Refactoring with AI: A Developer's Journey

Understanding AI-Driven Development & Code Refinement: A Case Study

Modern software development is increasingly a partnership between human ingenuity and artificial intelligence. This article extract offers a candid look into this evolving dynamic, specifically through the lens of refactoring a web application’s styling (CSS). As projects grow, initially convenient coding practices, like embedding styles directly within HTML-generating code, can become cumbersome and hard to maintain. The challenge then becomes how to transition to cleaner, more organized approaches—like using dedicated stylesheets and reusable classes—without breaking existing functionality or derailing project momentum.

This journal entry documents a developer’s real-time efforts to tackle this very issue within “Pipulate,” a Python-based web framework built with FastHTML. It highlights how simpler frameworks can lower the barrier to web development but also how they might initially encourage “mixed concerns” (like intermingling presentation with logic). The narrative then explores a practical, AI-assisted strategy to analyze and refactor these inline CSS styles, using custom Python scripts and interaction with an AI model (Gemini) to achieve a more robust and maintainable codebase. This process, including the trial-and-error, is invaluable for understanding how AI can act as a powerful assistant in the iterative refinement of software.

AI’s Amplification of Personal Agency in Development

AI has fundamentally changed development by creating a direct bridge between abstract ideas and concrete implementation. This shift represents a significant enhancement of developer agency. Take my Pipulate project as an example: web development has become much more accessible because FastHTML eliminates the need for extensive custom JavaScript work and removes the CSS build process (compilation) that became standard after SASS (Syntactically Awesome Style Sheets) emerged as part of the full web stack (NodeJS and its associated complexity). But the accessiblity of web tech again isn’t the AI story here. That just sets the stage… for code needing cleanup!

The FastHTML Effect: Returning to Web Development

I got out of webdev, hopped off the evermore rapidly spinning hamster-wheel of tech and didn’t get back on again until FastHTML. And I got back on again because FastHTML and not AI. But now that I am back onboard webdev with FastHTML it encourages the mixing of concerns. In other words, you don’t really even need broken out styles.css or scripts.js. It can all just be in your server.py file. Yup. Mixed concerns. And mix concerns, I did. And now I’m concerned.

Weekend Refactor: Modularizing Pipulate with Plugins and Roles

My weekend was supposed to be carved out for slamming out a couple of new workflows, and I still might actually get to that, but instead of busy beaver work, I’ve been working on accelerators. Passes of simplifying and deeper understanding of my own code, and so with ever-simpler and better understood code comes more control, and with more control comes more speed and acceleration of the type I need to slam out new workflows.

And so instead, my weekend became a bit of a calculated risk in simplification and understanding. And so far this weekend I broke the last remaining embedded plugin out of core, and the part of Pipulate that controls user profiles that was in server.py is now broken out as 000_profiles.py in the plugins folder. In addition, I added 010_roles.py and made each plugin belong to a particular role:

• Core
• Botify Employee
• Tutorial
• Developer
• SEO Practitioner

Self-Organizing Systems: Using Pipulate to Manage Pipulate

At least one of these roles is now embedded into each of the plugin files in the plugins directory of Pipulate. And so now the APP dropdown menu is controlled by a standard plugin app like the tasks or todo-list. It’s a list of roles that’s generated from out of the plugins discovered at initialization time, with Core and Botify Employee always being automatically checked, which controls the dropdown menus. If you want to expose the Tutorial workflows, you go into the Roles app now and check Tutorials and they appear on the dropdown menu. Likewise for the Developer plugins. This is part of getting organized and using the system to control itself.

This system-organizing-itself is also a principle like in the world of SQL where SQL system-tables controls the SQL system. I guess it’s pretty common and only logical practice when you build a system for organization that the same said system is used to organize itself. Features of the product being used to control features of the product. It’d be silly if I didn’t use it this way, and so breaking out Profiles into a proper plugin app and a new plugin app for Roles, and the customizations of each and references to them in server.py in order to make them have the right behavior and control the system.

The Iterative Refinement Loop: From Idea to Clean Code

There was a lot of refactoring in all that and it was so intense there were no public-facing articles for 2 days as Friday and Saturday were basically intensive refactoring and my new remarkable iterative process, which brings us full back around to how I started this journal entry: going from abstract to implementation. I can do iterative sweeps to simplify the system. I can jump in first taking advantage of FastHTML’s rapid mock-up efficiency that strips away all the complexity of the full web stack, allowing me to mold a system like clay. However at the end of that process I’ve got embedded inline CSS styles all over the place.

I also have a couple of JavaScript files that should probably be unified but aren’t because of Python parameterization when they’re called. I’m itching to address the former to really tidy up the code throughout, and I am going to defer the later because messing with the JavaScript — the bit that still has to exist as standalone JavaScript and hasn’t faded into HTMX — feels like refactoring and I’ve got refactoring fatigue after these 2 days.

The prompt_foo.py Strategy: Engineering AI Understanding

Oh yeah, what that rapid tiny chisel-strike AI-assisted iterative refactoring process is… that remarkable process I’m using now… prompt_foo.py! Let’s use it now to gently clean up and consolidate my inline CSS styles in a non-breaking way. First, we write an article like this. We craft the story. We crate the super-context to give the AI coding assistants the “why” in addition to asking for the “how”.

Ya hear that, Gemini? Okay, let’s be a bit more precise about it.

Help me clean up my CSS patterns. I’m looking for a very easy to implement 80/20-rule win. That’s 80% of the benefit from the first 20% of the effort. It should be safe and non-breaking. It should be something I can apply easily with either implementation instructions to an AI coding assistant in Cursor or the use of a Python helper script, sed or that sort of thing. I also have the recursive find/replace built into Cursor (VSCode). Emphasis on safe and non-breaking and light touch for big wins. I want to maintain the same look for the CSS for the most part. Consolidation should wrap it up into CSS styles, constants for server.py and that sort of thing. Give me a strategy, or better yet, a Python script.

And with that, I gather up the context. There’s tons of ways to give AIs full context these days, but I find them rather willy nilly. You can do it directly in Cursor AI for example just using their various methods of putting it in context. But what about order-sensitivity? What about designing the reveal for the AI: first look at this, then look at that. That’s precisely what I do with prompt_foo.py, picking the files from among not only the git repo I’m working on, but from wherever else in my system. In this case:

FILES_TO_INCLUDE = """\
README.md
flake.nix
requirements.txt
server.py
/home/mike/repos/pipulate/static/chat-interface.js
/home/mike/repos/pipulate/static/chat-scripts.js
/home/mike/repos/pipulate/static/pico.css
/home/mike/repos/pipulate/static/styles.css
/home/mike/repos/pipulate/static/widget-scripts.js
/home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/000_profiles.py
/home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/010_roles.py
/home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/020_tasks.py
/home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/520_widget_examples.py
/home/mike/repos/pipulate/helpers/create_workflow.py
/home/mike/repos/pipulate/helpers/splice_workflow_step.py
""".strip().splitlines()

…which gathers it all up and puts it in an XML wrapper per Anthropic’s articles on the XML schematics and semantics work well. Here’s the overall structure:

output_xml = f'<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>\n<context schema="pipulate-context" version="1.0">\n{create_xml_element("manifest", manifest)}\n{create_xml_element("pre_prompt", pre_prompt)}\n{create_xml_element("content", "\n".join(lines))}\n{create_xml_element("post_prompt", post_prompt)}\n{create_xml_element("token_summary", [
    f"<total_context_size>{format_token_count(token_counts['total'])}</total_context_size>",
    f"<files_tokens>{format_token_count(token_counts['files'])}</files_tokens>",
    f"<prompt_tokens>{format_token_count(prompt_tokens)}</prompt_tokens>"
])}\n</context>'

Here’s the schematic XML, with explanations for each part:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<context schema="pipulate-context" version="1.0">
    <manifest>
        <files>
            <file>
                <path></path>
                <description></description>
                <file_type></file_type>
                <key_components>
                    <component></component>
                </key_components>
                <tokens></tokens>
            </file>
        </files>
        <environment>
            <setting>
                <type>Runtime</type>
                <details>Python 3.12 in a Nix-managed virtualenv (.venv)</details>
            </setting>
            <setting>
                <type>Package Management</type>
                <details>Hybrid approach using Nix flakes for system dependencies + pip for Python packages</details>
            </setting>
        </environment>
        <token_usage>
            <files>
                <metadata></metadata>
                <content>
                    <file>
                        <path></path>
                        <tokens></tokens>
                    </file>
                </content>
                <total></total>
            </files>
        </token_usage>
    </manifest>
    <pre_prompt>
        <context>
            <system_info>
This codebase uses a hybrid approach with Nix for system dependencies and virtualenv for Python packages.
            </system_info>
        </context>
    </pre_prompt>
    <content>
    </content>
    <post_prompt>
        <analysis_request>
            <introduction>
Now that you've reviewed the codebase context, I'd love your insights and analysis!

Dear AI Assistant:
I've provided you with the core architecture of a Python web application that takes an interesting approach to modern web development. I'd appreciate your thoughtful analysis on any of these aspects:
            </introduction>
            <analysis_areas>
                <area>
                    <title_content>Technical Architecture Analysis</title_content>
                    <questions>
                        <question>How does this hybrid Nix+virtualenv approach compare to other deployment patterns?</question>
                        <question>What are the tradeoffs of using HTMX with server-side state vs traditional SPAs?</question>
                        <question>How does the plugin system architecture enable extensibility?</question>
                    </questions>
                </area>
                <area>
                    <title_content>Pattern Recognition & Insights</title_content>
                    <questions>
                        <question>What patterns emerge from the codebase that surprise you?</question>
                        <question>How does this approach to web development differ from current trends?</question>
                        <question>What potential scaling challenges or opportunities do you see?</question>
                    </questions>
                </area>
                <area>
                    <title_content>Forward-Looking Perspective</title_content>
                    <questions>
                        <question>How does this architecture align with or diverge from emerging web development patterns?</question>
                        <question>What suggestions would you make for future evolution of the system?</question>
                        <question>How might this approach need to adapt as web technologies advance?</question>
                    </questions>
                </area>
            </analysis_areas>
            <focus_areas>
                <area_content>The interplay between modern and traditional web development approaches</area_content>
                <area_content>Architectural decisions that stand out as novel or counterintuitive</area_content>
                <area_content>Potential implications for developer experience and system maintenance</area_content>
            </focus_areas>
        </analysis_request>
    </post_prompt>
    <token_summary>
        <total_context_size></total_context_size>
        <files_tokens></files_tokens>
        <prompt_tokens></prompt_tokens>
    </token_summary>
</context>

Key Points on XML Construction:

• The create_xml_element(tag, content) function wraps the content (which can be a string or a list of strings joined by newlines) within the given tag. If content is already an XML string, it will be nested as such.
• The FILES_TO_INCLUDE variable at the top of the script determines which files are processed and included in the <manifest> and later in the <content> block.
• The specific content of <pre_prompt> and <post_prompt> depends on the template selected (via the -t argument, defaulting to template 0). The script has two templates defined.
• The <content> block is a bit unusual because it re-embeds the string content of the manifest XML and the pre/post prompts as text, along with the actual file contents.
• Some inner XML tags within the templates (like <title> or <area> inside focus_areas) are defined as strings directly in the Python prompt_templates list (e.g., "<title>Technical Architecture Analysis</title>") rather than being built with create_xml_element. This means they appear literally as those strings within their parent XML elements. I’ve used pattern_tag_content, title_tag_content, and area_tag_content in the schematic to highlight where the script’s string literals would be, to avoid confusion with actual nested XML elements that would be built by create_xml_element. The script’s parsing logic in print_structured_output handles these string-embedded tags.

And finally, there’s the console output from prompt_foo.py that shows me what I’m about to feed to some poor unexpecting frontier AI model (I joke — Gemini must expect this of me by now).

[mike@nixos:~/repos/pipulate/helpers]$ python prompt_foo.py --prompt prompt.md
Using prompt file: /home/mike/repos/pipulate/helpers/prompt.md
Using template 1: Material Analysis Mode
Output will be written to: foo.txt

Using template 1: Material Analysis Mode
Output will be written to: foo.txt

=== Prompt Structure ===

--- Pre-Prompt ---
System Information:
  
You are about to review a codebase and related documentation. Please study and understand
the provided materials thoroughly before responding.

Key Points:
  • Focus on understanding the architecture and patterns in the codebase
  • Note how existing patterns could be leveraged in your response
  • Consider both technical and conceptual aspects in your analysis

--- Files Included ---
• README.md (6,900 tokens)
• flake.nix (5,301 tokens)
• requirements.txt (125 tokens)
• server.py (38,074 tokens)
• /home/mike/repos/pipulate/static/chat-interface.js (826 tokens)
• /home/mike/repos/pipulate/static/chat-scripts.js (1,212 tokens)
• /home/mike/repos/pipulate/static/pico.css (27,719 tokens)
• /home/mike/repos/pipulate/static/styles.css (559 tokens)
• /home/mike/repos/pipulate/static/widget-scripts.js (1,990 tokens)
• /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/000_profiles.py (2,998 tokens)
• /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/010_roles.py (2,333 tokens)
• /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/020_tasks.py (2,573 tokens)
• /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/520_widget_examples.py (25,995 tokens)
• /home/mike/repos/pipulate/helpers/create_workflow.py (1,914 tokens)
• /home/mike/repos/pipulate/helpers/splice_workflow_step.py (2,586 tokens)
• /home/mike/repos/pipulate/helpers/prompt.md (1,271 tokens)

--- Post-Prompt ---

--- Token Summary ---
Total tokens: 122,786 tokens tokens

=== End Prompt Structure ===

Output written to 'foo.txt'
Output copied to clipboard

Script finished.

Now the thing to really take notice of with the command-line output is the Total tokens count, which is ~123K tokens. Now I find that the submit fails at right around this point. Sometimes it’s as low as 100K tokens. Sometimes I can squeeze it up to 130K tokens. And these tokens are by the way of the sort reported by OpenAI’s PyPI tiktoken utility. And when Gemini 2.5 is asked directly about how many tokens can be submitted to it in one go, it’s somewhat out of sync with what the reality of testing and hands-on use proves:

Gemini: Ah, you’re referring to the capabilities of Gemini 2.5 Pro, specifically when accessed through the Gemini Advanced interface!

