ConUI skill for Claude Code

The skill teaches Claude Code how to build applications with ConUI: start a new application from the skeleton, add ConUI to an existing program, use ConUI as the design system of an interface in another stack, add screens and widgets that follow the design rules, and make themes.

With the skill installed, requests like these work in any project:

• "Create a desktop app with ConUI that shows my log files in a table with a search field."
• "Add ConUI to this application and use it as the design system for the interface."
• "Restyle this web dashboard with the ConUI design language."
• "Add a settings screen with a theme picker to my ConUI app."
• "Make a ConUI theme in amber on black."

What is in it

skill/
├── install.sh                  installer for macOS, Linux, Git Bash and MSYS2
├── install.ps1                 installer for Windows PowerShell
└── conui/
    ├── SKILL.md                the workflow: find the repo, pick the route, build, verify
    └── references/
        ├── api.md              the API map with working patterns
        ├── design-rules.md     the checklist every screen is checked against
        └── porting.md          the design language for non-C++ stacks (CSS tokens, components)

The skill is a map. The full sources and documentation stay in this repository, and the skill reads them from there: the installer records the repository's path in a CONUI_HOME file next to SKILL.md.

Requirements

• Claude Code (CLI, desktop app or IDE extension).
• A local clone of this repository. Keep it: the skill points at it.
• To build ConUI applications: the toolchain from the main README.

Installation

Clone the repository, then run the installer from the repository root:

git clone https://github.com/mindscanlabs/ConUI.git
cd ConUI

Windows (PowerShell):

.\skill\install.ps1

If scripts are blocked by the execution policy:

powershell -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\skill\install.ps1

macOS, Linux, Git Bash, MSYS2:

./skill/install.sh

Both install the skill for every project, into ~/.claude/skills/conui (%USERPROFILE%\.claude\skills\conui on Windows).

For one project only, pass the project folder. The skill then lives in that project's .claude/skills/conui and can be committed with it:

.\skill\install.ps1 -Project C:\path\to\project

./skill/install.sh /path/to/project

By hand: copy the skill/conui folder to ~/.claude/skills/conui and create a file CONUI_HOME in it containing the absolute path of this repository. Setting the environment variable CONUI_HOME to that path works as well.

Checking that it works

Start a new Claude Code session (skills are loaded when a session starts) and ask:

What do you know about ConUI?

Claude should describe ConUI and mention the skill. A request that matches the skill's description loads it automatically. It can also be requested explicitly: "Use the conui skill to …".

Using it

Describe the application or change in plain words. The skill makes Claude:

1. find the ConUI repository and read the relevant documents;
2. choose a route: a new application, ConUI inside an existing C++ program, or the design language ported to another stack;
3. sketch the screen on the cell grid and build it from ConUI widgets, with palette slots instead of colours and every label in the string table;
4. build with build.sh, which runs the self-test;
5. start the application and tell you what to check on screen.

On Windows build.sh closes running ConUI.exe and ConUIApp.exe processes before building.

Updating and removing

After git pull, run the installer again: it overwrites the installed copy. To remove the skill, delete the conui folder from ~/.claude/skills/ (or from the project's .claude/skills/).