Linear UI Skills

Opinionated constraints for building Linear-style interfaces with AI agents.

When to Apply

Reference these guidelines when:

• Building dark-mode interfaces

• Creating Linear-inspired design systems

• Implementing UIs with Inter font and 4px grid

Colors

• MUST use dark backgrounds (lightness < 20) for primary surfaces - detected lightness: 4

• MUST use #080A0A as page background (surface-base )

• SHOULD limit color palette to 10 distinct colors

• MUST maintain text contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for accessibility

Semantic Tokens

Token HEX RGB Usage

surface-base

#080A0A rgb(8,10,10) Page background

surface-raised

#D2D2D3 rgb(210,210,211) Cards, modals, raised surfaces

surface-overlay

#E3E3E6 rgb(227,227,230) Overlays, tooltips, dropdowns

text-primary

#5C5C5C rgb(92,92,92) Headings, body text

text-secondary

#2D2E30 rgb(45,46,48) Secondary, muted text

text-tertiary

#444749 rgb(68,71,73) Additional text

border-default

#B0B1B1 rgb(176,177,177) Subtle borders, dividers

Typography

• MUST use Inter as primary font family

• SHOULD use single font family for consistency

• MUST use 60px / 700 for primary headings

• MUST use 17px / 400 for body text

• SHOULD reduce font weights (currently 4 detected)

• MUST use text-balance for headings and text-pretty for body text

• SHOULD use tabular-nums for numeric data

• NEVER modify letter-spacing unless explicitly requested

Text Styles

Style Font Size Weight Color Count

heading-1

Inter 60px 700 #E2E4E3 1

body

Inter 17px 400 #444749 1

body-secondary

Inter 16px 400 #5C5C5C 1

body-secondary

Inter 15px 500 #2D2E30 1

text-14px

Inter 14px 400 #B2B3B3 1

text-13px

Inter 13px 400 #4C4C4C 1

text-13px

Inter 13px 400 #525355 1

text-12px

Inter 12px 400 #525456 1

caption

Inter 9px 400 #545557 1

label

Inter 9px 400 #565759 1

Typography Reference

Font Families:

• Inter (used 13x)

Font Sizes: 9px, 12px, 13px, 14px, 15px, 16px, 17px, 60px

Spacing

• MUST use 4px grid for spacing

• SHOULD use spacing from scale: 5px, 11px, 12px, 13px, 14px, 16px, 19px, 20px

• SHOULD use 5px as default gap between elements

• NEVER use arbitrary spacing values (use design scale)

• SHOULD maintain consistent padding within containers

Borders

• MUST use border-radius from scale: 6px, 8px

• MUST use 1px border width consistently

• SHOULD use 6px as default border-radius

• NEVER use arbitrary border-radius values (use design scale)

• SHOULD use subtle borders (1px) for element separation

Border Radius Reference

Scale: 6px, 8px

Layout

• MUST design for 1920px base viewport width

• SHOULD use consistent element widths: 52px

• SHOULD maintain text-heavy layout with clear hierarchy

• NEVER use h-screen , use h-dvh for full viewport height

• MUST respect safe-area-inset for fixed elements

• SHOULD use size-* for square elements instead of w-*

• h-*

Detected Layout Patterns

• Main Content: width: 1920px, height: 1013px

• Header: height: 63px

Components

Buttons

Variant Background Text Border Height Radius

Ghost transparent #5C5C5C none

Interactive States

Focus

• MUST use 2px outline with accent color (#5E6AD2 )

• MUST use 2px outline-offset

• NEVER remove focus indicators

Hover

• Buttons (primary): lighten background by 10%

• Buttons (secondary): use #D2D2D3 background

• List items: use #D2D2D3 background

Disabled

• MUST use opacity: 0.5

• MUST use cursor: not-allowed

Interaction

• MUST use an AlertDialog for destructive or irreversible actions

• SHOULD use structural skeletons for loading states

• MUST show errors next to where the action happens

• NEVER block paste in input or textarea elements

• MUST add an aria-label to icon-only buttons

Animation

• NEVER add animation unless it is explicitly requested

• MUST animate only compositor props (transform , opacity )

• NEVER animate layout properties (width , height , top , left , margin , padding )

• SHOULD use ease-out on entrance animations

• NEVER exceed 200ms for interaction feedback

• SHOULD respect prefers-reduced-motion

Performance

• NEVER animate large blur() or backdrop-filter surfaces

• NEVER apply will-change outside an active animation

• NEVER use useEffect for anything that can be expressed as render logic