For Gemini Advanced users utilizing the Gemini 2.5 Pro (experimental/preview) model, the context window for a single submission is 1 million tokens.

Here’s a breakdown of what that means:

• Large Input Capacity: This 1-million-token window allows you to input a vast amount of information in a single go. This could be:
  • Around 750,000 words or roughly 1,500 pages of text.
  • Up to 30,000 lines of code.
  • Significant amounts of multimodal data like audio, images, and video (though the exact token calculation for these varies).
• Output Limit: While the input context is very large, the maximum output tokens for Gemini 2.5 Pro (preview version gemini-2.5-pro-preview-05-06) is 65,536 tokens. This is still a substantial amount of output.
• How it Works: You can provide a large amount of context (up to 1 million tokens) in your prompt, and the model will consider all of that information when generating its response (up to 65,536 tokens).

Important Considerations:

• Preview Model: Since you mentioned “Gemini Advanced 2.5 Pro (preview),” it’s important to remember that features and limits for preview models can sometimes change as they move towards wider availability.
• Interface vs. API: The way tokens and file uploads are handled can sometimes differ slightly between the direct Gemini Advanced web/app interface and the Gemini API (used by developers in Google AI Studio or Vertex AI). For instance, the Gemini web app might have limits on the number of files you can upload at once (e.g., 10 PDFs), even if the total token count of those files is within the 1 million limit. To fully utilize the entire 1 million token window with many files, users sometimes turn to API-based tools like Google AI Studio.
• Workspace Variations: There have been some user reports and discussions indicating that Gemini Advanced features, including the effective context window for models like 2.5 Pro, might have different behavior or limitations when accessed through a Google Workspace (business) account compared to a personal Gemini Advanced subscription. Some Workspace users have reported encountering smaller effective context limits (e.g., 32k tokens) for 2.5 Pro.
• “Coming Soon” for 2 Million: While the underlying Gemini 1.5 Pro (and potentially future iterations of 2.5 Pro) has demonstrated capabilities up to 2 million tokens, the currently advertised and available limit for Gemini 2.5 Pro in Gemini Advanced is 1 million tokens. The 2 million token capability for Gemini 1.5 Pro is becoming more widely available via the API.

So, in a single submit via Gemini Advanced with 2.5 Pro, you can leverage that impressive 1 million token context window for your input.

Token Window-size Not Equal To Single Submit Size

Gemini: “So, in a single submit via Gemini Advanced with 2.5 Pro, you can leverage that impressive 1 million token context window for your input.”

Untrue. Maybe with some roundabout techniques like file-upload or using the Canvas UI. But on a single web-form submit, 100K to 130K tokens is the limit. Anything more and it will say something’s gone wrong.

Anyhow, enough preamble. Let’s feed this article thus far and all the rest of the bundled-up context of the cobease into Gemini and see what it tells us in terms of my goals. You know what I’m looking for, don’t ya?

Gemini: Okay, I’ve reviewed the Pipulate codebase and the prompt.md. The request to “gently clean up and consolidate inline CSS styles in a non-breaking way” is a great next step for maintaining and scaling the project’s Python-centric HTML generation.

Here’s a strategy focusing on the 80/20 rule for maximum impact with manageable effort, emphasizing safety and alignment with Pipulate’s existing patterns:

Strategy for CSS Cleanup and Consolidation in Pipulate

The core idea is to move from scattered inline styles towards a more centralized and maintainable approach, leveraging both Python constants (for component-specific or dynamic styles) and dedicated CSS classes (for common, reusable utility styles). This will be a phased approach to ensure changes are non-breaking and easy to implement.

Guiding Principles:

1. Safety First: Prioritize non-breaking changes. Test visually after each small set of changes.
2. 80/20 Rule: Focus on the most common and impactful style duplications. Don’t aim for a complete CSS overhaul in one go.
3. Leverage Existing Patterns: Pipulate already uses Python constants for some styles (e.g., Pipulate.ERROR_STYLE) and a static/styles.css file. We’ll build on these.
4. Maintain Readability: Both Python and CSS should remain clear.
5. Respect Pico.css: Utilize Pico.css variables and utility classes where possible before creating custom ones.

Phase 1: Centralize Styles with Python Constants (Low-Risk, High Python Code Clarity)

This phase focuses on making the Python code cleaner by centralizing inline style strings without necessarily changing the final rendered HTML structure (they’ll still be inline styles, but defined in one place).

1. Identify Candidates:

• Look for identical or very similar multi-property inline style strings that are repeated within server.py or plugin files.
• Pay attention to styles defined directly in FastHTML component calls: Div(..., style="property1: value1; property2: value2;").
• Prime Candidates from your code:
  • Pipulate.revert_control: The default_style and article_style variables.
  • Pipulate.widget_container and Pipulate.finalized_content: The main Div styling.
  • create_chat_interface: The style for the Div(id="chat-interface").
  • Various UI creation functions (create_nav_menu, create_profile_menu, etc.) often have repeated styling for summaries, list items, or containers.
  • Plugin files (like 000_profiles.py’s render_profile) have specific component styles.

2. Create Python Constants:

• Location:
  • For styles specific to a component generated by a method in the Pipulate class, add them as class attributes (e.g., self.REVERT_BUTTON_STYLE = "...").
  • For more general UI styles used across multiple functions in server.py, define them as global constants at the top of server.py (e.g., PICO_CARD_STYLE_BASE = "background-color: var(--pico-card-background-color); border-radius: var(--pico-border-radius);")
• Naming: Use descriptive uppercase names (e.g., NAV_DROPDOWN_SUMMARY_STYLE).

3. Implement:

• Replace the inline string literals with these constants in your Python code.
  • Example (from Pipulate.revert_control):

    # Before
    default_style = (
        "background-color: var(--pico-del-color);"
        # ... more styles
    )
    form = Form(..., Button(..., style=default_style))
    
    # After (assuming REVERT_BUTTON_STYLE is a new constant in server.py or Pipulate class)
    from server import REVERT_BUTTON_STYLE # or self.REVERT_BUTTON_STYLE
    form = Form(..., Button(..., style=REVERT_BUTTON_STYLE))
    

Benefits of this phase:

• Reduces redundancy in Python code.
• Makes styles easier to find and modify globally (within Python).
• Minimal risk as the rendered HTML output (inline styles) remains the same.

Phase 2: Introduce Utility CSS Classes (Reduce HTML Bloat, Better Separation)

This phase introduces CSS classes for very common, simple, and reusable style declarations.

1. Identify Candidates for Utility Classes:

• After Phase 1, analyze the Python style constants and any remaining inline styles.
• Look for individual CSS declarations or small, logical groups of declarations that are frequently used.
  • Examples: display: flex; align-items: center;, text-align: right;, margin-bottom: var(--pico-spacing);, font-weight: bold;.
• Prioritize styles that define common layout patterns (flex centering, spacing) or text appearances not covered by Pico’s defaults.
• Use the Python analysis script (provided below) to help identify these.

2. Define Utility Classes in static/styles.css:

• Use meaningful names (e.g., .flex-center-items, .text-right, .mb-pico (for margin-bottom pico spacing), .font-bold).
• Leverage Pico.css CSS variables where appropriate to maintain theme consistency:

  /* static/styles.css */
  .mb-pico {
      margin-bottom: var(--pico-spacing);
  }
  .text-error {
      color: var(--pico-del-color); /* Using a Pico variable */
  }
  .flex-center-items {
      display: flex;
      align-items: center;
      justify-content: center; /* Or other justify values as needed */
  }
  

3. Implement:

• Refactor Python Constants: If a Python style constant can be simplified by using one or more new utility classes, update the constant.
  • Example:

    # server.py
    # Before constant
    OLD_COMPLEX_STYLE = "display: flex; align-items: center; color: red; padding: 1rem;"
    
    # static/styles.css
    .flex-acenter { display: flex; align-items: center; }
    .text-red { color: red; }
    .p-1rem { padding: 1rem; }
    
    # server.py
    # After constant - this might be overkill, but illustrates the point
    # Option A: Still a constant, but less in it
    NEW_SIMPLER_STYLE_CONST = "color: red;" # if padding and flex are common enough for classes
    # Python code: Div(..., cls="flex-acenter p-1rem", style=NEW_SIMPLER_STYLE_CONST)
    
    # Option B: If all parts are covered by classes
    # Python code: Div(..., cls="flex-acenter text-red p-1rem")
    

• Update FastHTML Components: In your Python code, add the cls="your-utility-class" attribute to FastHTML components and remove the corresponding CSS properties from their style attribute or Python style constant.
  • Example:

    # Before
    Div("Content", style="text-align: center; margin-bottom: var(--pico-spacing);")
    
    # static/styles.css
    .text-center { text-align: center; }
    /* .mb-pico already defined */
    
    # After
    Div("Content", cls="text-center mb-pico")
    

Benefits of this phase:

• Reduces the amount of inline CSS in the final HTML, leading to smaller HTML documents.
• Promotes better separation of concerns (styling moves to CSS files).
• Makes styles more cacheable by the browser.

Phase 3: Component-Specific Classes (For More Complex Components)

For UI elements that have a distinct structure and repeated styling not easily covered by simple utilities (e.g., the specific layout of a render_profile list item, or a custom card variant), consider creating component-specific CSS classes.

1. Identify: Look for groups of styles consistently applied to a specific type of UI element you generate. 2. Define in styles.css: Create classes like .profile-item-display, .workflow-step-card. 3. Implement: Apply these classes using cls= in your Python code.

This is a more involved step, so tackle it after the lower-hanging fruit of Phases 1 and 2.

Python Script for Style Analysis

Here’s a Python script using ast to help identify common inline style strings and individual declarations. Save this as analyze_styles.py in your project root (e.g., pipulate/analyze_styles.py) and run it from there.

import ast
import os
from pathlib import Path
from collections import Counter
import re

# Expand this list with all FastHTML component names used in your project
# This helps the script focus on relevant style attributes.
FASTHTML_COMPONENT_NAMES = {
    'Div', 'Button', 'Span', 'P', 'H1', 'H2', 'H3', 'H4', 'H5', 'H6', 'A', 'Form', 'Input',
    'Li', 'Ul', 'Card', 'Grid', 'Container', 'Details', 'Summary', 'Label', 'Textarea',
    'Select', 'Option', 'Pre', 'Code', 'Hr', 'Script', 'Link', 'Meta', 'Title', 'Group',
    'Main', 'Header', 'Footer', 'Article', 'Nav', 'Aside', 'Section', 'Figure', 'Figcaption',
    'Blockquote', 'Table', 'Thead', 'Tbody', 'Tfoot', 'Tr', 'Th', 'Td', 'Fieldset', 'Legend'
    # Add any custom components if they also take a 'style' kwarg
}

class StyleFinder(ast.NodeVisitor):
    def __init__(self):
        self.styles_counter = Counter()
        self.style_locations = {} # Stores (file, line_no, component_name) for each style string
        self.current_file = ""

    def visit_Call(self, node):
        func_name = ''
        if isinstance(node.func, ast.Name):
            func_name = node.func.id
        elif isinstance(node.func, ast.Attribute):
            func_name = node.func.attr

        # Check if the function call is likely a FastHTML component
        # Or, to be broader, check any function call that has a 'style' keyword argument.
        # For simplicity, we'll check if func_name is in our known set,
        # OR if 'style' is among its keywords.
        is_potential_component = func_name in FASTHTML_COMPONENT_NAMES
        has_style_kwarg = any(kw.arg == 'style' for kw in node.keywords)

        if is_potential_component or has_style_kwarg:
            for keyword in node.keywords:
                if keyword.arg == 'style':
                    style_value_node = keyword.value
                    style_str = None

                    if isinstance(style_value_node, ast.Constant) and isinstance(style_value_node.value, str):
                        style_str = style_value_node.value.strip()
                    elif isinstance(style_value_node, ast.Name): # style=SOME_PYTHON_CONSTANT
                        style_str = f"PYTHON_CONSTANT:{style_value_node.id}"
                    elif isinstance(style_value_node, ast.JoinedStr): # f-string
                        # Create a generic representation for f-strings
                        # This helps group them if their structure is similar
                        style_str_parts = []
                        for val_node in style_value_node.values:
                            if isinstance(val_node, ast.Constant):
                                style_str_parts.append(val_node.value)
                            elif isinstance(val_node, ast.FormattedValue):
                                style_str_parts.append(f"}") # Generic placeholder
                        style_str = f"F_STRING:{''.join(style_str_parts).strip()}"
                    
                    if style_str and style_str: # Ignore empty styles
                        self.styles_counter[style_str] += 1
                        location_key = (self.current_file, node.lineno, func_name or "UnknownComponent")
                        if style_str not in self.style_locations:
                            self.style_locations[style_str] = []
                        self.style_locations[style_str].append(location_key)
        self.generic_visit(node)

def analyze_project_styles(project_root_str):
    project_root = Path(project_root_str)
    finder = StyleFinder()
    
    # Files to analyze
    py_files_to_scan = []
    py_files_to_scan.extend(project_root.glob("plugins/**/*.py")) # Recursive for plugins
    py_files_to_scan.extend(project_root.glob("helpers/**/*.py")) # Recursive for helpers
    py_files_to_scan.append(project_root / "server.py")

    print(f"Scanning {len(py_files_to_scan)} Python files for inline styles...\n")

    for filepath in py_files_to_scan:
        if not filepath.is_file():
            continue
        # Exclude the analysis script itself or other non-UI generating helpers
        if filepath.name in ["analyze_styles.py", "create_workflow.py", "splice_workflow_step.py"]:
            continue
        
        try:
            with open(filepath, "r", encoding="utf-8") as f:
                content = f.read()
                finder.current_file = str(filepath.relative_to(project_root))
                tree = ast.parse(content)
                finder.visit(tree)
        except Exception as e:
            print(f"Could not parse {filepath}: {e}")
            
    print("--- Analysis Complete ---")

    print(f"\n--- Top {min(20, len(finder.styles_counter))} Most Common Inline Style Strings/Representations ---")
    for i, (style, count) in enumerate(finder.styles_counter.most_common(20)):
        print(f"\n{i+1}. Style (Count: {count}):")
        if style.startswith("PYTHON_CONSTANT:"):
            print(f"   [PY_CONST] {style}")
        elif style.startswith("F_STRING:"):
            print(f"   [F_STRING] {style[9:]}") # Print the structure without "F_STRING:"
        else:
            print(f"   ```css\n   {style}\n   ```")
        
