/ui-styling

name: ui-styling
description: Create beautiful, accessible user interfaces with shadcn/ui components (built on Radix UI + Tailwind), Tailwind CSS utility-first styling, and canvas-based visual designs. Use when building user interfaces, implementing design systems, creating responsive layouts, adding accessible components (dialogs, dropdowns, forms, tables), customizing themes and colors, implementing dark mode, generating visual designs and posters, or establishing consistent styling patterns across applications.
argument-hint: "[component or layout]"
license: MIT
metadata:
  author: claudekit
  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:**

npx shadcn@latest init

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

**Add components:**

npx shadcn@latest add button card dialog form

**Use components with utility styling:**

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:**

npm install -D tailwindcss @tailwindcss/vite

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

/* 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