Retool UI Skills

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

When to Apply

Reference these guidelines when:

Building light-mode interfaces
Creating Retool-inspired design systems
Implementing UIs with Inter font and 4px grid

Colors

SHOULD use light backgrounds for primary surfaces
MUST use
```
#E3E6D7
```
as page background (
```
surface-base
```
)
MUST use
```
#80AEF2
```
for primary actions and focus states (
```
accent
```
)
SHOULD reduce color palette (currently 21 colors detected)
MUST maintain text contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1 for accessibility

Semantic Tokens

Token	HEX	RGB	Usage
`surface-base`	#E3E6D7	rgb(227,230,215)	Page background
`surface-raised`	#081319	rgb(8,19,25)	Cards, modals, raised surfaces
`surface-overlay`	#3469F5	rgb(52,105,245)	Overlays, tooltips, dropdowns
`text-primary`	#80AEF2	rgb(128,174,242)	Headings, body text
`text-secondary`	#A49369	rgb(164,147,105)	Secondary, muted text
`text-tertiary`	#646560	rgb(100,101,96)	Additional text
`border-default`	#255DF1	rgb(37,93,241)	Subtle borders, dividers
`accent`	#80AEF2	rgb(128,174,242)	Primary actions, links, focus
`warning`	#9B7C4A	rgb(155,124,74)	Warning states, cautions

Typography

MUST use
```
Inter
```
as primary font family
SHOULD use single font family for consistency
MUST use
```
54px
```
/
```
700
```
for primary headings
MUST use
```
19px
```
/
```
500
```
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	54px	700	#C4C6BC	1
`text-45px`	Inter	45px	500	#6E6E6B	1
`text-45px`	Inter	45px	500	#C2C3BD	1
`text-38px`	Inter	38px	500	#B5B6AF	1
`text-38px`	Inter	38px	500	#6C6C69	1
`text-36px`	Inter	36px	500	#AFB0A9	1
`text-36px`	Inter	36px	500	#767673	1
`text-36px`	Inter	36px	500	#CECFC7	1
`body`	Inter	19px	500	#BDBEB8	1
`body-secondary`	Inter	18px	400	#7F7F7D	1

Typography Reference

Font Families:

```
Inter
```
(used 40x)

Font Sizes: 7px, 8px, 9px, 10px, 11px, 12px, 13px, 14px, 15px, 16px, 18px, 19px, 36px, 38px, 45px, 54px

Spacing

MUST use 4px grid for spacing
SHOULD use spacing from scale: 1px, 2px, 3px, 4px, 5px, 15px, 24px, 35px
SHOULD use 2px 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: 2px, 3px, 4px, 19px, 32px, 99px
SHOULD use 32px+ radius for pill-shaped elements
SHOULD limit border widths to: 1px, 4px
SHOULD use 32px 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: 2px, 3px, 4px, 19px, 32px, 99px

Layout

MUST design for 1920px base viewport width
SHOULD use consistent element widths: 8px, 11px, 7px, 6px, 1364px
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: 900px
Main Content: width: 1307px, height: 661px
Main Content: width: 1364px, height: 702px
Header: height: 88px

Components

Buttons

Variant	Background	Text	Border	Height	Radius
Ghost	transparent	#80AEF2	none	-	-

Interactive States

Focus

MUST use
```
2px
```
outline with accent color (
```
#80AEF2
```
)
MUST use
```
2px
```
outline-offset
NEVER remove focus indicators

Hover

Buttons (primary): lighten background by 10%
Buttons (secondary): use
```
#081319
```
background
List items: use
```
#081319
```
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

retool-ui-skills

NPX Install

Tags

SKILL.md Content