        # print("   First 3 Locations:")
        # for f, l, c_name in finder.style_locations.get(style, [])[:3]:
        #     print(f"     - {f}:L{l} (in {c_name or 'unknown'})")
    
    # Analysis of individual declarations
    declaration_counts = Counter()
    for style_str, num in finder.styles_counter.items():
        if style_str.startswith("PYTHON_CONSTANT:") or style_str.startswith("F_STRING:"):
            continue # Skip constants and f-strings for this part
        
        # Normalize: remove extra spaces around semicolons and colons
        style_str_normalized = re.sub(r'\s*;\s*', ';', style_str)
        style_str_normalized = re.sub(r'\s*:\s*', ':', style_str_normalized)
        
        declarations = [d.strip() for d in style_str_normalized.split(';') if d.strip()]
        for decl in declarations:
            declaration_counts[decl] += num # Weight by how many times the block appeared

    print(f"\n--- Top {min(20, len(declaration_counts))} Most Common Individual CSS Declarations ---")
    print("(These are good candidates for utility CSS classes in static/styles.css)")
    for i, (decl, count) in enumerate(declaration_counts.most_common(20)):
        if count > 1: # Only show if declaration is used more than once
             print(f"{i+1}. `{decl}` (Appears in style blocks ~{count} times)")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    # Assuming the script is in pipulate/ (project root) or pipulate/helpers/
    # Adjust CWD if running from a different location.
    current_script_path = Path(__file__).resolve()
    project_root_dir = current_script_path.parent # If in helpers/
    # If analyze_styles.py is in the project root itself, use:
    # project_root_dir = current_script_path.parent 

    # If you are sure that this script is inside the 'helpers' directory, one level below project root:
    if project_root_dir.name == "helpers" and project_root_dir.parent.name == "pipulate":
         project_root_dir = project_root_dir.parent
    elif project_root_dir.name == "pipulate": # If script is directly in pipulate/
        pass # project_root_dir is already correct
    else:
        print(f"Warning: Could not reliably determine project root from {current_script_path}. Assuming current directory.")
        project_root_dir = Path.cwd()


    print(f"Using project root: {project_root_dir}")
    analyze_project_styles(str(project_root_dir))

Instructions for using analyze_styles.py:

1. Save the script as analyze_styles.py in your Pipulate project’s root directory (or in helpers/ and adjust the root path detection if needed).
2. Run it from your project root: python analyze_styles.py
3. Review the output:
   • “Most Common Inline Style Strings”: Shows exact style strings and how often they appear. Good candidates for Python constants if they are complex or specific.
   • “Most Common Individual CSS Declarations”: Shows individual property: value pairs. Good candidates for utility CSS classes if they are simple and widely used.

Implementation with AI (Cursor)

You can use your AI assistant in Cursor effectively with this strategy:

• For Phase 1 (Python Constants):
  • Prompt: “In server.py, within the Pipulate class (or globally if more appropriate), find the inline style string /* PASTE THE STYLE STRING HERE */. Create a Python constant named MY_DESCRIPTIVE_STYLE_NAME for this string. Then, find all occurrences of this exact style string within server.py and the plugins/ directory where it’s used as a style attribute in FastHTML components (like Div, Button, Span, etc.) and replace them with the new Python constant.”
• For Phase 2 (Utility CSS Classes):
  • Prompt: “The CSS declaration /* PASTE CSS DECLARATION e.g., display: flex; align-items: center; */ is used frequently. Create a utility class named .my-utility-class in static/styles.css for this. Then, show me examples in server.py or plugin files where I can replace this inline CSS with cls=\"my-utility-class\" in FastHTML components.”
  • Follow-up: “Now, apply this change to all occurrences where this exact declaration is used as part of an inline style.” (Be cautious with automated replacements and review changes).

Example: Cleaning up Pipulate.revert_control

Let’s take the default_style from Pipulate.revert_control as an example:

# server.py (current in Pipulate.revert_control)
default_style = (
    "background-color: var(--pico-del-color);"
    "display: inline-flex;"
    "padding: 0.5rem 0.5rem;"
    "border-radius: 4px;"
    "font-size: 0.85rem;"
    "cursor: pointer;"
    "margin: 0;"
    "line-height: 1;"
    "align-items: center;"
)

Applying Phase 1:

# server.py (near top or in Pipulate class constants)
REVERT_BUTTON_STYLE = (
    "background-color: var(--pico-del-color); " # Added spaces for safety
    "display: inline-flex; "
    "padding: 0.5rem 0.5rem; "
    "border-radius: 4px; " # Pico uses var(--pico-border-radius)
    "font-size: 0.85rem; "
    "cursor: pointer; "
    "margin: 0; "
    "line-height: 1; "
    "align-items: center;"
)

# server.py (in Pipulate.revert_control)
# ...
form = Form(
    # ...
    Button(
        step_button(step_id, refill, revert_label),
        type="submit",
        style=self.REVERT_BUTTON_STYLE # or REVERT_BUTTON_STYLE if global
    ),
    # ...
)

Applying Phase 2 (Further Refinement - Optional):

Looking at REVERT_BUTTON_STYLE, display: inline-flex; align-items: center; is common.

/* static/styles.css */
.inline-flex-acenter {
    display: inline-flex;
    align-items: center;
}
.p-05rem { padding: 0.5rem; } /* Example, Pico might have spacing utils */
.fs-085rem { font-size: 0.85rem; }
.lh-1 { line-height: 1; }
.cursor-pointer { cursor: pointer; }
.m-0 { margin: 0; }
/* Pico uses var(--pico-border-radius) for border-radius generally,
   and var(--pico-del-color) isn't a standard Pico variable, but if you define it, use it.
   Pico's buttons often handle their own background/padding via classes like .secondary, .contrast or .outline.
   This particular button is styled to look like a Pico destructive action, which Pico doesn't have a specific class for.
*/
.btn-revert-look { /* More specific class for this button's unique aspects */
    background-color: var(--pico-del-color, #d32f2f); /* provide fallback if --pico-del-color isn't defined */
    border-radius: 4px; /* Or var(--pico-border-radius) if it matches */
    /* Other unique styles specific to this button that aren't general utilities */
}

# server.py
# REVERT_BUTTON_STYLE might become less necessary if all covered by classes,
# or it might compose only the unique aspects like background-color if that's not made a class.

# In Pipulate.revert_control
form = Form(
    # ...
    Button(
        step_button(step_id, refill, revert_label),
        type="submit",
        # Apply multiple classes
        cls="inline-flex-acenter p-05rem fs-085rem cursor-pointer m-0 lh-1 btn-revert-look",
        # style="" # Hopefully empty now or just for truly unique properties
    ),
    # ...
)

For the revert_control specifically, Pico’s button classes (<button class="secondary outline">) are usually preferred. If the custom default_style is meant to override or be distinct, then a new custom class (e.g., .btn-pipulate-revert) in styles.css that encapsulates that entire default_style would be cleanest.

/* static/styles.css */
.btn-pipulate-revert {
    background-color: var(--pico-del-color, #d32f2f); /* Assuming you've defined --pico-del-color or provide fallback */
    display: inline-flex;
    padding: 0.5rem 0.5rem;
    border-radius: 4px; /* Or var(--pico-border-radius) if consistent */
    font-size: 0.85rem;
    cursor: pointer;
    margin: 0;
    line-height: 1;
    align-items: center;
    color: var(--pico-primary-inverse); /* Ensure text is visible, Pico buttons usually handle this */
    border: var(--pico-border-width) solid transparent; /* Match button borders */
    text-decoration: none; /* For button-like links */
}
.btn-pipulate-revert:hover {
    background-color: var(--pico-del-hover-color, #c62828); /* Define a hover color */
}

Then in Python: Button(..., cls="btn-pipulate-revert").

This systematic approach should help you clean up the styles effectively while minimizing risks and effort, staying true to Pipulate’s philosophy. Remember to test frequently!

Acting On Gemini’s Plan

See?!?! From abstract to concrete. Now I’ve got a Python script.

I take the Python script that Gemini planned for me and run it against my code:

[mike@nixos:~/repos/pipulate/helpers]$ python analyze_styles.py 
Using project root: /home/mike/repos/pipulate
Scanning 46 Python files for inline styles...

--- Analysis Complete ---

--- Top 20 Most Common Inline Style Strings/Representations ---

1. Style (Count: 57):
   ```css
   font-size: 0.9em; color: #666;
   ```

2. Style (Count: 24):
   ```css
   width: 100%;
   ```

3. Style (Count: 23):
   ```css
   margin-bottom: 0.5rem;
   ```

4. Style (Count: 21):
   ```css
   margin-top: 1vh; text-align: right;
   ```

5. Style (Count: 16):
   ```css
   width: 100%; font-family: monospace;
   ```

6. Style (Count: 16):
   ```css
   margin-bottom: 1rem;
   ```

7. Style (Count: 10):
   ```css
   font-size: 0.8em; font-style: italic;
   ```

8. Style (Count: 9):
   ```css
   margin-top: 1rem;
   ```

9. Style (Count: 8):
   ```css
   display: none;
   ```

10. Style (Count: 7):
   ```css
   green
   ```

11. Style (Count: 6):
   ```css
   color: red;
   ```

12. Style (Count: 6):
   ```css
   padding: 1rem; background-color: var(--pico-code-background); border-radius: var(--pico-border-radius); overflow-x: auto; font-family: monospace;
   ```

13. Style (Count: 5):
   ```css
   font-weight: bold;
   ```

14. Style (Count: 5):
   ```css
   margin-bottom: 10px;
   ```

15. Style (Count: 5):
   ```css
   padding: 10px; background: var(--pico-card-background-color); border-radius: 5px;
   ```

16. Style (Count: 5):
   ```css
   color: #666; font-size: 0.9em;
   ```

17. Style (Count: 5):
   ```css
   margin-top: 10px;
   ```

18. Style (Count: 5):
   ```css
   margin-bottom: 15px;
   ```

19. Style (Count: 5):
   ```css
   color: #666;
   ```

20. Style (Count: 5):
   ```css
   cyan
   ```

--- Top 20 Most Common Individual CSS Declarations ---
(These are good candidates for utility CSS classes in static/styles.css)
1. `color:#666` (Appears in style blocks ~77 times)
2. `font-size:0.9em` (Appears in style blocks ~70 times)
3. `width:100%` (Appears in style blocks ~51 times)
4. `text-align:right` (Appears in style blocks ~32 times)
5. `margin-bottom:0.5rem` (Appears in style blocks ~31 times)
6. `display:flex` (Appears in style blocks ~24 times)
7. `border-radius:var(--pico-border-radius)` (Appears in style blocks ~24 times)
8. `font-family:monospace` (Appears in style blocks ~24 times)
9. `font-style:italic` (Appears in style blocks ~23 times)
10. `margin-top:1vh` (Appears in style blocks ~21 times)
11. `margin-bottom:1rem` (Appears in style blocks ~20 times)
12. `align-items:center` (Appears in style blocks ~18 times)
13. `margin-top:1rem` (Appears in style blocks ~17 times)
14. `border-radius:5px` (Appears in style blocks ~14 times)
15. `overflow-x:auto` (Appears in style blocks ~14 times)
16. `font-size:0.8em` (Appears in style blocks ~13 times)
17. `display:block` (Appears in style blocks ~12 times)
18. `font-weight:bold` (Appears in style blocks ~12 times)
19. `padding:10px` (Appears in style blocks ~12 times)
20. `display:none` (Appears in style blocks ~12 times)

The Ouptput Becomes The Input

I feed the output of the CSS analysis program back into the same Gemini discussion thread that wrote it for me.

Gemini: This is excellent data! The output from your analyze_styles.py script provides a clear roadmap for refactoring your CSS in an impactful way, adhering to the 80/20 principle.

Here’s a refined strategy and concrete actions based on this analysis:

Refined CSS Refactoring Strategy

1. Target Top Common Inline Style Strings: The first list (“Top 20 Most Common Inline Style Strings”) gives us direct candidates for conversion into single, reusable CSS classes. These are high-impact changes because they address the most frequent exact style duplications.
2. Create Utility Classes from Individual Declarations: The second list (“Top 20 Most Common Individual CSS Declarations”) is perfect for creating granular utility classes (like those in Tailwind CSS or Bootstrap). This allows for more flexible composition of styles. For example, instead of a class for width:100%; font-family:monospace;, you could use cls="w-100 font-monospace". This often leads to more reusable and understandable utility classes.
3. Semantic vs. Presentational Classes:
   • For styles like color: red; or color: green;, prefer semantic class names if the color implies a state (e.g., .text-error, .text-success).
   • For general styling (e.g., width: 100%;, margin-bottom: 0.5rem;), utility names are fine (e.g., .w-100, .mb-p5rem).
4. Leverage PicoCSS Variables: Continue to use PicoCSS variables (e.g., var(--pico-muted-color), var(--pico-border-radius)) in your new CSS classes in static/styles.css to maintain theme consistency.
5. Consolidate and Review Existing Python Constants: Examine the style constants in your Pipulate class and globally in server.py. Many of these will likely map directly to the common styles found or can be replaced by a combination of new utility classes.

Concrete Actions & CSS Class Definitions

Let’s create some CSS classes based on your analysis. These should be added to static/styles.css.

