anti-slop-design

Autonomous Principal Design Technologist and Anti-AI-Slop Specialist for AI coding agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Antigravity, Windsurf).

Transforms messy, template-ridden vibe-coded prototypes into bespoke, human-grade, production-ready software.

npx skills add wwewtech/anti-slop-design

Live Showcase • skills.sh • SKILL.md • Collections

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Why Anti-Slop?

When coding agents generate user interfaces without design constraints, they converge on predictable tropes:

• The "AI Dark Mode" Blob: radial-gradient from indigo-600/purple-900 blurred in corners of dark backgrounds.
• Metric & Filter Clutter: Date pickers duplicated inside individual cards; total counts repeated across 3 different widgets.
• The "Emoji as Icon" Plague: Using raw emojis (🚀, 🔥, 💡, 📊) in buttons and sidebars instead of single-stroke vector icons.
• Vanity Space-Wasters: Giant 3D globes or map widgets that occupy 50% of the viewport with zero actionable data deltas.
• Sluggish Transitions: 400ms ease-in curves that make software feel laggy and ungrounded.
• Missing Interaction States: Buttons that only have hover states, lacking :focus-visible, :active, loading, and disabled handling.

anti-slop-design replaces these defaults with deterministic architectural rules, curated token archetypes, and an objective 7-axis quality gate.

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Transformation in Action

Before: Vibe-Coded AI Slop

<div className="min-h-screen bg-slate-900 bg-[radial-gradient(ellipse_at_top,_#312e81,_#0f172a,_#000000)] p-8">
  <span className="text-xs uppercase tracking-widest text-indigo-400">ANALYTICS</span>
  <h1 className="text-4xl font-bold text-white">Live <span className="italic bg-gradient-to-r from-purple-400 to-pink-500 bg-clip-text text-transparent">Radar</span></h1>
  
  <div className="grid grid-cols-3 gap-6 mt-8">
    <div className="p-6 bg-white/5 backdrop-blur-md rounded-2xl border border-white/10 hover:border-indigo-500 transition-all duration-400 ease-in">
      <div className="text-2xl mb-2">🚀</div>
      <h3 className="text-xl font-semibold">Total Clicks</h3>
      <p className="text-3xl font-bold">+99.9% Uptime</p>
      <input type="date" className="mt-4 p-2 bg-slate-800 rounded" />
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

After: Human-Grade Production (Quiet Luxury SaaS Archetype)

<div className="min-h-screen bg-[#09090b] text-zinc-100 p-8 font-sans">
  <div className="max-w-5xl mx-auto space-y-6">
    {/* Unified Page-Level Header & Filter Bar */}
    <header className="flex items-center justify-between pb-4 border-b border-white/10">
      <div>
        <h1 className="text-base font-semibold tracking-tight">Link Telemetry</h1>
        <p className="text-xs text-zinc-400 mt-0.5">Normalized 30-day traffic metrics</p>
      </div>
      <div className="flex items-center gap-3">
        <DateRangeSelector defaultValue="30d" />
        <button className="inline-flex items-center gap-1.5 px-3 py-1.5 bg-white text-black text-xs font-medium rounded-md active:scale-95 transition-transform duration-100 focus-visible:ring-2 focus-visible:ring-white/50 outline-none">
          <PlusIcon className="w-3.5 h-3.5 stroke-[2]" />
          Create Link
        </button>
      </div>
    </header>

    {/* Single Source of Truth Summary */}
    <div className="grid grid-cols-1 md:grid-cols-3 gap-4">
      <MetricCard label="Active Links" value="1,284" change="+12.4%" />
      <MetricCard label="Total Referrals" value="49,102" change="+8.1%" />
      <MetricCard label="Avg Latency" value="42ms" change="-3.2%" />
    </div>
  </div>
</div>

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Quick Installation

1. Via skills.sh / Vercel Skills CLI

npx skills add wwewtech/anti-slop-design

2. Via Claude Code

claude skills add https://github.com/wwewtech/anti-slop-design

3. For Google Antigravity

Clone or copy SKILL.md directly into your Antigravity skills directory:

# Windows
mkdir -p "$HOME\.gemini\config\skills\anti-slop-design"
curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wwewtech/anti-slop-design/main/SKILL.md -o "$HOME\.gemini\config\skills\anti-slop-design\SKILL.md"

# macOS / Linux
mkdir -p ~/.gemini/config/skills/anti-slop-design
curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wwewtech/anti-slop-design/main/SKILL.md -o ~/.gemini/config/skills/anti-slop-design/SKILL.md

