wireframe

Wireframe Skill

Write a wiremd .md file, render it, and iterate. wiremd converts plain Markdown with extended syntax into visual wireframes — 7 styles, no design tools needed.

Workflows

1. Create from a description or spec

1. Understand the screen's purpose — what does the user accomplish here?
2. Sketch structure top-to-bottom: nav → layout → content sections → forms/data → off-screen elements (modals)
3. Write the wiremd file using the quick reference below
4. Render and tell the user where to open it

2. Document an existing component or screen

1. Read the JSX/TSX component tree — focus on structure, not logic
2. Map components to wiremd equivalents (see references/syntax.md → Component mapping table)
3. Write top-to-bottom following visual flow
4. Capture: layout, navigation, form fields/labels, button labels, table columns, states
5. Skip: exact colors, event handlers, API calls, business logic

---

Before you render

Answer three questions up front — they determine what you build and how you hand it back.

1. What wiremd version is available? Run wiremd --version. Require ≥ 0.1.7 for:

• ::: layout {.sidebar-main} — proper sidebar CSS (stock 0.1.5 stacks vertically)
• [[ [Label](./page.md) | ... ]] — cross-page hrefs in nav (stock 0.1.5 drops them silently)
• ![[file.md]] — shared partial includes

If older, build from source: git clone https://github.com/teezeit/wiremd && cd wiremd && npm install && npm run build, then invoke via node path/to/wiremd-fork/bin/wiremd.js.

2. Single page or multi-page? Ask the user up front. For multi-page, scaffold from the start — don't bolt on later:

• _nav.md shared across all pages via ![[_nav.md]]
• _sidebar.md if using sidebar layout
• one .md per page at top level

See references/multi-page.md for folder layout, cross-page link syntax, and the rebuild recipe.

3. Which render route does this environment support? Triage by the tools Claude actually has — not by product name. See references/rendering-modes.md for the full table.

• Write files + run shell (Claude Code, VS Code+terminal, Cowork/Desktop with filesystem + code-execution tools) → files in folder is the default. Render .html into the user's folder; they open via file:// or double-click.
• User is on their own local terminal → --serve PORT --watch for live iteration.
• Chat only (no filesystem, no exec) → hand off the .md and direct the user to https://tobiashoelzer.com/wiremd/editor to paste and render.
• Never hand out a sandbox localhost:PORT URL — it binds to Claude's host, not the user's. When in doubt, write HTML to the folder.

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Rendering

# Live preview in browser with hot reload
wiremd my-screen.md --style clean --serve 3001 --watch

# Build to a static HTML file
wiremd my-screen.md -o output.html -s clean

# VS Code: Cmd+Shift+P → "wiremd: Open Preview" (live preview while editing)
# See references/vscode.md for extension install steps

Tell the user: open http://localhost:3001 for live preview, or the HTML path for a static file.

To screenshot and verify from the CLI:

npx playwright screenshot --browser chromium --full-page "file://$(pwd)/output.html" /tmp/wf-check.png

Then read the PNG with the Read tool.

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Style picker

Default to clean unless the user specifies otherwise. See references/styles.md for full descriptions.

Style	Best for
sketch	Early ideation, lo-fi client presentations
clean	Stakeholder review, internal handoff (default)
wireframe	Low-fidelity explorations, documentation
material	Material Design apps
tailwind	Tailwind-based products, indigo/purple palette
brutal	Bold, high-contrast concepts
none	Custom CSS, embedding elsewhere

---

Quick reference

For the full syntax including all attributes, edge cases, and disambiguation rules, read references/syntax.md.

# Navigation & breadcrumbs
[[ :logo: Brand | Home | *Active* | :user: Profile | [Sign Up]* ]]
[[ Home > Section > Current Page ]]

# Sidebar-main layout
::: layout {.sidebar-main}

::: sidebar

[[Dashboard](#)]
[[Reports](#)]

:::

::: main
### Page Title
:::

:::

# In-page tabs — use a button group, * marks the active tab
[Overview]* [Details] [Raw Data]

# Buttons
[Primary]* [Secondary]{.secondary} [Outline]{.outline}
[Danger]{variant:danger} [Disabled]{state:disabled} [Saving...]{state:loading}

# Inputs — label must be on the line DIRECTLY above (no blank line)
Email
[_____________________________]{type:email required}

Password
[*****************************]{type:password required}

Notes
[Your message here...]{rows:4}

Role
[Select role_____________v]
- Admin
- Editor
- Viewer

- [ ] Unchecked   - [x] Checked
- ( ) Option A    - (*) Option B (selected)

# Row — horizontal group of inputs, filters, or actions
::: row
[Search_______________]{type:search}
[All Teams___________v]
- All Teams
- Team A
:::

# Row, right-aligned
::: row {.right}
[+ New Item]*
:::

# Section header with right-aligned action — VERY COMMON PATTERN
::: grid-2
### Section Title

### {.right}

[+ Add Item]*

:::

# KPI metric card
::: grid-3
### Total Revenue
**$124,500**
↑ 8% vs last period

### Active Users
**3,842**
↑ 12% vs last period

### Conversion
**4.2%**
↓ 0.3% vs last period

:::

