Visual Standards

December 8, 2025 · View on GitHub

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Visual Standards

WHO does WHAT — colors, emojis, and diagram standards

ACTEUR + ACTION System

Visual language answering: WHO does WHAT?

Acteurs (WHO)

Acteur	Emoji	Color	Description
User (neutral)	🙆‍♀️	Indigo `#6366f1`	Human idle state
User (input)	🙋‍♀️	Indigo `#6366f1`	Human sends input
User (output)	💁‍♀️	Indigo `#6366f1`	Human receives output
Main Agent	🐔	Purple `#8b5cf6`	Claude Code orchestrator
Subagent	🐦	Pink `#ec4899`	Delegated worker

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  THE POULTRY FAMILY                                                         │
│                                                                             │
│  USER STATES:           AGENTS:                                             │
│  🙆‍♀️ neutral (idle)      🐔 Main Agent → orchestrates (can spawn 🐦)        │
│  🙋‍♀️ gives (input)       🐦 Subagent   → executes (cannot spawn other 🐦)   │
│  💁‍♀️ receives (output)                                                      │
│                                                                             │
│  HIERARCHY: 🙋‍♀️📥 → 🐔 → 🐦 → 📤💁‍♀️                                           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Actions (WHAT)

Action	Emoji	Description	Example
Input	📥	Data enters	🙋‍♀️📥
Output	📤	Data exits	🐔📤, 📤💁‍♀️
Thinking	💭	Reasons/prompts	🐔💭
Routing	🚦	Decides direction	🐔🚦
Spawn	🪺	Creates subagent	🐔🪺
Execute	⚡	Runs task	🐦⚡
Observe	👀	Reads	🐔👀
Write	✏️	Modifies	🐦✏️
Validate	✅	Approves	🙆‍♀️✅
Question	❓	Asks	🐔❓
Split	🔀	Divides task	🐔🔀
Merge	🌀	Combines results	🐔🌀
Plan	📋	Creates plan	🐔📋
Adjust	🔄	Loops/iterates	🐔🔄
Continue	▶️	Resumes	🐔▶️
Idle	💤	Not chosen	🐦💤

📥/📤 Position Rule: ACTEUR📥 = sends in, ACTEUR📤 = produces, 📤ACTEUR = receives

Combinations Matrix

USER 🙆‍♀️🙋‍♀️💁‍♀️

Combo	Meaning
🙆‍♀️	Idle state
🙋‍♀️📥	Sends input
🙆‍♀️✅	Validates
🙆‍♀️❓	Questions
📤💁‍♀️	Receives output

MAIN AGENT 🐔

Combo	Meaning
🐔💭	Thinks
🐔🚦	Routes
🐔🪺	Spawns
🐔🔀	Splits
🐔🌀	Merges
🐔📋	Plans
🐔📤	Outputs
🐔⚡	Executes
🐔👀	Observes
🐔✏️	Writes
🐔🔄	Loops
🐔▶️	Continues

SUBAGENT 🐦

Combo	Meaning
🐦💭	Thinks
🐦⚡	Executes
🐦👀	Observes
🐦✏️	Writes
🐦📤	Returns
🐦✅	Validates
🐦💤	Idle

Status & Triggers

Status Indicators

Status	Emoji	Color	Use Case
Success	✅	Emerald `#10b981`	Task completed
Error	❌	Red `#ef4444`	Failure
Warning	⚠️	Amber `#f59e0b`	Caution needed
In Progress	🔄	Blue `#3b82f6`	Currently running
Pending	⏳	Slate `#64748b`	Waiting
Skip	⏭️	Slate `#64748b`	Bypassed

Triggers & State

Element	Emoji	Color	Description
Hook	🪝	Emerald `#10b981`	Event-driven automation
State/Data	💾	Emerald `#10b981`	Persisted data

Hook Events

Event	Trigger	Use Case
`PreToolUse`	Before tool execution	Validation, blocking
`PostToolUse`	After tool completion	Cleanup, formatting
`PermissionRequest`	Permission dialogs	Auto-allow/deny
`UserPromptSubmit`	Before processing input	Pre-processing
`SessionStart`	Session starts/resumes	Environment setup
`SessionEnd`	Session ends	Cleanup
`Stop`	Claude finishes	Post-response actions
`SubagentStop`	Subagent completes	Subagent cleanup
`PreCompact`	Before compact	Lifecycle management
`Notification`	Notifications sent	Custom notifications

Tools

By Source

Source	Emoji	Color	Description
Built-in	🔧	Slate `#64748b`	Native Claude Code tools
External (MCP)	🔌	Amber `#f59e0b`	Model Context Protocol servers

Built-in Tools 🔧

Category	Combo	Tools
Read File	🔧👀	Read
Search Content	🔧🔍	Grep
Search Files	🔧🗂️	Glob
Write Ops	🔧✏️	Write, Edit, NotebookEdit
Shell Ops	🔧📟	Bash, BashOutput, KillShell
Web Ops	🔧🌐	WebFetch, WebSearch
User Interaction	🔧❓	AskUserQuestion
Planning	🔧📋	TodoWrite
Spawn	🪺	Task (spawns 🐦 Subagent)

