HTML Artifacts — the unreasonable effectiveness of HTML

Markdown flattens things that are inherently spatial or interactive: a diff, a module graph, a set of design options, a four-screen flow, a 30-ticket backlog. A single self-contained HTML file renders them as themselves — the human reacts to the thing instead of imagining it from a description. That tighter feedback loop is the whole point. This skill builds that file, drops it in ~/.claude/artifacts/, and pops it open.

The bundled reference/*.html is a library of 20 worked examples (from Thariq Shihab's "The unreasonable effectiveness of HTML"). They are the source of truth for how good these should look and feel — read the one closest to the task before writing, then adapt. Don't reinvent; the references already solved layout, interaction, and polish for each genre.

When to reach for this

• The user asks for an HTML page / artifact / "one-pager" / webpage to look at.
• The answer is a report, plan, deck, diagram, design, prototype, explainer, or a small editing UI — anything in the index below.
• The content is spatial (diffs, maps, timelines, flowcharts) or wants interaction (toggles, sliders, drag, live-rerender, arrow-key nav).
• The user says "pop it open", "弹开看看", "做成一页", "show me", "visualize".

Skip it for: production UI / React components (build those for real), pure data files, or when the user explicitly wants /talk-html to publish a shareable gist recap.

Workflow

1. Pick the genre → open the matching reference. Map the request to a row in the index, then actually Read that reference/<file>.html. It shows the layout, the interaction model, and the quality bar to match.
2. Build ONE self-contained .html. Everything inline — no CDN fonts, no external scripts, no build step. Vanilla HTML + CSS + a little JS; inline <svg> for diagrams. It must open correctly from a file:// path with no network. Use the house design system below.

3. Save to ~/.claude/artifacts/ and pop it open. Use the helper:

   bash ~/.claude/skills/html-artifacts/scripts/open-artifact.sh <slug> [source.html]

   It writes ~/.claude/artifacts/<slug>.html (from a file arg or stdin), opens it in the default browser, and prints the absolute path. Then tell the user the path. Reuse-friendly slugs: status-report-w24, deploy-flowchart, triage-board. Add a date suffix (-2026-06-29) when versions matter.

Reference library — index

Every file is a full, self-contained example. Read the closest match before building. Live versions: https://thariqs.github.io/html-effectiveness/<file>.

Exploration & Planning

Code Review & Understanding

Design

Prototyping

Illustrations & Diagrams

Decks

Research & Learning

Reports

Custom Editing Interfaces (throwaway tools that keep a human in the loop)

House design system (Claude editorial)

The references share one look: warm ivory paper, a clay accent, serif display headings over a sans body, mono for labels and code. Reusing it makes new artifacts feel native. Drop this in <head> and build on it:

<style>
:root{
  --ivory:#FAF9F5; --paper:#FFFFFF; --slate:#141413;
  --clay:#D97757; --clay-d:#B85C3E; --oat:#E3DACC; --olive:#788C5D;
  --g100:#F0EEE6; --g200:#E6E3DA; --g300:#D1CFC5; --g500:#87867F; --g700:#3D3D3A;
  --serif:ui-serif,Georgia,"Times New Roman",Times,serif;
  --sans:system-ui,-apple-system,"Segoe UI",Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;
  --mono:ui-monospace,"SF Mono",Menlo,Monaco,Consolas,monospace;
}
*{box-sizing:border-box}
html{scroll-behavior:smooth}
body{margin:0;background:var(--ivory);color:var(--slate);font-family:var(--sans);
  line-height:1.55;-webkit-font-smoothing:antialiased}
.wrap{max-width:1120px;margin:0 auto;padding:0 32px 140px}
h1,h2,h3{font-family:var(--serif);font-weight:500;letter-spacing:-.018em}
h1{font-size:clamp(38px,5.4vw,62px);line-height:1.06}
h1 em{font-style:italic;color:var(--clay)}
.eyebrow{font-family:var(--mono);font-size:12px;letter-spacing:.12em;
  text-transform:uppercase;color:var(--g500)}
code,kbd,.mono{font-family:var(--mono)}
a{color:var(--clay)}
</style>

Type roles: serif = display headings (italic + clay for emphasis); mono = eyebrows, labels, tags, code, numbers; sans = body. The clay #D97757 is the only loud color — use it sparingly for the one thing the eye should land on. Greys (--g100…g700) carry structure.

Principles that make these work

• Self-contained, always. One file, no network. It must open from file:// with fonts, styles, scripts, and SVG all inline. This is why the user can keep it, mail it, and reopen it next month.
• Spatial beats linear. If the content has a shape — a graph, a timeline, a before/after — draw the shape. That's the edge over markdown.
• Earn every interaction. Add a slider, toggle, drag, or live-rerender only where the human's decision improves by playing with it (tuning an easing, ordering a backlog). Static content stays static — don't bolt on motion.
• Include the exit. Editing UIs (18–20) end in a copy-out button — markdown, a diff, a JSON blob — so the human's decisions flow back into the real workflow. An interface with no export is a dead end.
• Skim-first hierarchy. Lead with the TL;DR / the chart / the headline number. Collapsible sections and tabs hold the detail. Respect the Monday- morning skim.
• Quiet, confident polish. Generous whitespace, one accent color, real type hierarchy. Match the reference's restraint — no gradients-on-everything.

Saving & popping open

• Default path: ~/.claude/artifacts/<slug>.html (the dir already exists).
• Helper does write + open + prints the path:

  # from an existing file:
  bash ~/.claude/skills/html-artifacts/scripts/open-artifact.sh deploy-flowchart /tmp/draft.html
  # or pipe content in:
  cat <<'HTML' | bash ~/.claude/skills/html-artifacts/scripts/open-artifact.sh status-report-w24
  <!doctype html>...
  HTML

• After opening, report the path so the user knows where it lives. Popping open is the deliverable — the user reads the page in the browser, not in chat.

Anti-patterns

• ❌ Linking external CSS/JS/fonts (breaks offline, breaks file://). Inline it.
• ❌ Pulling in React / Vue / a bundler for a throwaway artifact. Vanilla only.
• ❌ Writing a prose document and calling it HTML. If it's just paragraphs, it should have been markdown — this skill is for things prose can't hold.
• ❌ Building without reading the closest reference first. The reference is the quality bar; skipping it produces generic output.
• ❌ Saving somewhere other than ~/.claude/artifacts/, or forgetting to open it. The user expects it on screen.

Credits & license

The 20 reference/*.html files are from ThariqS/html-effectiveness ("The unreasonable effectiveness of HTML"), © 2026 Anthropic PBC, Apache-2.0, bundled here unmodified with their original per-file copyright headers. See NOTICE. The skill scaffolding is © 2026 Liu Shiyu, Apache-2.0 (LICENSE).