Empty States Skill

How this skill behaves (read first)

This is a generative skill. The default failure mode is the dead screen: "No tasks found." — a blank dead-end at exactly the moment a user is newest, most confused, or most blocked. Every empty state is secretly one of the product's highest-leverage screens: it's onboarding (first use), reassurance (cleared), or recovery (no results / 404). The opposite failure exists too — an "empty" screen so stuffed with text, illustration, and three CTAs that it's no longer calm. This skill gates:

1. Establish why the screen is empty — the cause picks the pattern.
2. Apply the always-true core — explain + guide, never blame, stay calm.
3. Surface the embellishment decisions (illustration, CTAs, humor) with trade-offs.

Then it hands off to ux-heuristics-audit, ux-accessibility-audit, ux-aesthetics-audit, and ux-microcopy-audit for validation.

Step 0 — Establish why the screen is empty

The cause picks the pattern: