shadcn Project Workflow

Objective

Use shadcn/ui as the standard path for reusable UI primitives while preserving Ordinus product direction.

Use this with ordinus-ui-system: this skill governs shadcn mechanics; ordinus-ui-system governs product feel. Use DESIGN.md as the canonical source for theme tokens, component vocabulary, status language, and UI density when changing shadcn-style components or renderer styling.

Required Workflow

1. Run or inspect project context before making component decisions: npm run ui:info
2. Read DESIGN.md before changing theme tokens, variants, component styling, status surfaces, or user-facing UI copy.
3. Check existing installed components before adding new ones.
4. Prefer shadcn CLI for registry components: npm run ui:add -- <component>
5. For unfamiliar components, get docs first: npx shadcn@latest docs <component>
6. For updates, preview before changing: npm run ui:add -- <component> --dry-run npm run ui:add -- <component> --diff <file>
7. Read files added by the CLI and fix imports, aliases, composition, and lint issues.
8. Run npm run ui:check, npm run typecheck, npm run lint, and npm run build.

Ordinus Defaults

• Package manager: npm.
• Electron app directory: app.
• Renderer alias: @renderer/*.
• Run shadcn and npm commands from app unless the user explicitly changes the project layout.
• UI components path: app/src/renderer/src/components/ui.
• Utility path: app/src/renderer/src/lib/utils.ts.
• Tailwind version: v3.
• Icon library: lucide-react.
• Product style: calm, operational, work-focused.

Critical Rules

• Align reusable variants and semantic CSS variables with DESIGN.md before adding one-off styling.
• Compose existing components before writing custom styled markup.
• Use built-in variants before custom class overrides.
• Use semantic tokens such as bg-background, text-muted-foreground, border, and bg-primary.
• Avoid raw Tailwind colors for product UI unless adding an intentional semantic token or variant.
• Use gap-* for spacing, not space-x-* or space-y-*.
• Use size-* for equal width and height.
• Use cn() for conditional class composition.
• Do not apply presets, overwrite components, or change global theme without explicit user approval.

Detailed References

Read only the relevant reference when needed:

• rules/styling.md for Tailwind and token rules.
• rules/composition.md for component composition and accessibility.
• rules/forms.md for forms and validation layouts.
• rules/icons.md for lucide icon usage.
• rules/base-vs-radix.md for primitive API differences.
• references/cli.md for shadcn CLI commands.
• references/customization.md for theming and CSS variables.

Notes

The official shadcn skill includes broader registry, MCP, asset, and eval infrastructure. Ordinus keeps a smaller adapted version focused on this Electron/Vite app.