4. For Cursor & Windsurf

Add SKILL.md to your workspace prompt context:

mkdir -p .cursor/skills/anti-slop-design
curl -sL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wwewtech/anti-slop-design/main/SKILL.md -o .cursor/skills/anti-slop-design/SKILL.md

---

The 12 AI Slop Anti-Patterns

Anti-Pattern	Manifestation in Vibe-Coded UI	Mandatory Production Replacement
The "AI Dark Mode" Blob	radial-gradient from indigo-600 or purple-900 blurred in corners of dark backgrounds.	Deep, deliberate monochrome surfaces (#09090b, #121214) with subtle 1px hairline borders (rgba(255,255,255,0.08)).
Monotonous Slate/Indigo	Generic bg-slate-900 text-slate-400 bg-indigo-600 cookie-cutter templates.	Curated semantic tokens (OKLCH/HSL) with distinct brand personality (e.g., Warm Amber, Electric Cobalt, Deep Emerald, or Crisp Monochrome).
Cookie-Cutter 3-Card Grid	Three identical rectangular cards with glowing borders on hover.	Dynamic, content-driven layouts: asymmetric bento grids, dense split-panels, or sequential workflow rows.
Raw Emojis as Icons	Plastering raw emojis (🚀, 🔥, 💡, 📊) inside buttons, cards, and sidebars.	Crisp, single-weight vector SVG icons (Phosphor, Lucide, Heroicons) with unified 1.5px/2px stroke widths.
Fabricated Vanity Stats	Meaningless filler cards: "+99.9% Uptime", "10x Faster", "50k+ Users" with no source.	Real domain telemetry or remove the card entirely. Zero vanity metrics.
Screaming Eyebrow Labels	Tracked-out uppercase labels above every heading: OVERVIEW, FEATURES, ANALYTICS.	Sentence-case hierarchy, subtle metadata tags, or omit entirely if the heading is self-explanatory.
Single-Word Italic/Color Accents	Headlines with one arbitrary word italicized or highlighted in glowing gradient text.	Uniform, confident typographic weight. Let the whole statement carry authority.
Redundant Metric Duplication	Repeating total clicks/revenue in header, sidebar, and inside multiple individual cards.	Single Source of Metric Truth. One primary KPI summary per viewport; drill-downs below.
Card-Level Filter Pollution	Duplicating date pickers or dropdowns inside every card rather than at the page level.	Unified Page-Level Control Bar that synchronizes all underlying views.
Vanity Visual Space-Wasters	Giant world maps or 3D blobs that occupy 60% of the screen with zero actionable data.	Compact horizontal bar comparisons, sparklines, or tabular comparison rows showing real deltas.
Missing Interactive States	Buttons with only hover effects, lacking :focus-visible, :active, loading, and disabled states.	8-State Interactive Feedback System on all interactive primitives.
Broken Placeholders & Links	via.placeholder.com, broken Unsplash URLs, or blurry stock photos.	High-fidelity inline SVGs, semantic CSS abstract shapes, or verified local assets.

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Core UX Axioms

1. The "1-to-3" Rule: 1 primary action or dominant focal point per viewport section -> max 3 secondary supporting actions.
2. The 85% Statistical Prioritization Law: Optimize for what 85% of users do every day. Make that scenario 1-click accessible. Tweak the 15% edge cases into subtle secondary popovers.
3. Strict Ban on Duplication: Page-level filters apply globally. Never repeat the same KPI across multiple widgets.
4. Mobile Linearity on Desktop: Stack competing logic blocks sequentially so the human eye scans naturally from top to bottom.

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Architectural Principles

1. Visual DNA Ingestion: Extract 5 foundation tokens (Canvas, Surface, Primary Accent, Text Hierarchy, Hairline Border) without copying visual bugs.
2. Bespoke Asset Architecture: Replace broken placeholders with high-fidelity inline SVGs or structured DOM mockups.
3. Contextual Asset Differentiation: Frame physical goods with generous whitespace and macro-photography; showcase digital SaaS with live, crisp UI components.
4. Typographic Discipline: Cap body line length at <= 75ch. Pair character-rich display fonts with tabular monospace metadata (font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums).
5. Deterministic Design Variations: Switch between 4 logic-preserving archetypes (Quiet Luxury SaaS, Technical Dense Terminal, Editorial & Refined, Warm Tactile) while preserving 100% of underlying form logic and state.
6. Spacing Geometry: Strict 4px/8pt spatial grid. Enforce nested radius math: R_inner = max(0, R_outer - padding).
7. Cognitive De-Cluttering: Strip decorative ballast, redundant status pills, and empty ghost cards.
8. Systematic Scaffolding: Anchor every screen to a battle-tested layout skeleton (App Shell, High-Density Dashboard, or 50ms Conversion Hero).

