pbakaus_impeccable/skill/reference/craft-floor.md

# Craft floor

Load this after the direction is settled, and build without announcing the checklist. A pinned brief or the committed visual world overrides anything here; your own habit does not. When the design hook is active it already enforces the mechanical checks below as you edit: act on its findings instead of re-auditing each rule. <!-- rule:skill-craft-floor -->

## Verify

Each of these is a check on the built result, not an intention. Run them together in the batched inspection rounds, not as separate screenshot trips; the checks share one render.

- **Contrast:** body and placeholder text ≥4.5:1, large text ≥3:1. On colored surfaces tint secondary text from that hue or the foreground; never gray. <!-- rule:skill-color-verify-contrast -->
- **Depth:** shadows carry an offset and a soft blur. A zero-offset colored halo is decoration. <!-- rule:skill-color-no-glow-halo -->
- **Spacing:** tight groups, generous separation, more space above a heading than below it. Read the computed values. <!-- rule:skill-layout-spacing-rhythm -->
- **Type:** body measure 65–75ch, display max 6rem, tracking floor -0.04em, balanced headings, obvious scale and weight steps. Run the real copy at every breakpoint and fix what overflows. <!-- rule:skill-typo-floor --> <!-- rule:skill-ban-text-overflow -->
- **Motion:** one authored moment, not scattered effects and not one identical entrance on every section. Exponential ease-out from an already-visible default. Reach past transform and opacity: blur, backdrop-filter, clip-path, mask, and shadow belong to the palette when they stay smooth. <!-- rule:skill-motion-floor --> <!-- rule:skill-motion-materials-palette --> <!-- rule:skill-motion-no-section-fade -->
- **States:** hover, disabled, loading, error, empty. Plus real content, working controls, responsive composition, keyboard focus. <!-- rule:skill-floor-shipping -->
- **Copy:** the product's own language. Controls name their action; errors name the problem and the recovery. <!-- rule:skill-copy-design-material -->
- **Coverage:** every brief requirement present and findable within seconds. <!-- rule:skill-floor-brief-coverage -->

## Refuse

These are the category's defaults, not bans: the brief's own words can earn any of them. Reaching for one when the axis is free means you were not deciding; recognizing that means rewriting the element, not softening it.

Page scaffolds:

- Same-size cards of icon plus heading plus text as the page structure. Cards are the lazy container; nested cards are always wrong. <!-- rule:skill-ban-identical-card-grids --> <!-- rule:skill-layout-cards-lazy -->
- The hero-metric template: big number, small label, supporting stats, accent. <!-- rule:skill-ban-hero-metric -->
- A tracked uppercase eyebrow over every section. One named kicker is a system; an eyebrow everywhere is grammar you did not choose. <!-- rule:skill-ban-eyebrow-on-every-section -->
- Section numbers (01 / 02 / 03) unless the sequence itself carries information the reader needs. <!-- rule:skill-ban-numbered-section-markers -->
- A modal for a task that needs neither interruption nor protected focus. <!-- rule:skill-reflex-modal-by-reflex -->

Surface habits:

- Gradient text. Emphasis comes from weight or size. <!-- rule:skill-ban-gradient-text -->
- Glass and blur as decoration rather than as a specific effect. <!-- rule:skill-ban-glassmorphism-default -->
- A colored `border-left` or `border-right` above 1px on cards, list items, callouts, or alerts. <!-- rule:skill-ban-side-stripe-borders -->
- Sparklines, progress rings, and soft-shadowed rounded rectangles standing in for content. <!-- rule:skill-reflex-decorative-chrome -->
- Monospace as a costume for "technical" rather than for code, data, or measurement. <!-- rule:skill-reflex-mono-as-technical -->
- Light or dark picked by category. Pick it from the use scene: who, where, under what ambient light. <!-- rule:skill-reflex-theme-by-habit -->

<codex>
- Tracking stops at -0.04em. -0.02 to -0.03em usually reads better. <!-- rule:skill-typo-codex-tracking-repeat -->
- Declare elevation once, border or shadow. A 1px border under a wide soft shadow is the ghost card. Card radii stay at 12–16px; pills are for small controls. <!-- rule:skill-codex-elevation-radius --> <!-- rule:skill-ban-codex-ghost-card --> <!-- rule:skill-ban-codex-over-round -->
- Real illustration or none. Sketch-style SVG scenes, `loose-sketch` / `doodle` class names, and `feTurbulence` grain read as amateur. <!-- rule:skill-ban-codex-sketchy-svg -->
- Backgrounds are surfaces, textured only from the subject's world. `repeating-linear-gradient` stripes and two-axis grid overlays need an actual canvas, map, blueprint, or measuring tool under them. <!-- rule:skill-ban-codex-stripes --> <!-- rule:skill-ban-codex-grid-backgrounds -->
- Claims and configuration come from supplied truth; label illustrative values honestly. Naming a concept and then ironizing it is not a claim. <!-- rule:skill-codex-material-honesty --> <!-- rule:skill-ban-codex-x-theater -->
</codex>

<gemini>
Never animate an image on hover, directly or through its parent. It is not an action target. Give the container the feedback. <!-- rule:skill-interaction-gemini-no-image-hover -->
</gemini>

The floor holds the mechanics; it never picks the direction. With every check green, spend the page on the committed world, and when torn between refined and committed, commit. <!-- rule:skill-floor-not-ceiling -->