With LLMs improving seemingly every day, using computers increasingly feels like casting spells. Here are some powerful prompts I use daily for building software.
I've picked these up all around the internet - I've added attribution where I can remember. If you see one that's originally yours, contact me at @itsjaydesu and I'll happily credit you.
Continuous Improvement
Push for world-class UI/UX polish across desktop and mobile.
I still think there are strong opportunities to enhance the UI/UX look and feel and to make everything work better and be more intuitive, user-friendly, visually appealing, polished, slick, and world class in terms of following UI/UX best practices like those used by Stripe, don't you agree? And I want you to carefully consider desktop UI/UX and mobile UI/UX separately while doing this and hyper-optimize for both separately to play to the specifics of each modality. I'm looking for true world-class visual appeal, polish, slickness, etc. that makes people gasp at how stunning and perfect it is in every way.UI Skills
Opinionated constraints for building better interfaces with agents.
Opinionated constraints for building better interfaces with agents.
Stack
MUST use Tailwind CSS defaults (spacing, radius, shadows) before custom values
MUST use motion/react (formerly framer-motion) when JavaScript animation is required
SHOULD use tw-animate-css for entrance and micro-animations in Tailwind CSS
MUST use cn utility (clsx + tailwind-merge) for class logic
Components
MUST use accessible component primitives for anything with keyboard or focus behavior (Base UI, React Aria, Radix)
MUST use the project's existing component primitives first
NEVER mix primitive systems within the same interaction surface
SHOULD prefer Base UI for new primitives if compatible with the stack
MUST add an aria-label to icon-only buttons
NEVER rebuild keyboard or focus behavior by hand unless explicitly requested
Interaction
MUST use an AlertDialog for destructive or irreversible actions
SHOULD use structural skeletons for loading states
NEVER use h-screen, use h-dvh
MUST respect safe-area-inset for fixed elements
MUST show errors next to where the action happens
NEVER block paste in input or textarea elements
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 avoid animating paint properties (background, color) except for small, local UI (text, icons)
SHOULD use ease-out on entrance
NEVER exceed 200ms for interaction feedback
MUST pause looping animations when off-screen
MUST respect prefers-reduced-motion
NEVER introduce custom easing curves unless explicitly requested
SHOULD avoid animating large images or full-screen surfaces
Typography
MUST use text-balance for headings and text-pretty for body/paragraphs
MUST use tabular-nums for data
SHOULD use truncate or line-clamp for dense UI
NEVER modify letter-spacing (tracking-) unless explicitly requested
Layout
MUST use a fixed z-index scale (no arbitrary z-x)
SHOULD use size-x for square elements instead of w-x + h-x
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
Design
NEVER use gradients unless explicitly requested
NEVER use purple or multicolor gradients
NEVER use glow effects as primary affordances
SHOULD use Tailwind CSS default shadow scale unless explicitly requested
MUST give empty states one clear next action
SHOULD limit accent color usage to one per view
SHOULD use existing theme or Tailwind CSS color tokens before introducing new onesProduct Improvement
Build specs through systematic requirements gathering.
Your task is to first help me build this spec for this feature. Use the AskUserQuestion Tool to help build the spec by interviewing me and gathering requirements and details about the project implementation, UI & UX, tech stack, concerns, tradeoffs, etc. Make sure questions are not obvious and probe deeper into the underlying needs and constraints. Interview me continually and systematically until the spec is complete. Document all responses and insights to create a comprehensive and well-structured specification that serves as the foundation for the feature.Qualifying Understanding
Ensure alignment before starting work.
Incredibly valuable in helping spot any missing context.
Before you begin, please ask me any clarifying questions if anything is unclear to ensure you understand the goal and what we're trying to accomplish.Debug Without Code
Break out of doomloops by investigating root causes.
Great for getting out of doomloops. Usually smashed in frustration.
Please carefully investigate the root cause of this issue, and understand what is causing this problem, and write out the problems and a clean and elegant solution in a clear way that makes it straightforward to implement the fix. Please don't write any code, just investigate the issue.Summarize
Get a structured overview of any conversation.
You are an advanced AI assistant tasked with analyzing and summarizing a conversation. Your goal is to provide a clear, concise overview of the discussion up to this point.
Please perform the following tasks:
Summarize the Conversation: Provide a brief summary of the key points discussed in the conversation, capturing the main topics, questions, and responses without including unnecessary details.
Extract the Current Situation: Describe the current context or state of affairs based on the conversation, including any relevant background information or challenges mentioned.
Identify the Goals: Clearly outline the objectives or desired outcomes expressed in the conversation, specifying what the user is aiming to achieve.
Detail the Action Plan: Summarize any steps, strategies, or plans discussed to achieve the identified goals, including who is responsible for what (if specified) and any timelines or priorities mentioned.
Organize the Output: Present the response in a structured format with clear headings for each section (Summary, Current Situation, Goals, Action Plan) to ensure readability.
If any of these elements are not explicitly present in the conversation, note their absence politely and suggest that further details could help refine the output. Use a professional yet approachable tone, and ensure the summary is concise while retaining essential details.