UI Forge

UI Forge — 5-Stage Design Forge

A production-grade UI design workflow that forges pixel-perfect, accessible, animated interfaces from Figma designs or text descriptions.

When to Use

• Building any UI from scratch: landing pages, dashboards, mobile apps, component libraries
• Converting a Figma design to code
• Creating branded interfaces that need design system consistency
• Adding motion and micro-interactions to existing components
• When the user says "build me a page", "design a UI", "implement this Figma", or "create a component"

Arguments

The 5 Stages

Entry A (Figma) ──┐
                   ├─→ Phase 1: Discover → Phase 2: Tokenize → Phase 3: Compose → Phase 4: Animate → Phase 5: Polish → Delivery
Entry B (Text)  ──┘
                                                                                                              ↓
                                                                                                     [Figma writeback?]

Quality Gate Protocol

Each phase has a quality gate. If a gate fails:

1. Roll back to the previous phase and adjust
2. Maximum 2 retries per phase
3. After 2 retries, report the issue and ask user for guidance

Phase 1: Discover — Direction Finding

Entry A: Figma Design

When --figma-url is provided:

1. Use figma-developer-mcp → get_figma_data to extract node tree, components, styles
2. Map Figma structures:
   • Auto Layout → Flexbox (reliable)
   • Nested Auto Layout → CSS Grid (reliable)
   • Auto Layout wrap → Flex wrap (reliable)
   • Absolute positioning + Constraints → Responsive (needs manual adjustment)
   • Figma Variants → Component variants (partial support)
3. Extract component instances → identify reusable components
4. Extract Figma Variables → direct CSS variable conversion

Entry B: Text / Brand Description

When no Figma URL:

1. Use ui-ux-pro-max to search style direction:

   python3 ~/.claude/skills/ui-ux-pro-max/scripts/search.py "<user description>" --domain style
   python3 ~/.claude/skills/ui-ux-pro-max/scripts/search.py "<user description>" --domain product
   

2. Use awesome-design-md to match brand tokens — read ~/.claude/skills/awesome-design-md/design-md/<brand>.md
3. Use frontend-design-direction to set: purpose, audience, tone, memorable detail, constraints

Mixed Mode

When user provides "reference this site + change to dark style":

• Extract layout/structure from the reference
• Take colors/fonts from brand tokens
• Merge both into the design direction

Reference Sites

Accessibility Pre-constraint

• Verify primary color contrast ratio ≥ 4.5:1 at this stage
• Confirm accessibility target: AA or AAA

Quality Gate Output

design-direction.md:
  product_type: SaaS | landing | mobile | component-library
  style_direction: [ui-ux-pro-max style name + AI prompt keywords]
  brand_token_source: [awesome-design-md brand] | [custom]
  reference_sites: [specific pages from Godly/Pageflow]
  figma_node_id: [if applicable]
  tech_stack: [detected from project]
  interaction_mode: SPA | SSR | SSG | native
  accessibility_level: AA | AAA

Skip Condition

• Project has DESIGN.md < 30 days old AND requirements unchanged → skip
• DESIGN.md > 30 days old → suggest re-discovery

Phase 2: Tokenize — Design Token Generation

Token Generation Flow

1. Brand token base → awesome-design-md brand → extract colors/typography/spacing/rounded/shadows
2. Style enhancement → ui-ux-pro-max search:

   python3 ~/.claude/skills/ui-ux-pro-max/scripts/search.py "<style>" --domain style
   python3 ~/.claude/sskills/ui-ux-pro-max/scripts/search.py "<style>" --domain typography
   python3 ~/.claude/skills/ui-ux-pro-max/scripts/search.py "<style>" --domain color
   python3 ~/.claude/skills/ui-ux-pro-max/scripts/search.py "<style>" --design-system --variance N --motion N --density N
   

3. Token systemization → design-system skill → three-layer tokens (primitive → semantic → component)
4. Figma variable mapping (if applicable) → Figma Variables → CSS variables

Reference Sites

Accessibility Pre-constraint

• All color palettes validated for contrast at generation time
• Dark mode tokens generated simultaneously, not deferred

Quality Gate Output

Generate design-tokens.json with:

