# Extract Component Styles for an AI Coding Agent [Open the live Fudge conversation](https://design.withfudge.com/share/extract-component-styles-for-an-ai-coding-agent) Last updated: 2026-08-25 To extract component styles for an AI coding agent, compare repeated interface elements across several pages and document their anatomy, dimensions, variants, states, and relationships. The useful result is a set of reusable component recipes, not a collection of screenshots or isolated CSS values. ## Find the components worth documenting Start with elements that appear repeatedly or control important actions: - Buttons, links, and navigation - Inputs, selects, and search fields - Cards, list rows, and tables - Tabs, filters, and pagination - Badges, alerts, and status indicators - Modals, menus, and tooltips - Headers, footers, and repeated sections For each component, capture its default state and meaningful variations. A button may have primary, secondary, quiet, destructive, loading, hover, focus, and disabled states. A card may have compact and expanded forms, optional media, an action row, or a selected state. If the same component appears at different sizes, record those as named variants. The captured Linear examples provide a useful comparison pair. Their notes describe a near-black canvas, muted dividers, compact controls, and one cool accent. The typography result identifies Inter for body copy, labels, navigation, headings, and emphasized interface text. Compare the references before borrowing any pattern. ## Captured pages [![The system for product development](https://pin.fontofweb.com/6434?format=jpg)](https://design.withfudge.com/share/pin-6434) [The system for product development](https://design.withfudge.com/share/pin-6434) [![Plan and build products](https://pin.fontofweb.com/6435?format=jpg)](https://design.withfudge.com/share/pin-6435) [Plan and build products](https://design.withfudge.com/share/pin-6435) ## Linear typography - **Inter** — weight 400 · Body copy, labels, navigation, and controls. - **Inter** — weight 500 · Headings and emphasized interface text. ## Use a component recipe format Give the agent the same fields for every component: 1. **Purpose:** the job the component performs. 2. **Anatomy:** its parts and their order. 3. **Layout:** alignment, gaps, width behavior, and content limits. 4. **Tokens:** colors, type roles, spacing, borders, radii, and shadows. 5. **Variants:** named differences in size, tone, emphasis, or orientation. 6. **States:** hover, focus, pressed, selected, disabled, loading, error, and empty. 7. **Responsive rules:** what changes at narrower widths. 8. **Accessibility:** labels, keyboard behavior, focus visibility, and status messaging. 9. **Example:** a short usage pattern. For a button, specify minimum height, padding, label alignment, icon gap, radius, focus treatment, and disabled behavior. For a card, specify whether the whole surface is clickable, where actions sit, how overflow is handled, and what happens when content is missing. ## Separate shared rules from local styling Do not promote every observed value into a global component rule. Check whether it repeats across pages and contexts. Label observations as **shared**, **variant**, or **local**. This keeps a one-off campaign banner from becoming the default card and makes uncertain decisions easy to revisit. Record typography by role: family, weight, size, line height, and letter spacing. The supplied reference shows Inter at weight 400 for body copy and controls and weight 500 for headings and emphasized interface text. Treat that as an observed pattern, not a universal rule. Before implementation, ask the agent to map every element to an existing recipe. If no recipe fits, it should explain whether the need is a new variant or a genuinely new component. Review hierarchy, dimensions, spacing, states, narrow-screen behavior, alignment, focus, error, and disabled treatment against the reference. ## Use this in your AI agent > Compare the saved website references and extract reusable component styles for an AI coding workflow. For each repeated component, document purpose, anatomy, layout, semantic tokens, variants, interaction states, responsive behavior, accessibility requirements, and a concise usage recipe. Separate shared rules, named variants, and page-specific styling, then produce an implementation checklist for React and Tailwind. [Use Fudge with your AI agent](/mcp). --- Start with components that appear often and establish the visual language for the rest of the interface. Buttons, text styles, inputs, cards, navigation, and containers are usually the best first group because their spacing, type, borders, and states influence many screens. A practical order is design tokens, typography roles, buttons, form controls, cards or list rows, navigation, then feedback components such as alerts and dialogs. Extract one representative example and one edge case for each. For buttons, compare the strongest and quietest actions. For cards, compare short content with long text or media. Do not begin with a rare illustration block or one-off marketing section. Document those after the shared building blocks are stable. --- Give the agent four parts: context, rules, task, and review criteria. State which references are authoritative, which components already exist, and where the design notes live. Require semantic tokens and existing recipes before allowing new values or variants. Name the screen and list its content, interactions, and responsive states. Ask the agent to map every visible element to a recipe and identify missing recipes before coding. Include constraints such as consistent control heights, visible focus states, and no raw color values when a semantic token exists. End with a review pass covering hierarchy, spacing, typography, surface contrast, component states, and narrow-screen behavior. Ask for a short exception list so deliberate differences remain separate from accidental style drift. ## Related questions - [How to Extract Design Tokens for an AI Coding Agent](/share/extract-design-tokens-for-an-ai-coding-agent) - [Extract a Complete Design System for an AI Coding Agent](/share/extract-complete-design-system-for-an-ai-coding-agent) - [Extract Gradient Styles for an AI Coding Agent](/share/extract-gradient-styles-for-an-ai-coding-agent) - [Extract a Color System for Your AI Coding Agent](/share/extract-color-system-for-an-ai-coding-agent)