dc4e4a4bd6
* Denoise the design hook and let agents self-serve confident ignores (#497)
The directive footer now emits in full once per session (a one-line
reminder after), the DESIGN.md staleness note is mentioned once per
session, rule descriptions dedupe within an emission, and the per-line
ignore suggestion shrinks to the bare rule/value pair. The footer and
hooks.md replace the confirmation-gated ignore policy with a three-way
triage: fix real problems, self-serve the narrowest ignore for confident
false positives or sanctioned exceptions and disclose it (with an honest
--reason), ask when unsure. Self-serve stops at ignore-value, and the
footer now gives a runnable hook-admin.mjs command instead of a slash
command agents cannot execute.
Measured on a seeded lab session replaying 11 hook events: 33,658 to
14,063 chars of agent-visible output (-58%).
AI-assisted (Cursor agent), directed and reviewed by @abdulwahabone.
Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
* Preserve the policy footer and honor maxChars under constrained budgets
Greptile's runtime check found two pre-existing clamp gaps that matter
more now that the full policy emits once per session: the last-resort
tail slice cut the footer off an over-budget emission, and the DESIGN.md
staleness note was appended after clamping, pushing past maxChars.
The clamp now gives the footer the budget first, clipping the finding
line and downgrading full to short policy when needed. The staleness
note defers, without consuming its session flag, to a later emission
with room.
AI-assisted (Cursor agent), directed and reviewed by @abdulwahabone.
Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
* Harden the constrained-budget clamp: keep findings, honest flags, guaranteed note
Review follow-ups from Bugbot and Greptile on the clamp fix:
- The clamp retries with the short policy before dropping finding lines
that fit beside it, and a grouped result that kept only a file header
no longer counts as a fit.
- The full-footer session flag commits only when the full policy
actually survived the clamp, so a downgraded emission does not mark
the session as having seen a policy it never received.
- Render paths reserve room for a pending DESIGN.md staleness note, so
it is delivered inside the budget on the first emission instead of
deferring behind full emissions indefinitely.
AI-assisted (Cursor agent), directed and reviewed by @abdulwahabone.
Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
* Route the Cursor deny cap through the clamp and match the whole footer
Bugbot follow-up: cursorBlockMessage tail-sliced at 4000 chars after
render, which the default 8000-char budget made reachable, and a cut
that spared the footer's opening words still committed the session
flag. The 4000 cap now feeds through the renderer's footer-preserving
clamp, and commitFooterShown matches the complete footer text instead
of a sentinel.
AI-assisted (Cursor agent), directed and reviewed by @abdulwahabone.
Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
* Reconcile hook.test.mjs expectations with main's per-platform quoting
Three tests fell out of sync when main's quoteCommandArg change (#533,
building on #476) met this branch's footer/hint rework. Test-only
changes; production logic untouched:
- The full-footer test now accepts either close quote after the
hook-admin.mjs path, since quoteCommandArg single-quotes absolute
paths on POSIX and double-quotes them on Windows. The short-footer
guard rejects `node '` and `node "` alike.
- The #476 hostile-value test asserts the new bare
`ignore-value <rule> '<value>'` hint format. The security property is
unchanged: the value still passes through quoteCommandArg, so
$(touch pwned) stays single-quoted and inert.
- The #533 test previously asserted a concrete quoted `--file` path in
the footer; directiveFooter() now carries only literal placeholders,
so that surface is gone. The per-platform assertion moves to the
per-finding ignore hint, the remaining user-visible surface where
scanned file content flows through quoteCommandArg.
Prepared with AI assistance (Claude Code).
Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
* Fix two Bugbot findings: Cursor prefix budget and footer-cutting tail slice
Both flagged by Cursor Bugbot on PR #508 after the main merge; both real.
1. cursorBlockMessage computed min(maxChars, 4000 - prefix), so a
configured maxChars at or below the Cursor ceiling never charged the
BLOCK_PREFIX against the budget: the final deny text could exceed
maxChars by the prefix length, and appendDesignSystemNoteOnce's size
check lost exactly the room designNoteReserve had held back. The
prefix now comes off whichever limit binds. Default-config behavior
is unchanged (min(8000, 4000) - 60 equals the old 4000 - 60).
