Add Evan's UI-craft skill
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Nicholas Novak
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---
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name: ui-craft
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description: Build high-craft, polished CC2 screens — the layout/typography/state/status/motion/a11y and real-browser-verification discipline distilled from the read-only Order Outs rebuild. Use when building or polishing a view/card/panel, when a screen "looks bland," when covering all of a screen's states, or before calling any UI change done.
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---
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# High-craft UI
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The bar is a screen that reads as **data, not a form** — figure-on-ground
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regions, one hero fact per unit, honest states, and geometry verified in a real
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browser. This skill is the distilled playbook from the Order Outs rebuild
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(`src/views/products-pricing/order-outs/`).
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**North stars — study these first, don't re-derive them:**
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- **Amit's evidence viewer** — the "list → focused detail" viewer host:
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`src/views/evidence/EvidenceView.tsx` (collapses nav to maximize reading
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space; drives detail from a focused-record store),
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`src/views/evidence/evidence-bridge.ts` (viewer↔right-sidebar wiring).
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- **Amit's underwriting tab** — one unified table of a loan's tasks +
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requirements, row → modal/viewer, quiet accessible table chrome:
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`src/views/readiness/ReadinessView.tsx`,
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`src/views/readiness/ReadinessDataTable.tsx` (the shadcn data-table layout as
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lightweight plain React; status-tone dots),
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`src/views/readiness/FiledTasksPanel.tsx`.
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- **shadcn v3** — the design language. The repo points to it by role, not by
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name (`src/pages/docs-page.tsx` links the official docs): data-table = the
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*tasks* example (`ReadinessDataTable`, `ApplicationDataTable`), shell =
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the *dashboard* example (`docs/pylon-design-system.html`), and
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`src/components/button-group-demo.tsx` shows the clone-into-owned-source
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idiom. Compose these primitives; never re-skin `src/components/ui`.
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## When to use
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Building or polishing any view, card, panel, tray, or table under `src/`; the
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human says a screen is "bland" or "so-so"; you need to cover every state of a
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screen; or you are about to call a layout/spacing/wrapping change done. For the
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correct *composition* of primitives (Card shapes, pinned Table, `as` rules) read
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`src/components/AGENTS.md`; for the non-negotiable semantic-HTML/DOM rules read
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`src/AGENTS.md`. This skill is the craft layer on top of those.
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## Before you build — ground the work, don't jump to code
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- **Study the best in-repo exemplar first, then write a short playbook.** The
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strongest results came from reading Amit's evidence viewer + underwriting tab
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and distilling their moves before touching the new screen — not from coding
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straight away. Reuse `docs/screen-redesign-process.md` for the port workflow.
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- **"It looks bland" is latitude to redesign, not a pixel tweak.** The Order
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Outs "it looks so so bland… it doesn't need to be what I told you" triggered a
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full rethink into rich dossier rows — treat that feedback as permission to
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change structure.
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- **Run a quick adversarial design panel before building.** Sketch 2–3 layouts
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and judge them on craft / data-parity / a11y / buildability. Order Outs
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rejected two-side-by-side-rails and a full-width single-column stack before
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choosing list→right-tray; the ground-up experiment chose an inline dossier.
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- **Pick master-detail vs. persistent-inline by item count + interactivity.** A
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right-side **Sheet tray** scales to N rows and 10–30 scrolling docs and keeps
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the list compact; a **persistent inline stack** wins for very few, read-only
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units where hiding one behind a click is pure friction. Order Outs (~2
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read-only items) went inline; the disclosures/Mail/CC1 pattern uses the tray.
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- **Make every state viewable before you polish it — you can't craft what you
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can't see.** Gate rich fixtures behind a URL param, live-fetch when absent
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(`?orderOutsStub=1|waived|inprogress|cancelled|notordered`, one-line hook
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override). Add a distinct stub per state and verify EACH — the dev-API loan
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lacked rich data, so this is the only way the full craft is visible.
