DesignKit CLI

DesignKit generates palettes, type and spacing scales, CSS tokens, and component proof reports for designers and frontend developers.

Proof reports evaluate mathematical constraints. CSS audits analyze source declarations and inferred backgrounds. Neither establishes rendered accessibility. For evidence scope and strict checks, see Proof-driven design.

Install the CLI

To install the published CLI, run:

npm install -g @dkcli/cli

Generate design outputs

The following commands generate a design proof, a palette, a fluid scale, and a source CSS audit:

dk perfect --seed "#D96F32" --ratio perfect-fourth --motion snappy
dk palette "#D96F32" --harmony split-complementary --json
dk scale --fluid --ratio perfect-fourth --base-min 15 --base-max 19
dk audit --css CSS_FILE

Replace CSS_FILE with the path to a CSS file.

To enforce failed or unsupported checks in CI, add --strict to supported proof and audit commands. Artifact generation without --strict can return a report that contains failures.

Packages

The workspace contains these packages:

• @dkcli/cli: the dk and dkcli command-line tools
• @dkcli/core: design math, proof contracts, and component recipe compilation
• @dkcli/tokens: theme generation and CSS and JSON emitters
• @dkcli/components: Svelte 5 components with compiled recipes and themes

Command families

The following table groups the commands by purpose:

Family	Commands	Purpose
Proof	perfect, contrast, target, audit	Evaluate design constraints and source CSS
Foundations	palette, distinct, scale, text, typeset, linebreak	Generate color and type systems
Motion	ease, jerk	Generate motion curves
Layout	layout, compose, saliency, future	Solve layout constraints and estimate composition metrics
Projects	project verify, project qualify, project patch	Verify, measure, and revise portable theme projects
Components and content	components, cms	Verify recipes and manage DKCMS content

Author and qualify a theme

Theme projects record font stacks, semantic tokens, motion settings, viewport widths, revisions, reviews, and measured browser evidence. The workbench and CLI compile the same public engine. Browser qualification uses a running workbench and binds its results to the authored inputs and exact package artifacts.

For the format, commands, and evidence scope, see Theme projects. A portable example is in Theme project examples.

Run the examples

Both examples install package tarballs built from this checkout:

• Svelte starter: field entry, selection, save, and clear
• Release desk: a SvelteKit demo with release creation, review, filters, server validation, and theme preferences

To build and verify Release desk, run:

pnpm example:sveltekit:verify

In Appearance, import theme JSON exported from the workbench.

Develop locally

Use Node.js 22 and pnpm 10.33.0.

1. To activate the repository's pnpm version, run:

   corepack enable
   corepack prepare pnpm@10.33.0 --activate

2. To install dependencies, run:

   pnpm install --frozen-lockfile

3. To inspect source CLI commands, run:

   pnpm dk --help

4. To verify code changes, run:

   pnpm preflight

Verify a release

Before publishing packages, run:

pnpm release:verify

The gate checks lint, types, tests, builds, package metadata, and tarball contents. It also verifies the standalone CLI and both example apps from packed artifacts. Release desk checks include server actions and Chromium flows with and without JavaScript.

Documentation

The documentation build generates its theme through the source CLI. To build the VitePress site, run:

pnpm docs:build

For development and package guidance, see these documents:

• Documentation site
• Getting started
• Architecture
• Contributing
• Security policy

DesignKit uses the MIT License.