Comprehensive UI refactoring guide based on Refactoring UI by Adam Wathan & Steve Schoger, implemented with Tailwind CSS utility classes. Contains 52 rules across 9 categories, prioritized by design impact to guide automated refactoring and code generation. Uses Tailwind CSS v4 syntax (v3 notes provided where syntax differs).
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Before installing skills in Cursor, ensure your development environment meets these requirements:
node --versiontailwind-ui-refactorExecute the skills CLI command in your project's root directory to begin installation:
Fetches tailwind-ui-refactor from pproenca/dot-skills and configures it for Cursor.
The CLI shows a list of agents. Use arrow keys and space to select Cursor:
Confirm successful installation by checking the skill directory location:
Restart Cursor to activate tailwind-ui-refactor. Access via /tailwind-ui-refactor in your agent's command palette.
We perform automated surface-level scans (Gen AI Scanner, Socket, Snyk) during installation. These checks detect common vulnerabilities but do not guarantee complete security. Always review skill source code and verify the publisher's reputation before production use.
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Comprehensive UI refactoring guide based on Refactoring UI by Adam Wathan & Steve Schoger, implemented with Tailwind CSS utility classes. Contains 52 rules across 9 categories, prioritized by design impact to guide automated refactoring and code generation. Uses Tailwind CSS v4 syntax (v3 notes provided where syntax differs).
Important: Think first, style second. Before applying any visual rule, understand the UI's purpose, identify what matters to the user, and remove unnecessary elements. The Design Intent category (priority 1) must be considered before any styling changes. A simpler component with fewer elements always beats a decorated component with unnecessary markup.
Reference these guidelines when:
| Priority | Category | Impact | Prefix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Design Intent | CRITICAL | intent- |
| 2 | Visual Hierarchy | CRITICAL | hier- |
| 3 | Layout & Spacing | CRITICAL | space- |
| 4 | Typography | HIGH | type- |
| 5 | Color Systems | HIGH | color- |
| 6 | Depth & Shadows | MEDIUM | depth- |
| 7 | Borders & Separation | MEDIUM | sep- |
| 8 | Images & Content | LOW-MEDIUM | img- |
| 9 | Polish & Details | LOW | polish- |
intent-audit-before-styling - Audit what each element communicates before changing any CSSintent-remove-before-decorating - Remove unnecessary elements before styling what remainsintent-reduce-cognitive-load - Reduce choices per screen — fewer options beat prettier optionsintent-progressive-disclosure - Hide secondary information behind interactionsintent-content-drives-layout - Let real content determine layout — not the other way aroundintent-simplify-over-decorate - Prefer removing a wrapper over adding 5 utility classes to itintent-match-context-fidelity - Match design polish to context — admin vs consumer vs productintent-match-existing-patterns - Audit sibling component patterns before restylinghier-size-weight-color - Use size, weight, and color for hierarchy — not just sizehier-deemphasize-secondary - De-emphasize secondary content instead of emphasizing primaryhier-button-hierarchy - Style buttons by visual hierarchy, not semantic importancehier-label-value-pairs - Combine labels and values into natural languagehier-semantic-vs-visual - Separate visual hierarchy from document hierarchyhier-icon-sizing - Size icons relative to adjacent text, not to fill spacehier-color-hierarchy-on-dark - Use opacity or muted colors for hierarchy on colored backgroundsspace-start-generous - Start with too much whitespace, then removespace-systematic-scale - Use a constrained spacing scale, not arbitrary valuesspace-relationship-proximity - Use spacing to show relationships between elementsspace-dont-fill-screen - Constrain content width — avoid filling the whole screenspace-grids-not-required - Use fixed widths when grids are not neededspace-relative-sizing-fails - Avoid raw viewport units without clampingspace-mobile-first - Design mobile-first at ~400px, then expandtype-line-length - Keep line length between 45-75 characterstype-line-height-inverse - Line height and font size are inversely proportionaltype-font-weight-variety - Choose fonts with at least 5 weight