validating-slds

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name: validating-slds description: "Audit Lightning Web Components for SLDS compliance and produce a scored quality report. Runs the SLDS linter, analyzes CSS for theming hook usage and pairing, checks HTML for accessibility attributes, and scores findings across categories into an overall grade. Use when asked to "score my component", "SLDS scorecard", "quality report", "audit SLDS compliance", "how good is my SLDS", "check component quality", "rate my component", "evaluate my component", "is this component ready to ship?", "look at my LWC for issues", "audit this before I submit", "review my component before code review", or any time a user wants a quality assessment or production-readiness check on an LWC or SLDS component. Not for fixing violations (use uplifting-components-to-slds2) or building new components (use applying-slds)." metadata: version: "1.0"

SLDS Quality Audit

Audit Lightning Web Components for SLDS compliance and produce an automated scorecard plus a required manual review gate. Combines SLDS linter output with supplementary static analysis to catch what the linter misses.

Scope

Also valid for: auditing SLDS compliance across a project or component set, and before/after quality comparison after making changes.

Not for:

• Fixing linter violations — use uplifting-components-to-slds2 instead
• Building new components — use applying-slds instead
• Just running the linter — run npx @salesforce-ux/slds-linter@latest lint . directly
• Full WCAG accessibility audit — this skill checks attribute presence only (labels, alt text, focus indicators), not contrast ratios, keyboard flows, or screen reader behavior
• Framework-specific template auditing beyond .css, .html, and .js files — JSX/TSX/Vue/Svelte outputs need additional manual review

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Quality Validation Process

1. Run SLDS Linter     → Collect violation counts (linter's job)
2. Run Analyze Script  → Check what linter doesn't cover (supplementary)
3. Agent Review        → Required manual review gate
4. Score & Grade       → Compute automated score + final recommendation
5. Generate Report     → Produce formatted scorecard

Step 1: Run SLDS Linter

Run the linter to collect baseline violation data:

npx @salesforce-ux/slds-linter@latest lint <component-path> 2>&1

Count violations by rule. These feed directly into the Linter Compliance score:

Rule	Impact
slds/class-override	Breaks theming, dark mode
slds/lwc-token-to-slds-hook	SLDS 1 technical debt
slds/no-hardcoded-values	Breaks theming, accessibility

Linter Compliance Score = 100 - (total_violations × 10), minimum 0.

If the linter is unavailable (no Node.js, no network access, CI sandbox restrictions): skip this step, note "Linter not run" in the report header, mark Linter Compliance as N/A, and compute the Overall score using the remaining 4 categories renormalized to 100%:

Overall (linter unavailable) = (Theming × 0.29) + (Accessibility × 0.29)
                              + (CodeQuality × 0.21) + (ComponentUsage × 0.21)

Step 2: Run Supplementary Analysis

Run the analyze script to catch issues the linter doesn't cover. The bundled analyzer scans .css, .html, and .js files only:

node scripts/analyze-quality.cjs <component-path>

The script outputs JSON with findings organized by severity. It checks:

CSS Checks (linter-complementary)

Check	What It Catches	Severity
Missing fallbacks	var(--slds-g-*) without a fallback value	Critical
Invented hooks (T051)	--slds-g-* tokens not found in hooks-index.json (requires --hooks-index)	Critical
Hook pairing	Background hooks without matching foreground hooks	Warning
!important	Specificity overrides	Warning
Magic pixel values	Hardcoded px not using spacing hooks	Warning
High z-index	z-index values > 99	Warning
Outline removal	outline: none without alternative focus style	Warning

JS Checks

Check	What It Catches	Severity
Inline style assignment	.style.*= direct property assignment	Warning
SLDS class manipulation	Dynamic .classList.add('slds-*') manipulation	Warning

HTML Checks

Check	What It Catches	Severity
LBC input labels	<lightning-input> without label attribute	Critical
Icon alt text	<lightning-icon> without alternative-text	Critical
Image alt text	<img> without alt	Critical
Heading hierarchy	Skipped heading levels (h2 to h4)	Warning
Positive tabindex	tabindex values other than 0 or -1	Warning
Clickable divs	<div onclick> instead of <button>	Warning
Inline styles	style="..." attributes	Warning
Native elements	<input>, <button>, <select> where LBC alternatives exist	Warning

Hook Pairing Validation

The script checks that background/foreground hooks are semantically paired:

surface-* backgrounds     → on-surface-* text
surface-container-* bg    → on-surface-* text
accent-* backgrounds      → on-accent-* text
accent-container-* bg     → on-accent-* text

Limitation: Hook pairing is checked at the file level, not per-selector. A file with surface-1 in .classA and on-accent-1 in .classB would pass because both surface and accent families are present. Review pairing correctness per-selector during manual review (Step 3).

Invented Hook Detection (T051)

The script cross-references every --slds-g-* token in CSS against hooks-index.json. Any hook not found in metadata is flagged as critical — this catches the most common agent mistake of inventing hooks from naming patterns.

