web-design-guidelines

Overview of web-design-guidelines skill

What web-design-guidelines does

The web-design-guidelines skill is an audit-focused skill that reviews UI code against Vercel's Web Interface Guidelines. Its main job is not to generate new designs, but to inspect existing files, fetch the latest rule set, and return concrete findings tied to code locations.

Who should install it

This skill is best for developers, design engineers, and UX reviewers who already have front-end files and want a structured review pass. It is especially useful when the real task is "tell me what is wrong in this UI implementation" rather than "invent a new interface from scratch."

Best fit job to be done

Use web-design-guidelines when you need a repeatable UX audit on actual code:

• review a page, component, or app shell
• check for accessibility and interface quality issues
• run a design-system compliance pass before shipping
• perform a lightweight web-design-guidelines for UX Audit workflow on changed files

What makes it different from a generic prompt

The main differentiator is freshness and specificity. The skill tells the agent to fetch the latest guideline document before each review, then inspect the provided files and output findings in terse file:line form. That is more operational than a general "review my UI" prompt, and better suited to code review workflows.

What to know before adopting

This is a minimal skill with one core behavior. It has no bundled rules, examples, or helper scripts in the repository; the real audit logic lives in the external guidelines document it fetches at runtime. That makes the skill lightweight, but also means output quality depends on:

• network access to fetch the current guidelines
• the quality of the files or patterns you provide
• whether the agent can read the relevant UI code, not just screenshots or vague descriptions

How to Use web-design-guidelines skill

Install context for web-design-guidelines install

A typical install command is:

npx skills add https://github.com/vercel-labs/agent-skills --skill web-design-guidelines

After installation, invoke it when you want the agent to audit specific UI files. Since the repository only contains SKILL.md, there is little setup overhead, but you should expect the skill to rely on the remote guidelines source at run time.

Read this file first

Start with skills/web-design-guidelines/SKILL.md. That file defines the entire workflow:

1. fetch latest guidelines
2. read target files
3. apply all rules
4. return findings in terse file:line format

Because there are no local supporting docs, there is no deeper repository-reading path beyond understanding that sequence.

The input web-design-guidelines needs

The skill works best when you provide one of these:

• a specific file: src/app/page.tsx
• a small file set: components/navigation/*.tsx
• a review target by feature area: "header, pricing cards, and mobile nav"
• a diff-oriented scope: "review files changed in this PR"

If you do not specify files, the skill is designed to ask you which files to review.

What weak inputs look like

Weak request:
Review my UI

Why it underperforms:

• no files to inspect
• no surface area boundaries
• no indication of whether you want broad UX issues or shipping blockers

The skill can still ask follow-up questions, but you lose speed and precision.

What stronger inputs look like

Stronger web-design-guidelines usage prompt:

Use web-design-guidelines to audit src/app/page.tsx and components/hero.tsx. Focus on hierarchy, accessibility, button clarity, spacing consistency, and mobile usability. Return findings as file:line issues first, then a short severity summary.

Why this works better:

• names exact files
• narrows the review surface
• adds practical priorities without fighting the skill's format

Best workflow for a UX audit

A practical web-design-guidelines guide workflow is:

1. choose a narrow review target
2. ask the agent to fetch the latest guidelines
3. review implementation files, not just design intent
4. collect file:line findings
5. fix high-severity issues
6. rerun the skill on the edited files

This makes the skill useful as an iterative audit tool rather than a one-off opinion generator.

How to turn a rough goal into a good prompt

If your real goal is vague, convert it into:

• scope: which files or patterns
• context: what the UI is for
• priorities: accessibility, clarity, responsiveness, conversion, consistency
• output preference: terse findings, grouped by severity, or quick fix suggestions after findings

Example:
Run web-design-guidelines on components/checkout/**/*.tsx. This is a multi-step checkout flow. Prioritize form clarity, error states, focus management, and mobile tap targets. Give me file:line findings, then the top 5 fixes to do first.

When to use it on code vs screenshots

Use this skill primarily on code. Its instructions are code-review oriented and expect file inspection. If you only have screenshots or Figma frames, a general UX critique prompt may fit better first. Use web-design-guidelines once the interface exists in code and you want implementation-level findings.