variationstype-no-center-long-text - Left-align body content — avoid centering long-form texttype-letter-spacing - Tighten letter spacing for headlines, loosen for uppercasetype-align-numbers-right - Align numbers right in tables for easy comparisoncolor-define-palette-upfront - Define a complete color palette upfront — don't pick colors ad-hoccolor-grayscale-first - Design in grayscale first, add color lastcolor-accessible-contrast - Ensure 4.5:1 contrast ratio for body textcolor-dark-gray-not-black - Use dark gray instead of pure black for textcolor-saturated-grays - Add subtle saturation to grays for warmth or coolnesscolor-light-backgrounds-dark-text - Use light-colored backgrounds with dark text for badgesdepth-shadow-scale - Define a fixed shadow scale — small to extra largedepth-shadow-vertical-offset - Use vertical offset for natural-looking shadowsdepth-interactive-elevation - Use shadow changes to communicate interactivitydepth-light-closer-dark-recedes - Lighter colors feel closer, darker colors recededepth-overlap-layers - Overlap elements to create visual layerssep-fewer-borders - Use fewer borders — replace with spacing, shadows, or background colorsep-background-color-separation - Use background color differences to separate sectionssep-table-spacing-not-lines - Use spacing instead of lines in simple tablessep-card-radio-buttons - Upgrade radio buttons to selectable cards for key choicesimg-control-user-content - Control user-uploaded image size and aspect ratioimg-text-overlay - Add overlays or reduce contrast for text over imagesimg-dont-scale-up-icons - Avoid scaling up icons designed for small sizesimg-empty-states - Design meaningful empty states with clear CTAspolish-accent-borders - Add accent borders to highlight important elementspolish-custom-bullets - Replace default bullets with icons or checkmarkspolish-border-radius-personality - Match border radius to brand personalitypolish-gradient-close-hues - Use gradients with hues within 30 degrees of each otherpolish-inner-shadow-images - Add inner shadow to prevent image background bleedThis skill covers layout, hierarchy, spacing, color, and polish based on Refactoring UI principles. It does NOT cover:
For these concerns, pair this skill with a design-thinking or frontend-design skill that covers creative direction and aesthetic execution.
Read individual reference files for detailed explanations and code examples:
| File | Description |
|---|---|
| references/_sections.md | Category definitions and ordering |
| assets/templates/_template.md | Template for new rules |
| metadata.json | Version and reference information |
Prerequisites
Time Estimate
15-45 minutes depending on use case complexity
Steps
Common Pitfalls
✓ Do
✗ Don't
💡 Pro Tips
✓ Use when
Use when skill capabilities match your task, clear ROI on time saved, and you can validate outputs. Best for repetitive tasks, learning, and quality improvement.
✗ Avoid when
Avoid when task requires deep expertise you can't validate, involves sensitive decisions, or when learning process is more valuable than speed of completion.
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Solid pick for teams standardizing on skills: tailwind-ui-refactor is focused, and the summary matches what you get after install.
Registry listing for tailwind-ui-refactor matched our evaluation — installs cleanly and behaves as described in the markdown.
I recommend tailwind-ui-refactor for anyone iterating fast on agent tooling; clear intent and a small, reviewable surface area.
Useful defaults in tailwind-ui-refactor — fewer surprises than typical one-off scripts, and it plays nicely with `npx skills` flows.
Keeps context tight: tailwind-ui-refactor is the kind of skill you can hand to a new teammate without a long onboarding doc.
We added tailwind-ui-refactor from the explainx registry; install was straightforward and the SKILL.md answered most questions upfront.
Useful defaults in tailwind-ui-refactor — fewer surprises than typical one-off scripts, and it plays nicely with `npx skills` flows.
tailwind-ui-refactor reduced setup friction for our internal harness; good balance of opinion and flexibility.
Registry listing for tailwind-ui-refactor matched our evaluation — installs cleanly and behaves as described in the markdown.
tailwind-ui-refactor fits our agent workflows well — practical, well scoped, and easy to wire into existing repos.
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