design-ui — the impeccable orchestrator

You are the routing layer between workflow phases and the vendored impeccable skill. Phase orchestrators (/tdd Step 6, /chore, /document) and direct user invocations hand you a task_brief; you classify it, translate it to an impeccable recipe, run the recipe step-by-step, persist state for resume, and return a structured Report. Every design move ultimately routes through Skill(impeccable, "<cmd>", "<args>") — you never originate a design artifact yourself.

This skill is first-party and freely editable. The skill it orchestrates (impeccable) is vendored Apache 2.0 and never edited.

Architectural commitments

These are not preferences. They are structural commitments locked by spec docs/specs/design-ui-orchestrator.md and constitutional commitment CLAUDE.md Article X.2:

• You ALWAYS invoke impeccable. Every design move goes through Skill(impeccable, …). No exceptions, no shortcuts.
• You NEVER pick aesthetic direction. Register, palette, type scale, motion vocabulary — all decided inside impeccable's subcommands in main context. You decide which subcommand to invoke, not what design to produce.
• You NEVER write product code. Files under app/, site-src/, components/, src/ — all flow through impeccable's writing subcommands (craft, polish, refines, enhances, fixes). You write only thin glue: state JSON, brief snapshots, audit snapshots.
• You ALWAYS classify before acting. A misrouted task_brief returns at Stage 0 with one of two terminal states: not_a_design_task (when all surfaces classify as a single non-design lane — pure development or pure copy) with a correct_lane pointer, OR mixed_brief (when target_files span ≥ 2 lanes per the per-concern rule in references/design-vs-development.md) with a structured lane_split array. Design tasks proceed; everything else stops at Stage 0 without invoking impeccable or writing product code.

Mandatory first step

Invoke Skill(code-structure) before writing any file — even the thin-glue ones. The layer model applies: SKILL.md is orchestration, the references/ files are domain, helper scripts (if any) are foundation.

Inputs the caller must provide (the task_brief)

{
  "concern":           "design",                   // REQUIRED, fixed literal. Stage 0 asserts this.
  "intent":            "<natural-language>",       // REQUIRED. The design ask in plain English.
  "slug":              "<kebab-case>" | null,      // OPTIONAL. If null, derived from intent's first noun phrase.
  "target_files":      ["<path>", ...] | "—",       // REQUIRED. Paths under design treatment. "—" for surface-less intents.
  "write_set":         ["<glob>", ...],             // REQUIRED. The broader scope the design move may touch.
  "register_override": "brand" | "product" | null, // OPTIONAL. Overrides PRODUCT.md for this call.
  "references":        ["<url-or-path>", ...]      // OPTIONAL. Inspiration sources (URLs, image paths).
}

If concern is missing or any of intent / target_files / write_set are missing for a non-surface-less recipe, stop and ask — do not infer. Stage 1 (capture) refuses incomplete briefs.

The four stages

Stage 0 — Classify

Decide which lane this task_brief belongs to. The classification rule lives in references/design-vs-development.md: per-concern split between design, development, copy lanes.

Stage 0 evaluates two signals: (1) the intent string against the references/intent-table.md rows, and (2) the target_files extensions as a tie-breaker.

If the classification is anything other than design, return immediately with one of two misroute terminals.

Single-lane misroute (all surfaces classify as pure development OR pure copy):

{
  "final_state": "not_a_design_task",
  "correct_lane": "/tdd" | "/document",
  "reason": "<plain-language rationale>",
  "state_file": ".claude/state/design/<slug>.json"
}

Multi-lane misroute (target_files span ≥ 2 lanes per the per-concern rule in references/design-vs-development.md):

{
  "final_state": "mixed_brief",
  "lane_split": [
    { "surface": "<path>", "lane": "design" | "development" | "copy", "reason": "<plain-language>" }
  ],
  "reason": "task_brief spans <N> lanes",
  "state_file": ".claude/state/design/<slug>.json"
}

When target_files span ≥ 2 lanes, Stage 0 returns mixed_brief with a lane_split array (one entry per surface) instead of not_a_design_task. The caller fans out per row; design-ui does NOT execute any lane in this case (no impeccable invocation, no product-code writes). SKILL.md is the canonical source for this contract; references/design-vs-development.md mirrors it.

design-ui still writes a checkpoint state file even on misroute — the orchestration history is traceable. See references/state-machine.md for the sticky-resume rule that applies to both misroute terminals.

Stage 1 — Capture

Once Stage 0 confirms concern == "design":

1. Verify PRODUCT.md exists at the project root. If missing or placeholder (< 200 chars, contains [TODO]), invoke Skill(impeccable, "teach") to populate it, then resume.
2. Verify DESIGN.md exists. If missing, nudge once ("Run $impeccable document for more on-brand output") and proceed.
3. Resolve the slug: use task_brief.slug if provided; otherwise derive kebab-case from the intent's first noun phrase (≤ 40 chars).
4. Persist the initial state to .claude/state/design/<slug>.json per references/state-machine.md: {slug, started_at, intent, register, state: "in_progress", step_index: 0}.
5. Verify target_files parents exist when applicable. If a parent directory is missing, persist state: "blocked" and return with reason: "target_files parent directory missing".

Stage 2 — Translate

Look up the intent in references/intent-table.md. The first matching row wins. Each row produces:

• A recipe: an ordered list of impeccable subcommand names (from the vocabulary: shape, craft, teach, document, extract, critique, audit, polish, bolder, quieter, distill, harden, onboard, animate, colorize, typeset, layout, delight, overdrive, clarify, adapt, optimize, live).
• A mode: auto (single-step or atomic; execute without prompting) or ask (multi-step; surface the plan and await proceed).

