Docs / System
/impeccableextract
Pull reusable components, tokens, and patterns into the design system.
Drag or hover to compare
Scattered styles → Documented design tokens
AfterThe skill only extracts what's used three or more times with the same intent. Two usages are not a pattern, and migration always happens in the same pass.
When to use it
/impeccable extract is for the moment your codebase has accidentally become a design system. Repeated button styles in 12 places. Three variants of the same card. Hex colors scattered throughout. Hand-rolled spacing that accidentally matches a scale. Reach for it when you want to consolidate this drift into reusable primitives.
Use it after a product has shipped enough features to reveal the patterns. Premature extraction creates abstractions that do not match reality.
How it works
The skill discovers the design system structure first, then identifies extraction opportunities:
- Tokens: find repeated literal values (colors, spacing, radii, shadows, font sizes). Propose token names, add to the token system, replace usages.
- Components: find UI patterns that repeat with minor variation (buttons, cards, inputs, modals). Extract into a single component with variants, migrate callers.
- Composition patterns: find layout or interaction patterns that repeat (form rows, toolbar groups, empty states). Extract into composition primitives.
- Type styles: find repeated font-size + weight + line-height combinations. Extract into text styles.
- Animation patterns: find repeated easing, duration, or keyframe combinations. Extract into motion tokens.
The skill is cautious. It only extracts things used three or more times, with the same intent. It never extracts "because it might be reused later". Premature abstraction is worse than duplication.
Try it
/impeccable extract the button stylesExpected output:
- Found 14 button instances across 8 files
- 4 distinct variants: primary (filled accent), secondary (bordered), ghost (text-only), destructive (filled red)
- All 4 variants use the same size scale (small, default, large)
- Extracted into
<Button variant="primary" size="default">with token-driven styles - Migrated 14 call sites, removed ~180 lines of duplicated CSS
- Added 3 missing tokens:
--button-radius,--button-padding-y,--button-padding-x
Pitfalls
- Extracting too early. Two usages are not a pattern. Three might be. Wait until the pattern is obvious.
- Over-generalizing. The extracted component should match the current use cases closely, not anticipate every possible future one. You can always add variants later.
- Forgetting the migration. Extraction without migration leaves the old duplicated code around and creates a third way of doing the same thing. Always migrate in the same pass.
- Extracting things that differ in intent. Two buttons that look similar but serve different purposes (primary action vs link styled as button) should probably stay separate.
Extract Flow
Identify reusable patterns, components, and design tokens, then extract and consolidate them into the design system for systematic reuse.
Step 1: Discover the Design System
Find the design system, component library, or shared UI directory. Understand its structure: component organization, naming conventions, design token structure, import/export conventions.
CRITICAL: If no design system exists, STOP and call the AskUserQuestion tool to clarify. before creating one. Understand the preferred location and structure first.
Step 2: Identify Patterns
Look for extraction opportunities in the target area:
- Repeated components: Similar UI patterns used 3+ times (buttons, cards, inputs)
- Hard-coded values: Colors, spacing, typography, shadows that should be tokens
- Inconsistent variations: Multiple implementations of the same concept
- Composition patterns: Layout or interaction patterns that repeat (form rows, toolbar groups, empty states)
- Type styles: Repeated font-size + weight + line-height combinations
- Animation patterns: Repeated easing, duration, or keyframe combinations
Assess value: only extract things used 3+ times with the same intent. Premature abstraction is worse than duplication.
Step 3: Plan Extraction
Create a systematic plan:
- Components to extract: Which UI elements become reusable components?
- Tokens to create: Which hard-coded values become design tokens?
- Variants to support: What variations does each component need?
- Naming conventions: Component names, token names, prop names that match existing patterns
- Migration path: How to refactor existing uses to consume the new shared versions
IMPORTANT: Design systems grow incrementally. Extract what is clearly reusable now, not everything that might someday be reusable.
Step 4: Extract & Enrich
Build improved, reusable versions:
- Components: Clear props API with sensible defaults, proper variants for different use cases, accessibility built in (ARIA, keyboard navigation, focus management), documentation and usage examples
- Design tokens: Clear naming (primitive vs semantic), proper hierarchy and organization, documentation of when to use each token
- Patterns: When to use this pattern, code examples, variations and combinations
Step 5: Migrate
Replace existing uses with the new shared versions:
- Find all instances: Search for the patterns you extracted
- Replace systematically: Update each use to consume the shared version
- Test thoroughly: Ensure visual and functional parity
- Delete dead code: Remove the old implementations
Step 6: Document
Update design system documentation:
- Add new components to the component library
- Document token usage and values
- Add examples and guidelines
- Update any Storybook or component catalog
NEVER:
- Extract one-off, context-specific implementations without generalization
- Create components so generic they are useless
- Extract without considering existing design system conventions
- Skip proper TypeScript types or prop documentation
- Create tokens for every single value (tokens should have semantic meaning)
- Extract things that differ in intent (two buttons that look similar but serve different purposes should stay separate)
Remember: A good design system is a living system. Extract patterns as they emerge, enrich them thoughtfully, and maintain them consistently.