, FormMessage } from "@/components/ui/form"
import { Input } from "@/components/ui/input"
import { Button } from "@/components/ui/button"

const schema = z.object({
  email: z.string().email(),
  password: z.string().min(8)
})

export function LoginForm() {
  const form = useForm({
    resolver: zodResolver(schema),
    defaultValues: { email: "", password: "" }
  })

  return (
    <Form {...form}>
      <form onSubmit={form.handleSubmit(console.log)} className="space-y-6">
        <FormField control={form.control} name="email" render={({ field }) => (
          <FormItem>
            <FormLabel>Email</FormLabel>
            <FormControl>
              <Input type="email" {...field} />
            </FormControl>
            <FormMessage />
          </FormItem>
        )} />
        <Button type="submit" className="w-full">Sign In</Button>
      </form>
    </Form>
  )
}
```

**Responsive layout with dark mode:**
```tsx
<div className="min-h-screen bg-white dark:bg-gray-900">
  <div className="container mx-auto px-4 py-8">
    <div className="grid grid-cols-1 md:grid-cols-2 lg:grid-cols-3 gap-6">
      <Card className="bg-white dark:bg-gray-800 border-gray-200 dark:border-gray-700">
        <CardContent className="p-6">
          <h3 className="text-xl font-semibold text-gray-900 dark:text-white">
            Content
          </h3>
        </CardContent>
      </Card>
    </div>
  </div>
</div>
```

## Resources

- shadcn/ui Docs: https://ui.shadcn.com
- Tailwind CSS Docs: https://tailwindcss.com
- Radix UI: https://radix-ui.com
- Tailwind UI: https://tailwindui.com
- Headless UI: https://headlessui.com
- v0 (AI UI Generator): https://v0.dev