Color Palette

Color	Hex	Usage
🟣 Indigo	`#6366f1`	User 🙋‍♀️, Slash Commands 🦴
🟣 Purple	`#8b5cf6`	Main Agent 🐔, Skills 📚
🩷 Pink	`#ec4899`	Subagent 🐦
🟠 Amber	`#f59e0b`	MCP Tools 🔌, Warning ⚠️
🟢 Emerald	`#10b981`	State 💾, Success ✅, Hook 🪝
🔵 Blue	`#3b82f6`	Parallel 🛤️, Progress 🔄
🔴 Red	`#ef4444`	Errors ❌
🩶 Slate	`#64748b`	Built-in 🔧, Neutral
🩶 Slate-400	`#94a3b8`	Idle 💤
🩵 Teal	`#14b8a6`	Wizard 🧙
🩵 Cyan	`#06b6d4`	Data flow

Mermaid Class Definitions

%%{init: {'theme': 'base', 'themeVariables': {'lineColor': '#64748b'}}}%%
flowchart TB
    %% Acteurs
    classDef user fill:#6366f1,stroke:#4f46e5,stroke-width:2px,color:#ffffff
    classDef main fill:#8b5cf6,stroke:#7c3aed,stroke-width:2px,color:#ffffff
    classDef subagent fill:#ec4899,stroke:#db2777,stroke-width:2px,color:#ffffff
    classDef skill fill:#8b5cf6,stroke:#7c3aed,stroke-width:2px,color:#ffffff

    %% Tools (by source)
    classDef builtinTool fill:#64748b,stroke:#475569,stroke-width:2px,color:#ffffff
    classDef mcpTool fill:#f59e0b,stroke:#d97706,stroke-width:2px,color:#ffffff

    %% Other
    classDef state fill:#10b981,stroke:#059669,stroke-width:2px,color:#ffffff
    classDef wizard fill:#14b8a6,stroke:#0d9488,stroke-width:2px,color:#ffffff
    classDef parallel fill:#3b82f6,stroke:#2563eb,stroke-width:2px,color:#ffffff
    classDef error fill:#ef4444,stroke:#dc2626,stroke-width:2px,color:#ffffff
    classDef idle fill:#94a3b8,stroke:#64748b,stroke-width:2px,color:#ffffff

Subgraph Styles

style L1 fill:#e0e7ff,stroke:#6366f1,stroke-width:2px  %% User Layer
style L2 fill:#f3e8ff,stroke:#8b5cf6,stroke-width:2px  %% Main Agent
style L3 fill:#fce7f3,stroke:#ec4899,stroke-width:2px  %% Subagent
style L4 fill:#fef3c7,stroke:#f59e0b,stroke-width:2px  %% Tools
style L5 fill:#ecfdf5,stroke:#10b981,stroke-width:2px  %% State

Symbol Key (for Diagrams)

Symbol	Meaning
`[Rectangle]`	Process/Component
`{Diamond}`	Decision point
`((Circle))`	Start/End
`-->`	Sequential flow
`-.->`	Optional/async flow
`-->│`	Parallel flow

Rules

✅ Do	❌ Don't
Always use ACTEUR + ACTION	🧠 for Main Agent (use 🐔)
Use classDef (never inline)	🤖 for Subagent (use 🐦)
White text on dark fills	👤 for User (use 🙋‍♀️)
2px stroke-width	Random colors

Official Terms

✅ Correct	❌ Avoid
🐦 Subagent	Sub-agent, child agent
🦴 Slash Command	Command, slash-command
📚 Skill	Capability, ability
🪝 Hook	Trigger, event handler
🐔 Main Agent	Parent agent, orchestrator
Task (🪺 spawn)	Task tool, delegate
🙋‍♀️ User (input)	👤 User
🔧 Built-in	Native Tool, 🛠️ Tool
🔌 External (MCP)	API tool

In Documentation

# ✅ Good
The 🐔 Main Agent 🪺 spawns a 🐦 Subagent via the Task tool.
🙋‍♀️ Users invoke /generate to trigger the workflow.

# ❌ Avoid
The parent spawns a child agent.
Users run the generate command.

Pattern Emoji Reference

Emoji	Pattern	Type
🏎️	Direct Execution	Baseline (#0)
⛓️	Prompt Chaining	Workflow (#1)
🚦	Routing	Workflow (#2)
🛤️	Parallelization	Workflow (#3)
🦑	Orchestrator-Workers	Workflow (#4)
🩻	Evaluator-Optimizer	Workflow (#5)
🐔	Autonomous Agent	The Alternative
🧙	Wizard Workflows	Variant
🚂	Parallel Tool Calling	Variant
🧬	Master-Clone	Variant
🖥️	Multi-Window Context	Variant
📚	Progressive Skills	Mechanism
🎛️	Programmatic Orchestration	Mechanism

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