Alignment Verification

Alignment Verification Skill

RULE: Alignment is BINARY. In line or not. Zero tolerances.

Core Principle

Alignment verification has exactly two outcomes:

• Delta = 0px --> ALIGNED: YES
• Delta > 0px --> ALIGNED: NO (report exact deviation)

There are NO tolerances. A 2px deviation in a row of chips is visible. A 1px misalignment between form labels is noticeable. "Close enough" does not exist.

When you claim something is aligned, you MUST prove it with pixel measurements.

Mental Model

Alignment is a RELATIONSHIP between elements, not a property of a single element.

Every alignment check requires:

1. Target Element(s) - What you are checking
2. Reference Element - What you are aligning TO (parent, sibling, baseline)
3. Alignment Type - How they should relate (center, edge, spacing)
4. Container Space - For alignment to work, there must be space to align within

Example mental model:

"Button should be horizontally centered in its parent"
- Target: the button
- Reference: the parent container
- Type: horizontal center
- Container: parent must be wider than button for centering to be meaningful

Verification Protocol

Step 1: Identify What Should Align

Before measuring, explicitly state:

• Which elements are being checked
• What type of alignment is expected
• What the reference point is

Step 2: Extract Exact Pixel Values

Use Puppeteer's evaluate to get precise measurements:

// Get element bounding box via puppeteer_evaluate
puppeteer_evaluate({
  script: `
    const el = document.querySelector('[selector]');
    const box = el.getBoundingClientRect();
    JSON.stringify({ x: box.x, y: box.y, width: box.width, height: box.height });
  `
})
// Returns: { x, y, width, height }

Extract ALL values needed for your alignment type.

Step 3: Calculate Exact Deviations

Calculate with full precision. DO NOT round. DO NOT apply tolerances.

// For horizontal centering in parent
const parentBox = await page.locator('[parent]').boundingBox();
const childBox = await page.locator('[child]').boundingBox();

const parentCenter = parentBox.x + (parentBox.width / 2);
const childCenter = childBox.x + (childBox.width / 2);
const deviation = Math.abs(parentCenter - childCenter);
// Report: deviation === 0 ? "ALIGNED: YES" : `ALIGNED: NO (${deviation}px off)`

Step 4: Output ALIGNMENT_CHECK Block

Every alignment verification MUST produce this output:

ALIGNMENT_CHECK:
- Task: [alignment goal in plain language]
- Type: [horizontal_center|vertical_center|left_edge|right_edge|top_edge|bottom_edge|spacing]
- Elements measured:
  - [selector]: [value]px
  - [selector]: [value]px
- ALIGNED: YES/NO
- Max deviation: Xpx
- Deviations: [list if multiple elements]

Alignment Types with Code

Center Horizontally in Parent

// Measure
const parent = await page.locator('.parent').boundingBox();
const child = await page.locator('.child').boundingBox();

// Calculate
const parentCenterX = parent.x + (parent.width / 2);
const childCenterX = child.x + (child.width / 2);
const deviation = Math.abs(parentCenterX - childCenterX);

// Report
console.log(`Parent center: ${parentCenterX}px`);
console.log(`Child center: ${childCenterX}px`);
console.log(`Deviation: ${deviation}px`);
console.log(`ALIGNED: ${deviation === 0 ? 'YES' : 'NO'}`);

Center Vertically in Parent

// Measure
const parent = await page.locator('.parent').boundingBox();
const child = await page.locator('.child').boundingBox();

// Calculate
const parentCenterY = parent.y + (parent.height / 2);
const childCenterY = child.y + (child.height / 2);
const deviation = Math.abs(parentCenterY - childCenterY);

// Report
console.log(`Parent center Y: ${parentCenterY}px`);
console.log(`Child center Y: ${childCenterY}px`);
console.log(`Deviation: ${deviation}px`);
console.log(`ALIGNED: ${deviation === 0 ? 'YES' : 'NO'}`);

Left Edge Alignment (Multiple Elements)

// Measure all elements
const elements = await page.locator('.item').all();
const leftEdges = [];

for (const el of elements) {
  const box = await el.boundingBox();
  leftEdges.push(box.x);
}

// Calculate deviations from first element
const reference = leftEdges[0];
const deviations = leftEdges.map((x, i) => ({
  index: i,
  value: x,
  deviation: Math.abs(x - reference)
}));

// Report
const maxDeviation = Math.max(...deviations.map(d => d.deviation));
console.log(`Reference left edge: ${reference}px`);
deviations.forEach(d => {
  console.log(`Element ${d.index}: ${d.value}px (deviation: ${d.deviation}px)`);
});
console.log(`Max deviation: ${maxDeviation}px`);
console.log(`ALIGNED: ${maxDeviation === 0 ? 'YES' : 'NO'}`);

Right Edge Alignment

// Measure
const elements = await page.locator('.item').all();
const rightEdges = [];

for (const el of elements) {
  const box = await el.boundingBox();
  rightEdges.push(box.x + box.width);
}

