Minimal design skill for AI agents
Overview
The Minimal Design skill is a comprehensive, implementation-ready design system guideline built for AI agents. It encodes the entire visual identity, component specifications, and interaction standards of a minimal design language into a single SKILL.md file that any AI coding assistant can follow.
Minimal Design takes a stripped-back, bold approach — pairing clean layouts with strong typographic contrast and a muted, warm-toned palette. Every element earns its place on the page. Every rule in this skill file is anchored to a concrete token, threshold, or example — no ambiguous adjectives.
Style foundations
The Minimal Design system is built on a minimal, clean, and bold visual style with carefully defined foundations.
Typography
The system pairs Open Sans as the primary body font with Inter for display and headings, creating a subtle contrast between readable body text and sharp, geometric headlines. Inconsolata is used for code and monospaced elements. The scale follows a desktop-first expressive progression, and all nine font weights (100–900) are available for precise typographic control.
Color palette
| Token | Hex | Usage |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | #0C0C09 |
Primary actions, headings, and key UI elements |
| Secondary | #312C85 |
Accents, links, and secondary actions |
| Success | #16A34A |
Positive states and confirmations |
| Warning | #D97706 |
Cautionary states and alerts |
| Danger | #DC2626 |
Error states and destructive actions |
| Surface | #F4F4F1 |
Page and card backgrounds |
| Text | #0C0C09 |
Body text and content |
The system uses semantic tokens across five palettes — primary, neutral, success, warning, and danger — so components reference tokens rather than raw hex values. The near-black primary on a warm off-white surface gives the system its distinctive pared-back, printlike quality.
Spacing
All spacing follows a 4 / 8 / 12 / 16 / 24 / 32 pixel scale to maintain a consistent vertical and horizontal rhythm across every component.
Component families
The Minimal Design skill covers a wide range of component families, organized into logical groups:
- Inputs and forms — buttons, inputs, textareas, selects/comboboxes, checkboxes, radios, switches, date/time pickers, file uploaders
- Data display — cards, tables, data lists, data grids, charts, stats/metrics, badges/chips, avatars
- Navigation — breadcrumbs, pagination, steppers, sidebars, top bars/headers, tabs, command palette
- Overlays — modals, drawers/sheets, tooltips, popovers/menus
- Feedback — alerts/toasts, notifications center, progress indicators, skeletons, empty states
- Pages — authentication screens, settings pages, onboarding, documentation layouts, pricing blocks, search
- Visualization — data visualization wrappers, carousels, accordions
Each component family includes defined states (default, hover, focus-visible, active, disabled, loading, error), interaction behavior for keyboard, pointer, and touch, explicit token usage, and responsive behavior with edge cases.
Accessibility
This skill targets WCAG 2.2 AA compliance with keyboard-first interactions and visible focus states. Every accessibility statement in the file is testable in implementation. When conflicts arise between aesthetics and accessibility, accessibility wins.
How to use this skill with AI agents
Pull the skill file into your project with a single command:
npx typeui.sh pull minimal
This saves the SKILL.md file directly into your project. From there you can use it with any AI coding tool — Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, Windsurf, Copilot, or any other agent that accepts context files, system prompts, or knowledge documents.
The file is standard markdown. Copy it into a project knowledge base, reference it as context in a prompt, upload it as a knowledge file, or drop it into a rules directory. The structured format ensures consistent results regardless of which AI platform you use.
Design principles
The Minimal Design skill enforces three core rules:
- Prefer semantic tokens over raw values — always reference design tokens instead of hardcoded colors, sizes, or spacing
- Preserve visual hierarchy — maintain clear distinctions between headings, body text, and supporting elements
- Keep interaction states explicit — every interactive element must define its full state set
And three strict anti-patterns to avoid:
- No low contrast text — all text must meet WCAG AA contrast ratios
- No inconsistent spacing rhythm — every measurement must align to the spacing scale
- No ambiguous labels — interactive elements must have clear, descriptive labels
Writing tone
All content generated with this skill follows a concise, confident, and helpful tone. Labels are clear. Instructions are direct. There is no unnecessary jargon or decoration.