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Your AI Coding Tool Has No Idea What Colors You Want

AI tools are great at writing code but terrible at color. Here's how to fix that with a single file in your project root.

· 4 min read

The color problem in AI-assisted development

You've been using Cursor, Windsurf, or Bolt for a while now. You know how to prompt it. You've got your context files tuned. And yet, every time you ask it to build a new component, you end up in the same conversation:

"Use the brand blue." Which blue? "The one we use everywhere." Can you give me the hex? And then you're digging through your codebase, copying hex values, pasting them into chat, and watching the AI immediately use them in one component and forget them in the next.

The problem is structural. AI coding tools have no persistent knowledge of your visual identity. They're starting fresh on every request, reaching for generic defaults — usually a Bootstrap blue or a Material gray — unless you explicitly tell them otherwise.

Why color is different from other context

Most context problems in AI-assisted dev are solved with good documentation. You write a CLAUDE.md or add a rules file that explains your architecture, your conventions, your tech stack. The AI reads it and behaves accordingly.

Color should work the same way, but it rarely does, for a few reasons:

  • Color values are opaque — #6366f1 doesn't tell the AI anything about how you use it
  • Color systems have semantic structure (primary, secondary, background, surface) that's invisible without documentation
  • AI models trained on generic codebases default to their training data, not your design system

The fix isn't better prompting — it's giving the AI a complete, named color system it can reference consistently.

What a color context file looks like

Here's a minimal example of the kind of content that actually works: 

## Color System

Use these colors consistently. Do not introduce others.

Primary: #6366f1 (indigo) — main actions, links, focus rings
Secondary: #a855f7 (purple) — accents, highlights
Background: #fafafa — page background (light mode)
Surface: #ffffff — card and panel backgrounds
Border: #e5e7eb — dividers and outlines
Text: #111827 — body copy
Muted: #6b7280 — secondary text, placeholders

Dark mode equivalents:
Background: #030712
Surface: #111827
Border: #1f2937
Text: #f9fafb
Muted: #9ca3af

With this in your .cursorrules or claude-system.md, the AI consistently uses your actual colors instead of inventing its own. Components built in week one match components built in week ten.

How kuler.ai generates these files

Every palette on kuler.ai has a one-click export for your specific tool. Pick a palette, open the Export panel, and download the file for Cursor, Windsurf, Bolt, Lovable, v0, Claude, or GitHub Copilot.

Each file includes:

  • Named color roles (primary, secondary, background, etc.)
  • Both light and dark mode values
  • Specific instructions for the tool about how to apply them
  • CSS custom property equivalents

Drop the file in your project root and you're done. Your AI tool now knows exactly what colors you're working with, and it'll use them without being asked.

The compounding benefit

The real value isn't just the first component — it's every component after that. When color context is baked into your rules file, you stop having the color conversation entirely. The AI uses your palette by default. You spend that time on actual product decisions instead.

Consistency also becomes the default. If your team is all using the same rules file, every AI-generated component is pulling from the same source of truth. The design coherence that used to require a dedicated design system review now happens automatically.

It's a small workflow change with a surprisingly large impact. The 30 seconds it takes to download a rules file and drop it in your project is easily paid back the first time the AI gets the colors right without prompting.

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