Complete reference for typography on Apple platforms including San Francisco font system, text styles, Dynamic Type, tracking, leading, and internationalization through iOS 26.
Works with
AI-first code editor with Composer
Before installing skills in Cursor, ensure your development environment meets these requirements:
node --versionaxiom-typography-refExecute the skills CLI command in your project's root directory to begin installation:
Fetches axiom-typography-ref from charleswiltgen/axiom and configures it for Cursor.
The CLI shows a list of agents. Use arrow keys and space to select Cursor:
Confirm successful installation by checking the skill directory location:
Restart Cursor to activate axiom-typography-ref. Access via /axiom-typography-ref in your agent's command palette.
We perform automated surface-level scans (Gen AI Scanner, Socket, Snyk) during installation. These checks detect common vulnerabilities but do not guarantee complete security. Always review skill source code and verify the publisher's reputation before production use.
Skills execute code in your environment. Always review source, verify the publisher, and test in isolation before production.
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Create detailed user stories, acceptance criteria, and feature specs
Example
Generate user stories for 'password reset feature' with acceptance criteria, edge cases, and test scenarios
Reduce spec writing time by 50%, ensure comprehensive coverage
Research competitors, compare features, identify gaps
Example
Analyze 5 competitor products, create feature comparison matrix, suggest differentiation opportunities
Complete competitive research in 2 hours instead of 2 days
Evaluate features using frameworks (RICE, ICE, Kano) and create prioritized backlogs
Example
Score 20 feature ideas using RICE framework, generate prioritized roadmap with rationale
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Complete reference for typography on Apple platforms including San Francisco font system, text styles, Dynamic Type, tracking, leading, and internationalization through iOS 26.
SF Pro and SF Pro Rounded (iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS)
SF Compact and SF Compact Rounded (watchOS, narrow columns)
SF Mono (Code environments, monospaced text)
New York (Serif system font)
Access via:
// iOS/macOS
let descriptor = UIFontDescriptor(fontAttributes: [
.family: "SF Pro",
kCTFontWidthTrait: 1.0 // 1.0 = Expanded
])
SF Arabic (WWDC 2022)
Variable fonts automatically adjust optical size based on point size:
From WWDC 2020:
"TextKit 2 abstracts away glyph handling to provide a consistent experience for international text."
| Text Style | Default Size (iOS) | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
.largeTitle |
34pt | Primary page headings |
.title |
28pt | Secondary headings |
.title2 |
22pt | Tertiary headings |
.title3 |
20pt | Quaternary headings |
.headline |
17pt (Semibold) | Emphasized body text |
.body |
17pt | Primary body text |
.callout |
16pt | Secondary body text |
.subheadline |
15pt | Tertiary body text |
.footnote |
13pt | Footnotes, captions |
.caption |
12pt | Small annotations |
.caption2 |
11pt | Smallest annotations |
.caption2 for readable content — at 11pt, it's acceptable for timestamps and metadata annotations but too small for body text or labels users need to read. Prefer .caption or .footnote as the minimum for readable content.Apply .bold symbolic trait to get emphasized variants:
// UIKit
let descriptor = UIFontDescriptor.preferredFontDescriptor(withTextStyle: .title1)
let boldDescriptor = descriptor.withSymbolicTraits(.traitBold)!
let font = UIFont(descriptor: boldDescriptor, size: 0)
// SwiftUI
Text("Bold Title")
.font(.title.bold())
Actual weights by text style:
Tight Leading (reduces line height by 2pt on iOS, 1pt on watchOS):
// UIKit
let descriptor = UIFontDescriptor.preferredFontDescriptor(withTextStyle: .body)
let tightDescriptor = descriptor.withSymbolicTraits(.traitTightLeading)!
// SwiftUI
Text("Compact text")
.font(.body.leading(.tight))
Loose Leading (increases line height by 2pt on iOS, 1pt on watchOS):
// SwiftUI
Text("Spacious paragraph")
.font(.body.leading(.loose))
Automatic Scaling (iOS): Text styles scale automatically based on user preferences from Settings → Display & Brightness → Text Size.