/* Primitive tokens */
:root {
  /* Colors — light */
  --color-primary: oklch(68% 0.21 250);
  --color-canvas: oklch(98% 0 0);
  --color-ink: oklch(18% 0 0);
  /* Colors — dark */
  --color-primary-dark: oklch(72% 0.21 250);
  --color-canvas-dark: oklch(15% 0 0);
  --color-ink-dark: oklch(95% 0 0);
  /* Typography */
  --text-display-xl: clamp(3rem, 1rem + 7vw, 8rem);
  --text-body: clamp(1rem, 0.92rem + 0.4vw, 1.125rem);
  /* Spacing */
  --space-xs: 4px; --space-sm: 8px; --space-md: 16px;
  --space-lg: 32px; --space-xl: 64px;
  --space-section: clamp(4rem, 3rem + 5vw, 10rem);
  /* Rounded */
  --rounded-xs: 4px; --rounded-sm: 8px; --rounded-md: 12px;
  --rounded-lg: 16px; --rounded-xl: 24px; --rounded-full: 9999px;
  /* Shadows */
  --shadow-subtle: 0 1px 2px rgba(0,0,0,0.05);
  --shadow-medium: 0 4px 12px rgba(0,0,0,0.08);
  --shadow-prominent: 0 8px 24px rgba(0,0,0,0.12);
  /* Motion */
  --motion-fast: 150ms; --motion-normal: 300ms; --motion-slow: 600ms;
  --ease-default: cubic-bezier(0.16, 1, 0.3, 1);
  --ease-bounce: cubic-bezier(0.34, 1.56, 0.64, 1);
  --ease-spring: cubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.36, 1);
  --stagger-default: 50ms; --stagger-fast: 30ms; --stagger-slow: 80ms;
  --distance-micro: 4px; --distance-small: 8px;
  --distance-medium: 16px; --distance-large: 32px;
}

Skip Condition

• Project has token system + consistent with Phase 1 direction + brand unchanged → skip
• Brand or style changed → do not skip
• Minor tweaks → skip, do incremental update

Phase 3: Compose — Component Building

Component Generation Order (Strict Priority)

1. Layout skeleton → Layout / Header / Main / Footer / Sidebar
2. Core blocks → Hero / Data tables / Primary interaction areas
3. Reusable components → Button / Card / Badge / Input / Select
4. Auxiliary components → Toast / Tooltip / Modal / Dropdown

Build skeleton first, then fill in. Never generate all components at once.

UI Type Routing

Component Reuse Detection

Before generating, scan existing project components:

• Has shadcn Button? → Don't regenerate
• Has custom Card? → Check token compatibility, reuse if compatible
• Use find and grep to detect existing components

Accessibility Pre-constraint

• Component skeletons include ARIA attributes from the start
• Interactive components include keyboard navigation from the start
• Touch targets ≥ 44px

Reference Sites

Quality Gate Output

component-tree.md:
  tech_stack: [detected]
  generation_order: [layout → core → reusable → auxiliary]
  component_tree:
    Layout → Header / Main / Footer
    Header → Nav / Logo / CTA
    Main → Hero / Features / CTA
  reusable_components: [list with token compatibility check]
  file_structure: src/components/{hero,features,ui}/
  responsive_breakpoints: 320 / 768 / 1024 / 1440
  code_skeletons: [props + structure + class names only, not full implementation]

Skip Condition

• Existing component library compatible with token system → skip
• Only needs animation/polish → skip

Phase 4: Animate — Motion Injection

Motion Intensity Auto-Detection

Override with --intensity high|medium|low.