From Top Common Inline Style Strings:

• 1. font-size: 0.9em; color: #666; (Count: 57)

  • This is very similar to Pipulate.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE. Let’s make it more specific or ensure consistency. #666 is a common muted color.
  • CSS:

    .text-muted-lead { /* 'lead' implies slightly larger/more prominent muted text */
      font-size: 0.9em;
      color: var(--pico-muted-color); /* Use Pico's variable for muted text */
    }
    

  • Python: cls="text-muted-lead"

• 4. margin-top: 1vh; text-align: right; (Count: 21)

  • CSS:

    .mt-1vh-text-right {
      margin-top: 1vh;
      text-align: right;
    }
    

  • Python: cls="mt-1vh-text-right"

• 5. width: 100%; font-family: monospace; (Count: 16)

  • Could be two utility classes: cls="w-100 font-monospace" (see below for individual utilities). Or a combined one if this specific combo is very common and semantic. Let’s favor utilities.

• 7. font-size: 0.8em; font-style: italic; (Count: 10)

  • CSS:

    .text-small-italic {
      font-size: 0.8em;
      font-style: italic;
    }
    

  • Python: cls="text-small-italic"

• 12. padding: 1rem; background-color: var(--pico-code-background); border-radius: var(--pico-border-radius); overflow-x: auto; font-family: monospace; (Count: 6)

  • This is a perfect candidate for a specific component style.
  • CSS:

    .code-block-container {
      padding: 1rem;
      background-color: var(--pico-code-background);
      border-radius: var(--pico-border-radius);
      overflow-x: auto;
      font-family: var(--pico-font-family-monospace);
    }
    

  • Python: cls="code-block-container"

From Top Common Individual CSS Declarations (Utility Classes):

These are generally good candidates for utility classes.

1. color:#666 (77 times) -> .text-pico-muted { color: var(--pico-muted-color); }
2. font-size:0.9em (70 times) -> .fs-0p9em { font-size: 0.9em; }
3. width:100% (51 times) -> .w-100 { width: 100%; }
4. text-align:right (32 times) -> .text-right { text-align: right; }
5. margin-bottom:0.5rem (31 times) -> .mb-p5rem { margin-bottom: 0.5rem; }
6. display:flex (24 times) -> .d-flex { display: flex; }
7. border-radius:var(--pico-border-radius) (24 times) -> Often part of larger components, but if used alone: .rounded { border-radius: var(--pico-border-radius); }
8. font-family:monospace (24 times) -> .font-monospace { font-family: var(--pico-font-family-monospace); }
9. font-style:italic (23 times) -> .fst-italic { font-style: italic; }
10. margin-top:1vh (21 times) -> .mt-1vh { margin-top: 1vh; }
11. margin-bottom:1rem (20 times) -> .mb-1rem { margin-bottom: 1rem; } (Pico uses var(--pico-spacing) which is 1rem, so this might align with existing Pico conventions or can be named e.g. mb-pico-spacing)
12. align-items:center (18 times) -> .align-items-center { align-items: center; } (Used with flex)
13. margin-top:1rem (17 times) -> .mt-1rem { margin-top: 1rem; }
14. border-radius:5px (14 times) -> .rounded-5px { border-radius: 5px; } (Consider if var(--pico-border-radius) which is 0.25rem approx 4px is close enough, or if 5px is a deliberate different choice).
15. overflow-x:auto (14 times) -> .overflow-x-auto { overflow-x: auto; }
16. font-size:0.8em (13 times) -> .fs-0p8em { font-size: 0.8em; }
17. display:block (12 times) -> .d-block { display: block; }
18. font-weight:bold (12 times) -> .fw-bold { font-weight: bold; } (Or use <strong> tag)
19. padding:10px (12 times) -> .p-10px { padding: 10px; } (Consider if a rem/em unit or Pico spacing var is better for responsiveness)
20. display:none (12 times) -> .d-none { display: none !important; } (Pico uses the hidden attribute, which is standard HTML and preferred. Use this class if the attribute isn’t sufficient).

Handling Direct Color Strings:

• green (Count: 7)
  • CSS: .text-success { color: var(--pico-form-element-valid-border-color); } (Pico semantic success color)
  • Python: cls="text-success"
• color: red; (Count: 6)
  • CSS: .text-error { color: var(--pico-form-element-invalid-border-color); } (Pico semantic error color)
  • Python: cls="text-error"
• cyan (Count: 5)
  • CSS: .text-primary { color: var(--pico-primary); } (Assuming cyan is your primary theme color)
  • Python: cls="text-primary"

Recommended static/styles.css Additions:

/* Text Utilities */
.text-muted-lead {
  font-size: 0.9em;
  color: var(--pico-muted-color);
}
.text-small-italic {
  font-size: 0.8em;
  font-style: italic;
}
.text-pico-muted { /* If #666 is consistently used for this */
  color: var(--pico-muted-color);
}
.text-right {
  text-align: right;
}
.text-success {
  color: var(--pico-form-element-valid-border-color); /* Pico semantic green */
}
.text-error {
  color: var(--pico-form-element-invalid-border-color); /* Pico semantic red */
}
.text-primary { /* Assuming cyan maps to primary */
  color: var(--pico-primary);
}
.fw-bold {
  font-weight: bold;
}
.fst-italic {
  font-style: italic;
}

/* Sizing & Layout Utilities */
.w-100 {
  width: 100%;
}
.d-flex {
  display: flex;
}
.d-block {
  display: block;
}
.d-none { /* Use with caution, `hidden` attribute is often better */
  display: none !important;
}
.align-items-center {
  align-items: center;
}
.overflow-x-auto {
  overflow-x: auto;
}

/* Spacing Utilities (consider a more systematic scale if many emerge) */
.mt-1vh {
  margin-top: 1vh;
}
.mt-1rem {
  margin-top: 1rem; /* Or var(--pico-spacing) */
}
.mb-p5rem { /* margin-bottom: 0.5rem */
  margin-bottom: 0.5rem;
}
.mb-1rem {
  margin-bottom: 1rem; /* Or var(--pico-spacing) */
}
.p-10px {
  padding: 10px;
}

/* Font Utilities */
.font-monospace {
  font-family: var(--pico-font-family-monospace);
}
.fs-0p9em { /* font-size 0.9em */
  font-size: 0.9em;
}
.fs-0p8em { /* font-size 0.8em */
  font-size: 0.8em;
}

/* Border Utilities */
.rounded {
  border-radius: var(--pico-border-radius);
}
.rounded-5px {
  border-radius: 5px;
}

/* Component-Specific Styles */
.mt-1vh-text-right { /* For specific combined style */
  margin-top: 1vh;
  text-align: right;
}

.code-block-container {
  padding: 1rem;
  background-color: var(--pico-code-background);
  border-radius: var(--pico-border-radius);
  overflow-x: auto;
  font-family: var(--pico-font-family-monospace);
}

/* Ensure your custom revert button style from previous response is here */
.button-revert {
  background-color: var(--pico-form-element-invalid-active-border-color);
  color: var(--pico-contrast-inverse);
  border-color: var(--pico-form-element-invalid-active-border-color);
  display: inline-flex;
  padding: 0.5rem 0.5rem;
  border-radius: var(--pico-border-radius);
  font-size: 0.85rem;
  cursor: pointer;
  margin: 0;
  line-height: 1;
  align-items: center;
  text-decoration: none;
}
.button-revert:hover {
  background-color: var(--pico-form-element-invalid-border-color);
  border-color: var(--pico-form-element-invalid-border-color);
  color: var(--pico-contrast-inverse);
}

Next Steps for You (or AI Assistant):

1. Add to static/styles.css: Copy the relevant CSS class definitions above into your styles.css file.
2. Systematic Replacement in Python Code:
   • Start with the “Top Common Inline Style Strings”. For each, find all occurrences and replace with the corresponding cls="new-class-name".
   • Then, move to “Top Common Individual CSS Declarations”. For styles that are now part of a utility class, replace them. If a style string uses multiple of these new utilities, you can combine them: style="width:100%; font-family:monospace;" becomes cls="w-100 font-monospace".
3. Refactor Pipulate Class Constants:
   • Pipulate.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE: Change usages to cls="text-muted-lead".
   • Pipulate.ERROR_STYLE: Change usages to cls="text-error".
   • Review other style constants in Pipulate and see if they can be replaced by the new utility classes or component-specific classes.
4. Test Thoroughly: After each batch of changes, test the UI to ensure everything looks as expected and no styles are broken.

This data-driven approach should make your CSS refactoring very effective!

Output To Input AGAIN!

Okay, so I did step 1 of the above. I have an updated styles.css which Gemini is going to see because it’s in the refreshed XML bundle on this submit. And Gemini was so good at giving me Python helper scripts before, I’m going to ask for them again. It sounds like 2 of them: one for step 1 above and one for step 2 above. The first one can use the Consolidation Additions from my /home/mike/repos/pipulate/static/styles.css We have RegEx. We have AST. We’ve got git covering our backs with instant resets. And so in other words, we have confidence that a Python helper script tool will do this better than a human could. We want to process server.py plus all the files in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins with the excepton of the __pycache__ directory of course. No recursive directory processing! All plugins are on that first level. And server.py is at /home/mike/repos/pipulate/server.py

If I have the concept correct, one file will do the general CSS replacements except where the CSS definitions reside, which is almost always going to be the Pipulate class in server.py, thus the reason for the second file. So all the search and replace should probably use AST to make sure it’s not happening to the Pipulate class itself, which does mean that script 1 might miss stuff. But that’s okay. Err on the side of safety. If we have to hand-update some CSS use in the Pipulate class in cases where it’s not actually part of a definition, that’s fine.

Please and thank you!

Gemini’s Round 2!

Gemini can make mistakes, so double-check it!

Gemini: Okay, this is a great iterative process! We have the analysis, and we have the static/styles.css updated with the “Consolidation Additions”. Now, let’s move to automating the replacement in your Python files.

You’re right to think about this in stages and to be cautious. Using AST (Abstract Syntax Trees) is indeed the safest way to programmatically modify Python code, as it understands the code’s structure rather than just performing text replacement.

Here’s the plan:

1. Script 1 (refactor_inline_styles_to_cls.py): This script will handle the bulk of the work by converting literal inline style strings in your FastHTML component calls to cls attributes. It will use a predefined mapping based on your analyze_styles.py output and the CSS classes we’ve discussed (which are now in your static/styles.css). This script will be designed to be safe and avoid modifying style definitions (like Python constants).

2. Guidance for Refactoring Python Style Constants (The “Second Part”): For constants like Pipulate.ERROR_STYLE, Pipulate.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE, etc., and other Python variables used in style attributes, a fully automated script is more complex to make perfectly safe without deep semantic understanding of your variable scopes and intended uses. Instead, I’ll provide clear, actionable instructions. You can use these instructions with your AI assistant (like Cursor) for a guided refactoring of these specific constants, or perform it manually. This approach ensures you have full control over these potentially more nuanced changes.

Let’s start with Script 1.

Script 1: refactor_inline_styles_to_cls.py

This script will:

• Parse server.py and Python files directly in the plugins/ directory.
• Use a mapping of common inline style strings to their corresponding new CSS class(es).
• Modify the AST to replace style="literal string" with cls="new-class" or append to an existing cls attribute.
• Print the modified code to the console for review. You can then redirect this output to new files or (carefully) overwrite the originals after backing them up.

import ast
import os
from pathlib import Path
import re

# This map should be populated based on your analyze_styles.py output
# and the CSS classes you've added to static/styles.css.
# Keys are NORMALIZED inline style strings.
# Values are the corresponding CSS class(es).
STYLE_STRING_TO_CLS_MAP = {
    # From your Top 20 Common Style Strings & previous discussion:
    "color: #666; font-size: 0.9em;": "text-muted-lead", # Covers #1 and #16 from analysis
    "color: #666;": "text-pico-muted", # Style #19
    "color: red;": "text-error", # Style #11
    "cyan": "text-primary", # Style #20 (assuming it was used as style="cyan")
    "display: flex; align-items: center;": "d-flex align-items-center", # Common combo
    "display: none;": "d-none", # Style #9
    "font-size: 0.8em; font-style: italic;": "text-small-italic", # Style #7
    "font-weight: bold;": "fw-bold", # Style #13
    "green": "text-success", # Style #10 (assuming it was used as style="green")
    "margin-bottom: 0.5rem;": "mb-p5rem", # Style #3
    "margin-bottom: 10px;": "mb-10px", # Style #14
    "margin-bottom: 15px;": "mb-15px", # Style #18
    "margin-bottom: 1rem;": "mb-1rem", # Style #6
    "margin-top: 10px;": "mt-10px", # Style #17
    "margin-top: 1rem;": "mt-1rem", # Style #8
    "margin-top: 1vh; text-align: right;": "mt-1vh-text-right", # Style #4
    "padding: 10px; background: var(--pico-card-background-color); border-radius: 5px;": "custom-card-padding-bg", # Style #15
    "padding: 1rem; background-color: var(--pico-code-background); border-radius: var(--pico-border-radius); font-family: monospace; overflow-x: auto;": "code-block-container", # Style #12 (order normalized)
    "width: 100%;": "w-100", # Style #2
    "width: 100%; font-family: monospace;": "w-100 font-monospace", # Style #5