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## Layout, hierarchy & density
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- **Figure-on-ground beats hairlines.** Articulate regions with one canvas color
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a step off card + elevation + spacing, not dividing borders ("paper on a grey
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well"). Order Outs cards sit on `bg-muted/20` with `border-border/60` +
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hover-lift, not boxed dividers; the evidence viewer shares one `--bg-canvas`
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and lets only chips/shadows carry contrast.
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- **One focal fact per unit — the "hero fact."** Each row/card earns a single
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high-weight number the eye lands on; everything else is muted support.
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Appraisal card → appraised value `text-2xl tabular-nums` right-aligned, `h2`
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name kept clean.
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- **"Not bland with few items": pack each row with at-a-glance signal.** A
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2-item screen still reads as intentional when each row carries icon + name +
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status + hero fact + a momentum cue + quiet counts —
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`8 milestones · latest May 16, 2026 · 2 contacts · 2 docs` + a milestone strip
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— a scannable dossier, not a thin line.
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- **Don't inflate dead space for symmetry; anchor actions to their content.**
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Equal-height columns top-anchor their content (never stretch); an action lives
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in the header `CardAction` or `CardFooter`, never orphaned mid-card
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(identity → facts → action).
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- **Push long/secondary detail behind an affordance.** Filenames, notes, vendor
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refs wrap and wreck a row — move them into a dialog/icon. The underwriting tab
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pulled filenames into a paperclip dialog; Order Outs docs open the shared
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`DocumentPreviewDialog`.
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- **Columns are data — drop one that would be all-noise, keyed to the full
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dataset.** A column that's all-empty/all-dash/all-same is removed, memoized
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over ALL rows so layout never shifts as you filter. "A table where every row
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is a dash is noise."
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## Typography & numbers
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- **Muted-first, 3-step ink scale.** Everything supporting is
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`text-muted-foreground`; reserve `font-semibold`/`text-foreground` for the one
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emphasis per unit. Meta lines, eyebrow headings
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(`text-xs uppercase tracking-wide text-muted-foreground`), and
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`CardDescription` are all muted.
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- **`tabular-nums` on every number that aligns or updates — non-negotiable.**
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Money, dates, counts, percentages, zoom%. The underwriting playbook flags this
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as the one thing to always ADD to a money/date tracker.
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- **Variable text clamps with a `title` fallback and never resizes layout.**
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Two-line clamp + `overflow-wrap: anywhere`, full text on hover; long values
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truncate beside a fixed control, never shove it (see the copy-button fix under
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Verify).
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## Content honesty & states
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- **Blank ≠ dash ≠ value.** Not-applicable renders empty; a real-but-unscored
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value renders the value (`100%`), never a placeholder dash. An in-progress
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appraisal shows *no* appraised value at all (the `Fact` component returns
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`null` when absent) — this single discipline is why a screen reads as data.
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- **Empty ≠ error; failure is honest and distinct.** Never show a "no data"
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empty state for a load failure (it reads "nothing here" and invites redundant
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re-entry). Partial vs. total failure read differently ("Couldn't load 10" vs.
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"8 of 10 loaded"). Order Outs uses an inline `Alert` + Retry, separate from the
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`EmptyState`.
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- **Never fake a number or a progress script.** Narrate real observed backend
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state; fall back to a value you actually have rather than a dash (on a vendor
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detail failure, fall back to the summary's direct-order value so a real value
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never reads as "—").
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- **Model mutually-exclusive states as first-class either/or.** An appraisal is
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EITHER ordered OR waived — the waived case is a resolved positive hero (green
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seal, "Appraisal waived — no order needed"), never a sad empty state leaking
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`Program: PROPERTY_INSPECTION_WAIVER` and never a "Place order" affordance.
