diff --git a/DESIGN.md b/DESIGN.md
index c8f33823..102999c1 100644
--- a/DESIGN.md
+++ b/DESIGN.md
@@ -183,6 +183,13 @@ Use `UiTooltip` (not `UTooltip`) for any tooltip that needs more than a plain st
- **Data labels**: top-level metrics are singular and labeled ("12 skills", "3 curators"); expanded views show the full breakdown
### Bound Components
+- **Skill embeds**: every Skill shown as an item uses ``. Do not hand-write Skill markup. Props fit it to the context:
+ - `layout`: `card` for a grid tile or an article embed, `row` for a ledger line, `compact` for a sidebar or an index.
+ - `byline`: `full` by default, `repo` where the page names the owner, `none` where it names the Repository.
+ - `metric`: one of `stars`, `likes` or `updated`, or `none`.
+ - `actions`: `run` by default. `like` and `source` are opt-in.
+ - `rank`, `note` and `trending`, plus the `meta`, `footer`, `actions` and `aside` slots for facts only one context has.
+ `/_playground/skill-cards` renders every context in development.
- **Skill source lists**: use `SkillSourceList` when a shortlist needs visible author, handle, repository, and source-linked skill name. `stream` is a vertically scrollable discovery preview; `grid` is for bounded related-skill groups. Idle auto-scroll pauses for hover, focus, touch, and reduced motion. Mixed 20-item discovery streams should represent at least 10 people and cap each person at 2 skills.
- **Install commands**: never render one as raw text. Use `` so `npx skilld add` stays quiet and the target carries the accent. Long commands wrap (`wrap`); they never get a horizontal scrollbar inside a card.
@@ -462,3 +469,4 @@ These are editorial sets, not necessarily database collections yet. If a set has
- **Trending rows scan in one pass**: the rank is a plain mono number, and the first three are a step darker. Each metadata line runs source, stars, then the signal that ranked the row, and an empty slot renders nothing. Descriptions stop at two lines, the run chip is as wide as its command, and the post carousel shows whole cards only. The sidebar invitation drops the email preview and the card. Its button is the rail's one solid rose element, so the install chip beside it inks its dot. Harlan asked for this polish on 2026-10-06.
- **A six-step lifecycle band replaces the four tiles**: under the hero, one band maps the whole product in its real order: find, run, install or fork, keep current, make, build on. The site and the CLI share one line. Each step is one link: a mono `01` marker and step name, then one sans line that opens with its pitch line where COPY.md has one. A line of stone dots joins the steps. Run, the default, carries the band's one rose dot, so no step lights rose on hover. Six columns from 1024px; below that a vertical list with the dots down the left. Keep the band no taller than the tiles it replaced: the hero and the band must fit a 1440×900 viewport. Harlan approved it on 2026-10-06.
- **A Developers menu groups the build surfaces**: the desktop header keeps Trending Skills and Find Skills as links, and folds CLI, MCP server, SDK, Make a skill and Skillgen into one Developers menu, as nuxtseo.com does. The trigger is a button, so a keyboard opens the panel without leaving the page; the panel's last link reaches `/developers`. Each item is a card with a lucide icon tile and one `.editorial-atmosphere` layer. The three ways to connect share the top row, and the two authoring cards share the row below. CLI takes rose because it is the recommended path; the others take ember or stone. The mobile menu lists the same five items as a plain group. Harlan asked for this on 2026-10-06.
+- **One Skill card**: `SkillCard` renders every Skill embed, in three layouts. Each opens with one identity unit: the avatar beside the mono name, over a byline of author and Repository. Then come at most two lines of description and one line of facts with a dashed `run` pill. The pill is the run chip's material without `npx skilld`. Its click copies the full command, and its dot stays stone until hover, focus or copy. Rows read in three zones, who, what and the facts, and stack like a borderless card under 40rem. Compact entries drop the description. Cards show no SKILL.md icon and no heart by default: with few accounts yet, a row of zero hearts reads as an empty room. Harlan chose this from five takes, one by Fable, on 2026-10-06. It supersedes the `/skills` table and its "What it does" column. Trending and track boards render the same rows: the reason a Skill ranked fills the meta line, and the posts about it sit under its words as an aside. The home freshness ledgers and the community top Skill use compact entries. Search results keep their own rows, because they are a keyboard picker, not an embed.
diff --git a/app/components/SkillCard.vue b/app/components/SkillCard.vue
index 0afedbbb..3388729a 100644
--- a/app/components/SkillCard.vue
+++ b/app/components/SkillCard.vue
@@ -1,353 +1,563 @@
-