    # Additional common individual utilities that might appear alone in simple style attrs
    "font-family: monospace;": "font-monospace",
    "text-align: right;": "text-right",
    "display: block;": "d-block",
    "overflow-x: auto;": "overflow-x-auto",
    "align-items: center;": "align-items-center", # Often with d-flex
    "display: flex;": "d-flex",
    "padding: 1rem;": "p-1rem", # Pico uses var(--pico-spacing)
    "border-radius: var(--pico-border-radius);": "rounded",
    "border-radius: 5px;": "rounded-5px",
    "cursor: pointer;": "cursor-pointer",
    "list-style-type: none;": "list-style-none",
    "flex-grow: 1;": "flex-grow-1",
    "text-decoration: none;": "text-decoration-none",
    # Specific to Pipulate.revert_control default_style if it's not made a single class like .button-revert
    # For revert_control, a single class `.button-revert` as defined in styles.css is better.
    # If the full string for revert_control was very common, it would be here:
    # "align-items: center; background-color: var(--pico-del-color); border-radius: 4px; cursor: pointer; display: inline-flex; font-size: 0.85rem; line-height: 1; margin: 0; padding: 0.5rem 0.5rem;": "button-revert", # Example
}

def normalize_style_string_for_map(style_str: str) -> str:
    """
    Normalizes a style string for matching against STYLE_STRING_TO_CLS_MAP.
    - Converts to lowercase.
    - Strips leading/trailing whitespace from string and individual declarations.
    - Sorts declarations alphabetically to handle different ordering.
    - Ensures consistent spacing around ':' and ';'.
    """
    if not style_str or not isinstance(style_str, str):
        return ""
    
    s = style_str.strip().lower()
    declarations = [decl.strip() for decl in s.split(';') if decl.strip()]
    
    normalized_declarations = []
    for decl in declarations:
        parts = [p.strip() for p in decl.split(':', 1)]
        if len(parts) == 2:
            normalized_declarations.append(f"{parts[0]}:{parts[1]}")
            
    return '; '.join(sorted(normalized_declarations))


class InlineStyleToClsTransformer(ast.NodeTransformer):
    def __init__(self, style_map):
        super().__init__()
        self.style_map = {normalize_style_string_for_map(k): v for k, v in style_map.items()}
        self.modifications_count = 0
        self.current_filepath = ""

    def visit_Call(self, node):
        # Ensure we are looking at function calls (FastHTML components)
        # We'll rely on finding a 'style' keyword with a string literal.
        
        style_keyword_index = -1
        original_style_str_literal = None
        
        for i, kw in enumerate(node.keywords):
            if kw.arg == 'style':
                if isinstance(kw.value, ast.Constant) and isinstance(kw.value.s, str):
                    style_keyword_index = i
                    original_style_str_literal = kw.value.s
                    break # Found a literal style string
        
        if original_style_str_literal is not None:
            normalized_style = normalize_style_string_for_map(original_style_str_literal)
            
            if normalized_style in self.style_map:
                new_cls_to_add = self.style_map[normalized_style]
                self.modifications_count += 1
                # print(f"DEBUG: Matched style '{original_style_str_literal}' -> normalized '{normalized_style}' -> cls '{new_cls_to_add}' in {self.current_filepath} line {node.lineno}")

                # Remove the 'style' keyword
                node.keywords.pop(style_keyword_index)
                
                # Add or update 'cls' keyword
                cls_keyword_found = False
                for kw_idx, kw_cls in enumerate(node.keywords):
                    if kw_cls.arg == 'cls':
                        cls_keyword_found = True
                        if isinstance(kw_cls.value, ast.Constant) and isinstance(kw_cls.value.s, str):
                            existing_classes = kw_cls.value.s.split()
                            new_classes_list = new_cls_to_add.split()
                            # Add new classes, avoid duplicates
                            for nc in new_classes_list:
                                if nc not in existing_classes:
                                    existing_classes.append(nc)
                            node.keywords[kw_idx].value = ast.Constant(value=" ".join(existing_classes))
                        elif isinstance(kw_cls.value, ast.JoinedStr): # f-string
                            # Safest to append a new string part to the f-string for the new class
                            # This creates cls=f"{original_f_string_parts} new_class_name"
                            # It might result in slightly non-optimal f-strings but is safer.
                            kw_cls.value.values.append(ast.Constant(value=f" {new_cls_to_add}"))
                            print(f"INFO: Appended to existing f-string 'cls' attribute in {self.current_filepath} line {node.lineno}. Review: {ast.unparse(kw_cls.value)}")
                        else:
                            # cls value is a variable or complex expression, log and skip smart merging
                            print(f"WARNING: 'cls' attribute in {self.current_filepath} line {node.lineno} is a complex expression: {ast.unparse(kw_cls.value)}. Adding '{new_cls_to_add}' separately might lead to duplicate 'cls' args or require manual merge if a string expression.")
                            # One option: add it as a new keyword if AST allows, or just warn.
                            # For now, just warning. A more robust solution might involve trying to merge string expressions.
                        break
                
                if not cls_keyword_found:
                    node.keywords.append(ast.keyword(arg='cls', value=ast.Constant(value=new_cls_to_add)))
                    
                return ast.fix_missing_locations(node) # Important for AST consistency

        return self.generic_visit(node)

def process_file(filepath: Path, style_map: dict):
    print(f"Processing {filepath}...")
    try:
        original_content = filepath.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
        tree = ast.parse(original_content)
        
        transformer = InlineStyleToClsTransformer(style_map)
        transformer.current_filepath = str(filepath) # For logging within transformer
        
        modified_tree = transformer.visit(tree)
        
        if transformer.modifications_count > 0:
            modified_code = ast.unparse(modified_tree)
            print(f"--- Modified code for {filepath} ({transformer.modifications_count} changes) ---")
            print(modified_code)
            print(f"--- End of {filepath} ---")
            
            # UNCOMMENT TO WRITE CHANGES TO FILES (MAKE SURE TO BACKUP FIRST!)
            # confirm = input(f"Apply {transformer.modifications_count} changes to {filepath}? (y/N): ")
            # if confirm.lower() == 'y':
            #     filepath.write_text(modified_code, encoding="utf-8")
            #     print(f"Changes written to {filepath}")
            # else:
            #     print(f"Changes for {filepath} NOT written.")
        else:
            print(f"No matching literal inline styles found in {filepath}")
            
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error processing file {filepath}: {e}")
        import traceback
        traceback.print_exc()

def main():
    script_dir = Path(__file__).resolve().parent
    project_root = script_dir.parent # Assumes script is in 'helpers'
    
    if project_root.name != 'pipulate': # Simple check
        print(f"Script may not be in the correct 'helpers' directory relative to 'pipulate' project root. Detected root: {project_root}")
        return

    print(f"Starting CSS refactoring. Project root: {project_root}")
    
    server_py_file = project_root / "server.py"
    plugins_path = project_root / "plugins"
    
    files_to_scan = [server_py_file]
    if plugins_path.is_dir():
        for item in plugins_path.iterdir():
            if item.is_file() and item.name.endswith(".py") and not item.name.startswith("__"):
                files_to_scan.append(item)
                
    for py_file in files_to_scan:
        if py_file.exists():
            process_file(py_file, STYLE_STRING_TO_CLS_MAP)
        else:
            print(f"File not found: {py_file}")
            
    print("\nRefactoring script finished. Review output above.")
    print("If you want to apply changes, uncomment the write section in 'process_file' function.")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

How to Use refactor_inline_styles_to_cls.py:

1. Save the Script: Save the code above as refactor_inline_styles_to_cls.py in your pipulate/helpers/ directory.
2. Update STYLE_STRING_TO_CLS_MAP: Carefully review and update the STYLE_STRING_TO_CLS_MAP dictionary within the script. The keys should be the exact, normalized inline style strings you want to replace (as identified by analyze_styles.py), and the values should be the corresponding CSS class name(s) you’ve defined in static/styles.css. Normalization in the script helps catch minor variations, but exact matches for common full strings are most reliable.
3. Backup Your Project: Before running, make sure your project is under version control (git) and all changes are committed, or create a manual backup.
4. Run the Script (Dry Run First):
   • Navigate to your pipulate/ project root in the terminal.
   • Run: python helpers/refactor_inline_styles_to_cls.py
   • The script will print the modified code for each file to the console. It will not change your files yet.
5. Review the Output: Carefully check the diffs or the printed modified code. Ensure the transformations are correct.
6. Apply Changes (When Ready):
   • Once you’re confident, open refactor_inline_styles_to_cls.py.
   • Find the process_file function.
   • Uncomment the lines related to writing changes to files:

     # UNCOMMENT TO WRITE CHANGES TO FILES (MAKE SURE TO BACKUP FIRST!)
     confirm = input(f"Apply {transformer.modifications_count} changes to {filepath}? (y/N): ")
     if confirm.lower() == 'y':
         filepath.write_text(modified_code, encoding="utf-8")
         print(f"Changes written to {filepath}")
     else:
         print(f"Changes for {filepath} NOT written.")
     

   • Run the script again. It will now prompt you for each file before writing changes.

Part 2: Guidance for Refactoring Python Style Constants

After running Script 1, many direct inline styles will be converted. Now, focus on the style constants (mostly in Pipulate class in server.py).

Manual/AI-Assisted Steps:

1. Identify Constants and their CSS Equivalents: Go through each style constant in server.py (e.g., Pipulate.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE, Pipulate.CONTENT_STYLE, the original NOWRAP_STYLE, etc.). For each constant:

   • Look at its string value (e.g., MUTED_TEXT_STYLE = "font-size: 0.9em; color: var(--pico-muted-color);").
   • Identify the new CSS class(es) from static/styles.css that achieve the same effect (e.g., text-muted-lead for the example above).

2. Find Usages of the Constant: Search your codebase (primarily server.py and plugins/*.py) for where this constant is used in a style attribute, e.g., P(..., style=self.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE) or Div(..., style=MUTED_TEXT_STYLE).

3. Replace style=CONSTANT with cls="new-class":

   • Change P(..., style=self.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE) to P(..., cls="text-muted-lead").
   • If a constant’s style is now covered by multiple utility classes, combine them: If COMPLEX_STYLE_CONST = "display: flex; align-items: center; width: 100%;" and you have .d-flex, .align-items-center, .w-100, then Div(style=COMPLEX_STYLE_CONST) becomes Div(cls="d-flex align-items-center w-100").

4. Handle cls Merging: If a component already has a cls attribute, append the new class(es) to the existing string:

   • Div(..., cls="existing-class", style=self.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE) becomes Div(..., cls="existing-class text-muted-lead"). Ensure there’s a space and no duplicates.

5. Review and Potentially Remove Constant Definition: Once all usages of a Python style constant have been replaced by cls attributes, the constant definition itself in server.py may no longer be needed and can be considered for removal to further clean up the Python code. Do this carefully after verifying all usages are handled.

Example Instruction for AI Assistant (after Script 1):

“Okay, we’ve refactored literal inline styles. Now let’s address the Python style constants in server.py, specifically within the Pipulate class and any global style constants.

For each style constant like Pipulate.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE = "font-size: 0.9em; color: var(--pico-muted-color);":

1. Its CSS equivalent class is .text-muted-lead (defined in static/styles.css).
2. Find all places in server.py and plugins/*.py where this constant is used in a style attribute (e.g., Something(style=self.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE)).
3. Replace that usage with cls="text-muted-lead".
4. If the component already has a cls attribute, append text-muted-lead to it, ensuring proper spacing and no duplication of class names. For example, Something(cls="original-class", style=self.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE) becomes Something(cls="original-class text-muted-lead").
5. After processing all its usages, if the constant Pipulate.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE is no longer referenced directly for a style attribute, we can consider removing its definition from server.py. Please list such constants that become unused.

Apply this process for the following constants and their mapped CSS classes:

• Pipulate.ERROR_STYLE ("color: red;") -> cls="text-error"
• Pipulate.SUCCESS_STYLE ("color: green;") -> cls="text-success"
• Pipulate.CONTENT_STYLE ("margin-top: 1vh; border-top: 1px solid var(--pico-muted-border-color); padding-top: 1vh;") -> cls="widget-content-area"
• Pipulate.FINALIZED_CONTENT_STYLE ("margin-top: 0.5vh; padding: 0.5vh 0;") -> cls="widget-finalized-content"
• Pipulate.MENU_ITEM_PADDING ("padding: 1vh 0px 0px .5vw;") -> cls="menu-item-custom-padding"
• The default_style previously in Pipulate.revert_control (which was "background-color: var(--pico-del-color); display: inline-flex; ...") should have its usages (if any remain after Script 1) point to cls="button-revert".”

This combined approach of an automated script for literals and guided refactoring for constants should provide a safe and effective way to achieve your CSS cleanup goals.

Hit a Snag On First Run

It can’t go perfect the 1st time, right?

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/mike/repos/pipulate/server.py", line 2701, in <module>
    run_server_with_watchdog()
  File "/home/mike/repos/pipulate/server.py", line 2658, in run_server_with_watchdog
    fig('SERVER RESTART')
  File "/home/mike/repos/pipulate/server.py", line 55, in fig
    console.print(colored_text, cls='text-success')
  File "/home/mike/repos/pipulate/server.py", line 206, in print
    super().print(*args, **kwargs)
TypeError: Console.print() got an unexpected keyword argument 'cls'

Gemini: You’ve hit a classic refactoring script snag! The TypeError is quite clear: the rich.console.Console.print() method (which you’re using via your console object) doesn’t have a cls parameter. It uses a style parameter for styling.

The refactor_inline_styles_to_cls.py script, in its previous version, was a bit too enthusiastic and likely changed a console.print(..., style="some_style_here") or even just console.print(some_text_object_with_style) into console.print(..., cls="some_class_here") because it found a style keyword argument in a function call that it mistook for a FastHTML component.

Let’s address this:

1. Fix the Immediate Error in server.py

You need to revert the incorrect changes made to console.print() calls in your server.py file.

In the fig function:

• Change this:

  console.print(colored_text, cls='text-success')
  

• Back to this (or similar, depending on your custom_theme for Rich Console):

  console.print(colored_text, style="green") 
  

  (Looking at your custom_theme, style="green" corresponds to RichStyle(color="green", bgcolor="black"). If you intended the CSS class .text-success (which uses var(--pico-form-element-valid-border-color)) to apply here, that’s a different visual outcome and console.print cannot directly use CSS classes). For rich.Text objects, the style is usually part of the Text object itself or applied via the style kwarg in print.

Check other console.print calls:

• DOMSkeletonMiddleware:
  • cookie_table.add_column("Key", style="cyan") and pipeline_table.add_column("Key", style="yellow") etc., use style which is correct for rich.table.Table.add_column. If the script changed these, revert them.
  • console.print(cookie_table) and console.print(pipeline_table): These calls themselves shouldn’t have had a style or cls kwarg that the script would change.
• print_routes function:
  • table.add_column("Type", style="cyan", no_wrap=True) and similar: These are correct uses of style for rich.table.Table.add_column.
  • Text(entry[2], style=f"{entry[3]} on black"): This is also correct.
  • console.print(table): Should not have style/cls.

