Comparison
Windcraft vs a component library
A component library hands you buttons, cards, and inputs to assemble. Windcraft is deliberately not that — it never generates components, to avoid locking you in. Instead it owns the design language those components share and makes AI tools and the analyzer hold every page to it.
A component library answers "what do I build with" by giving you the components themselves. Windcraft answers "how does everything stay coherent" — the tokens the components read, the contracts describing how they should be used, and the analyzer that flags misuse. A library still drifts at the page level: spacing between components, one-off colors, components used outside their intent. Windcraft governs that layer and works with any library, or none.
How they compare
| Aspect | a component library | Windcraft |
|---|---|---|
| What it provides | Ready-made components | The design language and its enforcement |
| Page-level coherence | Not addressed — components alone | Tokens and patterns hold the whole page |
| AI usage guidance | None unless you document it | Contracts tell AI how to use components |
| Lock-in | Your UI depends on the library | Generates standard files; ships no components |
When a component library is the right call
A component library wins when you want batteries-included building blocks you do not have to build — speed from not reinventing a date picker. That is real, and Windcraft does not compete with it; by design it never generates components. Windcraft wins at the layer above: keeping the pages built from those components on one design language, and telling AI tools how each component is meant to be used. Use a library for the parts; use Windcraft for the coherence.
FAQ
- Does Windcraft give me components?
- No — intentionally. Windcraft never generates components, to avoid the lock-in that comes with it. It provides the design language, contracts, and enforcement, and works with whatever components you use, built or bought.
- Then how does it help with components?
- Through contracts. A contract describes a component’s allowed variants, sizes, and rules, so AI tools generate correct usage and the analyzer flags misuse. It governs how components are used without shipping the components themselves.
- Can I use it with my existing library?
- Yes. Windcraft is library-agnostic. Point its contracts at the components you already have — your own, shadcn, a UI kit — and it keeps their usage and the surrounding pages coherent.