Website Building
Build distinctive, production-grade websites where every site looks DIFFERENT. Every choice — type, color, motion, layout — must be derived from the subject matter. Run the palette generator (bun run shared/generate-palette.ts "keywords") to create a unique color scheme for each project. NEVER reuse the same palette across sites.
This skill covers everything for web projects. Read the sub-files in this directory as needed based on your project type. For web applications, also read skills/webapp/SKILL.md.
Universal design principles (color philosophy, default palette, font selection) are shared with other skills via design-foundations. This skill's shared files extend those foundations with web-specific implementation (CSS variables, responsive tokens, base stylesheets). You don't need to load design-foundations separately — the web-specific versions in shared/ are comprehensive.
Use read with the full path, e.g. skills/website-building/shared/01-design-tokens.md
Project Type Routing
Step 1: Identify project type and load domain-specific guidance:
| Project Type | Action | Examples |
|---|
| Informational sites | read skills/website-building/informational/informational.md | Personal sites, portfolios, editorial/blogs, small business, landing pages |
| Web applications | read skills/webapp/SKILL.md | SaaS products, dashboards, admin panels, e-commerce, brand experiences |
| Browser games | read skills/website-building/game/game.md + skills/website-building/game/game-testing.md | 2D Canvas games, Three.js/WebGL, HTML5 games, interactive 3D experiences |
Step 2: Read shared files — read skills/website-building/shared/01-design-tokens.md and skills/website-building/shared/02-typography.md first (mandatory for ALL project types, including webapp). These establish the Kortix design system defaults and typography rules that apply universally. For web applications and dashboards, skip files marked with † below — those contain implementation details pre-configured in the fullstack template.
If the user says just "website" or "site" with no detail, ask what type or default to informational.
Sub-File Reference
Shared (shared/) — Every project
| File | Covers | Load |
|---|
shared/01-design-tokens.md | Type scale, spacing, Kortix palette, base.css | Always |
shared/02-typography.md | Font selection, pairing, loading, blacklist | Always |
shared/04-layout.md | Spatial composition, responsive, mobile-first | Always † |
shared/05-taste.md | Skeleton loaders, empty/error states, polish | Always |
shared/08-standards.md | Accessibility, performance, anti-patterns | Always |
shared/09-technical.md | Project structure, sandbox, deploy, checklist | Always † |
shared/head-defaults.html | Attribution block for <head> | Always † |
shared/03-motion.md | Scroll animations, Motion library, GSAP SVG plugins, hover/cursor | When animated |
shared/06-css-and-tailwind.md | Tailwind CSS v3, shadcn/ui, modern CSS | When using Tailwind |
shared/07-toolkit.md | CDN libraries, React, Three.js, icons, maps, SVG patterns/filters, esm.sh | When choosing libs |
shared/10-charts-and-dataviz.md | Chart.js, Recharts, D3, KPIs, sparklines | When data viz needed |
shared/11-web-technologies.md | Framework versions, browser compatibility | When checking compat |
shared/12-playwright-interactive.md | Persistent Playwright browser QA, screenshots, visual testing | When testing |
shared/19-backend.md | FastAPI/Express/Flask servers, WebSocket, SSE, port forwarding | When backend needed |
shared/20-llm-api.md | LLM/AI API integration reference | When site uses AI APIs |
All paths are relative to skills/website-building/.
† Skip for webapp and dashboards — implementation details pre-configured in the fullstack template. Design-tokens and typography are NOT skipped — they provide the authoritative design system defaults and font selection guidance for all project types.
Domain-Specific — Load one
| File | When to load |
|---|
read skills/webapp/SKILL.md | SaaS, dashboard, admin, e-commerce, brand experience (fullstack template skill) |
skills/webapp/dashboards.md | Dashboard or data-dense interface (companion to webapp) |
informational/informational.md | Personal site, portfolio, editorial, small business, landing |
game/game.md | Browser game, Three.js, WebGL, interactive 3D |
game/2d-canvas.md | 2D Canvas game (companion to game.md) |
game/game-testing.md | Any browser game — load alongside game.md |
Interactive QA: Read skills/website-building/shared/12-playwright-interactive.md for persistent browser automation with Playwright (screenshots, functional testing, visual QA). Required for game testing, useful for any complex site.
Workflow
Step 0: Load ALL mandatory files (do this FIRST, in parallel)
Read ALL of these in one batch — they are mandatory for every project:
read("skills/website-building/shared/01-design-tokens.md")
read("skills/website-building/shared/02-typography.md")
read("skills/website-building/shared/04-layout.md")
read("skills/website-building/shared/05-taste.md")
read("skills/website-building/shared/08-standards.md")
Then load the domain-specific file (informational, webapp, or game) from Step 1 below.
Step 1: Generate unique palette
Run the palette generator with keywords describing the subject:
bun run skills/website-building/shared/generate-palette.ts "subject keywords here"
Pick the best harmony, customize if needed.
Step 2: Design & Build
Build the site with the generated palette, following all the loaded design guidance.
Step 3: Preview
Start a local server with pty_spawn, then show its plain URL:
# static site (no build step)
python3 -m http.server 3000 --directory /workspace/project
# app: run its dev server instead, e.g. npm run dev
Then show(type: "url", url: "http://localhost:3000/"). The platform auto-detects and proxies any localhost port — no special URL format needed.