2. The note reservation is subtracted after renderTemplate's 500-char
floor, so the clamp can run below the budget clampLastLine assumed
safe, and its last-resort path tail-sliced the rendered text, cutting
the policy footer (the failure mode this PR exists to eliminate) when
a deep file path met a pending DESIGN.md note. The reservation order
stays (the staleness-note delivery guarantee at floor budgets depends
on it); the last resort now drops the finding line and clips the head
instead, so the footer survives every path. New regression test pins
it: 6 findings, 100-char path, maxChars 500, reserveChars 134.
Prepared with AI assistance (Claude Code).
Co-Authored-By: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
* Charge the Cursor deny prefix after the renderer's floor, not before
Greptile's runtime check caught the residual from ead0346d: subtracting
BLOCK_PREFIX from the maxChars passed to renderTemplate does nothing at
floor-tier configs, because the renderer re-raises any budget below its
500-char floor. At maxChars 500 with a stale design sidecar, the
prefixed denial landed at 432 chars and appendDesignSystemNoteOnce
could not fit the staleness note inside 500, deferring it (flag
unconsumed) for every equivalent denial in the session.
The prefix now rides in reserveChars, which comes off after the floor,
so it is charged at every config tier and the final prefixed message
plus a pending note closes exactly at the binding limit (499 chars in
the regression scenario). Default-config output is byte-identical:
max(500, min(8000, 4000)) - prefix equals the old min(8000, 4000) -
prefix. New end-to-end Cursor preToolUse test pins the path with a real
stale sidecar at maxChars 500.
AI-assisted (Cursor agent), directed and reviewed by @abdulwahabone.
Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
---------
Co-authored-by: Cursor <cursoragent@cursor.com>
Co-authored-by: Paul Bakaus <paul.bakaus@gmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Claude <noreply@anthropic.com>
Impeccable
Design guidance for AI coding agents. 1 skill, 23 commands, live browser iteration, and 59 deterministic detector rules for AI-generated frontend design.
Quick start: From your project root, run
npx impeccable install, then run/impeccable initinside your AI coding tool. Full docs: impeccable.style.
Why Impeccable?
Anthropic's frontend-design was the first widely-used design skill for Claude. Impeccable started from there.
Every model trained on the same SaaS templates. Skip the guidance and you get the same handful of tells on every project: Inter for everything, purple-to-blue gradients, cards nested in cards, gray text on colored backgrounds, the rounded-square icon tile above every heading.
Impeccable adds:
- One setup flow.
/impeccable initwritesPRODUCT.mdand offersDESIGN.md, so later commands know the audience, brand/product lane, voice, anti-references, colors, type, and components. - 23 commands. A shared design vocabulary with your AI:
polish,audit,critique,distill,animate,bolder,quieter, and more. - 59 deterministic detector rules plus LLM-only critique checks. The CLI and browser extension run the deterministic rules with no LLM and no API key.
What's Included
The Skill: impeccable
The skill installs as one command:
/impeccable <command> <target>
Start every new project with:
/impeccable init
init asks whether the surface is brand (marketing, landing, portfolio) or product (app UI, dashboard, tool), then writes design context that every later command reads.
23 Commands
All commands are accessed through /impeccable:
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/impeccable craft |
Full shape-then-build flow with visual iteration |
/impeccable init |
One-time setup: gather design context, write PRODUCT.md and DESIGN.md, configure live mode, recommend next steps |
/impeccable document |
Generate root DESIGN.md from existing project code |
/impeccable extract |
Pull reusable components and tokens into the design system |
/impeccable shape |
Plan UX/UI before writing code |
/impeccable critique |
UX design review: hierarchy, clarity, emotional resonance |
/impeccable audit |
Run technical quality checks (a11y, performance, responsive) |
/impeccable polish |
Final pass, design system alignment, and shipping readiness |
/impeccable bolder |
Amplify boring designs |
/impeccable quieter |
Tone down overly bold designs |
/impeccable distill |
Strip to essence |
/impeccable harden |
Error handling, i18n, text overflow, edge cases |
/impeccable onboard |
First-run flows, empty states, activation paths |
/impeccable animate |
Add purposeful motion |
/impeccable colorize |
Introduce strategic color |
/impeccable typeset |
Fix font choices, hierarchy, sizing |
/impeccable layout |
Fix layout, spacing, visual rhythm |
/impeccable delight |
Add moments of joy |
/impeccable overdrive |
Add technically extraordinary effects |
/impeccable clarify |
Improve unclear UX copy |
/impeccable adapt |
Adapt for different devices |
/impeccable optimize |
Performance improvements |
/impeccable live |
Visual variant mode: iterate on elements in the browser |
Use /impeccable pin <command> to create standalone shortcuts (e.g., pin audit creates /audit).