The refactoring script should only target FastHTML component function calls for style to cls conversion.

2. Corrected refactor_inline_styles_to_cls.py (Script 1)

Here’s the improved version of the script. The key change is in the visit_Call method to ensure it only processes known FastHTML components.

import ast
import os
from pathlib import Path
import re

# List of known FastHTML component names that accept 'style' and 'cls'
# This helps the script to be more targeted.
FASTHTML_COMPONENT_NAMES = {
    'Div', 'Button', 'Span', 'P', 'H1', 'H2', 'H3', 'H4', 'H5', 'H6', 'A', 'Form', 'Input',
    'Li', 'Ul', 'Card', 'Grid', 'Container', 'Details', 'Summary', 'Label', 'Textarea',
    'Select', 'Option', 'Pre', 'Code', 'Hr', 'Script', 'Link', 'Meta', 'Title', 'Group',
    'Main', 'Header', 'Footer', 'Article', 'Nav', 'Aside', 'Section', 'Figure', 'Figcaption',
    'Blockquote', 'Table', 'Thead', 'Tbody', 'Tfoot', 'Tr', 'Th', 'Td', 'Fieldset', 'Legend',
    # Add any custom FastHTML components you've created that follow the same pattern
}

# This map is based on your analysis and the CSS classes in static/styles.css
STYLE_STRING_TO_CLS_MAP = {
    "color: #666; font-size: 0.9em;": "text-muted-lead",
    "color: #666;": "text-pico-muted",
    "color: red;": "text-error",
    "cyan": "text-primary", # was style="cyan"
    "display: flex; align-items: center;": "d-flex align-items-center",
    "display: none;": "d-none",
    "font-size: 0.8em; font-style: italic;": "text-small-italic",
    "font-weight: bold;": "fw-bold",
    "green": "text-success", # was style="green"
    "margin-bottom: 0.5rem;": "mb-p5rem",
    "margin-bottom: 10px;": "mb-10px",
    "margin-bottom: 15px;": "mb-15px",
    "margin-bottom: 1rem;": "mb-1rem",
    "margin-top: 10px;": "mt-10px",
    "margin-top: 1rem;": "mt-1rem",
    "margin-top: 1vh; text-align: right;": "mt-1vh-text-right",
    "padding: 10px; background: var(--pico-card-background-color); border-radius: 5px;": "custom-card-padding-bg",
    "padding: 1rem; background-color: var(--pico-code-background); border-radius: var(--pico-border-radius); font-family: monospace; overflow-x: auto;": "code-block-container",
    "width: 100%;": "w-100",
    "width: 100%; font-family: monospace;": "w-100 font-monospace",
    "font-family: monospace;": "font-monospace",
    "text-align: right;": "text-right",
    "display: block;": "d-block",
    "overflow-x: auto;": "overflow-x-auto",
    "align-items: center;": "align-items-center",
    "display: flex;": "d-flex",
    "padding: 1rem;": "p-1rem",
    "border-radius: var(--pico-border-radius);": "rounded",
    "border-radius: 5px;": "rounded-5px",
    "cursor: pointer;": "cursor-pointer",
    "list-style-type: none;": "list-style-none", # Added from your render_profile example
    "flex-grow: 1;": "flex-grow-1", # Added from your render_profile example
    "text-decoration: none;": "text-decoration-none", # Added
    # From Pipulate.revert_control default_style (if it wasn't fully replaced by a single class)
    # This full string match is preferable if it's exact and common.
    "align-items: center; background-color: var(--pico-del-color); border-radius: 4px; cursor: pointer; display: inline-flex; font-size: 0.85rem; line-height: 1; margin: 0; padding: 0.5rem 0.5rem;": "button-revert",
    # Styles from Pipulate class that might be used directly as literals somewhere
    "font-size: 0.9em; color: var(--pico-muted-color);": "text-muted-lead", # Pipulate.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE
    "margin-top: 1vh; border-top: 1px solid var(--pico-muted-border-color); padding-top: 1vh;": "widget-content-area", # Pipulate.CONTENT_STYLE
    "margin-top: 0.5vh; padding: 0.5vh 0;": "widget-finalized-content", # Pipulate.FINALIZED_CONTENT_STYLE
    "padding: 1vh 0px 0px .5vw;": "menu-item-custom-padding", # Pipulate.MENU_ITEM_PADDING
    "white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis;": "text-nowrap-ellipsis", # Global NOWRAP_STYLE
    "background-color: #ffdddd; color: #990000; padding: 10px; border-left: 5px solid #990000;": "id-conflict-error-box" # Pipulate.id_conflict_style()
}

def normalize_style_string_for_map(style_str: str) -> str:
    if not style_str or not isinstance(style_str, str):
        return ""
    s = style_str.strip().lower()
    declarations = [decl.strip() for decl in s.split(';') if decl.strip()]
    normalized_declarations = []
    for decl in declarations:
        parts = [p.strip() for p in decl.split(':', 1)]
        if len(parts) == 2:
            normalized_declarations.append(f"{parts[0]}:{parts[1]}")
    return '; '.join(sorted(normalized_declarations))

class InlineStyleToClsTransformer(ast.NodeTransformer):
    def __init__(self, style_map, fasthtml_components):
        super().__init__()
        self.style_map = {normalize_style_string_for_map(k): v for k, v in style_map.items()}
        self.fasthtml_components = fasthtml_components
        self.modifications_count = 0
        self.current_filepath = ""

    def visit_Call(self, node):
        func_name_str = ""
        if isinstance(node.func, ast.Name):
            func_name_str = node.func.id
        elif isinstance(node.func, ast.Attribute):
            func_name_str = node.func.attr

        # Only proceed if it's a known FastHTML component
        if func_name_str not in self.fasthtml_components:
            return self.generic_visit(node)

        style_keyword_index = -1
        original_style_str_literal = None
        
        for i, kw in enumerate(node.keywords):
            if kw.arg == 'style':
                if isinstance(kw.value, ast.Constant) and isinstance(kw.value.s, str):
                    style_keyword_index = i
                    original_style_str_literal = kw.value.s
                    break 
        
        if original_style_str_literal is not None:
            normalized_style = normalize_style_string_for_map(original_style_str_literal)
            
            if normalized_style in self.style_map:
                new_cls_to_add = self.style_map[normalized_style]
                self.modifications_count += 1
                
                node.keywords.pop(style_keyword_index)
                
                cls_keyword_found_at = -1
                for i, kw_cls in enumerate(node.keywords):
                    if kw_cls.arg == 'cls':
                        cls_keyword_found_at = i
                        break
                
                if cls_keyword_found_at != -1:
                    cls_node = node.keywords[cls_keyword_found_at].value
                    if isinstance(cls_node, ast.Constant) and isinstance(cls_node.s, str):
                        existing_classes = cls_node.s.split()
                        new_classes_list = new_cls_to_add.split()
                        for nc in new_classes_list:
                            if nc not in existing_classes:
                                existing_classes.append(nc)
                        node.keywords[cls_keyword_found_at].value = ast.Constant(value=" ".join(sorted(list(set(existing_classes)))))
                    elif isinstance(cls_node, ast.JoinedStr): # f-string
                        cls_node.values.append(ast.Constant(value=f" {new_cls_to_add}"))
                        print(f"INFO: Appended to existing f-string 'cls' in {self.current_filepath} L{node.lineno}. Review: {ast.unparse(cls_node)}")
                    else:
                        print(f"WARNING: 'cls' in {self.current_filepath} L{node.lineno} is complex: {ast.unparse(cls_node)}. Could not merge '{new_cls_to_add}'.")
                else:
                    node.keywords.append(ast.keyword(arg='cls', value=ast.Constant(value=new_cls_to_add)))
                
                return ast.fix_missing_locations(node)

        return self.generic_visit(node)

def process_file(filepath: Path, style_map: dict, component_names: set):
    print(f"Processing {filepath}...")
    try:
        original_content = filepath.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
        tree = ast.parse(original_content)
        
        transformer = InlineStyleToClsTransformer(style_map, component_names)
        transformer.current_filepath = str(filepath)
        
        modified_tree = transformer.visit(tree)
        ast.fix_missing_locations(modified_tree) # Ensure tree is valid after transformations
        
        if transformer.modifications_count > 0:
            modified_code = ast.unparse(modified_tree)
            print(f"--- Proposed modifications for {filepath} ({transformer.modifications_count} changes) ---")
            print(modified_code)
            print(f"--- End of {filepath} ---")
            
            confirm = input(f"Apply {transformer.modifications_count} changes to {filepath}? (y/N): ")
            if confirm.lower() == 'y':
                filepath.write_text(modified_code, encoding="utf-8")
                print(f"Changes WRITTEN to {filepath}")
            else:
                print(f"Changes for {filepath} NOT written.")
        else:
            print(f"No matching literal inline styles to refactor in {filepath}")
            
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error processing file {filepath}: {e}")
        import traceback
        traceback.print_exc()

def main():
    # Determine project root (assuming script is in pipulate/helpers)
    script_dir = Path(__file__).resolve().parent
    project_root = script_dir.parent
    
    if project_root.name != 'pipulate' and project_root.parent.name == 'pipulate' and project_root.name == 'helpers':
        # If script is run from pipulate/helpers/ via `python refactor_inline_styles_to_cls.py`
        project_root = project_root.parent
    elif project_root.name != 'pipulate':
         # If script is run from pipulate/ via `python helpers/refactor_inline_styles_to_cls.py`
        if (project_root / 'server.py').exists(): # Good heuristic for being in project root
             pass # project_root is correct
        else:
            print(f"Error: Script must be run from the 'pipulate' project root or its 'helpers' subdirectory.")
            print(f"Current detected root: {project_root}")
            return

    print(f"Starting CSS refactoring. Project root: {project_root}")
    
    server_py_file = project_root / "server.py"
    plugins_path = project_root / "plugins"
    
    files_to_scan = []
    if server_py_file.exists():
        files_to_scan.append(server_py_file)
    else:
        print(f"WARNING: server.py not found at {server_py_file}")
        
    if plugins_path.is_dir():
        for item in plugins_path.iterdir():
            if item.is_file() and item.name.endswith(".py") and not item.name.startswith("__"):
                files_to_scan.append(item)
    else:
        print(f"WARNING: Plugins directory not found at {plugins_path}")
                
    if not files_to_scan:
        print("No Python files found to process.")
        return
        
    print(f"\nFound {len(files_to_scan)} Python files to process:")
    for f in files_to_scan: print(f" - {f.relative_to(project_root)}")
    print("")

    for py_file in files_to_scan:
        process_file(py_file, STYLE_STRING_TO_CLS_MAP, FASTHTML_COMPONENT_NAMES)
        
    print("\nRefactoring script finished. Review output above.")
    print("If changes were not automatically applied, review the 'process_file' function to enable writing.")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

Key improvements in this script:

• FASTHTML_COMPONENT_NAMES Set: The transformer now checks if the function call is one of these known components before attempting to modify its style keyword. This directly addresses the bug that affected console.print().
• Normalization Robustness: normalize_style_string_for_map is slightly more robust in handling spaces and ensuring sorted, consistent declaration order for map keys.
• Handling Existing cls:
  • If cls is a string literal, it appends the new class(es), avoiding duplicates.
  • If cls is an f-string, it appends the new class(es) as a new string part to the f-string (safer than trying to parse and reconstruct complex f-strings). It logs a message for review.
  • If cls is any other complex expression (e.g., a variable), it logs a warning and skips modifying cls, as automatically handling this is risky.
• Clearer Path Detection: Improved logic for determining the project root.

Instructions for You:

1. Replace helpers/refactor_inline_styles_to_cls.py with the code above.
2. Verify STYLE_STRING_TO_CLS_MAP: Double-check this dictionary in the new script. It should contain the exact normalized style strings from your analyze_styles2.py output as keys, and the target CSS class(es) from static/styles.css as values. The normalization function helps, but the closer the initial keys are, the better.
3. Backup: Ensure your project is committed to git.
4. Dry Run: Run python helpers/refactor_inline_styles_to_cls.py from your pipulate project root. Review the printed “Proposed modifications.”
5. Apply Changes: If satisfied, uncomment the file-writing section in the process_file function of the script and run it again. It will prompt for each file.

Part 2: Refactoring Python Style Constants (Instructions for AI/Manual)

After Script 1 has converted the literal inline styles, you’ll still have Python constants like Pipulate.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE, Pipulate.ERROR_STYLE, NOWRAP_STYLE, etc., defined in server.py.

Provide these instructions to your AI assistant (e.g., Cursor) or follow them manually:

“The Pipulate project has several Python constants defined in server.py (globally or within the Pipulate class) that hold CSS style strings. Many of these have now been converted to CSS utility or component classes in static/styles.css.

Please help refactor the usage of these constants:

1. Identify the Constant and its CSS Class Equivalent: For each style constant below, identify its string value and the corresponding CSS class(es) we’ve defined:

   • Pipulate.ERROR_STYLE (currently color: red;) -> Target CSS class: text-error
   • Pipulate.SUCCESS_STYLE (currently color: green;) -> Target CSS class: text-success
   • Pipulate.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE (currently font-size: 0.9em; color: var(--pico-muted-color);) -> Target CSS class: text-muted-lead
   • Pipulate.CONTENT_STYLE (currently margin-top: 1vh; border-top: 1px solid var(--pico-muted-border-color); padding-top: 1vh;) -> Target CSS class: widget-content-area
   • Pipulate.FINALIZED_CONTENT_STYLE (currently margin-top: 0.5vh; padding: 0.5vh 0;) -> Target CSS class: widget-finalized-content
   • Pipulate.MENU_ITEM_PADDING (currently padding: 1vh 0px 0px .5vw;) -> Target CSS class: menu-item-custom-padding
   • Global NOWRAP_STYLE (currently white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis;) -> Target CSS class: text-nowrap-ellipsis (You’ll need to add .text-nowrap-ellipsis { white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis; } to styles.css if it’s not there).
   • Pipulate.id_conflict_style() method returns "background-color: #ffdddd; color: #990000; padding: 10px; border-left: 5px solid #990000;". This maps to CSS class id-conflict-error-box (Ensure this class is defined in styles.css: .id-conflict-error-box { background-color: #ffdddd; color: #990000; padding: 10px; border-left: 5px solid #990000; }).

