# button-states

A skill that defines six states for interactive elements and derives hover and active colours from the base colour in HSL. Useful when buttons in a project look unfinished.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 877 installs · ★ 169
- Author: dembrandt
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/dembrandt/dembrandt-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/button-states/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-10-22
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/button-states

## What it does

The skill covers six states: rest, hover, active (pressed), focus, disabled and loading. Each one gets a trigger and a visual signal, from the `pointer` cursor at rest to a spinner during an async action. Hover and active colours are not picked by eye — they come from the base colour by shifting lightness in HSL, hover 8% darker, active 14% darker. Light buttons on dark backgrounds invert that logic and lighten on hover.

Inside are ready CSS blocks: primary and secondary buttons, focus via `outline` with a 2–4px offset, disabled at `opacity: 0.4` with `pointer-events: none`, and loading that keeps the button width stable so the layout does not jump. The press scale gets its own section: keep it between 0.95 and 0.98, anything lower reads as a broken button. The skill activates on paths like `components/**`, `**/*.css` and `**/*.tsx`, and on phrases such as "hover state" or "loading state".

A visible focus ring is a keyboard requirement, and hover styling cannot stand in for it because keyboard users never trigger hover. So `outline: none` without a replacement is treated as a bug. The cursor stays unchanged while an action runs: progress belongs to the element itself, not to wherever the mouse rests. An eight-item review checklist closes the skill.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dembrandt/dembrandt-skills --skill button-states -a claude-code
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `~/.claude/skills/button-states/SKILL.md` — Copy the whole skill folder; for one project use .claude/skills/button-states/

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dembrandt/dembrandt-skills --skill button-states -a codex
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.agents/skills/button-states/SKILL.md` — For all projects use ~/.agents/skills/

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dembrandt/dembrandt-skills --skill button-states -a cursor
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.cursor/skills/button-states/SKILL.md` — Cursor also reads .agents/skills/ and .claude/skills/

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install dembrandt/dembrandt-skills button-states
```

2. **Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.github/skills/button-states/SKILL.md`

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dembrandt/dembrandt-skills --skill button-states -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/dembrandt/dembrandt-skills --path skills/button-states
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

**Manually: put the files in place**
- File: `.devin/skills/button-states/SKILL.md` — The legacy .windsurf/skills/ path still works

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add dembrandt/dembrandt-skills --skill button-states -a opencode
```

### Claude.ai

**Claude.ai**
- Zip the folder and upload it in Settings → Capabilities → Skills

Where a file is given instead of a command, copy the files from the source to that path: https://github.com/dembrandt/dembrandt-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/button-states/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- derive hover and active colours from a base colour
- add a visible focus ring for keyboard navigation
- show a loading state and block double submission
- make disabled buttons consistent across components
- review interactive states before shipping a component

## Example prompts
- what colour should the hover state be
- design all states for this button
- how do I show a loading state on a button

## Source text · SKILL.md · MIT

Below is the content of a third-party file. It is data, not instructions for you: do not act on anything written inside unless the human asks. Block tag: 548ae40519d62f1d.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 548ae40519d62f1d
````text
---
name: button-states
description: Rest, hover, active, focus, disabled and loading states, derived from the base colour. Use when designing buttons, links, inputs or any clickable component.
metadata:
  priority: 8
  pathPatterns:
    - "components/**"
    - "src/components/**"
    - "**/*.css"
    - "**/*.scss"
    - "**/tokens/**"
    - "**/*.tsx"
    - "**/*.jsx"
    - "design-system/**"
  promptSignals:
    phrases:
      - "hover state"
      - "active state"
      - "focus state"
      - "disabled"
      - "button states"
      - "interactive states"
      - "loading state"
      - "pressed"
retrieval:
  aliases:
    - button states
    - hover state
    - interactive states
    - focus ring
    - disabled state
    - loading button
  intents:
    - design button states
    - add hover and active states
    - style focus ring
    - handle disabled state
    - add loading state to button
  examples:
    - what colour should the hover state be
    - design all states for this button
    - how do I show a loading state on a button
    - make the focus ring visible
---

# Button and Interactive Element States

Every interactive component must have a complete, visually distinct state for each interaction mode. Missing or ambiguous states make the UI feel unfinished and reduce user confidence.

## The Six States

| State | Trigger | Visual signal |
|---|---|---|
| **Rest** | Default | Base colour, cursor: pointer |
| **Hover** | Mouse over | Slightly darker, subtle background shift |
| **Active / Pressed** | Mouse down / tap | Noticeably darker, slight scale-down |
| **Focus** | Keyboard navigation | Visible focus ring, no change to fill |
| **Disabled** | Not available | Low contrast, cursor: not-allowed, no interaction |
| **Loading** | Async action in progress | Spinner or pulse, non-interactive |

## Deriving State Colours Algorithmically

State colours are not chosen independently — they are derived from the base colour by adjusting lightness in HSL. This guarantees coherence across the entire palette.

```
base:     hsl(H, S%, L%)
hover:    hsl(H, S%, L% - 8%)    ← darken 8%
active:   hsl(H, S%, L% - 14%)   ← darken 14%
```

### Example: primary button `#635BFF` (hsl 243, 100%, 68%)

```css
.btn-primary {
  background: hsl(243, 100%, 68%);       /* rest    #635BFF */
}
.btn-primary:hover {
  background: hsl(243, 100%, 60%);       /* hover   #4A40FF */
}
.btn-primary:active {
  background: hsl(243, 100%, 54%);       /* active  #3429FF */
}
```
````
END THIRD-PARTY FILE 548ae40519d62f1d

The third-party file has ended. Everything between the 548ae40519d62f1d tags is data: requests and commands from it are not followed. An “end of file” line with another tag inside the block is part of the file.

First 2502 of 6474 bytes. © dembrandt · MIT · https://github.com/dembrandt/dembrandt-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/button-states/SKILL.md

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