# layers-surface

A skill for auditing the surface of a product: words, objects, feedback, hierarchy, accessibility. It sorts surface fixes from problems rooted deeper.

- skill · `type=skill` · Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Gemini CLI, OpenCode · 2000 installs · ★ 313
- Author: jamiemill
- License: MIT · policy=mirror · the beginning of the file is at the end of this page
- Source: https://github.com/jamiemill/layers-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/layers-surface/SKILL.md
- Updated: 2026-05-30
- HTML: https://affpapa.org/en/nevibecode/skills/layers-surface

## What it does

The skill works on the surface layer — the part a person actually meets: labels, sounds, visuals, motion, feedback. Those decisions hold whether the surface is a screen, a voice interface, or a physical device.

The core discipline is telling a surface fix from a symptom. Wrong wording may be a copy rewrite, or it may mean the conceptual model never settled the term. The skill routes those deeper cases back to the relevant layer instead of patching the symptom.

What you get is a library of techniques, not a script: vocabulary check, object consistency, completeness in both directions, emotional register, feedback and error inventory, hierarchy review, accessibility pass, consistency pass. It assumes `/layers-intro` has already been loaded, and it advises picking the technique that fits the live concern rather than running all ten.

## Install

### Claude Code (native platform)

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jamiemill/layers-skills --skill layers-surface -a claude-code
```

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

### Codex

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jamiemill/layers-skills --skill layers-surface -a codex
```

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

### Cursor

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jamiemill/layers-skills --skill layers-surface -a cursor
```

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

### GitHub Copilot

1. **GitHub CLI**
```bash
gh skill install jamiemill/layers-skills layers-surface
```

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

### Gemini CLI

1. **Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jamiemill/layers-skills --skill layers-surface -a gemini-cli
```

2. **Platform CLI**
```bash
gemini skills install https://github.com/jamiemill/layers-skills --path skills/layers-surface
```

### Windsurf (Devin Desktop)

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

### OpenCode

**Skills CLI (Vercel)**
```bash
npx skills add jamiemill/layers-skills --skill layers-surface -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/jamiemill/layers-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/layers-surface/SKILL.md

## When to use it
- separate a copy problem from a conceptual-model problem
- check every label and button against the ubiquitous language
- catch objects that shift shape across contexts
- find surface elements with no model or flow behind them
- flag error states that don't explain or offer recovery

## Example prompts
- run a vocabulary check on the interface labels against the ubiquitous language
- walk the feedback and error inventory for each action and state transition
- do an accessibility pass for the screen medium

## 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: 4d9d671b220efcb1.

BEGIN THIRD-PARTY FILE 4d9d671b220efcb1
```text
---
name: layers-surface
description: Techniques for auditing and deciding the surface against the layers below — vocabulary, object consistency, completeness, feedback, hierarchy, accessibility
---

# /layers-surface

*Assumes `/layers-intro` has been loaded. This skill is a library of techniques, not a script — see "How to use these skills" there.*

The surface layer is where everything decided below becomes something a person actually encounters: words, sounds, visuals, physical affordances, motion, feedback. It's the most medium-specific layer, but the decisions that matter most first are universal — they hold whether the surface is a screen, voice interface, physical device, or service touchpoint.

Surface problems are often symptoms of deeper ones. The central discipline here is telling apart issues you can fix at the surface from issues that need a lower layer revisited.

---

## The decisions this layer makes

- Whether the surface honours the vocabulary and objects from the conceptual model
- Whether every affordance from the breadboard is present — and whether any surface element has no model behind it
- Whether the emotional register fits the jobs users are doing
- How the user knows what happened, what's in progress, and what went wrong
- What's most prominent, and whether it should be
- Whether everything is accessible to the users who need it

---

## Disciplines — what keeps the surface honest

- **Surface fix vs deeper-layer issue.** The key judgement: is this something to fix in the copy/layout, or a symptom whose root is in the conceptual model or interaction flow? Wrong vocabulary may be a rewrite — or a model that never settled the term. Route deeper issues back to the relevant skill rather than patching the symptom.
- **Terms match the ubiquitous language.** Flag direct violations (a model term used inconsistently), unlisted terms (surface words not in the model — add to model, or remove as noise), and tone misalignments.
- **Object consistency.** No shapeshifters (same object in significantly different forms across contexts), no masked objects (a form where the user can't recognise the object type).
- **Completeness both ways.** Every breadboard affordance is present; no surface element exists with no model or flow behind it (those are interaction decisions that slipped through — route to `/layers-interaction-flow`).
- **Errors diagnose, explain, recover.** "Something went wrong" fails all three. Flag every error state that doesn't do all three.
- **Prominence reflects importance.** What the flow needs the user to notice is what stands out; nothing prominent that shouldn't be.
- **Accessibility is decided, not defaulted.**
- **Emotional register matches the emotional and social jobs** from user needs — not the product's benefit framed as the user's.

---

## Techniques
```
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First 2860 of 5669 bytes. © jamiemill · MIT · https://github.com/jamiemill/layers-skills/tree/HEAD/skills/layers-surface/SKILL.md

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---
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