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- **Humanize enums at the boundary; never leak wire values to the UI.**
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`TITLE_COMPANY` → "Title company"; the waiver program mapped via an inline
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Title-Case map in the model — not the copy catalog, and never a vendor name
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(see the MEMORY note on vendor names).
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- **Cover the whole state space and make each state demoable.** Audit every
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status (ordered / in-progress / terminal-negative / not-ordered / waived +
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title equivalents + empty contacts/docs); a terminal-negative reads "stopped,"
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not "broken." Gate each behind a stub mode with a spec.
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## Status signaling
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- **Status = shape + word + color, never color alone.** Back every tone with a
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distinct glyph + a text label from one central resolver + one label catalog.
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"open/not-yet" is a dashed empty outline dot (`border-dashed bg-transparent`),
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not a hue; a distinct failed glyph serves color-blind users; every dot is
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`role="img"` + `aria-label` + `title`; `StatusDot` + `Badge` always paired.
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## Motion
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- **Microanimations are functional and lawful, each with a reduced-motion
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off-switch.** Two easings, a 100/200/300ms duration law (longer = an
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explicitly-flagged brand exemption); nothing pops (width/opacity ease in AND
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out). Order Outs — tray slide, staggered milestone reveal, row hover-lift,
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chevron rotate on select, copy-button icon swap, section fade-in — all wrapped
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in `motion-safe:` / `motion-reduce:transition-none`; the repo lint enforces the
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fallback.
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- **Cap staggered entrances so long lists stay calm.** Cap the per-item delay
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(e.g. at the 10th child) so a 50-row list doesn't cascade for seconds; key the
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container on the active view to replay the entrance on switch.
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## Structure, semantics & a11y — the HTML is a deliverable
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- **Reconstruct the rendered DOM and justify every surviving `<div>`.** Semantic
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elements over roles: `<ul>/<li>` for lists, `<dl>/<dt>/<dd>` for labeled
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readouts (`<dd>` bold via a font class, never `<strong>`),
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`<article>`/`<section>`/`<header>` for the tray, `Card as="section"`,
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`CardTitle as="h2"`. A single-column list is a `<ul>`, never a single-column
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`<table>`. Enforced by `src/AGENTS.md` + local ESLint rules
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(`card-title-requires-as`, `no-single-column-table`, the `role="button"` ban).
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- **The shell owns the single `<h1>`; a section view is a headless fragment.** It
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mints no page heading and no `banner`/`contentinfo` landmark. A `<header>`
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becomes a `banner` unless scoped by a sectioning tag, so a dialog/tray uses
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`<section role="dialog">`, not `<div role="dialog">`.
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- **Live regions announce settled values only, mounted-empty, split by
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liveness.** A polite sr-only `role="status"` speaks the settled summary once
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(`<p className="sr-only" role="status">{settledSummary}</p>`); transient
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"Loading…" never enters it (that doubles every utterance); errors are
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`role="alert"`; the skeleton is `aria-hidden` (loading is visual-only). Don't
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add an empty region as box-check theater.
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- **Each surface owns its own load/error feedback — no competing panel banner.**
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Contacts and Documents each render their own skeleton/error; the tray doesn't
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stack a second one.
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- **Compose primitives; add no frame the design doesn't show.** Use
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`Card`/`Badge`/`Sheet`/`Alert`/`Empty`/`Skeleton` as-is; collapse wrappers
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with `as`; a flush table takes no extra `Card`. Per-type variance goes through
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a strategy registry, not inline ternaries. Hand-build a small list when
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`Item`/`ItemGroup` don't exist rather than inventing chrome; drop redundant
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roles the repo bans (`role="list"` on a `<ul>`).
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- **A clickable row's real control is a `<button>`; the row `onClick` is a
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pointer-only widener** that stands down on descendant `a`/`button` clicks and
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on ⌘/Ctrl/Shift/Alt (new-tab / extend-selection stay native). Icon-button row
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actions `stopPropagation`.