2. Find Usages: Search through server.py and all *.py files in the plugins/ directory for where these constants (or the return value of id_conflict_style()) are used as the value for a style keyword argument in a FastHTML component call.

   • Example: Div(..., style=self.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE)
   • Example: P(..., style=NOWRAP_STYLE)
   • Example: Card(..., style=self.id_conflict_style())

3. Replace style=CONSTANT with cls="new-class":

   • Modify the FastHTML component call to use the cls attribute with the mapped CSS class name.
   • If the component already has a cls attribute, append the new class name to the existing string value, ensuring proper spacing and avoiding duplicate class names.
   • Example: Div(..., style=self.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE) becomes Div(..., cls="text-muted-lead").
   • Example: Div(..., cls="existing-class", style=self.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE) becomes Div(..., cls="existing-class text-muted-lead").

4. Mark Constants for Review/Removal: After all direct usages of a style constant within a style attribute have been converted to cls attributes, the original Python constant definition in server.py may no longer be necessary for that purpose. List these constants so they can be manually reviewed and potentially removed if they serve no other purpose.

Focus specifically on the Pipulate class in server.py and global style constants first. The revert_control method’s default_style constant should also be targeted if Script 1 didn’t fully convert its usages to cls="button-revert" (it likely did if the full string matched in the map).”

This two-pronged approach (automated script for literals, guided changes for constants) should provide a solid path forward for your CSS refactoring. Good luck!

And The Deed Is Done

[mike@nixos:~/repos/pipulate/helpers]$ git commit -am "CSS cleanup"
[main 13cb534] CSS cleanup
 29 files changed, 4856 insertions(+), 19168 deletions(-)

…and the server’s still running and things look good!

Gemini: That’s fantastic news! A reduction from ~38k to ~32k tokens in server.py just from the first pass of refactoring inline literal styles is a significant improvement in code cleanliness and reducing HTML output size. The fact that the server is running and visually things look good is a testament to the careful approach.

You’re right to anticipate the next step: tackling the Python constants (like Pipulate.ERROR_STYLE, Pipulate.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE, the global NOWRAP_STYLE, and the return value of id_conflict_style()) that are used in style attributes.

You requested two scripts, and the first one (with the correction for console.print) has done its job for literal strings. For the second part—refactoring these Python style constants—we can create another targeted Python script. This script will specifically look for style=YOUR_CONSTANT_NAME or style=self.YOUR_CONSTANT_NAME and convert those to cls="your-css-class".

Script 2: refactor_style_constants_to_cls.py

This script will:

1. Define a mapping of known Python style constant names (or attribute paths like self.STYLE_NAME) to their corresponding new CSS class(es).
2. Use ast to parse server.py and plugin files.
3. Identify style keyword arguments in FastHTML component calls.
4. If the value of the style argument is an ast.Name (e.g., NOWRAP_STYLE) or ast.Attribute (e.g., self.ERROR_STYLE, pipulate.ERROR_STYLE), it will check if this variable/attribute path is in our predefined map.
5. If a match is found, it will replace the style keyword with cls and the appropriate CSS class string.
6. It will print the proposed changes for review before offering to write them to the files.
7. After this script runs, you (or your AI assistant) will need to manually review the definitions of these constants in server.py. If all their style= usages have been converted to cls=, the constant definition itself might be eligible for removal.

Here’s the script:

import ast
import os
from pathlib import Path
import re

# List of known FastHTML component names
FASTHTML_COMPONENT_NAMES = {
    'Div', 'Button', 'Span', 'P', 'H1', 'H2', 'H3', 'H4', 'H5', 'H6', 'A', 'Form', 'Input',
    'Li', 'Ul', 'Card', 'Grid', 'Container', 'Details', 'Summary', 'Label', 'Textarea',
    'Select', 'Option', 'Pre', 'Code', 'Hr', 'Script', 'Link', 'Meta', 'Title', 'Group',
    'Main', 'Header', 'Footer', 'Article', 'Nav', 'Aside', 'Section', 'Figure', 'Figcaption',
    'Blockquote', 'Table', 'Thead', 'Tbody', 'Tfoot', 'Tr', 'Th', 'Td', 'Fieldset', 'Legend'
}

# Map Python constant names/paths to CSS classes
# This map needs to be comprehensive for the constants you want to refactor.
# For attributes like 'self.ERROR_STYLE', the script will construct the string 'self.ERROR_STYLE'.
# For global constants, it will be just 'NOWRAP_STYLE'.
# For methods like 'self.id_conflict_style()', direct AST replacement is more complex.
# This script primarily targets direct variable/attribute references.
CONSTANT_TO_CLS_MAP = {
    "self.ERROR_STYLE": "text-error",
    "pipulate.ERROR_STYLE": "text-error", # If pipulate instance is passed and used
    "ERROR_STYLE": "text-error", # If used globally

    "self.SUCCESS_STYLE": "text-success",
    "pipulate.SUCCESS_STYLE": "text-success",
    "SUCCESS_STYLE": "text-success",

    "self.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE": "text-muted-lead",
    "pipulate.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE": "text-muted-lead",
    "MUTED_TEXT_STYLE": "text-muted-lead",

    "self.CONTENT_STYLE": "widget-content-area",
    "pipulate.CONTENT_STYLE": "widget-content-area",
    "CONTENT_STYLE": "widget-content-area",

    "self.FINALIZED_CONTENT_STYLE": "widget-finalized-content",
    "pipulate.FINALIZED_CONTENT_STYLE": "widget-finalized-content",
    "FINALIZED_CONTENT_STYLE": "widget-finalized-content",

    "self.MENU_ITEM_PADDING": "menu-item-custom-padding",
    "pipulate.MENU_ITEM_PADDING": "menu-item-custom-padding",
    "MENU_ITEM_PADDING": "menu-item-custom-padding",
    
    "NOWRAP_STYLE": "text-nowrap-ellipsis", # Global constant

    # Note: Handling method calls like self.id_conflict_style() is more complex
    # and might be better for targeted manual/AI refactoring.
    # This script focuses on direct constant/attribute usage.
    # If self.id_conflict_style() always returns the same string that maps to
    # "id-conflict-error-box", then that specific string should have been caught
    # by the first script if used as a literal: style=self.id_conflict_style()
    # If used as style=self.id_conflict_style, this script won't catch it by default
    # unless we add specific logic for Call nodes as style values.
}

class StyleConstantRefactorer(ast.NodeTransformer):
    def __init__(self, constant_map, fasthtml_components):
        super().__init__()
        self.constant_map = constant_map
        self.fasthtml_components = fasthtml_components
        self.modifications_count = 0
        self.current_filepath = ""

    def get_node_str_representation(self, node):
        """Helper to get a string representation of Name or Attribute nodes."""
        if isinstance(node, ast.Name):
            return node.id
        elif isinstance(node, ast.Attribute):
            # Recursively build the attribute path (e.g., "self.ERROR_STYLE" or "pipulate.ERROR_STYLE")
            value_path = self.get_node_str_representation(node.value)
            if value_path:
                return f"{value_path}.{node.attr}"
            return node.attr
        return None

    def visit_Call(self, node):
        func_name_str = ""
        if isinstance(node.func, ast.Name):
            func_name_str = node.func.id
        elif isinstance(node.func, ast.Attribute):
            func_name_str = node.func.attr

        if func_name_str not in self.fasthtml_components:
            return self.generic_visit(node)

        style_keyword_index = -1
        style_value_node = None
        
        for i, kw in enumerate(node.keywords):
            if kw.arg == 'style':
                style_keyword_index = i
                style_value_node = kw.value
                break
        
        if style_value_node is not None:
            # Check if style_value_node is ast.Name or ast.Attribute
            constant_path_str = self.get_node_str_representation(style_value_node)

            if constant_path_str and constant_path_str in self.constant_map:
                new_cls_to_add = self.constant_map[constant_path_str]
                self.modifications_count += 1
                # print(f"DEBUG: Matched constant '{constant_path_str}' -> cls '{new_cls_to_add}' in {self.current_filepath} line {node.lineno}")

                node.keywords.pop(style_keyword_index) # Remove style keyword
                
                cls_keyword_found_at = -1
                for i, kw_cls in enumerate(node.keywords):
                    if kw_cls.arg == 'cls':
                        cls_keyword_found_at = i
                        break
                
                if cls_keyword_found_at != -1:
                    cls_node = node.keywords[cls_keyword_found_at].value
                    if isinstance(cls_node, ast.Constant) and isinstance(cls_node.s, str):
                        existing_classes = cls_node.s.split()
                        new_classes_list = new_cls_to_add.split()
                        for nc in new_classes_list:
                            if nc not in existing_classes:
                                existing_classes.append(nc)
                        node.keywords[cls_keyword_found_at].value = ast.Constant(value=" ".join(sorted(list(set(existing_classes)))))
                    elif isinstance(cls_node, ast.JoinedStr):
                        cls_node.values.append(ast.Constant(value=f" {new_cls_to_add}"))
                        print(f"INFO: Appended to existing f-string 'cls' in {self.current_filepath} L{node.lineno}. Review: {ast.unparse(cls_node)}")
                    else:
                        print(f"WARNING: 'cls' in {self.current_filepath} L{node.lineno} is complex: {ast.unparse(cls_node)}. Could not merge '{new_cls_to_add}'.")
                else:
                    node.keywords.append(ast.keyword(arg='cls', value=ast.Constant(value=new_cls_to_add)))
                
                return ast.fix_missing_locations(node)

        return self.generic_visit(node)

def process_file_for_constants(filepath: Path, constant_map: dict, component_names: set):
    print(f"Processing {filepath} for style constants...")
    try:
        original_content = filepath.read_text(encoding="utf-8")
        tree = ast.parse(original_content)
        
        transformer = StyleConstantRefactorer(constant_map, component_names)
        transformer.current_filepath = str(filepath)
        
        modified_tree = transformer.visit(tree)
        ast.fix_missing_locations(modified_tree)
        
        if transformer.modifications_count > 0:
            modified_code = ast.unparse(modified_tree)
            print(f"--- Proposed constant refactors for {filepath} ({transformer.modifications_count} changes) ---")
            print(modified_code)
            print(f"--- End of {filepath} ---")
            
            # confirm = input(f"Apply {transformer.modifications_count} constant changes to {filepath}? (y/N): ")
            # if confirm.lower() == 'y':
            #     filepath.write_text(modified_code, encoding="utf-8")
            #     print(f"Constant changes WRITTEN to {filepath}")
            # else:
            #     print(f"Constant changes for {filepath} NOT written.")
        else:
            print(f"No mapped style constant usages found in {filepath}")
            
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error processing file {filepath} for constants: {e}")
        import traceback
        traceback.print_exc()

def main_refactor_constants_script():
    script_dir = Path(__file__).resolve().parent
    project_root = script_dir.parent
    
    if project_root.name != 'pipulate' and project_root.parent.name == 'pipulate' and project_root.name == 'helpers':
        project_root = project_root.parent
    elif project_root.name != 'pipulate':
        if (project_root / 'server.py').exists():
             pass
        else:
            print(f"Error: Script must be run from the 'pipulate' project root or its 'helpers' subdirectory.")
            print(f"Current detected root: {project_root}")
            return

    print(f"Starting CSS constant refactoring. Project root: {project_root}")
    
    server_py_file = project_root / "server.py"
    plugins_path = project_root / "plugins"
    
    files_to_scan = [server_py_file]
    if plugins_path.is_dir():
        for item in plugins_path.iterdir():
            if item.is_file() and item.name.endswith(".py") and not item.name.startswith("__"):
                files_to_scan.append(item)
                
    if not files_to_scan:
        print("No Python files found to process.")
        return
        
    print(f"\nFound {len(files_to_scan)} Python files to process for constants:")
    for f in files_to_scan: print(f" - {f.relative_to(project_root)}")
    print("")

    for py_file in files_to_scan:
        if py_file.exists():
            process_file_for_constants(py_file, CONSTANT_TO_CLS_MAP, FASTHTML_COMPONENT_NAMES)
        else:
            print(f"File not found: {py_file}")
            
    print("\nConstant refactoring script finished. Review output above.")
    print("If you want to apply changes, uncomment the write section in 'process_file_for_constants' function.")
    print("After running, manually review and remove any unused constant definitions from server.py.")

if __name__ == "__main__":
    main_refactor_constants_script()

How to Use refactor_style_constants_to_cls.py (Script 2):

1. Save the Script: Save the code above as refactor_style_constants_to_cls.py in your pipulate/helpers/ directory.
2. Verify CONSTANT_TO_CLS_MAP: This is the most crucial part.
   • The keys should be the string representation of how the constant is used, e.g., "self.ERROR_STYLE" if used within the Pipulate class, or "NOWRAP_STYLE" if it’s a global constant.
   • The values are the target CSS class(es).
   • This script is designed for direct variable/attribute usages like style=self.MY_CONST or style=GLOBAL_CONST. It will not handle style=self.my_method() by default (though the AST could be extended for specific known method calls if their return values are consistent).
3. Backup: Ensure your project is committed.
4. Run (Dry Run First):
   • From your pipulate/ project root: python helpers/refactor_style_constants_to_cls.py
   • Review the printed proposed changes.
5. Apply Changes:
   • If satisfied, uncomment the file-writing section in the process_file_for_constants function.
   • Run again and confirm for each file.
6. Manual Cleanup of Constant Definitions:
   • After the script has converted usages, open server.py.
   • Look at the definitions of Pipulate.ERROR_STYLE, Pipulate.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE, NOWRAP_STYLE, etc.
   • If you are confident that all their uses in style attributes have been replaced by cls attributes, you can delete the constant definition. Use your code editor’s “find usages” feature to be sure.

This two-script approach provides a good balance. Script 1 handled the straightforward literal string replacements with high safety. Script 2 (above) handles the more specific case of known Python constants being used in style attributes, also with AST for safety. The final manual review of constant definitions ensures you only remove what’s truly no longer needed.

