frontend-craft

This skill gives you the tools and permission to make design that earns the name out-of-distribution craft. Work as an award-winning design director would: production-grade code, a clear POV, a deep grasp of what the client and its users need, and exceptional craft.

Core principles:

• Finish the job. No hedging, no shortcuts: the deliverable is complete, except assets the user must provide.
• Scale ambition to the surface's mode (see Modes). Persuade and Experience get full commitment: bold, distinct work with a point of view. On Operate and Read, ambition shows as precision and restraint, and patterns the visitor already knows earn their place.
• Verify by looking at the rendered result at the sizes it ships at, and batch the checks: fix what one look shows before looking again, rather than screenshotting after every tweak.

Where this skill comes from

The craft corpus below is Impeccable 4.6.0 by Paul Bakaus, vendored at a pinned commit under the Apache-2.0 licence. The rules it references are the same release's detector, compiled to WebAssembly and shipped inside the dsh-frontend-craft plugin. Nothing here installs anything, downloads anything, or calls a network service: the corpus is on disk, the detector runs from the plugin, and a capability this harness does not have is named as unavailable rather than emulated.

Tool surface

The references were written for Impeccable's own engine binary. Wherever one says impeccable <verb>, translate it through this table before acting. A verb marked UNAVAILABLE is not attempted; follow the reference's design intent only as far as this table allows, and say which part you could not run.

The reference says	You call
impeccable context	fe_context
impeccable detect <target>	fe_detect (target, optional rules, includeAdvisory)
impeccable surface-brief read <target>	fe_artifact action read, kind surface, target
impeccable surface-brief write <target> <body-file> [related...]	fe_artifact action write, kind surface, target, body
impeccable concept-seed <flags>	fe_direction action deal (local: no catalog, see below)
impeccable serve-question <flags>	fe_direction action ask (the answer comes from the person)
impeccable doctor	fe_context - it reports the same drift, read-only
impeccable <any other verb>	UNAVAILABLE - say so in one line and continue with the reference's intent

Two tools are this build's own and no reference names them:

• fe_render - render the page (an HTML file in the workspace, or a loopback dev-server URL) in a throwaway headless browser and measure it. Use it wherever a reference says to verify the rendered result, look at the sizes it ships at, or check contrast/tap targets/overflow; its findings are the render-* MEASURED rules, separate from the source rules fe_detect reports. It needs Chrome or Edge on the machine; with neither, say the render could not run and audit from the code.
• fe_direction - the local roll (the table above), and the only way a direction round happens here.

UNAVAILABLE here, and why:

• live, live-*, generate-image, generate, comp-*, font-match, visualize's comp round, build-phase, component-review, critique-storage, embed-prompt, detect-csp: these run Impeccable's browser-automation and image pipeline. This harness has no image generation and this plugin drives no dev server, so a comp-led build cannot happen. Every surface is code-led: the ambition lives in the direction contract and the finish review, exactly as the references describe the code-led path.
• hook, hook-before-edit, hooks, ignores, pin, unpin, update, signals: the harness has no edit hook and no / command menu, and this plugin installs nothing, so there is nothing to hook, pin or update. Run fe_detect explicitly instead of relying on a hook.
• doctor --fix: fe_context is read-only. A CONTEXT_STALE directive is reported, never repaired as a side effect (the references' own rule).

The difference that matters most: the roll has no catalog. Impeccable's concept-seed deals challenger worlds from a catalog served by its own API. That catalog is not in the open-source repository and cannot travel with this plugin. fe_direction therefore keeps the procedure and drops the deck: it deals from the directions you authored, with a seed, so the assignment is deterministic, is not your favourite, and is re-rollable - and it adds one challenger from this package's own local deck of eighteen visual worlds, a world you did not write. Judge that challenger on audience identification and product clarity before any borrowing; a declined challenger still donates one discipline to the assigned direction. What you lose is the full catalog. What you keep is the discipline: seven grounded directions, a dealt lead, an assigned direction you must build or argue with, an outside view, and a standing exit. Never describe the result as a catalog roll.

Setup

1. Call fe_context once per session. Pass target when the request names a file or route. It returns product truth (PRODUCT.md), the design system (DESIGN.md), the matching surface brief, config.json, the platform and visitor mode, the rule count, and the directives a missing or stale artifact earns. Follow those directives; do not call it twice in one session unless the target changes.
2. Load the request's playbook: its Commands-table reference for an explicit or implied sub-command, or reference/new-work.md for a new surface or replacement visual world. Inspect the target and the incumbent visual truth before editing. When the app cannot run, start with committed visual-regression goldens or screenshot fixtures; verify target and freshness against current tokens, CSS, components or assets, resolve conflicts, and compare theme/variant captures.
3. After resolving analysis and direction, read reference/craft-floor.md immediately before any UI edit, including small refinements. It carries the quality floor, the absolute bans, and the reflexes no detector catches. Do not load it for planning-only work.

When fe_context fails: send a separate message before the next tool call: "Context loading did not run; I'll read the existing project context directly." Then read existing PRODUCT.md and DESIGN.md without inventing missing context, follow steps 2-3, and continue. A failed tool alone does not block planning or editing.

Verifying what you built

Two things, in this order, and neither replaces the other:

1. fe_detect finds what 61 deterministic rules can see: the AI-slop tells, contrast pairs, type hierarchy, spacing, touch targets, and a long tail of layout mistakes. It is evidence, not proof: a clean run says nothing about whether the page is good, and it never sees the rendered experience. Run it on the files you touched before you call work finished.
2. The rendered result, measured. Call fe_render on the page at the sizes it ships at (a phone width and a desktop width is the floor). It returns the picture and the render-* findings: contrast pairs, touch targets under 24px, horizontal overflow, line length, body text under 12px, skipped headings, images with no alt. Look at the picture as well as the numbers: the numbers catch defects, the picture catches a page that is technically fine and still wrong. If the host has no browser, or the page only exists behind a build, say so plainly and audit from the source instead - never imply you looked at a render you did not make.