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Production Design Archetypes

Quiet Luxury SaaS (B2B / Pro Tools)

:root {
  --bg-canvas: #09090b;
  --bg-surface: #121215;
  --bg-surface-elevated: #18181c;
  --border-subtle: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.08);
  --border-hover: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.16);
  --accent-primary: #3b82f6; /* Electric Cobalt */
  --accent-foreground: #ffffff;
  --text-primary: #f4f4f5;
  --text-secondary: #a1a1aa;
  --radius-sm: 6px;
  --radius-md: 10px;
}

Technical Dense Terminal (DevTools / FinTech / Observability)

:root {
  --bg-canvas: #0c0d0e;
  --bg-surface: #141618;
  --border-subtle: #24282c;
  --accent-primary: #10b981; /* Precision Emerald */
  --accent-secondary: #f59e0b; /* Amber Alert */
  --text-primary: #e6edf3;
  --font-mono: 'JetBrains Mono', monospace;
  --radius-sm: 2px;
}

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Micro-Interactions & The 8-State Feedback System

Every interactive primitive (button, input, tab, card) must implement 8 functional states:

[Default] ──> [Hover] ──> [:focus-visible] ──> [:active (Tactile 0.97)]
   │
   └──> [Loading (Spinner)] ──> [Error (Shake)] ──> [Success (Pulse)] ──> [Disabled]

The Emil Kowalski Animation Decision Rules

• Actions performed 100+ times/day: 0ms duration (INSTANT). Never animate.
• Standard micro-interactions: 120ms – 180ms.
• Curves: Never use ease-in for UI. Always use punchy ease-out: cubic-bezier(0.23, 1, 0.32, 1).
• Tactile press: On :active, scale down by 2–3%: transform: scale(0.97).

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The 7-Axis Pre-Emit Quality Gate

Before completing any UI task, the agent automatically grades its work against 7 objective criteria:

Axis	Metric	Target Threshold
1. Anti-Slop Purity	Freedom from AI clichés	Zero purple gradients, zero emojis as icons, zero vanity stats
2. UX Speed & 1-to-3 Rule	Logical clarity	1 primary action, max 3 secondary, unified page-level filters
3. Typographic Discipline	Personality & hierarchy	Max 2 font families, tabular numbers on metrics, <= 75ch body
4. Spacing & Geometric Math	Spatial cadence	Strict 4px/8pt grid, nested radius math R_inner = max(0, R_outer - padding)
5. Micro-Interactions & Motion	Physical feel	Snappy transitions < 200ms, tactile :active { transform: scale(0.97) }
6. Accessibility & Keyboard Flow	WCAG 2.1 AA	Visible :focus-visible rings, no naked outline: none, semantic tags
7. Mobile & Responsive Linearity	Cross-device stability	Clean vertical stacking, zero horizontal overflow, >= 44px touch targets

A score of >= 4/5 across all 7 axes is mandatory before shipping.

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Collections & Ecosystem Inclusion

anti-slop-design is indexed and curated across major AI agent skill collections and registries:

• skills.sh Directory: Featured in Design & UI, Agent Workflows, Mobile, React, and Next.js topics.
• ComposioHQ/awesome-claude-skills: Curated under UI & Frontend Engineering.
• VoltAgent/awesome-agent-skills: Listed in Design & User Experience.
• Google Antigravity Built-in Skills: Full support for native workspace and agent workflows.
• Full Compilations Registry: See COLLECTIONS.md for direct links, category entries, and markdown snippets for awesome-lists.

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Research & Corpus Audit

This skill was engineered by auditing 100+ top design skills and the official skill-creator meta-skill across the GitHub and skills.sh ecosystem, including:

• anthropics/skills (frontend-design, skill-creator)
• vercel-labs/agent-skills (web-design-guidelines)
• leonxlnx/taste-skill (design-taste-frontend)
• emilkowalski/skills (emil-design-eng)
• wshobson/agents (kpi-dashboard-design, visual-design-foundations)
• Real-world SaaS critiques from Kole Jain, ALETI landing page analyses, and commercial UX speed studies.

For the complete 100-skill benchmark and diagnostic report, see SKILLS_ANALYSIS_AND_AUDIT.md.

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License

MIT © wwewtech