Custom Fonts with Dynamic Type:
// UIKit - UIFontMetrics
let customFont = UIFont(name: "Avenir-Medium", size: 34)!
let bodyMetrics = UIFontMetrics(forTextStyle: .body)
let scaledFont = bodyMetrics.scaledFont(for: customFont)
// Also scale constants
let spacing = bodyMetrics.scaledValue(for: 20.0)
// SwiftUI - .font(.custom(_:relativeTo:))
Text("Custom scaled text")
.font(.custom("Avenir-Medium", size: 34, relativeTo: .body))
// @ScaledMetric for values
@ScaledMetric(relativeTo: .body) var padding: CGFloat = 20
macOS
watchOS
visionOS
Tracking adjusts space between letters. Essential for optical size behavior.
Size-Specific Tracking Tables:
SF Pro includes tracking values that vary by point size to maintain optimal spacing:
Example from Apple Design Resources:
Tight Tracking API (for fitting text):
// UIKit
textView.allowsDefaultTightening(for: .byTruncatingTail)
// SwiftUI
Text("Long text that needs to fit")
.lineLimit(1)
.minimumScaleFactor(0.5) // Allows tight tracking
Manual Tracking:
// UIKit
let attributes: [NSAttributedString.Key: Any] = [
.font: UIFont.preferredFont(forTextStyle: .body),
.kern: 2.0 // 2pt tracking
]
// SwiftUI
Text("Tracked text")
.tracking(2.0)
.kerning(2.0) // Alternative API
Important: Use .tracking() not .kerning() API for semantic correctness. Tracking disables ligatures when necessary; kerning does not.
Default Line Height: Calculated from font's built-in metrics (ascender + descender + line gap).
Language-Aware Adjustments: iOS 17+ automatically increases line height for scripts with tall ascenders/descenders:
From WWDC 2023:
"Automatic line height adjustment for scripts with variable heights"
Manual Leading:
// UIKit
let paragraphStyle = NSMutableParagraphStyle()
paragraphStyle.lineSpacing = 8.0 // 8pt additional space
// SwiftUI (iOS 13+)
Text("Custom spacing")
.lineSpacing(8.0)
Line Height (iOS 26+):
.lineHeight() sets baseline-to-baseline distance directly — more intuitive than .lineSpacing() (which measures bottom-to-top).
// Presets
Text("Open layout").lineHeight(.loose)
Text("Compact layout").lineHeight(.tight)
// Precise control
Text("Scaled").lineHeight(.multiple(factor: 1.5))
Text("Fixed").lineHeight(.exact(points: 30)) // Does NOT scale with Dynamic Type
Also available as AttributedString.lineHeight for styled str
Make data-driven prioritization decisions faster
Draft PRDs, status updates, and stakeholder presentations
Example
Create executive summary of Q3 roadmap, monthly progress report, feature launch announcement
Save 3-5 hours/week on communication overhead
Prerequisites
Time Estimate
30-60 minutes to see productivity improvements
Steps
Common Pitfalls
✓ Do
✗ Don't
💡 Pro Tips
✓ Use when
Use for user story writing, competitive research, roadmap prioritization, stakeholder communication, and PRD drafting. Best for reducing repetitive documentation and research work.
✗ Avoid when
Avoid for strategic product vision (requires deep customer empathy), pricing decisions (needs market and financial expertise), or when face-to-face customer discovery is more valuable than speed.
mattpocock/skills
parcadei/continuous-claude-v3
cursor/plugins
ailabs-393/ai-labs-claude-skills
pproenca/dot-skills
mattpocock/skills
Registry listing for axiom-typography-ref matched our evaluation — installs cleanly and behaves as described in the markdown.
Solid pick for teams standardizing on skills: axiom-typography-ref is focused, and the summary matches what you get after install.
axiom-typography-ref is among the better-maintained entries we tried; worth keeping pinned for repeat workflows.
axiom-typography-ref reduced setup friction for our internal harness; good balance of opinion and flexibility.
I recommend axiom-typography-ref for anyone iterating fast on agent tooling; clear intent and a small, reviewable surface area.
Keeps context tight: axiom-typography-ref is the kind of skill you can hand to a new teammate without a long onboarding doc.
axiom-typography-ref has been reliable in day-to-day use. Documentation quality is above average for community skills.
Useful defaults in axiom-typography-ref — fewer surprises than typical one-off scripts, and it plays nicely with `npx skills` flows.
We added axiom-typography-ref from the explainx registry; install was straightforward and the SKILL.md answered most questions upfront.
axiom-typography-ref fits our agent workflows well — practical, well scoped, and easy to wire into existing repos.
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