macos-design
Design and build native-feeling macOS application UIs. Use this skill whenever the user asks to create a desktop app, macOS app, Mac-style interface, Apple-style UI, system utility, or anything that should look and feel like a native Mac application. Also trigger when users mention "native feel", "desktop app design", "Apple design patterns", "sidebar layout", "traffic lights", or want to build tools/utilities that feel like they belong on macOS. This skill covers layout, composition, interaction patterns, animations, light/dark mode, and all the subtle details that make an app feel like Apple built it.
83
75%
Does it follow best practices?
Impact
99%
1.13xAverage score across 3 eval scenarios
Passed
No known issues
Optimize this skill with Tessl
npx tessl skill review --optimize ./plugins/all-skills/skills/macos-design/SKILL.mdQuality
Discovery
100%Based on the skill's description, can an agent find and select it at the right time? Clear, specific descriptions lead to better discovery.
This is a strong skill description that excels across all dimensions. It provides specific capabilities, extensive natural trigger terms, explicit 'Use when' guidance, and a clearly distinctive niche focused on macOS-native UI design. The description is comprehensive without being unnecessarily verbose.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Specificity | Lists multiple specific concrete actions and capabilities: 'layout, composition, interaction patterns, animations, light/dark mode' and describes the goal of building 'native-feeling macOS application UIs'. Covers a clear set of design concerns. | 3 / 3 |
Completeness | Clearly answers both 'what' (design and build native-feeling macOS UIs covering layout, composition, interaction patterns, animations, light/dark mode) and 'when' (explicit 'Use this skill whenever...' clause with detailed trigger scenarios and terms). | 3 / 3 |
Trigger Term Quality | Excellent coverage of natural terms users would say: 'desktop app', 'macOS app', 'Mac-style interface', 'Apple-style UI', 'system utility', 'native feel', 'desktop app design', 'Apple design patterns', 'sidebar layout', 'traffic lights'. These are highly natural and varied trigger terms. | 3 / 3 |
Distinctiveness Conflict Risk | Highly distinctive niche focused specifically on macOS/Apple-native UI design. The trigger terms are clearly scoped to macOS desktop applications, making it unlikely to conflict with generic web UI, mobile, or other platform-specific skills. | 3 / 3 |
Total | 12 / 12 Passed |
Implementation
50%Reviews the quality of instructions and guidance provided to agents. Good implementation is clear, handles edge cases, and produces reliable results.
This skill provides a solid conceptual framework for macOS-native UI design with a useful checklist and specific CSS values, but falls short on actionability due to the complete absence of executable code examples. The progressive disclosure structure is well-designed in theory but unsupported by actual bundle files. The content would benefit significantly from concrete component snippets and validation steps.
Suggestions
Add at least one complete, copy-paste ready code example showing a macOS window chrome with traffic lights, title bar, and sidebar layout in React/HTML+CSS.
Include a validation/review checklist at the end (e.g., 'Open in both light and dark mode, verify drag zone works, test keyboard shortcuts') to add feedback loops to the workflow.
Provide the referenced bundle files (layout-and-composition.md, interaction-patterns.md, visual-design.md) or remove references to them if they don't exist.
Trim philosophical framing ('A native app is not a destination...') and editorial commentary ('This is non-negotiable') to save tokens for more actionable content.
| Dimension | Reasoning | Score |
|---|---|---|
Conciseness | Mostly efficient but includes some philosophical framing ('A native app is not a destination...') and explanatory text that doesn't add actionable value. The checklist items are reasonably tight but some could be tighter (e.g., 'This is non-negotiable for native feel' is opinion padding). | 2 / 3 |
Actionability | The quick-start checklist provides concrete guidance and the implementation notes give specific CSS values (border-radius, font stacks, blur filters), which is good. However, there are no executable code examples — no copy-paste ready component snippets, no complete React/HTML examples showing a macOS-style window chrome or sidebar layout. | 2 / 3 |
Workflow Clarity | The 'Before You Code' section establishes a clear read-first sequence, and the checklist provides a pre-flight workflow. However, there are no validation checkpoints — no way to verify the result looks correct, no feedback loops for testing light/dark mode, no 'check your work' steps for ensuring native feel. | 2 / 3 |
Progressive Disclosure | References to three separate files (layout-and-composition.md, interaction-patterns.md, visual-design.md) are well-signaled and one level deep, which is good structure. However, no bundle files were provided, so these references point to non-existent files, undermining the progressive disclosure in practice. The main file also inlines implementation notes that could arguably be a separate reference. | 2 / 3 |
Total | 8 / 12 Passed |
Validation
100%Checks the skill against the spec for correct structure and formatting. All validation checks must pass before discovery and implementation can be scored.
Validation — 11 / 11 Passed
Validation for skill structure
No warnings or errors.
- Repository
- davepoon/buildwithclaude
- Commit
d065ead
- Reviewed
Table of Contents
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