Output shape to expect

The skill is built around terse findings in file:line format. That is useful for:

• PR comments
• issue trackers
• quick engineering handoff
• batch review of changed UI files

If you want rewrite suggestions or patch proposals, ask for them after the audit pass so the findings remain clean.

Practical constraints and tradeoffs

Important adoption detail: the skill depends on fetching an external guideline file from:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/vercel-labs/web-interface-guidelines/main/command.md

That means:

• offline or restricted environments may block it
• reviews can change over time as the source guidelines evolve
• reproducibility is weaker than a pinned local rule set

This is a strength if you want current guidance, and a tradeoff if you need stable audits across long review cycles.

web-design-guidelines skill FAQ

Is web-design-guidelines good for beginners?

Yes, if you already have UI code to review. It is simpler than many skills because it has one clear purpose. The main beginner hurdle is knowing which files to pass in. If you can point to the page or components in question, the skill is approachable.

Is this better than asking for a normal design review?

Usually yes for implementation audits. A generic prompt may produce broad advice, but web-design-guidelines skill gives the agent a defined workflow and a current rule source. That tends to produce more actionable findings tied to actual code locations.

Can I use web-design-guidelines for UX Audit in a PR?

Yes. It is a good fit for reviewing changed front-end files in a pull request, especially when you want concise findings engineers can fix directly. Keep the scope tight so the output stays high signal.

What does it not do well?

It is not a replacement for:

• visual design exploration
• brand direction work
• user research
• usability testing with real users
• generating a full component library

It reviews implementation against guidelines; it does not discover product strategy problems on its own.

Does it require a specific framework?

No framework-specific instructions are exposed in the repository. You can use it on common web UI code as long as the agent can read the relevant files. It is most natural for React, Next.js, and similar component-based front ends, but the concept is broader than that.

When should I not install this skill?

Skip it if:

• you only want design inspiration
• your environment cannot fetch external URLs
• your team needs a pinned internal design review rubric
• you mostly review screenshots rather than code

In those cases, a custom local checklist or a broader UX review workflow may fit better.

How to Improve web-design-guidelines skill

Give narrower review scopes

The fastest way to improve web-design-guidelines results is to avoid broad prompts like "audit my whole app." Review one page, flow, or component group at a time. Narrow scopes produce fewer generic comments and better prioritization.

Add product context the guidelines cannot infer

The fetched rules can guide review quality, but they do not know your business goal. Add one sentence such as:

• "This page should drive demo bookings"
• "This flow is for first-time mobile users"
• "This dashboard is used daily by power users"

That context helps the agent judge clarity and interaction tradeoffs more usefully.

Ask for severity, not just findings

The default strength of the skill is pinpointed findings. To make output easier to act on, ask for severity labels or a ranked summary after the file:line list.

Example:
Use web-design-guidelines on app/signup/page.tsx and components/signup-form.tsx. Return file:line findings, then group the top issues by critical, medium, and polish.

Provide related files, not isolated fragments

UI issues often span multiple files: component, layout, styles, and state handling. If you only pass one leaf component, the audit may miss context like heading order, keyboard flow, or surrounding copy. Include enough related files for the agent to understand the real user path.

Watch for common failure modes

Results are weaker when:

• the prompt does not identify files
• the files contain mostly logic, not rendered UI
• the target scope is too large
• you expect visual judgments from incomplete code
• the environment cannot fetch the latest guideline source

If the audit feels generic, the cause is often input quality rather than the skill itself.

Iterate after the first pass

A strong workflow is:

1. run web-design-guidelines
2. fix obvious high-severity issues
3. rerun on the changed files
4. ask for remaining blockers only

This reduces noise and helps the skill focus on what still matters after the first cleanup.

Pair audit findings with implementation follow-up

After the audit, ask a second prompt for remediation:

• rewrite confusing copy
• improve semantic structure
• adjust focus states
• tighten spacing and hierarchy
• suggest code-level fixes per finding

Keeping the audit and the fix pass separate usually produces cleaner outputs than asking for everything at once.

Make the skill more reliable in your workflow

If your team values consistency, capture the fetched guideline version or save the retrieved content alongside your review notes. Because web-design-guidelines pulls fresh rules each time, preserving the exact review basis can make later comparisons easier.