ui

---
name: ui
description: Unity UI expert for menus, HUDs, screens, panels, buttons, labels, and all visual interface elements. Handles questions about UI in scenes or prefabs (how many elements, what exists, structure analysis), styling changes (colors, borders, backgrounds, fonts, spacing, rounded corners), layout adjustments, and UI generation. Routes to UI Toolkit, uGUI, or IMGUI based on project context.
---

Determine the appropriate UI system for the project and route to the correct specialized skill.

## When to Route vs Answer Directly

**Route to a specialized skill when:**
- User wants to understand, edit, or generate specific UI elements
- User references specific files or UI objects
- User asks for UI changes or creation

**Answer directly (without routing) when:**
- User asks comparative/educational questions ("What's the difference between UI Toolkit and uGUI?")
- User asks about UI system capabilities or recommendations ("Should I use UITK or uGUI for mobile?")
- User needs conceptual explanation of Unity UI architecture

## Routing Logic

**Step 1: Check for explicit file references or keywords:**

| User mentions | Route to |
|---------------|----------|
| `.uxml` or `.uss` files (including in `/Editor/`) | `ui-uitk` |
| "UI Toolkit", "UITK", "UIElements", "CreateGUI" | `ui-uitk` |
| Canvas prefabs/objects, `.prefab` with UI | `ui-ugui` |
| "uGUI", "Canvas", "RectTransform", "legacy UI" | `ui-ugui` |
| "IMGUI", "OnGUI", "OnInspectorGUI", "immediate mode" | `ui-imgui` |
| Figma URL (`figma.com/design/...`), "Figma", "import from Figma" | Not available — see below |

**For editor-related requests (EditorWindow, custom inspector, PropertyDrawer):**
- If no explicit UI system mentioned → **Go to Step 2** to detect project's editor UI system
- If no existing pattern is detected, default to `ui-uitk` for new editor UI
- Only use `ui-imgui` if project exclusively uses IMGUI or user explicitly requests it

If explicit file or keywords found, activate the corresponding skill immediately.

**Step 2: If ambiguous, detect from project:**

Search the project to determine which UI system is in use:

| Look for | Indicates |
|----------|-----------|
| `.uxml` or `.uss` files (including in `/Editor/`) | UI Toolkit (runtime or editor) |
| `UIDocument` components in scenes | UI Toolkit (runtime) |
| Editor scripts with `CreateGUI()` method | UI Toolkit (editor) |
| `Canvas` in scenes/prefabs | uGUI |
| `RectTransform` heavy usage | uGUI |
| Editor scripts with `OnGUI()` or `OnInspectorGUI()` | IMGUI (legacy editor) |

**Step 3: If still unclear, ask or default:**

- For existing projects: detect and follow whichever framework is already in use (Step 2)
- For new projects with no UI yet: ask the user which framework they prefer (UI Toolkit vs uGUI), briefly explaining that UI Toolkit is modern/CSS-like while uGUI is Canvas-based/mature
- For new runtime/game UI where the user has no preference: default to uGUI (`ui-ugui`)
- When the user mentions mobile/performance constraints or older Unity versions (pre-6.0): bias toward uGUI (`ui-ugui`)

## Request Types

Specialized skills handle three types of requests:

| Type | Examples |
|------|----------|
| **Understanding** | "What does this button do?", "How is this laid out?", "Explain this UI" |
| **Editing** | "Change this color", "Add a label here", "Fix this layout" |
| **Generation** | "Create a menu", "Make an inventory screen", "Build a settings panel" |

Route all types to the appropriate specialized skill based on the UI system.

## Available Sub-Skills

### UI Toolkit — `ui-uitk`
- For Unity 6.0+ projects using UI Toolkit (runtime game UI and editor tools)
- **Understands**, **edits**, and **generates** `.uxml` and `.uss` files
- Modern, CSS-like styling approach
- Preferred for new editor windows (CreateGUI) and existing UI Toolkit projects

### uGUI — `ui-ugui`
- For projects using Unity's Canvas-based UI system
- **Understands**, **edits**, and **generates** Canvas hierarchies
- Uses Layout Groups for responsive design
- Default for new runtime/game UI when the user has no framework preference

### IMGUI — `ui-imgui`
- For legacy editor tools using OnGUI/immediate mode
- Only use when project has existing IMGUI editor code or user explicitly requests IMGUI
- **Understands**, **edits**, and **generates** EditorWindow, inspectors, PropertyDrawers built with OnGUI
- Not for runtime game UI — for new editor tools, use UI Toolkit unless the project already uses IMGUI exclusively

### Figma design import — not available here

Importing a Figma design requires Unity's Figma integration service, which only exists
inside Unity AI Assistant. There is no client-side equivalent, so do not promise it.

If the user brings a Figma URL, say the automated import is not available here and offer
the alternative: ask them to describe or screenshot the screen, then build it with the
appropriate framework skill above.

## Common Guidelines (All UI Systems)

### Scope Discipline

**Do only what is requested:**
- Question → answer without making changes
- Targeted edit → modify only what's specified
- Generation → create only requested files
- Don't proactively add scripts unless explicitly asked

**These do NOT imply scripts:**
- "proper buttons" → well-styled buttons
- "working UI" → valid UI that renders
- "menu screen" → visual layout only

### Conventions

**Follow project patterns first.** Search existing files before applying defaults.

| Type | Convention |
|------|------------|
| Element names | Follow project patterns, or camelCase |
| File organization | Match existing project structure |

### Workflow

1. **Determine UI system** — Use routing logic above
   - For Figma requests, tell the user the automated import is not available here, then
     work from their description or screenshot and continue with framework detection
2. **Activate specialized skill** — Route to `ui-uitk`, `ui-ugui`, or `ui-imgui`
3. **Skill handles request** — Understanding, editing, or generation as appropriate

## Handling Mixed Projects

Many Unity projects use multiple UI systems simultaneously (e.g., UI Toolkit for runtime game UI plus editor tools). When you detect multiple systems:

- **For runtime UI requests** (menus, HUDs, game screens) → Route to whichever runtime system (UITK or uGUI) is already in use
- **For editor tool requests** (custom inspectors, editor windows):
  - **Prefer UI Toolkit** (CreateGUI) for new editor UI — it's the modern approach
  - Only use IMGUI if the project's existing editor tools use IMGUI exclusively, or user explicitly requests IMGUI
  - Check for existing editor `.uxml` files to confirm UITK usage
- **If creating new runtime UI in a mixed project** → Match the pattern used by similar existing UI; if there is no similar existing UI and the user has no preference, use uGUI