GPUI Kit Design Guides

The guide is references/design-guides.md. It is a requirement, not inspiration. Read the guide file itself before doing UI work. Do not answer from this page, from an existing screen in the codebase, or from training data.

If the file is missing, fetch https://gpui-kit.com/docs/design-guides.md. The guide is a verbatim copy of that page, so its link to ./coding-guides.md means the Coding Guides in the gpui-kit skill (or https://gpui-kit.com/docs/coding-guides.md).

How to read it

Read the whole guide for a new screen or a redesign. For a narrow change, read "Design thesis" and "Start from the task" first, then the section for the change. Sections, in order (grep -n '^## ' references/design-guides.md):

Section	Read when
Design thesis	Always
Learning from Shadcn	Choosing what to borrow from web component libraries
Start from the task	Always; task hierarchy, interaction promise, what to leave out
Visual language	Color, typography, spacing, radius, borders, elevation, density, icons
Layout patterns	Window structure, sidebars, toolbars, panels, forms, resizable regions
Components and composition	Picking a component, composing parts, when to build a new one
Interaction states	Hover, focus, pressed, selected, disabled, loading, validation, danger
Feedback and overlays	Dialog, sheet, popover, menu, notification, tooltip, dismissal, focus
Motion	Any animation or transition
Designing data-heavy interfaces	Tables, lists, trees, dashboards, dense inspectors
Interface language	Any user-facing text: labels, buttons, titles, errors, empty states
Internationalization and platform fit	Multi-locale copy, Chinese terminology, macOS/Windows conventions
Guidance for AI-generated interfaces	Always when an agent produces UI
Accessibility checklist	Before finishing
Design review checklist	Before finishing; run every item against the work

Non-negotiables

A floor, not a substitute for the guide.

• Desktop before web convention. Keyboard access, window chrome, menus, dense data views, resizable regions, persistent navigation.
• Button vs Link. Button for every in-app command, ghost or outline when it should read quietly. Link only for external URLs and email addresses.
• Tokens before values. No raw hex or rgb(...); use cx.theme() semantic tokens and rem-based helpers. Any spacing number quoted in the guide is the current default scale, not a literal to repeat.
• State must be visible. Hover, focus, selection, disabled, loading, validation, and destructive states each need distinct, consistent treatment.
• Overlays. Escape dismisses the topmost surface and returns focus to its trigger.
• Copy. Name the object and the verb: Delete "Roadmap"? with a Delete button, not Are you sure? with OK.

Finish by running the Design review checklist against the work.