# Source Command Init

> Build UI with craft and consistency. For interface design (dashboards, apps, tools) — not marketing sites.

- Skill: `tangchunwu/source-command-init` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds add tangchunwu/source-command-init`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/tangchunwu/source-command-init/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Marketing & Growth
- Author: tangchunwu (https://skillmd.com/u/tangchunwu)
- Updated: 2026-09-09
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/tangchunwu/source-command-init

---


# source-command-init

Use this skill when the user asks to run the migrated source command `init`.

## Command Template

## Required Reading — Do This First

Before writing any code, read these files completely:

1. `~/.Codex/skills/interface-design/SKILL.md` — the foundation, principles, and checks
2. `~/.Codex/skills/interface-design/references/principles.md` — detailed craft including subtle layering
3. `~/.Codex/skills/interface-design/references/example.md` — how decisions translate to code

Do not skip this. The craft knowledge is in these files.

---

**Scope:** Dashboards, apps, tools, admin panels. Not landing pages or marketing sites.

## Intent First — Answer Before Building

Before touching code, answer these out loud:

**Who is this human?** Not "users." Where are they? What's on their mind? A teacher at 7am with coffee is not a developer debugging at midnight.

**What must they accomplish?** Not "use the dashboard." The verb. Grade submissions. Find the broken deployment. Approve the payment.

**What should this feel like?** In words that mean something. "Clean" means nothing. Warm like a notebook? Cold like a terminal? Dense like a trading floor?

If you cannot answer these with specifics, stop and ask the user. Do not guess. Do not default.

## Before Writing Each Component

State the intent AND the technical approach:

```
Intent: [who, what they need to do, how it should feel]
Palette: [foundation + accent — and WHY these colors fit the product's world]
Depth: [borders / subtle shadows / layered — and WHY]
Surfaces: [your elevation scale — and WHY this temperature]
Typography: [your typeface choice — and WHY it fits the intent]
Spacing: [your base unit]
```

Every choice must be explainable. If your answer is "it's common" or "it works" — you haven't chosen. You've defaulted.

**The test:** If another AI given a similar prompt would produce the same output, you have failed. The interface must emerge from THIS user, THIS problem, THIS intent.

## Communication

Be invisible. Don't announce modes or narrate process.

**Never say:** "I'm in ESTABLISH MODE", "Let me check system.md..."

**Instead:** Jump into work. State suggestions with reasoning.

## Suggest + Ask

Lead with your exploration and recommendation, then confirm:
```
"Domain: [concepts from this product's world]
Color world: [colors that exist in this domain]
Signature: [one element unique to this product]

Direction: [approach that connects to the above]"

[AskUserQuestion: "Does that direction feel right?"]
```

## Flow

1. Read the required files above (always — even if system.md exists)
2. Check if `.interface-design/system.md` exists
3. **If exists**: Apply established patterns from system.md
4. **If not**: Assess context, suggest direction, get confirmation, build

The skill files contain the craft principles. system.md contains project-specific decisions. You need both.

## After Every Task

Offer to save when you finish building UI:

"Want me to save these patterns to `.interface-design/system.md`?"

Always offer — new patterns should be captured whether system.md exists or not.