Comparison
Windcraft vs ESLint plugins
Plugins like eslint-plugin-tailwindcss enforce general hygiene — class ordering, no contradictory classes, no unknown utilities. Useful, and Windcraft does not duplicate it. What a generic plugin cannot know is your design system: whether bg-[#3b82f6] should have been your brand token. Windcraft does.
A styling ESLint plugin enforces rules that hold for everyone: order your classes, do not contradict yourself, do not use a class that does not exist. It has no knowledge of your tokens, so it cannot tell an on-system color from an off-system one. Windcraft’s analyzer is system-aware — it checks code against your specific tokens and contracts — and it goes further than linting by serving those values to AI tools over MCP so the code is on-system as it is written.
How they compare
| Aspect | ESLint plugins | Windcraft |
|---|---|---|
| What it knows | Generic styling rules | Your specific tokens and contracts |
| Off-system values | Cannot tell on- from off-token | Flags values outside your scale |
| Component usage | Not covered | Contracts enforce correct usage |
| AI delivery | None — lint only checks after | Serves values to AI as it writes |
When ESLint plugins is the right call
A styling ESLint plugin wins for lightweight, universal hygiene you want regardless of design system — class ordering and basic correctness, with zero design configuration. Keep it. Windcraft is for the system-specific layer a generic rule cannot reach: is this the right token, is this component used as intended, and is the AI generating on-system to begin with. They stack cleanly — generic lint plus design-system enforcement.
FAQ
- Is Windcraft’s analyzer just another ESLint plugin?
- No. ESLint plugins enforce generic, system-agnostic rules. Windcraft’s analyzer is aware of your specific tokens and contracts, so it catches off-system values and component misuse a generic rule cannot see — and it also feeds those values to AI tools.
- Should I drop my ESLint styling plugins?
- No. Keep them for universal hygiene like class ordering. Windcraft adds the design-system-specific layer on top; the two do not overlap.
- Does Windcraft run in CI like ESLint?
- Yes. npx windcraft check runs locally, pre-commit, or in CI, with --json output you can gate a build on — the same places you already run lint.