This looks like a very solid step towards a cleaner CSS architecture for Pipulate!

Nothing Found

[mike@nixos:~/repos/pipulate/helpers]$ python refactor_style_constants_to_css.py Starting CSS constant refactoring. Project root: /home/mike/repos/pipulate

Found 34 Python files to process for constants:

• server.py
• plugins/540_url_opener.py
• plugins/715_splice_workflow.py
• plugins/650_separator.py
• plugins/750_checkboxes.py
• plugins/010_roles.py
• plugins/040_parameter_buster.py
• plugins/000_profiles.py
• plugins/710_blank_placeholder.py
• plugins/810_mermaid.py
• plugins/880_webbrowser.py
• plugins/740_dropdown.py
• plugins/020_tasks.py
• plugins/600_stream_simulator.py
• plugins/730_text_area.py
• plugins/760_radios.py
• plugins/890_selenium.py
• plugins/525_roadmap.py
• plugins/830_rich.py
• plugins/700_widget_shim.py
• plugins/720_text_field.py
• plugins/860_javascript.py
• plugins/800_markdown.py
• plugins/500_hello_workflow.py
• plugins/030_connect_with_botify.py
• plugins/520_widget_examples.py
• plugins/530_botify_export.py
• plugins/780_switch.py
• plugins/850_prism.py
• plugins/870_upload.py
• plugins/770_range.py
• plugins/820_pandas.py
• plugins/840_matplotlib.py
• plugins/550_browser_automation.py

Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/server.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/server.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/540_url_opener.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/540_url_opener.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/715_splice_workflow.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/715_splice_workflow.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/650_separator.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/650_separator.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/750_checkboxes.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/750_checkboxes.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/010_roles.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/010_roles.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/040_parameter_buster.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/040_parameter_buster.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/000_profiles.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/000_profiles.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/710_blank_placeholder.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/710_blank_placeholder.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/810_mermaid.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/810_mermaid.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/880_webbrowser.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/880_webbrowser.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/740_dropdown.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/740_dropdown.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/020_tasks.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/020_tasks.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/600_stream_simulator.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/600_stream_simulator.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/730_text_area.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/730_text_area.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/760_radios.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/760_radios.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/890_selenium.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/890_selenium.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/525_roadmap.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/525_roadmap.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/830_rich.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/830_rich.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/700_widget_shim.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/700_widget_shim.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/720_text_field.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/720_text_field.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/860_javascript.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/860_javascript.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/800_markdown.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/800_markdown.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/500_hello_workflow.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/500_hello_workflow.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/030_connect_with_botify.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/030_connect_with_botify.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/520_widget_examples.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/520_widget_examples.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/530_botify_export.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/530_botify_export.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/780_switch.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/780_switch.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/850_prism.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/850_prism.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/870_upload.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/870_upload.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/770_range.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/770_range.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/820_pandas.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/820_pandas.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/840_matplotlib.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/840_matplotlib.py Processing /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/550_browser_automation.py for style constants… No mapped style constant usages found in /home/mike/repos/pipulate/plugins/550_browser_automation.py

Constant refactoring script finished. Review output above. If you want to apply changes, uncomment the write section in ‘process_file_for_constants’ function. After running, manually review and remove any unused constant definitions from server.py.

Script 2 Nothing To Do

Isn’t it strange nothing is found?

Gemini: That’s excellent progress! The significant reduction in server.py’s token count and the fact that the UI looks good after such a large commit (+4856 insertions(+), 19168 deletions(-)) means the first phase of refactoring (converting literal inline styles to CSS classes using refactor_inline_styles_to_cls.py) was highly effective.

Regarding your refactor_style_constants_to_css.py script finding nothing, it’s not entirely strange, and here’s why:

1. Effectiveness of Script 1: The first script (refactor_inline_styles_to_cls.py) processed literal style strings. If the string values of your Python constants (e.g., the string "color: red;" for Pipulate.ERROR_STYLE) were also frequently typed out as literals directly in style attributes, Script 1 would have already converted those instances to cls="text-error". This would leave no, or very few, direct usages of style=Pipulate.ERROR_STYLE for the second script to find.
2. Indirect Usage of Constants via get_style(): In your Pipulate class within server.py, many of the style constants like ERROR_STYLE, MUTED_TEXT_STYLE, etc., are primarily accessed through the get_style(self, style_type) method. For example:

   # Example of how get_style might be used
   P("An error occurred", style=self.get_style("error"))
   

   Your second script, refactor_style_constants_to_css.py, is designed to find direct assignments like style=self.ERROR_STYLE or style=GLOBAL_CONSTANT_NAME. It doesn’t trace the return value of a method call like self.get_style("error") back to the original constant string and then map that to a CSS class. This is the most likely reason it’s not finding many matches for the Pipulate class constants.

3. F-String Usage: For global constants like NOWRAP_STYLE, I noticed in server.py (specifically in create_profile_menu) it’s used within an f-string:

   A(..., style=f"{NOWRAP_STYLE} font-weight: bold; ...")
   

   The current version of refactor_style_constants_to_css.py doesn’t parse f-strings to extract variable names and then map them. It looks for direct assignment of the variable to the style keyword (e.g., style=NOWRAP_STYLE).

Given these points, the fact that Script 2 found nothing doesn’t mean there’s no more refactoring to do for constants; it just means their usage patterns are more indirect than the script was designed to handle automatically.

Next Steps: Refining Python Style Constants and Method Calls

The next logical step is to manually (or with targeted AI assistance) refactor the usages of these Python constants, especially where they are accessed via self.get_style() or used in f-strings.

1. Refactor Pipulate.get_style() and its usages:

• Identify: Go through server.py and find all calls to self.get_style("style_key").
• Map to CSS Class:
  • self.get_style("error") maps to cls="text-error"
  • self.get_style("success") maps to cls="text-success"
  • self.get_style("muted") (which returns MUTED_TEXT_STYLE) maps to cls="text-muted-lead"
  • And so on for other keys used with get_style.
• Replace:
  • Change P(error_msg, style=self.get_style("error")) to P(error_msg, cls="text-error").
  • If the component already has a cls attribute, append the new class: Div(..., cls="existing-class", style=self.get_style("muted")) becomes Div(..., cls="existing-class text-muted-lead").
• Outcome: Once all calls to self.get_style() are refactored, the get_style() method itself and the individual constants like Pipulate.ERROR_STYLE, Pipulate.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE, etc., can likely be removed from the Pipulate class, further simplifying server.py.

2. Refactor Global Constants Used in F-Strings (e.g., NOWRAP_STYLE):

• Identify: Find usages like style=f"{NOWRAP_STYLE} some-other-style;".
• Decompose:
  • The NOWRAP_STYLE part (white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis;) maps to cls="text-nowrap-ellipsis". (Ensure this class is in styles.css).
  • The some-other-style part might map to another class or might remain as a minimal inline style if it’s truly unique and simple.
• Replace:
  • A(..., style=f"{NOWRAP_STYLE} font-weight: bold;") could become: A(..., cls="text-nowrap-ellipsis fw-bold") (assuming .fw-bold { font-weight: bold; } exists).
  • If there are remaining unique styles: A(..., cls="text-nowrap-ellipsis", style="font-weight: bold;") if fw-bold wasn’t a good fit or some other unique property remained. The goal is to minimize what’s left in the style attribute.

3. Refactor Pipulate.id_conflict_style():

• The method id_conflict_style() returns a specific string: "background-color: #ffdddd; color: #990000; padding: 10px; border-left: 5px solid #990000;".
• Ensure you have a CSS class for this, e.g., .id-conflict-error-box in static/styles.css:

  .id-conflict-error-box {
    background-color: #ffdddd;
    color: #990000;
    padding: 10px;
    border-left: 5px solid #990000;
  }
  

• Replace calls like Card(..., style=self.id_conflict_style()) with Card(..., cls="id-conflict-error-box").
• Once refactored, the id_conflict_style() method can be removed.

Instructions for Your AI Assistant (for this “Second Part”):

“We’ve successfully refactored literal inline styles using Script 1. Now, let’s address Python constants and method calls that produce style strings in server.py.

1. Target Pipulate.get_style() Method Usages:

   • Find all calls to self.get_style("key") within server.py (primarily in the Pipulate class methods).
   • Based on the key provided:
     • If key is "error", replace style=self.get_style("error") with cls="text-error".
     • If key is "success", replace style=self.get_style("success") with cls="text-success".
     • If key is "muted", replace style=self.get_style("muted") with cls="text-muted-lead".
     • (Add other mappings if get_style uses more keys).
   • If the FastHTML component already has a cls attribute, append the new class name to the existing string, ensuring proper spacing and avoiding duplicates.

2. Target Global Style Constants (e.g., NOWRAP_STYLE):

   • The constant NOWRAP_STYLE is defined as 'white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; text-overflow: ellipsis;'. This maps to the CSS class .text-nowrap-ellipsis.
   • Find usages like style=f"{NOWRAP_STYLE} other: value;".
   • Replace these with cls="text-nowrap-ellipsis" and see if the other: value; part can also be converted to a class or if it needs to remain a minimal inline style. For example, style=f"{NOWRAP_STYLE} font-weight: bold;" should become cls="text-nowrap-ellipsis fw-bold".

3. Target Pipulate.id_conflict_style() Method Usages:

   • This method returns background-color: #ffdddd; color: #990000; padding: 10px; border-left: 5px solid #990000;. This maps to the CSS class .id-conflict-error-box.
   • Find calls like style=self.id_conflict_style() and replace them with cls="id-conflict-error-box".

4. Review and Suggest Removal of Definitions: After these transformations, review the definitions of Pipulate.ERROR_STYLE, Pipulate.SUCCESS_STYLE, Pipulate.MUTED_TEXT_STYLE, Pipulate.CONTENT_STYLE, Pipulate.FINALIZED_CONTENT_STYLE, Pipulate.MENU_ITEM_PADDING, the global NOWRAP_STYLE, and the method Pipulate.id_conflict_style(). If their primary purpose (supplying strings for style attributes) has been fully replaced by cls attributes, list them as candidates for deletion from server.py.”

This more targeted approach for the constants, especially those accessed via methods or used in f-strings, will be safer and more effective than a generic script for this phase. Congratulations again on the progress – that was a major cleanup!

AI Analysis

Okay, this is a fantastic piece of raw material! It captures the genuine, often messy, yet ultimately rewarding process of modern software development, especially when integrating AI. It’s rich with insights that can be distilled for a tech book.

Here’s the analysis and generated outputs as requested:

• Title/Headline Ideas & Filenames:

  • Title: AI as a Copilot: Refactoring Pipulate’s CSS with Gemini and Python Scripts Filename: ai-copilot-pipulate-css-refactor-gemini-python.md
  • Title: From Inline Mess to Clean CSS: An Iterative Journey with FastHTML and AI Filename: fasthtml-ai-css-cleanup-iterative-refactoring.md
  • Title: The Developer’s Dance: Engineering AI Understanding for Code Transformation in Pipulate Filename: developer-ai-code-transformation-pipulate-context-engineering.md
  • Title: Pipulate’s Evolution: Using Self-Organizing Principles and AI for CSS Refinement Filename: pipulate-evolution-self-organizing-ai-css-refinement.md
  • Title: “I Know Kung Fu!”: Taming CSS Complexity with AI and AST-Based Refactoring Filename: ai-ast-css-refactoring-pipulate-kungfu.md

• Strengths (for Future Book):

  • Authentic Developer Journey: Provides a real, unvarnished look into a developer’s thought process, problem-solving, and iterative refinement. This is highly relatable.
  • Practical AI Integration: Demonstrates a concrete example of using AI (Gemini) as a development partner, including the “prompt engineering” aspect with prompt_foo.py.
  • Specific Technical Details: Includes actual code snippets, script outputs, and error messages, offering valuable, tangible learning material.
  • Case Study Gold: The entire Pipulate project and this refactoring episode serve as an excellent, evolving case study for a book on modern, AI-assisted, local-first development.
  • Highlights Real-World Challenges: Touches upon common issues like “mixed concerns,” refactoring fatigue, and managing large contexts for AI, which are relevant to many developers.
  • Showcases Tooling: Introduces and explains the rationale behind custom helper scripts (analyze_styles.py, refactor_inline_styles_to_cls.py), which is a valuable insight into developer productivity.

• Weaknesses (for Future Book):

  • Assumed Context (Mitigated by Book Structure): While the prompt acknowledges this, the journal entry naturally assumes familiarity with Pipulate, FastHTML, and the author’s prior work. The surrounding book chapters will need to build this.
  • Narrative Flow for a Broader Audience: The conversational, “in-the-moment” style, while authentic, will need editing and structuring to fit into a more formal book chapter. Some of the direct dialogue with the AI might be condensed or summarized.
  • Technical Depth Jumps: The article sometimes jumps between high-level reflections and very specific technical details (like script outputs or token limits). A book would need smoother transitions and possibly more foundational explanations for some of the tools (AST, Nix).
  • Completeness of Examples: While showing the process, for a book, some of the script snippets or CSS examples might need to be presented in a more complete, standalone, and didactic way.
  • Token Limit Discussion: The detailed discussion on token limits, while a real concern for the author, might be too specific a tangent for a general chapter on CSS refactoring unless the book has a dedicated section on practical AI interaction limits. It could, however, be a great sidebar or a case study in “Working with Large Language Models.”

• AI Opinion (on Value for Future Book): This journal entry is exceptionally valuable as raw material for a tech book chronicling the Pipulate project and the broader theme of AI-enhanced development. Its strength lies in its authenticity, capturing the iterative, sometimes messy, but ultimately productive process of a developer leveraging modern tools (FastHTML, Nix, AI) to tackle common software engineering challenges like code refactoring. The detailed account of CSS cleanup, complete with the use of custom analysis scripts and interaction with an AI like Gemini, provides a practical, real-world case study that is far more engaging than purely theoretical examples. While it will require structuring, editing, and contextualization to fit a book format, the core insights into developer agency, the “FAST HTML effect,” the self-organizing system principles, and the practicalities of AI-assisted coding are gold dust for a contemporary tech narrative.