Quick View

Generate minimal HTML to review structured data in a browser. Minimal styling, maximum readability.

When to Use

User wants to review output that's hard to read in terminal
Lists, tables, drafts, summaries that benefit from visual layout
User says: "show me", "view this", "make reviewable", "open as webpage"

Output Rules

DO:

Semantic HTML:
```
<table>
```
,
```
<ul>
```
,
```
<details>
```
,
```
<pre>
```
,
```
<h1-3>
```
Use the base template with CSS variables
Write to
```
_private/views/
```
Open with
```
open _private/views/{filename}
```

DO NOT:

Add decorative styling beyond the base template
Use CSS frameworks
Over-engineer or "make it nice"

File Naming

Views have a lifecycle: temporary → keeper → archived.

Stage	Filename	When
Temporary	`name-temp.html`	Default for new views
Keeper	`name.html`	User says "keep this", "this is good"
Archived	`name.2025-01-01.html`	Previous keeper when promoting new one

Rules:

Always create with
-temp
suffix — Every new view starts as
```
name-temp.html
```
Promote on approval — When user approves, rename to
```
name.html
```
Archive before replacing — If
```
name.html
```
exists, rename to
```
name.DATE.html
```
before promoting
Never regenerate keepers — Only regenerate
```
-temp
```
files

Workflow:

# First iteration
drafts-temp.html  ← created

# User: "keep this"
drafts.html       ← promoted (temp deleted)

# Later iteration
drafts-temp.html  ← new temp created
drafts.html       ← keeper untouched

# User: "this is better, keep it"
drafts.2025-01-01.html  ← old keeper archived
drafts.html             ← new keeper promoted

Trigger phrases for promotion:

"keep this", "this is good", "save this"
"make this the default", "lock this in"
"I like this one"

Base Template

Every quick-view HTML file:

html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <meta charset="UTF-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>{title}</title>
  <style>
    :root {
      --bg: #fff;
      --text: #222;
      --muted: #666;
      --border: #ddd;
      --accent: #1976d2;
    }
    @media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
      :root {
        --bg: #1a1a1a;
        --text: #e0e0e0;
        --muted: #999;
        --border: #333;
        --accent: #64b5f6;
      }
    }
    body {
      max-width: 800px;
      margin: 40px auto;
      padding: 0 20px;
      font-family: system-ui;
      background: var(--bg);
      color: var(--text);
    }
    table { border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; }
    td, th { border: 1px solid var(--border); padding: 8px; text-align: left; }
    .meta { color: var(--muted); font-size: 0.875rem; margin-bottom: 1rem; }
    details { margin: 0.5rem 0; }
    summary { cursor: pointer; }
    pre {
      background: var(--border);
      padding: 1rem;
      overflow-x: auto;
      border-radius: 4px;
    }

    /* Long content truncation */
    .truncate {
      max-height: 200px;
      overflow: hidden;
      position: relative;
    }
    .truncate.expanded { max-height: none; }
    .truncate:not(.expanded)::after {
      content: '';
      position: absolute;
      bottom: 0;
      left: 0;
      right: 0;
      height: 60px;
      background: linear-gradient(transparent, var(--bg));
    }
    .expand-btn {
      color: var(--accent);
      background: none;
      border: none;
      cursor: pointer;
      padding: 0.5rem 0;
      font-size: 0.875rem;
    }

    /* Type borders */
    .type-user { border-left: 3px solid var(--accent); padding-left: 1rem; }
    .type-draft { border-left: 3px solid #ff9800; padding-left: 1rem; }
    .type-done { border-left: 3px solid #4caf50; padding-left: 1rem; }

    /* Source attribution */
    .source { color: var(--muted); font-size: 0.75rem; }
    .source a { color: var(--muted); }
    .source a:hover { color: var(--accent); }
  </style>
</head>
<body>
<p class="meta">Generated: {timestamp} · {count} items</p>
{content}
<script>
// Truncation toggle
document.querySelectorAll('.truncate').forEach(el => {
  if (el.scrollHeight > 220) {
    const btn = document.createElement('button');
    btn.className = 'expand-btn';
    btn.textContent = 'Show more';
    btn.onclick = () => {
      el.classList.toggle('expanded');
      btn.textContent = el.classList.contains('expanded') ? 'Show less' : 'Show more';
    };
    el.after(btn);
  } else {
    el.classList.add('expanded'); // No truncation needed
  }
});
</script>
</body>
</html>

Patterns

List of items

html

<h1>Title</h1>
<ul>
  <li><strong>@username</strong> — action item</li>
</ul>

Table

html

<table>
  <tr><th>Contact</th><th>Action</th><th>Draft</th></tr>
  <tr><td>@name</td><td>Follow up</td><td>Hey...</td></tr>
</table>

Expandable sections (for long content)

html

<details>
  <summary><strong>@username</strong> — action</summary>
  <div class="truncate">
    <pre>Long content here that may need truncation...</pre>
  </div>
</details>

Type-differentiated items

html

<div class="type-user">User message or input</div>
<div class="type-draft">Draft content</div>
<div class="type-done">Completed item</div>

With actions

html

<p>
  <a href="tg://resolve?domain=username">Open Telegram</a> ·
  <button onclick="navigator.clipboard.writeText('draft text')">Copy</button>
</p>

Sourced data (citations & drill-down)

When displaying data gathered from external sources, always include attribution links for drill-down.