Use Every Tool
- Research first. Search the web for reference sites, trends, and competitor examples before designing. Browse award-winning examples of the specific site type. Fetch any URLs the user provides.
- Generate real assets — generously. Generate images for heroes, section illustrations, editorial feature visuals, atmospheric backgrounds — not just one hero image. Every long page should have visual rhythm with generated images that match the site's art direction. No placeholders. Generate a custom SVG logo for every project (see below) — SVG is for logos only unless the user specifically requests SVG output. Save web reference images that inform direction.
- Screenshot via Playwright. Read
skills/website-building/shared/12-playwright-interactive.md to screenshot at desktop (1280px+) and mobile (375px). Compare against references. This is mandatory, not optional. See Visual QA below.
- Write production code directly. HTML, CSS, JS, SVG. Use bash for build tools and file processing.
SVG Logo Generation
Every project gets a custom inline SVG logo. Never substitute a styled text heading.
- Understand the brand — purpose, tone, one defining word
- Write SVG directly — geometric shapes, letterforms, or abstract marks. One memorable shape.
- Principles: Geometric/minimal (Paul Rand, Vignelli). Works at 24px and 200px. Monochrome first — add color as enhancement. Use
currentColor for dark/light mode.
- Implement inline with
aria-label, viewBox, fill="none", currentColor strokes
- Generate a favicon — simplified 32x32 version if needed
For SVG animation (DrawSVG, MorphSVG), see shared/03-motion.md. For SVG patterns/filters, see shared/07-toolkit.md.
Visual QA Testing Process
Every deployment must pass visual QA. Screenshots are quality gates.
Read skills/website-building/shared/12-playwright-interactive.md for all visual QA. Playwright provides a persistent browser session for screenshots, interaction testing, and viewport verification.
Cycle: Build → Playwright QA → Evaluate → Fix → Repeat → Deploy when ready
Stage 1: Page-by-Page QA
After building each page:
- Screenshot at desktop (1280px+) and mobile (375px) via Playwright
- Evaluate critically: Does it look professionally designed (not AI-generated)? Is typography distinctive? Is whitespace generous? Is there one clear visual hierarchy?
- Fix every issue before moving on. No visual debt.
Stage 2: Final QA (before publishing)
- Screenshot every page at desktop and mobile
- Check cross-page consistency (spacing, color, type treatment)
- Verify dark mode (screenshot both themes for homepage minimum)
- Check interactive states: hover, focus, active, loading, empty, error
- Cold-open first impression test: does it feel polished and intentional?
QA failures: text overflow, inconsistent spacing, off-token colors, missing dark mode, squished mobile, generic AI look, placeholder content, missing logo.
Step 1: Art Direction — Infer Before You Ask, Ask Before You Default
Every site should have a visual identity derived from its content. Do not skip to the Kortix fallback palette. The Kortix palette is a last resort for when both inference and asking have failed — not a convenient default.
- Infer from the subject. A coffee roaster site → earthy browns, warm cream, hand-drawn feel. A fintech dashboard → cool slate, sharp sans-serif, data-dense. A children's learning app → bright primaries, rounded type, playful motion. The content itself tells you the palette, typography, and spacing before the user says a word.
- Check the Art Direction tables. Each domain file (
informational.md, webapp/SKILL.md, game/game.md) has an Art Direction table mapping site/product types to concept-driven directions and token starting points. Use these as a springboard.
- Derive the five pillars: Color (warm/cool, accent from subject), Typography (serif/sans, display personality), Spacing (dense/generous), Motion (minimal/expressive), Imagery (photo/illustration/type-only).
- If the subject is genuinely ambiguous, ask — "What mood are you going for?" and "Any reference sites?" One question is enough.
- Kortix fallback — only when inference AND asking yield nothing. If the user has been asked and gave no direction, AND the subject matter gives no clear signal, then fall back to Kortix/Swiss defaults.
The Fallback: Clean & Swiss (Last Resort)
When inference yielded no clear direction AND the user was asked but gave no style guidance, use defaults from skills/website-building/shared/01-design-tokens.md with:
- Typography: Satoshi or General Sans body (Fontshare — preferred), or Inter/DM Sans. Weight contrast over font contrast. 3-4 sizes max. Keep text compact —
--text-3xl/--text-hero are for informational site heroes only.
- Color: Kortix palette. Neutral surfaces + one teal accent for CTAs only.
- Layout: Grid-aligned. Generous margins. Asymmetric where interesting.
- Motion: Minimal, functional. Smooth state transitions only.
- Imagery: Generate clean, relevant visuals. No stock photos.
Art Direction — Avoid the AI Aesthetic
See skills/website-building/shared/08-standards.md for the full anti-patterns list.
Step 2: Publish
Use real local preview commands first and only publish with the target project's actual deployment workflow. See skills/website-building/shared/09-technical.md for the recommended preview and delivery flow.
Before taking a site live, read skills/website-building/website-publishing/SKILL.md. It covers the publish guardrail (explicit user opt-in — never publish unprompted), runtime-only dependencies that won't survive a standalone deployment, and the mandatory pre-publish security review.
Delivery
- Always verify the site locally first.
- Use
pty_spawn for the preview or dev server.
- If the target repo already has a deployment workflow, use that exact workflow.
- If there is no established deploy target, deliver the files and a verified local preview instead of inventing a platform-specific deployment story.