Usage Examples
/impeccable audit blog # Audit blog hub + post pages
/impeccable critique landing # UX design review
/impeccable polish settings # Final pass before shipping
/impeccable harden checkout # Add error handling + edge cases
Or use /impeccable directly with a description:
/impeccable redo this hero section
Anti-Patterns
The skill includes explicit guidance on what to avoid:
- Don't use overused fonts (Arial, Inter, system defaults)
- Don't use gray text on colored backgrounds
- Don't use pure black/gray (always tint)
- Don't wrap everything in cards or nest cards inside cards
- Don't use bounce/elastic easing (feels dated)
See It In Action
Visit the Neo Mirai case study to see a before/after case study of a real project transformed with Impeccable commands.
Installation
Option 1: CLI installer (Recommended)
From the root of your project, run:
npx impeccable install
This shows the harness folders it detected (for example ~/.claude, ~/.codex, ~/.grok, or project-local .cursor), lets you keep the detected set or customize providers, then asks whether to install into the current project or globally. Use --providers=claude,codex,cursor,grok and --scope=project|global to skip those choices in scripts. On Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, GitHub Copilot, and Grok Build, it also installs the provider-native hook manifest for the current project. Works with Cursor, Claude Code, Gemini CLI, Codex CLI, Grok Build, and every other supported tool. Reload your harness afterward.
To refresh an existing install, run:
npx impeccable update
Codex users should open /hooks after install or update and approve the project hook when prompted. Codex tracks trust by hook definition, so updates that change .codex/hooks.json can require approval again. Grok Build users need project folder trust (/hooks-trust or launch with --trust) before .grok/hooks/ scripts run.
Option 2: Git Submodule
For teams that want to keep Impeccable vendored and updated through Git, add this repo as a submodule and link the compiled provider build into your harness folders:
git submodule add https://github.com/pbakaus/impeccable .impeccable
npx impeccable link --source=.impeccable --providers=claude,cursor
git add .gitmodules .impeccable .claude .cursor
git commit -m "Add Impeccable skills"
Use the providers your project needs, for example claude, cursor, gemini, codex, github, grok, opencode, pi, qoder, trae, trae-cn, rovo-dev, or vibe. The command links individual skill folders from .impeccable/dist/universal/ and leaves existing real skill directories untouched unless you pass --force.
To update later:
git submodule update --remote .impeccable
npx impeccable link --source=.impeccable --providers=claude,cursor
Option 3: Plugin install
Claude Code:
/plugin marketplace add pbakaus/impeccable
Claude Code only. After adding the marketplace, open
/pluginand install Impeccable from the list.
Grok Build:
grok plugin install pbakaus/impeccable#plugin --trust
Grok Build only. The
#pluginsuffix installs the slim plugin package (skills, agents, and hooks) instead of the full monorepo. Then run/impeccable initin a Grok session. Project-scoped installs vianpx impeccable install --providers=grokalso work and write.grok/skills/plus.grok/hooks/impeccable.json.
Option 4: Download from Website
Visit impeccable.style, download the ZIP for your tool, and extract to your project.
Option 5: Copy from Repository
Cursor:
cp -r dist/cursor/.cursor your-project/
Note: Cursor skills require setup:
- Switch to Nightly channel in Cursor Settings → Beta
- Enable Agent Skills in Cursor Settings → Rules
Claude Code:
# Project-specific
cp -r dist/claude-code/.claude your-project/
# Or global (applies to all projects)
cp -r dist/claude-code/.claude/* ~/.claude/
OpenCode:
cp -r dist/opencode/.opencode your-project/
Pi:
cp -r dist/pi/.pi your-project/
Gemini CLI:
cp -r dist/gemini/.gemini your-project/
Note: Gemini CLI skills require setup:
- Install preview version:
npm i -g @google/gemini-cli@preview- Run
/settingsand enable "Skills"- Run
/skills listto verify installation
Codex CLI:
# Project-local
cp -r dist/agents/.agents your-project/
mkdir -p your-project/.codex
cp dist/codex/.codex/hooks.json your-project/.codex/hooks.json
# Or install the skill user-wide. Copy .codex/hooks.json into each project
# where you want the design hook to run.
mkdir -p ~/.agents/skills
cp -r dist/agents/.agents/skills/* ~/.agents/skills/
The asset-producer subagent ships nested inside the skill's own
agents/folder, which Codex auto-discovers. No separate.codex/agents/copy is needed. The hook is project-local because Codex discovers hooks from.codex/hooks.jsonnext to trusted project config.
