The Four Verbs in Hallmark CLI: A Complete Guide to default, audit, redesign, and study

Hallmark provides four distinct verbs—default (implicit), audit, redesign, and study—each designed for specific design workflows ranging from generating new interfaces to analyzing existing assets.

The Hallmark CLI by Nutlope is an open-source design intelligence tool that structures its command-line interface around four specific action verbs. According to the source code in skills/hallmark/SKILL.md, Hallmark operates with one default behavior and three explicit verbs, each targeting different stages of the design lifecycle.

Overview of the Four Verbs in Hallmark

Hallmark’s command architecture distinguishes between an implicit default mode and three explicit commands. When you invoke hallmark without subcommands, it triggers the default design flow. Appending audit, redesign, or study switches the tool into specialized modes for analysis, restructuring, or research.

The Default Verb (Design from Scratch)

The default verb is implicit; when you run hallmark without a suffix, it executes the full Design flow as defined in skills/hallmark/SKILL.md.

What the Default Verb Does

This mode generates a new design from scratch using Hallmark’s built-in design flow. It interprets your brief and constructs visual structure, layout, and components without requiring existing assets.

# Generate a fresh design from a text brief

hallmark "Design a SaaS landing page for a fintech startup"

The Audit Verb (Read-Only Analysis)

The audit verb performs a read-only evaluation of existing code, scoring it against Hallmark’s anti-pattern list and returning a ranked punch-list of issues.

Scoring Against Anti-Patterns

As implemented in skills/hallmark/references/verbs/audit.md, the audit verb reads a target file, applies severity grading, and verifies stamps without modifying the source. This makes it safe for CI/CD pipelines and pre-deployment checks.

Usage and Implementation

# Evaluate an existing page for design anti-patterns

hallmark audit ./src/pages/hero.tsx

The audit protocol includes detailed steps for severity classification and stamp verification, ensuring the output is actionable for developers.

The Redesign Verb (Visual Restructuring)

The redesign verb takes existing content and intent, then rebuilds the visual structure while preserving the underlying architecture.

Preserving Intent While Rebuilding

According to skills/hallmark/references/verbs/redesign.md, this verb maintains routes, copy intent, brand identity, and information architecture unless you explicitly authorize a full rebuild. It supports both multi-page and single-page flows with scope detection capabilities.

Command Syntax

# Overhaul visual structure while preserving content intent

hallmark redesign ./src/pages/about.tsx --mood luxurious

The redesign verb handles stamp management and can adapt to different project scopes, making it ideal for visual refreshes without content migrations.

The Study Verb (DNA Extraction)

The study verb extracts design DNA from external sources—either screenshots or live URLs—and produces diagnostic reports.

Extracting Design DNA from Screenshots and URLs

As specified in skills/hallmark/references/study.md, this verb analyzes macrostructure, type roles, colour anchors, and other visual properties. It operates in two modes: image mode for local screenshots and URL mode for public websites, with built-in safety checks for both.

Generating design.md Reports

The study verb can emit a portable design.md file containing the extracted design system, enabling you to port visual languages between projects.

# Extract DNA from a live site

hallmark study https://example.com/portfolio

# Or analyze a local screenshot

hallmark study ./screenshots/inspiration.png

Quick Reference: When to Use Each Verb

Use this decision matrix to select the appropriate Hallmark verb for your task:

• Default: Use when starting fresh with only a brief or concept. No verb suffix required.
• Audit: Use when evaluating existing code for design anti-patterns without making changes.
• Redesign: Use when refreshing visuals while keeping existing content, routes, and brand intent intact.
• Study: Use when researching competitor designs or extracting design systems from screenshots and live sites.

Summary

• Default verb: Implicit mode in skills/hallmark/SKILL.md that generates new designs from scratch via the built-in design flow.
• Audit verb: Read-only analysis defined in skills/hallmark/references/verbs/audit.md that scores files against anti-patterns with severity grading.
• Redesign verb: Visual reconstruction tool specified in skills/hallmark/references/verbs/redesign.md that preserves information architecture while rebuilding aesthetics.
• Study verb: DNA extraction utility detailed in skills/hallmark/references/study.md that analyzes screenshots and URLs to produce portable design.md reports.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between audit and study in Hallmark?

Audit analyzes your existing code files for design anti-patterns and returns a ranked punch-list of issues, while study extracts visual DNA (macrostructure, typography, color) from screenshots or external URLs to create research reports. Audit is read-only code analysis; study is visual research and inspiration gathering.

Can I use Hallmark without specifying a verb?

Yes. Running hallmark without a verb suffix invokes the default behavior, which initiates the full Design flow to generate new interfaces from a text brief. This is the primary mode for creating designs from scratch.

Does the redesign verb preserve my existing content?

Yes. According to the source code in skills/hallmark/references/verbs/redesign.md, the redesign verb preserves routes, copy intent, brand elements, and information architecture unless you explicitly authorize a full rebuild. It rebuilds only the visual structure while maintaining the underlying content strategy.

What file types does the study verb support?

The study verb accepts two input types: public URLs (any accessible web page) and local image files (screenshots or design mocks). As documented in skills/hallmark/references/study.md, it performs safety checks on both modes before extracting design DNA and optionally emitting a design.md file.

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "instagit": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "instagit@latest"]
    }
  }
}