# Grid — layout only, equal columns, no card chrome
::: grid-3
### Revenue
$124,500
### Users
3,842
### Conversion
4.2%
:::

# Grid of cards — each item gets card styling
::: grid-3 card
### :rocket: Organic
42% of traffic
:::

# Table
| Name  | Role  | Status  | Actions         |
|-------|-------|---------|-----------------|
| Alice | Admin | Active  | [Edit] [Remove] |

# Icons — use anywhere in text, headings, nav, buttons
:home: :user: :gear: :chart: :bell: :shield: :rocket: :check: :x: :search: :edit: :trash: :plus:

# Badges / pills — inline status labels and counts
|Active|{.success}  |Pending|{.warning}  |Failed|{.error}  |New|{.primary}  |Draft|

# Card, alert
::: card
Content here
:::

::: alert success
Changes saved.
:::

# Annotations for states and design notes
> **Loading state:** spinner + "Loading..."
> **Empty state:** "No items yet" + [Add Item]*
> **Design note:** Only visible to Admin users.

# Modals go after --- at the bottom of the file
---
## Modals & Dialogs
> Not visible on page load.
::: modal
## Confirm Delete
Are you sure?

[Delete]{variant:danger} [Cancel]

:::

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Composite example

A dashboard with sidebar, in-page tabs, a metrics grid, a grid of cards, and a data table. See the renderable version at references/examples/dashboard.md.

[[ :logo: AppName | Dashboard | *Reports* | :gear: Settings | :user: Account ]]
[[ Dashboard > Reports ]]

::: layout {.sidebar-main}

::: sidebar

#### Navigation

[[Overview](#)]
[[Reports](#)]
[[Analytics](#)]
[[Users](#)]

---

#### Filters

[Jan 2025____________v]
- Last 7 days
- Last 30 days
- This quarter

[Apply Filters]*

:::

::: main

### Monthly Reports

[Summary]* [Details] [Raw Data]

---

::: grid-3

### Total Revenue
$124,500

### Active Users
3,842

### Conversion Rate
4.2%

:::

---

::: grid-3 card

### :rocket: Organic Search
**42%** of traffic
↑ 12% vs last month

### :chart: Paid Ads
**31%** of traffic
↓ 3% vs last month

### :bell: Email
**27%** of traffic
↑ 8% vs last month

:::

---

## Recent Transactions

| Date   | Customer   | Amount | Status  |
|--------|------------|--------|---------|
| Jan 15 | Acme Corp  | $4,200 | Paid    |
| Jan 14 | Globex Inc | $1,850 | Pending |
| Jan 13 | Initech    | $3,100 | Paid    |

[Export CSV] [View All Transactions]*

:::

---

## Modals & Dialogs

> Not visible on page load.

::: modal
## Export Report

Format
[CSV_________v]
- CSV
- Excel
- PDF

[Export]* [Cancel]

:::

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Gotchas

1. Label directly above input. No blank line between label text and [_____] — it breaks the association.
2. Blank line before ::: when last line has inline elements. Buttons, backtick code, bold, links, or list items on the final line of a container — add an empty line before :::.
3. [[ ]] nav hrefs require wiremd ≥ 0.1.7. Earlier versions silently drop the URL and every item renders as href="#". Mixed static + clickable works in 0.1.7+: [[ *Home* | [About](./about.md) | [Contact](./contact.md) ]].
4. :::accordion doesn't exist. Use ::: tabs with ::: tab Label children for tabbed panels. For a simple button-group switcher, use [Tab]* [Other].
5. Use ![[file.md]] for includes, not :::display. :::display is obsolete. ![[path/to/file.md]] works in both the CLI and VS Code preview — path resolves relative to the current file.
6. Sandbox --serve is unreachable from the user's browser. wiremd --serve PORT binds to localhost on Claude's host, not the user's. When Claude is running in Cowork/Desktop and the user is elsewhere, write HTML to a shared folder instead. See references/rendering-modes.md.
7. Static HTML keeps .md hrefs — rewrite after build. wiremd x.md -o x.html preserves ./page.md link targets. For file:// double-click delivery, rewrite with: sed -i -E 's|href="\./([A-Za-z0-9_-]+)\.md"|href="./\1.html"|g' *.html. On macOS without GNU sed, use sed -i ''.

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Reference files

• references/quick-reference.md — one-page cheat sheet for all components (copied from QUICK-REFERENCE.md at build time)
• references/syntax.md — full syntax, all attributes, disambiguation rules, component mapping, gotchas
• references/styles.md — style guide with visual descriptions and use cases
• references/multi-page.md — folder layout, shared _nav.md, cross-page links, rebuild recipe for .md→.html handoff
• references/rendering-modes.md — decision table: files-in-folder, dev server, screenshot, web-editor handoff
• references/vscode.md — VS Code extension install and live-preview workflow
• references/examples/dashboard.md — renderable dashboard wireframe (point user to this path)
• references/examples/settings-form.md — renderable settings/form wireframe (point user to this path)
• references/examples/multi-page/ — minimal 2-page prototype (_nav.md + index.md + detail.md) demonstrating shared nav, cross-page links, and the render-and-open-html flow