GitHub Copilot:
cp -r dist/github/.github your-project/
Trae:
# Trae China (domestic version)
cp -r dist/trae/.trae-cn/skills/* ~/.trae-cn/skills/
# Trae International
cp -r dist/trae/.trae/skills/* ~/.trae/skills/
Note: Trae has two versions with different config directories:
- Trae China:
~/.trae-cn/skills/- Trae International:
~/.trae/skills/After copying, restart Trae IDE to activate the skills.
Rovo Dev:
# Project-specific
cp -r dist/rovo-dev/.rovodev your-project/
# Or global (applies to all projects)
cp -r dist/rovo-dev/.rovodev/skills/* ~/.rovodev/skills/
Qoder:
# Project-specific
cp -r dist/qoder/.qoder your-project/
# Or global (applies to all projects)
cp -r dist/qoder/.qoder/skills/* ~/.qoder/skills/
Mistral Vibe:
# Project-specific
cp -r dist/vibe/.vibe your-project/
# Or global (applies to all projects)
cp -r dist/vibe/.vibe/skills/* ~/.vibe/skills/
Grok Build:
# Project-specific
cp -r dist/grok/.grok your-project/
# Or global (applies to all projects)
cp -r dist/grok/.grok/skills/* ~/.grok/skills/
Prefer
npx impeccable install --providers=grokorgrok plugin install pbakaus/impeccable#plugin --trustso the design hook installs too. Project hooks need/hooks-trust(or--trust) once per folder.
Google Antigravity:
# Project-specific
cp -r dist/antigravity/.agent your-project/
# Or global (applies to all projects)
mkdir -p ~/.gemini/config/skills
cp -r dist/antigravity/.agent/skills/* ~/.gemini/config/skills/
Usage
Once installed, every command runs through the single /impeccable skill:
/impeccable audit # Find issues
/impeccable polish # Final cleanup
/impeccable distill # Remove complexity
/impeccable critique # Full design review
Type /impeccable alone to see the full command list.
Most commands accept an optional argument to focus on a specific area:
/impeccable audit the header
/impeccable polish the checkout form
If you reach for one command often, pin it with /impeccable pin audit to get /audit as a standalone shortcut.
Note: Codex uses skills here, not /prompts: commands. Open /skills or type $impeccable. Repo-local installs live in .agents/skills/; user-wide installs live in ~/.agents/skills/. GitHub Copilot uses .github/skills/. Restart the tool if a newly installed skill does not appear.
Keeping .impeccable out of git
As you run commands, Impeccable writes working files under .impeccable/: critique and polish screenshots, live-mode session and preview state, runtime caches, and per-developer config. Most of it is ephemeral and should not be committed, while a few files are shared project artifacts that belong in the repo. Add this block to your project's .gitignore:
# impeccable-ignore-start
# Ephemeral output, runtime state, and per-dev overrides.
# Unanchored: .impeccable may sit at the repo root or under a nested
# workspace (apps/web/.impeccable/...); anchored patterns would miss it.
# Shared artifacts stay tracked: config.json, live/config.json,
# design.json, critique/*.md.
.impeccable/config.local.json
.impeccable/hook.cache.json
.impeccable/hook.pending.json
.impeccable/*.png
.impeccable/live/server.json
.impeccable/live/sessions/
.impeccable/live/previews/
.impeccable/live/annotations/
.impeccable/live/cache/
.impeccable/live/manual-edit-apply-transaction.json
.impeccable/live/manual-edit-events.jsonl
.impeccable/live/manual-edit-evidence/
.impeccable/live/pending-manual-edits.json
.impeccable/live/deferred-svelte-component-accepts.json
.impeccable/live/*.png
# impeccable-ignore-end
The block is wrapped in # impeccable-ignore-start / # impeccable-ignore-end markers so you can recognize and refresh it later. Patterns are unanchored on purpose: in a monorepo the active project (and its .impeccable/ directory) often lives under a nested workspace path like apps/web/, and a root-anchored pattern would miss it.
Keep these tracked (they are shared project artifacts, do not add them to .gitignore):
.impeccable/config.json(unified shared config).impeccable/live/config.json(live-mode framework wiring).impeccable/design.json(shared design spec).impeccable/critique/*.md(review reports)
If an ephemeral file (a screenshot, config.local.json) was committed before you added the block, .gitignore will not untrack it automatically. Run git rm --cached <path> to stop tracking it without deleting your local copy.