// Calculate deviations from first element
const reference = rightEdges[0];
const deviations = rightEdges.map((r, i) => ({
  index: i,
  value: r,
  deviation: Math.abs(r - reference)
}));

// Report
const maxDeviation = Math.max(...deviations.map(d => d.deviation));
console.log(`ALIGNED: ${maxDeviation === 0 ? 'YES' : 'NO'}`);

Top Edge Alignment

// Measure
const elements = await page.locator('.item').all();
const topEdges = [];

for (const el of elements) {
  const box = await el.boundingBox();
  topEdges.push(box.y);
}

// Calculate deviations from first element
const reference = topEdges[0];
const maxDeviation = Math.max(...topEdges.map(y => Math.abs(y - reference)));

// Report
console.log(`ALIGNED: ${maxDeviation === 0 ? 'YES' : 'NO'}`);
console.log(`Max deviation: ${maxDeviation}px`);

Equal Spacing Between Elements

// Measure
const elements = await page.locator('.item').all();
const boxes = [];

for (const el of elements) {
  boxes.push(await el.boundingBox());
}

// Calculate gaps between consecutive elements
const gaps = [];
for (let i = 1; i < boxes.length; i++) {
  const gap = boxes[i].x - (boxes[i-1].x + boxes[i-1].width);
  gaps.push(gap);
}

// Calculate deviations from first gap
const referenceGap = gaps[0];
const deviations = gaps.map((g, i) => ({
  index: i,
  value: g,
  deviation: Math.abs(g - referenceGap)
}));

// Report
const maxDeviation = Math.max(...deviations.map(d => d.deviation));
console.log(`Reference gap: ${referenceGap}px`);
deviations.forEach(d => {
  console.log(`Gap ${d.index}: ${d.value}px (deviation: ${d.deviation}px)`);
});
console.log(`ALIGNED: ${maxDeviation === 0 ? 'YES' : 'NO'}`);

Common Pitfalls

CSS: margin: auto needs flex/grid parent

/* WRONG - margin auto alone does nothing in block layout */
.child {
  margin: 0 auto;
}

/* RIGHT - parent must be flex or block with defined width */
.parent {
  display: flex;
  justify-content: center;
}
/* OR */
.child {
  width: 200px;  /* must have explicit width */
  margin: 0 auto;
}

SwiftUI: .center needs frame larger than content

// WRONG - no frame means content hugs, nothing to center within
Text("Hello")
  .frame(alignment: .center)

// RIGHT - explicit frame provides space to center within
Text("Hello")
  .frame(maxWidth: .infinity, alignment: .center)

Transforms affect visual but not bounding box

getBoundingClientRect() returns the ORIGINAL position before CSS transforms. If you use transform: translateX() or similar, the visual position differs from the measured position.

// Element visually at 100px but boundingBox shows 0px due to transform
// Solution: account for transforms or use offsetLeft/getBoundingClientRect

Asymmetric content (icon in button)

A button with an icon on one side may APPEAR off-center even when the button IS centered, because the visual weight is asymmetric.

[ Icon  Text  ] <-- Button is centered but looks left-heavy

Solution: Either accept true center or adjust with padding to achieve
optical center (but document this explicitly).

Anti-Patterns (FORBIDDEN Language)

The following phrases are REJECTED in alignment verification:

How to Fix

WRONG:

"The chips look aligned to me."

RIGHT:

ALIGNMENT_CHECK:
- Task: Verify horizontal alignment of chip row
- Type: top_edge
- Elements measured:
  - chip[0]: y=142px
  - chip[1]: y=142px
  - chip[2]: y=142px
  - chip[3]: y=144px
- ALIGNED: NO
- Max deviation: 2px
- Deviations: chip[3] is 2px below reference

Complete Verification Example

Task: "Center the modal horizontally in the viewport"

// Step 1: Identify
// - Target: .modal
// - Reference: viewport
// - Type: horizontal_center

// Step 2: Measure
const viewport = await page.viewportSize();
const modal = await page.locator('.modal').boundingBox();

// Step 3: Calculate
const viewportCenterX = viewport.width / 2;
const modalCenterX = modal.x + (modal.width / 2);
const deviation = Math.abs(viewportCenterX - modalCenterX);

// Step 4: Output
console.log(`
ALIGNMENT_CHECK:
- Task: Center modal horizontally in viewport
- Type: horizontal_center
- Elements measured:
  - viewport center: ${viewportCenterX}px
  - modal center: ${modalCenterX}px
- ALIGNED: ${deviation === 0 ? 'YES' : 'NO'}
- Max deviation: ${deviation}px
`);

Integration with Other Skills

• debugging-first: Use alignment verification AFTER confirming elements render
• design-qa-skill: Alignment checks are one component of full design QA
• lovable-pitfalls: Avoid premature "looks good" claims by measuring

When to Apply This Skill

ALWAYS apply when:

• User says "center this"
• User says "align these"
• User says "make them line up"
• Reviewing spacing consistency
• Verifying layout implementation

SKIP when:

• No alignment requirements mentioned
• Working on non-visual code (APIs, logic)
• User explicitly says "don't worry about exact alignment"