Add to base template CSS:

css

.source { color: var(--muted); font-size: 0.75rem; }
.source a { color: var(--muted); }
.source a:hover { color: var(--accent); }

Inline attribution (preferred for lists):

html

<div class="tip">
  <strong>Tip title</strong> — Description of the tip.
  <span class="source">— <a href="https://x.com/user/status/123">@username</a></span>
</div>

Table with source column:

html

<table>
  <tr><th>Tip</th><th>Source</th></tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Description here</td>
    <td class="source"><a href="https://x.com/user/status/123">@user</a></td>
  </tr>
</table>

Expandable with source in summary:

html

<details>
  <summary><strong>Tip title</strong> <span class="source">— <a href="URL">@source</a></span></summary>
  <p>Full content...</p>
</details>

Meta header with main source:

html

<p class="meta">
  Generated: {timestamp} · {count} items ·
  Source: <a href="https://x.com/user/status/123">Original thread</a>
</p>

Principles:

Always link to original when data comes from external sources
Use
```
@username
```
for social media, domain for articles
Source links should be muted/subtle, not prominent
Include main source in meta header for collections from single source

Editable drafts (with diff tracking)

For drafts that user may edit before sending. Tracks original vs edited for later analysis.

html

<details>
  <summary><strong>@username</strong> — action <span class="status"></span></summary>
  <pre contenteditable="true"
       data-username="username"
       data-original="Original draft text here"
       onblur="saveDraft(this)">Original draft text here</pre>
  <div class="actions">
    <a href="tg://resolve?domain=username">Open Telegram</a>
    <button onclick="copyDraft(this)">Copy</button>
  </div>
</details>

Include this script block at end of

<body>

(before closing

</body>

tag):

javascript

function saveDraft(el) {
  const key = 'draft_' + el.dataset.username;
  const edited = el.textContent.trim();
  const original = el.dataset.original;
  if (edited !== original) {
    localStorage.setItem(key, edited);
    el.closest('details').querySelector('.status').textContent = '(edited)';
  }
}

function copyDraft(btn) {
  const pre = btn.closest('details').querySelector('pre');
  navigator.clipboard.writeText(pre.textContent.trim());
  btn.textContent = 'Copied!';
  setTimeout(() => btn.textContent = 'Copy', 1500);
}

function restoreEdits() {
  document.querySelectorAll('pre[data-username]').forEach(el => {
    const saved = localStorage.getItem('draft_' + el.dataset.username);
    if (saved) {
      el.textContent = saved;
      el.closest('details').querySelector('.status').textContent = '(edited)';
    }
  });
}

function exportEdits() {
  const edits = [];
  document.querySelectorAll('pre[data-username]').forEach(el => {
    const original = el.dataset.original;
    const current = el.textContent.trim();
    if (original !== current) {
      edits.push({ username: el.dataset.username, original, edited: current });
    }
  });
  if (edits.length === 0) { alert('No edits to export'); return; }
  const blob = new Blob([JSON.stringify({exported_at: new Date().toISOString(), edits}, null, 2)], {type: 'application/json'});
  const a = document.createElement('a');
  a.href = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
  a.download = 'draft_edits.json';
  a.click();
}

restoreEdits();

Add export button in header when using editable drafts:

html

<p class="meta">Generated: {timestamp} · {count} drafts · <button onclick="exportEdits()">Export Edits</button></p>

Workflow

Identify the data to display (file, variable, recent output)
Choose pattern: list, table, or expandable sections
Generate HTML using template above
Write to
```
_private/views/{name}-temp.html
```
Run
```
open _private/views/{name}-temp.html
```
If user approves, promote to
```
{name}.html
```

Example

User: "show me the drafts"

Claude:

Reads
```
_private/drafts/outreach_drafts.md
```
Parses each draft (heading = contact, body = draft)
Generates HTML with
```
<details>
```
for each draft
Writes to
```
_private/views/drafts-temp.html
```
Runs
```
open _private/views/drafts-temp.html
```

Result: Browser opens, user sees expandable list of drafts with auto dark/light mode, long content truncated with "Show more", can copy each one.

User: "this looks good, keep it"

Claude:

Renames
```
drafts-temp.html
```
→
```
drafts.html
```
Confirms: "Saved as drafts.html"

Styling Handoff

This skill produces functional HTML with minimal styling. For full visual styling, invoke the

html-style

skill after generating.

Classes used by quick-view (compatible with html-style):

Class	Purpose
`.type-user`	User input/message
`.type-draft`	Draft content
`.type-done`	Completed item
`.source`	Attribution links
`.meta`	Metadata header
`.truncate`	Long content container
`.actions`	Action button container

Data attributes for JS hooks:

```
data-username
```
— Identifier for drafts
```
data-original
```
— Original text for diff tracking

Attribution

Truncation pattern and CSS variables approach inspired by simon willison's claude-code-transcripts.

quick-view

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content

Quick View

When to Use

Output Rules

File Naming

Base Template

Patterns

List of items

Table

Expandable sections (for long content)

Type-differentiated items

With actions

Sourced data (citations & drill-down)

Editable drafts (with diff tracking)

Workflow

Example

Styling Handoff

Attribution