Motion Pattern Matching

Using ui-ux-pro-max for GSAP Patterns

python3 ~/.claude/skills/ui-ux-pro-max/scripts/search.py "scroll reveal" --domain gsap
python3 ~/.claude/skills/ui-ux-pro-max/scripts/search.py "stagger entrance" --domain gsap
python3 ~/.claude/skills/ui-ux-pro-max/scripts/search.py "page transition" --domain gsap

Tech Stack Motion Mapping

Accessibility Pre-constraint

• ALL motion must support prefers-reduced-motion
• Reduced motion fallback: opacity transitions only, duration: 0ms
• Implement via:

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  *, *::before, *::after {
    animation-duration: 0.01ms !important;
    transition-duration: 0.01ms !important;
  }
}

// motion/react
const shouldReduceMotion = useReducedMotion()

Reference Sites

Quality Gate Output

animation-spec.md:
  intensity: high | medium | low
  entrance: { type, duration, stagger, easing }
  scroll: { type, trigger, scrub }
  micro: { hover, focus, active }
  states: { loading, success, error, empty }
  reduced_motion: { fallback, duration }
  implementation: [motion code per component]

Skip Condition

• --skip animate flag
• SaaS dashboard + user explicitly declines motion
• Simple utility page with no interaction

Phase 5: Polish — Micro-interaction Refinement

1. Visual Polish (make-interfaces-feel-better)

Concentric radius: outer radius = inner radius + padding Optical alignment: offset asymmetric icons by 1-2px Layered shadows: transparent, subtle, background-compatible Text wrapping:

• text-wrap: balance on headings and short titles
• text-wrap: pretty on body text, captions, descriptions
• Neither on long prose or code Tabular numbers: font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums for counters, prices, timers Image outlines: outline: 1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.1); outline-offset: -1px Font smoothing: -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased on macOS

2. Interaction State Completion

Every interactive component must have:

• hover — visual feedback on mouse-over
• focus — visible focus ring (2px offset, brand color)
• active — pressed/engaged state
• disabled — reduced opacity + not-interactive
• loading — skeleton or spinner
• error — error message + red accent
• empty — empty state illustration or message

Touch targets ≥ 44px. Keyboard navigation complete.

3. Brand Consistency Check (brand)

• Token usage: all colors/fonts/spacing strictly follow tokens
• Tone: copywriting style matches brand voice
• Dark mode: all components have complete dark mode variants
• No hardcoded values outside the token system

4. Responsive Verification

• 320px / 768px / 1024px / 1440px breakpoints
• No text overflow, no image clipping, no layout shift
• clamp() for fluid typography and spacing
• min() / max() for boundary constraints

5. Accessibility Final Verification

• prefers-reduced-motion all motion degrades correctly
• All text meets AA (4.5:1) or AAA (7:1) contrast
• ARIA attributes complete on all interactive elements
• Keyboard navigation reaches every interactive element
• Screen reader order matches visual order

Reference Sites

Quality Gate Output

polish-checklist.md:
  visual: [concentric-radius ✓ optical-align ✓ shadows ✓ text-wrap ✓ tabular-nums ✓ image-outlines ✓ font-smoothing ✓]
  interaction: [hover ✓ focus ✓ active ✓ disabled ✓ loading ✓ error ✓ empty ✓]
  brand: [token-consistency ✓ tone ✓ dark-mode ✓]
  responsive: [320 ✓ 768 ✓ 1024 ✓ 1440 ✓ no-overflow ✓]
  accessibility: [reduced-motion ✓ focus-ring ✓ contrast ✓ ARIA ✓ keyboard ✓]

Final Deliverables

src/components/**/*.tsx    — Component code
src/styles/tokens.css      — CSS variables
src/styles/tokens.json     — Token JSON (for Figma writeback)
DESIGN.md                  — Design direction document
polish-checklist.md        — Polish checklist

Figma Writeback (when Entry A was used)

• New tokens → write back to Figma Variables
• Component variants → update Figma component library
• Forms Figma ↔ Code bidirectional loop

Skip Condition

• --skip polish flag

Sub-Skill Call Map

9 Reference Sites — Complete Assignment

Usage Examples

# Full pipeline from text
ui-forge "Build a Stripe-style pricing page for my SaaS"

# From Figma design
ui-forge --figma-url https://figma.com/design/abc123/My-Design

# Skip animation for a dashboard
ui-forge "Admin dashboard with user management" --skip animate

# Specific brand with high motion
ui-forge "Product launch landing page" --brand vercel --intensity high

# Component library only
ui-forge "Design system button variants" --skip animate,polish

Accessibility Throughout

Not just Phase 5 — every phase has pre-constraints:

Tech Stack Adaptation