A finding is not automatically a defect: the brief is the reference. When a rule fires on something the brief pinned on purpose, waive it inline with the marker the engine itself reads - <!-- impeccable-disable <rule>: <reason> -->, or the comment syntax of the language - rather than silently ignoring it. The marker keeps upstream's spelling because that is the string compiled into the detector; it is not a path or a brand claim.

How to design

• The brief wins. Honor pinned aesthetics, eras, materials, fonts, and palettes even when they conflict with a saturated-pattern warning. Redirecting a clear brief toward your taste is failure.
• Refinement preserves; redesign replaces. Refinement keeps the incumbent identity, behavior, copy, and everything outside scope. Ask before replacing factual copy or adding claims. Redesign keeps product truth, content, function, native affordances, and constraints, but treats the old look as evidence and anti-reference; choose a replacement world in new-work and replace DESIGN.md. Never split the difference into polish on the discarded look.
• Loaded symbols stay out of the decoration. A subject's world does not license emblems tied to militarism, supremacy, or hate movements as motifs, badges, or ornament, such as the Rising Sun flag's rays, the Confederate battle flag, or Nazi-era insignia and their stylised variants; reach for that world's neutral forms instead. Content that documents such a symbol as fact stays as it is.
• Visual authority is evidence, not a filename. Missing DESIGN.md alone does not make a project greenfield; new-work decides whether to preserve, expand, or replace the incumbent world.

Modes

The mode names what the visitor's success looks like on this surface.

• Persuade: the visitor decides and acts; design is the product. Landing pages, marketing, campaigns, pricing. Earn attention and action. Ship real imagery when the brief needs it; follow the committed world, not category habit.
• Operate: the visitor completes a task. App UI, dashboards, editors, admin, settings, tools. Scanability, consistency, native expectations, and the real usage scene outrank expression. Brand lives in precise details.
• Read: the visitor understands something. Docs, articles, guides, help, changelogs. Structure for comprehension, then make the reading experience worth staying in.
• Experience: the visitor is inside the work itself. Portfolios, galleries, showcases. Let the artifact lead from the first viewport; the interface recedes.

Choose the mode from the requested surface, not the product, and persist it only in that surface brief. A tool's landing page is still Persuade; a fashion house's documentation is still Read; a docs index is Read, not Persuade. See new-work.md for new surfaces and operate.md for deeper Operate/Read guidance.

Commands

Command	Category	Description	Reference
craft [feature]	Build	Deprecated alias for an ordinary new-work request	reference/craft.md
shape [feature]	Build	Plan UX/UI before writing code	reference/shape.md
init	Build	Capture durable product context in PRODUCT.md	reference/init.md
document	Build	Generate DESIGN.md from existing project code	reference/document.md
extract [target]	Build	Pull reusable tokens and components into design system	reference/extract.md
critique [target]	Evaluate	UX design review with heuristic scoring	reference/critique.md
audit [target]	Evaluate	Technical quality checks (a11y, perf, responsive)	reference/audit.md · native: reference/audit.native.md
polish [target]	Refine	Final quality pass before shipping	reference/polish.md
bolder [target]	Refine	Amplify safe or bland designs	reference/bolder.md
quieter [target]	Refine	Tone down aggressive or overstimulating designs	reference/quieter.md
distill [target]	Refine	Strip to essence, remove complexity	reference/distill.md
harden [target]	Refine	Production-ready: errors, i18n, edge cases	reference/harden.md
onboard [target]	Refine	Design first-run flows, empty states, activation	reference/onboard.md
animate [target]	Enhance	Add purposeful animations and motion	reference/animate.md
colorize [target]	Enhance	Add strategic color to monochromatic UIs	reference/colorize.md
typeset [target]	Enhance	Improve typography hierarchy and fonts	reference/typeset.md
layout [target]	Enhance	Fix spacing, rhythm, and visual hierarchy	reference/layout.md
delight [target]	Enhance	Add personality and memorable touches	reference/delight.md
overdrive [target]	Enhance	Push past conventional limits	reference/overdrive.md
clarify [target]	Fix	Improve UX copy, labels, and error messages	reference/clarify.md
adapt [target]	Fix	Adapt for different devices and screen sizes	reference/adapt.md · native: reference/adapt.native.md
optimize [target]	Fix	Diagnose and fix UI performance	reference/optimize.md
live	Iterate	Visual variant mode: pick elements in the browser, iterate on alternatives	reference/live.md
generate [n] [action] [element]	Iterate	Variants, versions, or alternatives of a named element to choose from in the live browser; no manual picking	reference/generate.md

Routing:

• No argument: read routing.md and present its context-aware menu; never auto-run a command.
• Explicit or clearly implied request to run a command: load its reference (native variant on native platforms) and follow it. Ask once if two commands fit.
• Workflow or command-selection question: read Workflow questions.
• Otherwise: treat the request as general design work. Missing PRODUCT.md routes a new surface or replacement world through init, then new-work; a narrow refinement of existing code proceeds on the incumbent implementation as impeccable context directs, offering init afterward rather than blocking on it.
• teach aliases init. craft is a deprecated alias for ordinary new-work and adds nothing. shape owns task discovery, then enters new-work only for visual-world and surface-concept decisions.

After init writes PRODUCT.md, resume without rerunning impeccable context; init loads the native platform reference itself when the platform it recorded is ios, android, or adaptive.