frontend-design-extractor

Frontend Design Extractor

Overview

Extract a reusable UI/UX design spec from a frontend codebase by inventorying UI sources, documenting foundations, cataloging components, and capturing page-level patterns and behaviors. Exclude business logic and domain-specific workflows. Framework-agnostic: adapt to the actual stack in the target repo.

Quick start

1. Confirm mode: new project (greenfield) or refactor existing. Clarify that business logic is out of scope.
2. If existing repo: run scripts/scan_ui_sources.sh to scan the repo root (no directory layout assumptions). It uses common globs + keyword hits, and ignores common build/cache dirs and extraction output folders by default.
3. Optionally: scripts/scan_ui_sources.sh <repo_root> [out_file] [extra_glob ...] or --root/--out/--ignore for nonstandard layouts.
4. Create the output folder (default ./ui-ux-spec) via scripts/generate_output_skeleton.sh and write all extraction results inside it.
5. Produce outputs in the default structure (see "Output structure").

Modes (choose one)

A) Greenfield (from blank)

Goal: create a reusable UI/UX foundation and starter UI without business logic.

1. Define foundations: tokens (color/typography/spacing/radius/shadow/motion), global styles, breakpoints, layout shell.
2. Create a baseline component set: Button, Input, Select, Card, Modal, Table/List, Tabs, Toast, EmptyState.
3. Create page templates: list/detail/form/dashboard skeletons with placeholder data.
4. Provide implementation notes for the target framework (CSS architecture, theming mechanism, file structure).
5. Optionally run scripts/generate_output_skeleton.sh [out_root] to scaffold folders and empty templates. Default output root is ./ui-ux-spec.

Deliverables:

• Design tokens doc + global styles spec
• Component catalog with variants/states/a11y
• Page templates with layout rules
• Engineering constraints (naming, CSS approach, theming)

B) Refactor existing project

Goal: extract current UI/UX, normalize tokens, and plan safe, incremental improvements.

1. Inventory UI sources (scan script + manual inspection).
2. Normalize tokens and map existing styles to them.
3. Identify high-impact components/patterns for first pass.
4. Plan migration with minimal diffs (wrappers, theme adapters, gradual replacement).
5. Document behavioral and a11y gaps to fix progressively.

Deliverables:

• Extracted design spec (same as greenfield)
• Migration plan (phased, low-risk steps)
• Component-by-component mapping notes

Refactor from spec (fixed flow)

Use this when applying an existing ui-ux-spec/ to a target project. Always work from a plan and execute step-by-step to avoid missing gaps.

0) Understand the target project

• Identify framework, styling system, component library usage, and entry points.
• Confirm constraints: UI/UX only, business logic untouched.
• Keep existing project structure unchanged unless explicitly requested.

1) Build the refactor plan (required)

• Compare spec → current project and list differences by category:
  • Tokens & global styles
  • Components (priority order)
  • Patterns & pages
  • A11y gaps
• Do not assume the spec folder structure matches the target project. Map by content, not by paths.
• Produce a phased plan (Phase 1 tokens, Phase 2 base components, Phase 3 pages, etc.).
• Do not proceed to edits until the plan is accepted.

2) Execute phase by phase

• Apply changes for the current phase only.
• Re-check against the spec after each phase.
• Keep diffs minimal and reversible.
• Do not restructure folders or move files; update in place.

3) Summarize and verify

• Provide a change list and remaining gaps.
• Suggest next phase only after current phase is done.

Refactor prompt templates

Use one of the templates below to keep requests precise and plan-driven.

Template A: Standard refactor

Please refactor the existing project based on this UI/UX spec:
- Project path: /path/to/target-project
- Spec path: /path/to/ui-ux-spec
- Goal: UI/UX only (tokens, styles, components, layout), do not change business logic/APIs
- Scope: start with global styles + base components
- Constraints: minimal changes, small-step commits, reversible
- Deliverables: refactor plan + actual code changes + list of impacted files

Template B: Phased refactor

Please refactor UI/UX in phases; only do Phase 1:
- Project path: /path/to/target-project
- Spec path: /path/to/ui-ux-spec
- Phase 1: align tokens + global styles (colors/typography/spacing/radius/shadows)
- Do not change: business logic/routing/APIs
- Deliverables: list of changed files + alignment diff notes

Template C: Component-level refactor

Please align the following components to the spec while keeping business logic unchanged:
- Project path: /path/to/target-project
- Spec path: /path/to/ui-ux-spec
- Component list: Button, Input, Modal, Table
- Goal: only change styling/structure/interaction details
- Deliverables: alignment notes per component + code changes

Workflow

0) Scope and constraints

• Confirm repo root, frameworks, and any design system packages.
• Confirm desired output format (Markdown by default).
• Ask for constraints: must-keep brand rules, target platforms, and accessibility level.
• Reconfirm: exclude business logic, business rules, and domain workflows.
• Do not assume a specific frontend framework or language; adapt to the project’s stack.

1) Source inventory (existing repos only)

• Do not assume a fixed directory structure; scan results should guide where to read.
• Run the scan script and inspect results for:
  • tokens/themes, global styles, theme providers
  • component libraries and local wrappers
  • Storybook, docs, or visual regression tests
  • assets and i18n sources

2) Foundations (tokens + global styles)

• Document colors, typography, spacing, radius, shadows, z-index, and motion tokens.
• Capture reset/normalize, body defaults, link/form defaults, focus-visible, scrollbar.

3) Layout & information architecture

• Document breakpoints, containers, grid rules, navigation structure, and layout shells.

4) Component catalog

• For each component, capture: purpose, structure/slots, variants, states, interactions, a11y, responsive behavior, motion, and theming hooks.
• If a third-party library is used, focus on local wrapper components and overrides.

5) Page templates & composition rules

• Extract page skeletons (list/detail/form/dashboard/etc.) and module ordering.
• Capture combined states: loading/empty/error/permission/readonly.

6) Behavior & content rules

• Capture loading and error strategies, validation patterns, undo/optimistic updates.
• Capture microcopy conventions and i18n formatting constraints.

7) Package outputs

• Produce at least:
  • Design tokens doc
  • Component catalog
  • Page templates
• Ensure outputs are written under a dedicated folder (default ui-ux-spec/).
• Use the output structure below unless the user asks for another layout.

Output structure (default)

This structure is a recommended documentation layout. It does not need to match the target project's directory structure, and it can be renamed or relocated (e.g., docs/ui-ux-spec/).

ui-ux-spec/
  01_Foundation/
  02_Components/
  03_Patterns/
  04_Pages/
  05_A11y/
  06_Assets/
  07_Engineering_Constraints/

Resources

• scripts/scan_ui_sources.sh: find candidate UI sources in a repo.
• scripts/generate_output_skeleton.sh: create the standard output folders and placeholder templates.
• references/design-extraction-checklist.md: detailed checklist derived from README.