Shade — new component / pattern checklist

Before marking a Shade component or pattern done, this checklist must pass.

Files and naming

• File: kebab-case (dropdown-menu.tsx) — matches ShadCN CLI output. Don't rename for casing.
• Exported identifier: PascalCase (DropdownMenu).
• Hooks, functions, variables: camelCase.
• Sibling <name>.stories.tsx is required (same folder).
• Inside Shade itself, import via the @/ alias (@/lib/utils, @/components/ui/input-surface).

Storybook title prefix

Required on every story file:

• tags: ['autodocs']
• parameters.docs.description.component — short one-line summary
• Per-story parameters.docs.description.story — one-liner explaining when to use that variant
• One story per important variant/state. Many small focused stories > one prose-heavy story.

Component shape

import * as React from 'react';
import {cva, type VariantProps} from 'class-variance-authority';
import {cn} from '@/lib/utils';

const thingVariants = cva('base-classes-here', {
    variants: {
        variant: {default: '...', destructive: '...'},
        size: {default: '...', sm: '...'}
    },
    defaultVariants: {variant: 'default', size: 'default'}
});

export interface ThingProps
    extends React.HTMLAttributes<HTMLDivElement>,
    VariantProps<typeof thingVariants> {}

const Thing = React.forwardRef<HTMLDivElement, ThingProps>(
    ({className, variant, size, ...props}, ref) => (
        <div
            ref={ref}
            className={cn(thingVariants({variant, size, className}))}
            {...props}
        />
    )
);
Thing.displayName = 'Thing';

export {Thing, thingVariants};

Hard requirements:

• className forwarded and merged via cn() — never overwritten, never dropped. Applies to every component that renders DOM.
• Visual/interactive props only (variant, size, loading). No workflow props (isMembersPage, layoutMode) — those mean you actually need a Pattern wrapper.
• Multi-region components expose compound subcomponents (.Title, .Actions, .Body) — not a prop bag.

When applicable:

• forwardRef — use when the component renders a single DOM element consumers might need a ref to (most UI controls). Skip for: pure provider/context wrappers, Radix root re-exports that don't render DOM themselves, and components whose ref semantics are already handled by a child.
• cva() — use when the component has variants or stateful class branches (variant, size, tone). Skip for simple single-style components where a cn(...) call is clearer.
• Recipes (<name>.ts, no JSX): no forwardRef, no cva(), no React. They return class strings.

Required states (all four)

Every interactive component must work in:

• default
• hover
• focus-visible (use focus-visible:, never focus:)
• disabled

Each state visible in the story. Optional states (active, loading, error, empty) only when they apply.

For form controls, drive chrome through the inputSurface recipe — don't roll your own border/focus ring. See the shade-input-surface-recipe skill.

Tokens

• No hex values. No bg-gray-200-style raw palette utilities for UI chrome.
• No dark: variants for colour — semantic tokens handle dark mode.

See shade-tokens-not-hex and shade-no-dark-variants.

Before marking done

• Lives in the right layer (shade-component-decision)
• kebab-case filename, PascalCase export, sibling <name>.stories.tsx
• className forwarded and merged with cn() (always)
• forwardRef if the component renders DOM consumers might ref
• cva() if the component has variants; defaultVariants set
• All four required states work and are visible in the story
• Semantic tokens only — no hex, no raw greys, no dark: colour variants
• No product-specific props on a generic Component
• Story has tags: ['autodocs'], component description, and one-line per-story descriptions
• pnpm lint, pnpm test, and Storybook all clean

Source of truth

apps/shade/AGENTS.md. Human docs: Storybook → Overview / Contributing.