Step 3: Agent Manual Review

These checks require understanding the component's purpose and cannot be automated reliably. Review each and classify findings as either:

• Blocking — incorrect blueprint structure, missing required states, or semantic/interaction issues that make the component not production-ready
• Advisory — worthwhile improvements that do not block shipping on their own

Review Area	What to Look For
Loading states	Does the component show a spinner or skeleton when fetching data?
Error states	Are errors surfaced to the user with actionable messages?
Empty states	Is there a meaningful empty state when no data exists?
Disabled states	Do interactive elements visually and functionally handle disabled?
Semantic HTML	Are <nav>, <article>, <section> used where appropriate?
SLDS blueprint compliance	Do cards, modals, forms follow SLDS blueprint structure?

Manual review findings are not automated, but they do affect the final recommendation. Do not report an automated grade as the only verdict.

Step 4: Calculate Automated Scores and Final Recommendation

Component Complexity

Before scoring, classify the component to give the score context:

Complexity	Criteria	Report Note
Small	1-2 files, < 100 total lines	Score is high-confidence (small surface area)
Medium	3-6 files, 100-500 total lines	Score reflects typical component
Large	7+ files, 500+ total lines	Score reflects absolute issue count — even well-built large components may score lower

Include the complexity classification in the report header. This prevents misreading a "B" on a 1000-line component vs. a "B" on a 20-line component.

Automated Scoring Formula

Category Score = 100 - (critical_issues × 10) - (warnings × 3) - (info × 1)
Minimum score: 0

Categories and Weights

Category	Weight	Source
Linter Compliance	30%	SLDS linter output (Step 1)
Theming	20%	Script: fallbacks, hook pairing (Step 2)
Accessibility	20%	Script: labels, alt text, focus (Step 2)
Code Quality	15%	Script: !important, inline styles, z-index (Step 2)
Component Usage	15%	Script: native elements (Step 2) plus manual semantic/blueprint review (Step 3)

Automated Overall Score

Overall = (Linter × 0.30) + (Theming × 0.20) + (Accessibility × 0.20)
        + (CodeQuality × 0.15) + (ComponentUsage × 0.15)

Automated Grade Thresholds

Score	Grade	Meaning
90-100	A	Excellent automated score
80-89	B	Good automated score
70-79	C	Acceptable automated score
60-69	D	Weak automated score
0-59	F	Failing automated score

Manual Review Gate

After computing the automated score, apply the manual review outcome:

Gate	When to use it	Effect on final recommendation
Pass	No manual findings	Final recommendation can follow the automated score
Advisory	Only non-blocking manual findings	Final recommendation can be "Ready with follow-ups" at best
Blocking	One or more blocking manual findings	Final recommendation is not ready for production, regardless of automated grade

Final Recommendation Rules

Use both the automated score and the manual review gate:

Final Recommendation	Conditions
Ready for production	Automated grade A/B, no critical findings, manual gate = Pass
Ready with follow-ups	Automated grade A/B, no critical findings, manual gate = Advisory
Needs work	Any critical findings, automated grade C/D, or manual gate = Blocking
Failing	Automated grade F

Step 5: Generate Quality Report

Use the template in report-format.md to produce the final report. Default to the compact format for initial output and expand sections on request.

The report includes:

• Executive summary with automated grade and final recommendation
• Manual review gate outcome (Pass, Advisory, or Blocking)
• Scores by category with visual indicators
• Detailed findings organized by severity
• Specific code locations and recommendations
• Checklist of required actions

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Quick Validation Mode

For a rapid quality check without full analysis:

1. Run linter: npx @salesforce-ux/slds-linter@latest lint <path>
2. Count violations by type
3. Report summary only

Quick Quality Check: <component-name>
─────────────────────────────────────
Linter Violations:
  • Class Override:     0
  • Deprecated Tokens:  3
  • Hardcoded Values:   5

Quick Automated Grade: C (estimated)
Run full validation for detailed report.

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Edge Cases and False Positives

Situation	Guidance
Headless components (JS-only, no HTML)	Skip HTML checks; score only CSS + linter categories
Wrapper/container components	May legitimately have minimal CSS; don't penalize low hook usage
Intentional native elements	<button> inside custom SLDS blueprints is correct; suppress C002 if inside an slds-* blueprint structure
Components outside LEX	LWR/Experience Cloud components may not use Lightning Base Components; note context in report
Test/demo components	Lower the bar — note in report but don't block on warnings

If a check produces a false positive, note it in the report as "suppressed" with justification rather than silently dropping it.

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References

• Quality Checks - Complete list of all quality checks with detection patterns
• Report Format - Quality report template and formatting guide
• Analyze Script - Automated analysis for linter-complementary checks
• uplifting-components-to-slds2 skill - How to fix linter violations
• applying-slds skill - Guide for building new components with correct patterns