
critique
Design lens critique covering visual hierarchy, clarity, and anti-slop patterns — produces a findings table, no code edits unless asked. Use when the user wants a design review, says "what's wrong with this UI", or needs a second opinion before a handoff or presentation. Invoke when the user asks for critique on their UI, or mentions 'critique' alongside design / UI / frontend work.
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Install
Works with every agent the skills CLI supports.
npx skills add https://github.com/educlopez/ui-craft --skill critique- 01
Install
Run the command in your project. The CLI asks which agents to install for.
- 02
Describe the task
Ask your agent for something this skill covers. It loads critique automatically when relevant.
- 03
Review the result
The agent follows the SKILL.md steps, scripts and references bundled with the skill.
SKILL.md
The instructions your agent reads when the skill is triggered.
Context: this sub-skill is one lens of the broader ui-craft skill. If the ui-craft skill is also installed, read its SKILL.md first for Discovery + Anti-Slop + Craft Test, then apply the specific lens below.
Critique the UI at $ARGUMENTS through a design lens. Load the ui-craft skill.
Step 0: Visual capture (mandatory)
Code-only review is insufficient. Every audit/critique starts with the surface as the user sees it. Try the following in order; use the first one available:
- Playwright MCP — if
playwrightMCP server is available, use it. Capture full-page screenshots at three viewports: desktop (1280×800), tablet (768×1024), mobile (375×812). Capture dark mode if the app supports it. - Browser DevTools / Chrome MCP — second choice; same viewport set.
- Other browser automation (
agent-browser,cursor-ide-browser) — third choice. - Ask the user — last resort. If no automation is available, request screenshots from the user before proceeding. Be specific:
- "Visual review needs screenshots. Please provide:
- Full-page at 1280px (desktop)
- Full-page at 768px (tablet)
- Full-page at 375px (mobile)
- Dark mode of each, if supported."
- "Visual review needs screenshots. Please provide:
Do not begin the review until visuals are captured or provided. State this explicitly to the user when no automation succeeds — don't silently fall back to code-only review.
If the user declines to provide screenshots, run a code-only pass and clearly mark the report [CODE-ONLY REVIEW — visual issues not assessed] at the top so the limitation is explicit.
Knob awareness (CRAFT_LEVEL sets the bar for what counts as "needs work"):
CRAFT_LEVEL 3→ flag only anti-slop Critical items. Skip Minor polish.CRAFT_LEVEL 5-7→ flag Critical + Major. Mention Minor polish as optional.CRAFT_LEVEL 9+→ flag everything, including Minor polish and missing signature detail.
Run these lenses in order:
- Anti-Slop Test (from SKILL.md): flag every item present. Critical first (ALL CAPS, purple gradients, identical card grids, bounce easing, emoji icons, glassmorphism + neon). Then major (colored pills on trends, thick colored borders, uniform radii, gradient text, walls of text). Then minor (straight quotes, missing
tabular-nums, generic CTAs). - Craft Test (from SKILL.md): where does the design fall short of "one accent, 3-5 placements; plain secondary text for comparisons; functional color only; every section earns its space"?
- Hierarchy: can the user tell what's primary, secondary, tertiary at a glance? Or does everything shout equally?
- Clarity: is the value prop legible in 5 seconds? Are CTAs specific (not "Learn more")?
- Signature detail: is there one memorable element that makes this feel designed, not assembled? If not, suggest one (motif, layout break, custom marker, distinctive hover).
- Inspiration gap — read
references/inspiration.md: which observed pattern from the archetypes / signature details applies here, and how does the current state diverge from it?
Output format — the Review Format table:
| Before | After | Why |
|---|
Prioritize by impact, not by file order. End with a one-paragraph summary of the top 3 changes that would raise this from "AI-generated" to "designed".
Do NOT edit code. This is a critique.
Close with a Craft Report (references/review.md → Craft Report) as the final wrapper around the findings table and top-3 summary — Checked names the lenses actually run (Anti-Slop, Craft Test, Hierarchy, Clarity, Signature, Inspiration gap) and at what CRAFT_LEVEL bar, Passed carries whatever held up under those lenses, Changed stays empty (critique doesn't edit), Left alone covers anything flagged but out of scope, Verdict is the one-sentence state. Produce it even when the surface passes clean — that's the validation the user is asking for.
Next step: /polish — apply the fixes this critique named (rung 1).
FAQ
What does the critique skill do?
Design lens critique covering visual hierarchy, clarity, and anti-slop patterns — produces a findings table, no code edits unless asked. Use when the user wants a design review, says "what's wrong with this UI", or needs a second opinion before a handoff or presentation. Invoke when the user asks for critique on their UI, or mentions 'critique' alongside design / UI / frontend work.
How do I install critique?
Run npx skills add https://github.com/educlopez/ui-craft --skill critique in your project. The skills CLI detects the agents you use and copies the skill into the right folder. For Claude Code you can also place the skill folder at ~/.claude/skills/critique/ (personal) or .claude/skills/critique/ (project).
Which AI agents can use critique?
Any agent that supports the open Agent Skills format (a folder with a SKILL.md file), including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, Windsurf, Cline, OpenCode and more.
Is critique safe to install?
No partner security audit is available yet. Skills can run commands and scripts, so read the SKILL.md and any bundled files before installing.
Who maintains critique?
It is published by educlopez in educlopez/ui-craft. It has 577 recorded installs.
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