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- **Charts carry their data for AT and aren't keyboard traps.** `aria-hidden`
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when adjacent text already states the figures, else `role="img"` with the real
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numbers; recharts `accessibilityLayer={false}` unless a real
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keyboard-exploration UX is built.
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## Skeletons & scrolling
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- **The skeleton is a photograph of the settled layout** — same
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dot/title/value/badge rhythm and the same responsive hiding, so nothing jumps
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when the query lands. A mismatched skeleton is worse than none; delete any
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stand-in that maps to no real element (the underwriting commit deleted a
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9-tile metrics skeleton that matched no section); hold ambiguous summary text
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until its query settles.
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- **Scroll, don't paginate**, via a `min-h-0 flex-1 overflow-auto` chain — every
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flex ancestor sets `min-h-0`, the inner panel is the scroller. Order Outs tray
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detail is `min-h-0 flex-1 overflow-y-auto overscroll-contain` so a 10–30 doc
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list scrolls while the close button stays put.
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## Verify in a real browser — jsdom can't judge layout
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The authoritative procedure is `AGENTS.md` §"UI verification in a real browser
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(Playwright)"; the checked-in sweeps are
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`scripts/playwright/responsive-sweep.js` and
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`.../error-state-sweep.js`. The hard-won craft on top of it:
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- **Any change to layout/spacing/wrapping/breakpoints/containers is not done
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until measured in a real browser.** Green typecheck/lint/tests/build are
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necessary but not sufficient — jsdom passes overflowing dialogs and wrapping
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controls.
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- **Measure geometry from bounding boxes; don't eyeball "looks fine."** The
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`dana.whitfield@example.com` copy-button-wrap defect was invisible to tests: a
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long email pushed its copy button to the next line. Fix = group each
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value+button, `min-w-0 truncate` on the link + `shrink-0` on the button;
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confirmed by `btnTop≈emailTop` and `btnLeft≥emailRight` at desktop AND 390px,
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not by looking.
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- **Stress the width that breaks, not the one that fits.** Desktop hid that bug
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(the email fit); the defect only appears where the value must truncate. Sweep
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just above/below each breakpoint + container flip you introduced, plus the
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side-panel-narrowed desktop column (an open right panel squeezes
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`@container/main` at full viewport — no phone preset catches it).
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- **Sweep the error/empty/waived states too, at every breakpoint.** Error-state
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geometry (a control dropping when the alert mounts) is invisible to jsdom; your
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stub modes make each state reachable for the sweep.
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- **Emulate sizes with CDP device-metrics, never `browser_resize`.** A
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`browser_resize` pin survives a plain emulation-clear, letterboxes the
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developer's own window, and blocks resizing ("why can't I resize the screen?").
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Clear with `Emulation.clearDeviceMetricsOverride`, and if you ever resized,
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close + reopen the page. (See the MEMORY note on CDP emulation.)
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- **Re-verify a blocker before repeating it.** `FORBIDDEN` / `/login` /
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"Application unavailable" are usually org-context flux or an expired session,
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not your code — ask the human to re-auth rather than ship blind or blame the
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change.
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## Not covered here — pointers, don't duplicate
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- **Demo videos** for the UI-facing PR → the `record-demo` skill.
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- **Guardrails / shrink-only baselines / mutation-form wiring** → `CLAUDE.md`
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"Guardrails" + your MEMORY notes; a red guard means fix the root cause, never
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weaken it.
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- **Graphite stacking, CI engine rotation, DIRTY-PR-runs-zero-CI, ticketing,
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Greptile-to-5/5** → `CLAUDE.md` + MEMORY. Craft rule that belongs here: run a
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Greptile-grade self-review of the diff *before* the PR is open so it lands at
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5/5, and when a screen goes read-only, remove the dead machinery end-to-end
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(mutation, hooks, flags, specs, guard-baseline entry) rather than leaving it
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to rot.
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