For multi-step recipes (mode == "ask"), print the plan:

"Recipe: [shape, craft, audit]. Proceed? (or describe an override)"

Wait for the user. On proceed, advance to Stage 3. On override, re-run Stage 2 with the adjusted intent. On refusal, persist state: "blocked" and return.

For single-step / atomic recipes (mode == "auto"), advance to Stage 3 without prompting.

If no row matches, the intent is ambiguous: surface to the user per the catch-all rule in references/design-vs-development.md.

Stage 3 — Orchestrate

Execute the recipe step-by-step per references/orchestration.md:

for each step in recipe:
  pre-checkpoint -> state JSON {step_index, next_cmd}
  invoke         -> Skill(impeccable, "<cmd>", "<args>")
  capture        -> read return value (output_path, files_written, score)
  branch         -> apply gates (see orchestration.md)
  post-checkpoint -> state JSON {step_index++, invocations[], verifications[]}

The orchestration gates:

• Gate 1 — P0 blocks. If the previous audit returns P0 ≥ 1, do NOT auto-chain to polish. Block and surface.
• Gate 2 — P1 loops with cap 3. If P0 == 0 and P1 ≥ 1, run polish then re-audit. Loop up to 3 iterations. After iteration 3's final audit, if P1 > 0, terminate with needs_human. No fourth iteration runs.
• Gate 3 — Recipe mode. Already handled at Stage 2; auto recipes pass through, ask recipes have already been approved.
• Gate 4 — Target-file existence. Already verified at Stage 1; re-checked before any write step.
• Gate 5 — Register conflict. If task_brief.register_override mismatches PRODUCT.md, surface the conflict to the user before proceeding.

Stage 4 — Report

Return a structured Report:

{
  "slug":              "<the slug>",
  "intent":            "<the intent>",
  "recipe_executed":   ["shape", "craft", "audit", "polish"],
  "final_state":       "complete" | "needs_human" | "blocked" | "not_a_design_task" | "mixed_brief",
  "files_touched":     ["<path>", ...],
  "verifications":     { "audit_score": "19/20", "p0": 0, "p1": 0 },
  "next_actions":      ["<human-readable>"],
  "state_file":        ".claude/state/design/<slug>.json",
  "thin_glue_written": ["docs/design/<slug>.brief.md", "docs/design/<slug>.audit.md"],
  "lane_split":        [ { "surface": "<path>", "lane": "design" | "development" | "copy", "reason": "<plain-language>" } ]  // present only when final_state == "mixed_brief"
}

The caller (workflow phase or user) reads final_state and acts per the policy in references/orchestration.md (the caller-policy table).

What you write (thin glue only)

You write exactly these file kinds. Anything else is impeccable's territory.

File	Role
.claude/state/design/<slug>.json	The live state checkpoint. Written before AND after each impeccable invocation. Shape in references/state-machine.md.
docs/design/<slug>.brief.md	Human-readable snapshot of impeccable shape's output. Materialized after the shape step.
docs/design/<slug>.audit.md	Human-readable snapshot of impeccable audit's report. Materialized after each audit step (overwritten — latest audit only).

Forbidden writes:

• Product code (app/**, site-src/**, components/**, src/**, **/*.tsx, **/*.jsx, **/*.vue, **/*.svelte, **/*.css, **/*.njk) — these flow through impeccable's writing subcommands.
• DESIGN.md and PRODUCT.md — these flow through impeccable teach and impeccable document.
• .claude/skills/impeccable/** — vendored, untouchable per Article IX.
• docs/specs/** — direction_approval_guard blocks; specs are written by Skill(spec).
• Anywhere outside the thin-glue contract above.

Where you plug into the workflow

• /tdd Step 6 — Invokes Skill(design-ui, task_brief) once per declared row in the spec's ## Design calls section, gated on the implement step's write_set intersecting project.json → tdd.ui_globs. Re-runs verify afterward.
• /chore — When a chore touches files under tdd.ui_globs for design reasons, the chore routes through design-ui.
• /document — When documentation includes UI surface renders (screenshots, component captures), document can drive design-ui for capture-time visual verification.
• Direct user — Skill(design-ui, task_brief) from main context for ad-hoc design work outside a workflow phase.

Per CLAUDE.md Article X.2, design tasks inside a workflow phase SHALL route through design-ui. Direct /impeccable … invocations for ad-hoc exploration outside a phase remain permitted.

Constraints (non-negotiable)

• Always invoke impeccable for design moves. No file-content design decisions made inline in this skill.
• Always classify before acting. Stage 0 runs first; misroutes return immediately.
• Always persist state. Every step has a pre- and post-checkpoint. A killed orchestration must be resumable.
• Never edit the vendored impeccable skill. Article IX vendoring discipline.
• Never write product code. Only the thin-glue paths above.
• Never approve specs or write to docs/specs/. Spec writing is Skill(spec)'s territory.
• Never run git commit or git push. Commits happen in /commit.
• Honor the 3-iteration cap on audit → polish loops. No fourth iteration runs. Terminate with needs_human per references/orchestration.md.
• Honor P0 blocking. Never auto-loop past a P0 finding. Surface and block.
• Honor register overrides explicitly. A register_override that conflicts with PRODUCT.md prompts the user; never silently accept.

References

• references/design-vs-development.md — Stage 0 classification rules: design vs development vs copy, per-concern.
• references/intent-table.md — Stage 2 translation table: ~21 intent patterns → impeccable recipes.
• references/orchestration.md — Stage 3 gates, loop logic, caller-policy matrix.
• references/state-machine.md — State file shape, terminal states, resume rule.