AddThisFeature

Responsive Grid Tokens

Express columns, gaps, and spans as shared tokens rather than per-component guesses.

moderate Design Systems

What it adds

A token set describing column counts, gutters, and span behaviour at each breakpoint, used by every grid in the app.

What your agent is told to do

5
  1. 1

    Find the grids already in the app — card lists, dashboards, form layouts, media galleries — and record how many columns each uses at each size. The reconciled set is normally three or four column counts, not one per screen.

  2. 2

    Define gutters from the spacing scale rather than inventing grid-specific values, so the gap between cards matches the rhythm of everything around them.

  3. 3

    Express spans in tokens tied to the column count, so a component asking for half a row keeps working when the row drops from four columns to two instead of overflowing.

  4. 4

    Let grids collapse on the content's minimum width rather than on a fixed column count, so a card that needs a certain width to be legible triggers the reflow itself.

  5. 5

    Breakpoint names and values are owned by Breakpoint Token System and outer page widths by Container Width System. Consume both here and do not define a second set of thresholds inside the grid.

Edge cases it handles

7
  • A grid nested inside another grid inherits gutters it should not, producing a visibly wider gap in the inner layout. Nested grids need their own gutter step or an explicit reset.
  • Collapsing purely on breakpoints ignores the container, so a four-column grid placed inside a narrow sidebar will squeeze its cards below legibility on a wide screen. The minimum content width, not the viewport, should drive the reflow.
  • Reordering items visually with the grid leaves the source order untouched, so keyboard and screen reader users receive a sequence that contradicts what is on screen. Keep visual order and source order aligned.
  • A grid must not assume how many children it will receive. Three cards in a four-column layout, or a single card, must both look deliberate rather than leaving a ragged hole.
  • Items of unequal height will either stretch to the tallest in the row or leave gaps, and which of those is correct depends on the content, so it has to be a stated choice per grid.
  • A grid rendered inside a resizable or split layout changes width without the viewport changing at all, so anything keyed to viewport width alone will be wrong there.
  • Long unbroken strings and wide media inside a cell will push the column past its share unless the cell is allowed to shrink below its content.

Definition of done

9
  • Every grid in the app draws its column count, gutters, and spans from shared tokens.
  • Gutter values come from the app's spacing scale, not from grid-specific numbers.
  • Nested grids do not inherit the outer gutter.
  • Grids reflow on content minimum width, so they behave correctly inside narrow containers as well as narrow viewports.
  • Visual order matches source order in every grid.
  • Grids render sensibly with one item, with a partial final row, and with items of unequal height.
  • No grid defines its own breakpoint values.
  • The feature matches the existing design system.
  • No existing functionality is broken.

Related features

How it works

  1. 1

    Copy the link

    Grab the Markdown instruction URL for this feature.

  2. 2

    Give it to your AI

    Paste it into Claude Code, Cursor, v0, Lovable — whatever you build with.

  3. 3

    It inspects, then implements

    Your agent reads your existing app first, then adds the feature to fit it.

Works with your stack

These instructions are written to adapt. They tell the agent to detect your framework, match your existing design system, and reuse what you already have — rather than assuming a particular stack.

Need it tighter than that? Customize the feature and tell it exactly what you're running.