hig-components-menus
by raintree-technologyhig-components-menus is an Apple HIG guidance skill for menus and button-driven command surfaces. Use the hig-components-menus skill for UI Design decisions on menus, context menus, toolbars, menu bars, and related controls when you need Apple-specific guidance on command placement, grouping, and behavior.
This skill scores 82/100, which means it is a solid directory listing for users who need Apple HIG guidance on menus and buttons. It gives agents a clear trigger scope, concrete decision cues, and enough structured reference material to act with less guesswork than a generic prompt, though it is more guidance index than step-by-step workflow automation.
- Strong triggerability: the description names many explicit user intents and component types, making it easy for an agent to invoke correctly.
- Good evidence-backed coverage: the body links menus, context menus, edit menus, menu bar, toolbars, action buttons, pop-up/pull-down buttons, disclosure controls, and standard buttons.
- Helpful cross-references and source attribution: 11 reference files point to canonical Apple HIG pages, improving trust and navigation.
- Operationally light: the repository is mostly organized reference content, with no scripts or install command to support procedural execution.
- Some breadth over depth: the description is broad, but the visible body excerpts suggest guidance is higher-level and may require the agent to synthesize across references.
Overview of hig-components-menus skill
hig-components-menus is an Apple HIG guidance skill for designing menus and button-driven command surfaces across Apple platforms. Use the hig-components-menus skill when you need practical direction on menus, context menus, dock menus, edit menus, the menu bar, toolbars, action buttons, pop-up buttons, pull-down buttons, disclosure controls, or standard buttons.
This skill is best for UI designers, product designers, frontend engineers, and AI agents generating Apple-style interface guidance. The real job-to-be-done is not “what is a menu?” but “which control belongs here, what should it contain, and how should it behave so it matches Apple conventions and stays predictable.”
What it helps you decide
The hig-components-menus guide is useful when the design question is about command placement, not visual polish alone. It helps you choose between toolbar actions, menu bar commands, context menus, and inline controls; avoid overloading menus with low-value items; and keep labels, ordering, and grouping aligned with platform expectations.
Why it is worth installing
Compared with a generic prompt, hig-components-menus gives you structured HIG coverage plus cross-references into nearby topics like buttons, context menus, edit menus, and toolbars. That makes it stronger for decisions that depend on component boundaries and behavior, especially when you need Apple-specific consistency instead of broad UI advice.
Best-fit and misfit cases
Install hig-components-menus if you are designing for Apple platforms or translating product intent into Apple HIG-aligned UI. Skip it if you need framework code, component implementation details, or non-Apple design systems; this skill is about design guidance and interaction choices, not SDK APIs.
How to Use hig-components-menus skill
Install and open the right entry file
Use the hig-components-menus install path from the directory, then start with SKILL.md. The most useful supporting files are the references/ pages, because they separate the main component families into readable slices. For quick triage, read references/menus.md, references/buttons.md, references/context-menus.md, and references/toolbars.md first.
Give the skill a concrete UI problem
The hig-components-menus usage works best when you describe the screen, platform, and user goal instead of asking for abstract design advice. Strong input names the command source, the context, and the constraint:
- “Design the command surface for a macOS document editor with 8 frequent actions and 12 occasional actions.”
- “Should delete, duplicate, and share live in the toolbar, context menu, or menu bar for iPadOS?”
- “How should an Apple-style context menu differ for selected text versus a file item?”
If you only say “design my menu,” the skill has to guess the interaction model and will be less useful.
Read the references in the order of the decision
A practical hig-components-menus guide usually starts with the main component, then narrows to special cases. Read references/menus.md for label and organization rules, references/context-menus.md for relevance and item count, and references/toolbars.md when you are deciding what should be always visible. Use references/the-menu-bar.md for macOS command architecture and references/edit-menus.md when text editing is involved.
Use a decision-first workflow
Ask the skill to produce the control choice first, then the content, then the ordering. A good prompt format is:
- Platform: macOS, iPadOS, iOS, or visionOS
- Object: selection, document, message, file, or app-wide command
- Action set: primary, secondary, destructive, and unavailable actions
- Constraint: space, discoverability, keyboard support, or consistency
That structure helps the hig-components-menus skill return a more precise answer about where commands belong and what should be hidden, grouped, or promoted.
hig-components-menus skill FAQ
Is hig-components-menus only for menus?
No. The hig-components-menus skill covers menus and the adjacent button patterns that control command access, including action buttons, pop-up buttons, pull-down buttons, disclosure controls, toolbars, and standard buttons. That broader scope is useful because many Apple UI decisions depend on whether an action is exposed as a button, a menu item, or both.
When should I not use this skill?
Do not use hig-components-menus if your question is mainly about visual branding, custom motion, or component code. It is also not the right fit if you are designing for a non-Apple ecosystem and do not need Apple HIG behavior. For implementation details, pair it with framework documentation instead.
How is this different from a normal prompt?
A normal prompt might suggest a menu structure, but the hig-components-menus skill is tuned to Apple-specific tradeoffs: command hierarchy, platform conventions, menu density, and when to prefer visible actions over hidden ones. That usually means less guesswork when you need a UI that feels native on Apple devices.
Is it beginner-friendly?
Yes, if you can describe the screen and the actions involved. You do not need deep HIG knowledge to start using hig-components-menus, but you do need enough context to tell the skill what the user is doing and what commands are available. The better your scenario, the better the guidance.
How to Improve hig-components-menus skill
Provide action inventories, not just goals
The biggest quality gain comes from listing actual actions. Instead of “make this easier,” give the skill the command set and mark which actions are frequent, rare, destructive, or contextual. That lets hig-components-menus judge whether a toolbar, menu, or context menu is appropriate and whether an item should be hidden or surfaced.
State the platform and trigger explicitly
A menu pattern that fits macOS may be wrong on iOS or iPadOS. Say whether the user invokes the command with click, right-click, touch and hold, keyboard, or menu bar navigation. This matters because the hig-components-menus guide is sensitive to platform-specific interaction paths, especially for context menus and edit menus.
Ask for tradeoffs, not just a final answer
If the first answer feels generic, iterate by asking why a command belongs in one place rather than another. For example: “Which items should move from the context menu into the toolbar, and what is the discoverability cost?” That produces more useful hig-components-menus usage because the output becomes decision-support, not just a list.
Watch for common failure modes
The usual mistakes are overstuffed menus, duplicate commands with no clear priority, and hiding core actions behind secondary gestures. Use the skill to check for those problems early. If the first output seems too dense, ask for a reduced set of high-value items and a stricter separation between primary and secondary actions.