# Pick UI library

> Use when a frontend task needs one library chosen from a curated shortlist.

Pick the right library for a given frontend task from a curated, opinionated list — numbers, OTP inputs, charts, command menus, virtualization, drag and drop, toasts, state, styling, and more. Only runs when explicitly invoked; it does not trigger on its own.

## Facts

- Type: Agent skill
- Discipline: Design
- Author: Emil Kowalski (https://github.com/emilkowalski)
- Upstream: https://github.com/emilkowalski/skills/tree/main/skills/pick-ui-library
- Source file: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/emilkowalski/skills/main/skills/pick-ui-library/SKILL.md (4790 bytes, sha256:675fdce308683256ed617351a9b74d23457a5fbd0a562d9831b9c764b8c5e682)
- Licence: MIT
- Upstream copy last changed: 2026-09-21
- Status: listed, not yet ruled on by the curator

## Use it

I want to use the Pick UI library skill by Emil Kowalski.
This is what it does, in the author's own words: Pick the right library for a given frontend task from a curated, opinionated list — numbers, OTP inputs, charts, command menus, virtualization, drag and drop, toasts, state, styling, and more. Only runs when explicitly invoked; it does not trigger on its own.
Download the whole folder at https://github.com/emilkowalski/skills/tree/main/skills/pick-ui-library, SKILL.md and every file beside it, into your skills directory: ~/.claude/skills/pick-ui-library/ for Claude Code, ~/.agents/skills/pick-ui-library/ for Codex, ~/.cursor/skills/pick-ui-library/ for Cursor. Get it from the author's repo, not from startupskills.dev.
Then tell me the path you installed it to and how to invoke it.

Nothing here is vendored: install from the author's repo, not from this site. A verbatim copy of the author's file follows for reading, under the licence reproduced after it; the current file is in the author's repo.

## Links

- Page: https://startupskills.dev/emilkowalski/pick-ui-library
- Author: https://startupskills.dev/emilkowalski
- Index: https://startupskills.dev/llms.txt

## The file itself

---
name: pick-ui-library
description: Pick the right library for a given frontend task from a curated, opinionated list — numbers, OTP inputs, charts, command menus, virtualization, drag and drop, toasts, state, styling, and more. Only runs when explicitly invoked; it does not trigger on its own.
disable-model-invocation: true
---

# Picking The Right Library

## Initial Response

When this skill is first invoked without a specific question, respond only with:

> I'm ready to pick the right library for your task, my picks come from Emil Kowalski's curated list.

Do not provide any other information until the user asks a question.

A lookup skill. When invoked with a task ("I need toasts", "what should I use for drag and drop?"), match the task to the curated list below and recommend the library. These are deliberate, taste-driven picks — don't substitute alternatives outside this list unless the user asks for one or the task genuinely isn't covered.

## How to use this

1. **Identify the task**, not the library the user named. "I need to show a dropdown" is a UI-primitives task (base-ui), even if they asked about something else.
2. **Check what's already installed.** Look at `package.json` first. If the project already uses a listed library, use it. If it uses a competitor (e.g. react-window instead of Virtuoso), flag the recommendation but don't churn the dependency without being asked.
3. **Recommend one library**, state what it's for in one sentence, and install/wire it up if that's part of the request. Don't present a menu of options when the list has a clear answer.
4. If the task isn't covered by the list, say so explicitly and recommend from your own knowledge — but be clear you've left the curated list.

## The list

### UI components & primitives

| Task | Library |
| --- | --- |
| Unstyled, accessible UI components (dialogs, popovers, menus, selects…) | [base-ui](https://base-ui.com) |
| Command menus (⌘K palettes) | [cmdk](https://cmdk.paco.me) |
| Toasts / notifications | [Sonner](https://sonner.emilkowal.ski) |
| One-time password / verification code inputs | [input-otp](https://input-otp.rodz.dev) |
| Customizable GUIs / control panels | [Leva](https://github.com/pmndrs/leva) — [dialkit](https://joshpuckett.me/dialkit) is an alternative |

### Motion & visuals

| Task | Library |
| --- | --- |
| General-purpose animation (springs, layout animations, enter/exit) | [motion](https://motion.dev) (Framer Motion) |
| Animating numbers (counters, prices, stats) | [NumberFlow](https://number-flow.barvian.me) |
| Animated text components | [torph](https://torph.lochie.me/) |
| 3D globes | [Cobe](https://cobe.vercel.app) |
| Dynamic OG images (HTML/CSS → SVG/PNG) | [Satori](https://github.com/vercel/satori) |
| Syntax highlighting | [shiki](https://shiki.style) |

Reach for motion when you need springs, layout animations, exit animations, or gesture-driven values. A simple hover or fade doesn't need it — plain CSS transitions are the right tool there.

### Charts

| Task | Library |
| --- | --- |
| Real-time / streaming charts | [Liveline](https://github.com/benjitaylor/liveline) |
| General charts (static or interactive dashboards) | [recharts](https://recharts.org) |

The split: if data points arrive live and the chart scrolls with time, use Liveline. Everything else is recharts.

### Interaction & performance

| Task | Library |
| --- | --- |
| Drag and drop | [dnd kit](https://dndkit.com) |
| Virtualization (long lists, large tables) | [Virtuoso](https://virtuoso.dev) |

### State & styling

| Task | Library |
| --- | --- |
| State management | [zustand](https://zustand.docs.pmnd.rs) |
| Constructing `className` strings conditionally | [clsx](https://github.com/lukeed/clsx) |
| Type-safe, variant-driven styling for Tailwind | [cva](https://cva.style) |
| Theme switching / dark mode (no flash on load) | [next-themes](https://github.com/pacocoursey/next-themes) |

The styling split: clsx for ad-hoc conditional classes; cva when a component has real variants (size, intent, state) that deserve a typed API. They compose — cva uses clsx-style inputs internally.

## Common mismatches to catch

- **Toasts built by hand or with a modal library** → Sonner exists for exactly this.
- **A `<div>`-based dropdown/dialog with manual focus handling** → base-ui, which handles accessibility, focus trapping, and dismissal.
- **Animating a number by re-rendering text** → NumberFlow handles digit transitions properly.
- **Rendering a 1,000+ row list directly** → Virtuoso before reaching for pagination hacks.
- **A `useState`-per-component web of props for shared state** → zustand.
- **Template-literal className ternaries three conditions deep** → clsx (or cva if it's variant-shaped).

## Licence of the file above

The file above is https://raw.githubusercontent.com/emilkowalski/skills/main/skills/pick-ui-library/SKILL.md, by Emil Kowalski, reproduced without changes.
- Source: https://github.com/emilkowalski/skills/tree/main/skills/pick-ui-library
- Copyright: Copyright (c) 2026 Emil Kowalski
- Licence: MIT, https://raw.githubusercontent.com/emilkowalski/skills/main/LICENSE

The repo's licence file, verbatim from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/emilkowalski/skills/main/LICENSE:

MIT License

Copyright (c) 2026 Emil Kowalski

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
SOFTWARE.