Design hook
On Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Codex, Cursor, and Grok Build, npx impeccable install and npx impeccable update install a provider-native hook manifest along with the skill payload. The hook runs the Impeccable design detector on direct UI file edits and surfaces findings back into the agent flow. Claude Code, GitHub Copilot, Codex, and Grok Build surface findings after the edit (and run a deeper pass on Stop where supported). Cursor blocks bad proposed writes before they land.
Installed hook surfaces:
- Claude Code:
.claude/settings.local.json(gitignored, machine-local) runs${CLAUDE_PROJECT_DIR}/.claude/skills/impeccable/scripts/hook.mjs. A hook moved into the sharedsettings.jsonis honored in place. - GitHub Copilot:
.github/hooks/impeccable.json(committed, shared by the Copilot CLI and the cloud agent) runs.github/skills/impeccable/scripts/hook.mjs. The Copilot CLI activates it once the file is on the repository's default branch and the folder is trusted. - Cursor:
.cursor/hooks.jsonruns.cursor/skills/impeccable/scripts/hook-before-edit.mjs. - Codex:
.codex/hooks.jsonruns.agents/skills/impeccable/scripts/hook.mjs.
The installer preserves unrelated hook entries and settings. If a hook manifest is malformed, install/update aborts by default; rerun with --force to back up the malformed file as .bak and replace it.
On an interactive install/update, Impeccable explains the hook and offers to install it (default yes). Your choice is remembered per-developer in the gitignored .impeccable/config.local.json, so you are not asked again; --no-hooks skips it for that run without recording anything. Hook lifecycle settings live under the hook key of .impeccable/config.json; detector ignores live under detector, shared by /impeccable hooks and npx impeccable detect.
For debugging, set hook.auditLog in .impeccable/config.json to a path (or the legacy IMPECCABLE_HOOK_LOG env var) to write one NDJSON line per hook invocation. Leave it unset for normal use.
Codex requires one platform step that Impeccable cannot safely skip: open /hooks after install or update and approve the project hook. There is no Codex marketplace/plugin install flow for this hook.
Full hook docs: impeccable.style/docs/hooks.
Manual copy commands are fallback/debug instructions. The normal path is:
npx impeccable install
npx impeccable update
CLI
Impeccable includes a standalone CLI for detecting anti-patterns without an AI harness:
npx impeccable detect src/ # scan a directory
npx impeccable detect index.html # scan an HTML file
npx impeccable detect https://example.com # scan a URL (Puppeteer)
npx impeccable detect --json . # CI-friendly JSON output
npx impeccable detect --no-config src/ # raw scan, ignoring project config/context
npx impeccable ignores list # show detector ignores
npx impeccable ignores add-file "src/legacy/**"
npx impeccable ignores add-value overused-font Inter --reason "Brand font"
The detector catches 59 deterministic issues across AI slop (side-tab borders, purple gradients, bounce easing, dark glows) and general design quality (line length, cramped padding, small touch targets, skipped headings, and more).
By default, detect respects the same .impeccable/config.json and .impeccable/config.local.json detector config as the design hook: detector.ignoreRules, detector.ignoreFiles, detector.ignoreValues, and detector.designSystem.enabled. Hook lifecycle settings such as hook.enabled only affect automatic hook execution.
For a waiver that should travel with one file instead of the repo config, add an inline comment in the file: <!-- impeccable-disable overused-font: exported brand doc -->. The marker works in any comment syntax, scopes to the whole file (or one line with impeccable-disable-line / impeccable-disable-next-line), and is bypassed by --no-inline-ignores or --no-config.
Full detector docs: impeccable.style/docs/detector.
Supported Tools
- Cursor
- Claude Code
- GitHub Copilot
- Gemini CLI
- Codex CLI
- Grok Build
- OpenCode
- Pi
- Kiro
- Trae
- Rovo Dev
- Qoder
- Mistral Vibe
- Google Antigravity
Community & Ecosystem
Join the community and ecosystem conversations:
- GitHub Discussions: file bugs, request features, and help newcomers.
- Impeccable on npm: grab the CLI, follow releases, and star the package.
- Follow @pbakaus on Twitter for release notes, sample lint reports, and video highlights of new rules.
Contributing
See DEVELOP.md for contributor guidelines and build instructions.
License
Apache 2.0. See LICENSE.
Created by Paul Bakaus