Mike Swanson
e80c36e6bf
Author: Mike Swanson Machine: DESKTOP-0O8A1RL Timestamp: 2026-05-22 11:07:55
70 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
70 lines
3.2 KiB
Markdown
# Extract Flow
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Identify reusable patterns, components, and design tokens, then extract and consolidate them into the design system for systematic reuse.
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## Step 1: Discover the Design System
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Find the design system, component library, or shared UI directory. Understand its structure: component organization, naming conventions, design token structure, import/export conventions.
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**CRITICAL**: If no design system exists, {{ask_instruction}} before creating one. Understand the preferred location and structure first.
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## Step 2: Identify Patterns
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Look for extraction opportunities in the target area:
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- **Repeated components**: Similar UI patterns used 3+ times (buttons, cards, inputs)
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- **Hard-coded values**: Colors, spacing, typography, shadows that should be tokens
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- **Inconsistent variations**: Multiple implementations of the same concept
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- **Composition patterns**: Layout or interaction patterns that repeat (form rows, toolbar groups, empty states)
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- **Type styles**: Repeated font-size + weight + line-height combinations
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- **Animation patterns**: Repeated easing, duration, or keyframe combinations
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Assess value: only extract things used 3+ times with the same intent. Premature abstraction is worse than duplication.
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## Step 3: Plan Extraction
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Create a systematic plan:
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- **Components to extract**: Which UI elements become reusable components?
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- **Tokens to create**: Which hard-coded values become design tokens?
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- **Variants to support**: What variations does each component need?
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- **Naming conventions**: Component names, token names, prop names that match existing patterns
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- **Migration path**: How to refactor existing uses to consume the new shared versions
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**IMPORTANT**: Design systems grow incrementally. Extract what is clearly reusable now, not everything that might someday be reusable.
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## Step 4: Extract & Enrich
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Build improved, reusable versions:
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- **Components**: Clear props API with sensible defaults, proper variants for different use cases, accessibility built in (ARIA, keyboard navigation, focus management), documentation and usage examples
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- **Design tokens**: Clear naming (primitive vs semantic), proper hierarchy and organization, documentation of when to use each token
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- **Patterns**: When to use this pattern, code examples, variations and combinations
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## Step 5: Migrate
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Replace existing uses with the new shared versions:
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- **Find all instances**: Search for the patterns you extracted
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- **Replace systematically**: Update each use to consume the shared version
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- **Test thoroughly**: Ensure visual and functional parity
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- **Delete dead code**: Remove the old implementations
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## Step 6: Document
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Update design system documentation:
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- Add new components to the component library
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- Document token usage and values
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- Add examples and guidelines
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- Update any Storybook or component catalog
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**NEVER**:
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- Extract one-off, context-specific implementations without generalization
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- Create components so generic they are useless
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- Extract without considering existing design system conventions
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- Skip proper TypeScript types or prop documentation
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- Create tokens for every single value (tokens should have semantic meaning)
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- Extract things that differ in intent (two buttons that look similar but serve different purposes should stay separate)
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