references/angular.md

Angular Extraction Patterns

Angular projects use a structured, convention-heavy approach to styling. Design systems often live in SCSS/CSS files with clear separation between global themes and component-scoped styles.

File Discovery Order

1. angular.json — Lists global style files under projects.*.architect.build.options.styles. These are the entry-point CSS/SCSS files.

2. src/styles.scss / src/styles.css — Global stylesheet. CSS custom properties, font imports, and base styles live here.

3. src/theme.scss / src/theme/ — Explicit theme directory. Custom Material/component palettes.

4. Tailwind Config (tailwind.config.js or Tailwind v4 @theme {}) — For Tailwind v3, read tailwind.config.js. For Tailwind v4, inspect @theme {} blocks, @custom-variant, and @plugin 'tailwindcss-primeui' in your global CSS/SCSS (e.g. src/styles.css or src/assets/tailwind.css) for CSS custom property tokens (--color-*, --font-*, --text-*, --breakpoint-*).

5. src/app/app.component.scss — Root component styles, reveals global layout patterns.

6. Component .scss / .css files — Co-located styles (ViewEncapsulation scoped by default).

7. External Template .html files (src/app/**/*.component.html) — Essential for Angular 17+ standalone components using Tailwind CSS utility classes (bg-*, text-*, p-*, rounded-*) or structural class bindings ([ngClass], [class.*]). Always inspect .html templates when styling uses utility classes.

Angular Material Theme Extraction

Angular Material is the most common component library. Themes are SCSS-based:

// src/theme.scss
@use '@angular/material' as mat;

$primary-palette: mat.m2-define-palette(mat.$m2-teal-palette, 800);
$accent-palette: mat.m2-define-palette(mat.$m2-blue-grey-palette);
$warn-palette: mat.m2-define-palette(mat.$m2-red-palette);

$theme: mat.m2-define-light-theme((
  color: (
    primary: $primary-palette,
    accent: $accent-palette,
    warn: $warn-palette,
  ),
  typography: mat.m2-define-typography-config(
    $font-family: 'Manrope, sans-serif',
    $headline-1: mat.m2-define-typography-level(3.5rem, 4rem, 600),
    $headline-5: mat.m2-define-typography-level(1.5rem, 2rem, 500),
    $body-1: mat.m2-define-typography-level(1rem, 1.7, 400),
  ),
));

@include mat.all-component-themes($theme);

What to extract:

• Palette choices → map to functional color roles
• Typography config → maps directly to the hierarchy section
• Light vs dark theme → atmosphere

For Angular Material 3 (MDC-based), look for mat.define-theme() using the new token system with --mat-* CSS custom properties.

SCSS Variable Patterns

Many Angular projects use SCSS variables for tokens:

// _variables.scss
$color-primary: #294056;
$color-background: #FCFAFA;
$color-surface: #F5F5F5;
$color-text: #2C2C2C;

$font-heading: 'Manrope', sans-serif;
$font-body: 'Inter', sans-serif;

$radius-button: 8px;
$radius-card: 12px;

$breakpoint-mobile: 768px;
$breakpoint-desktop: 1024px;

$spacing-section: 5rem;
$spacing-component: 2rem;

These are explicit design tokens. Map them directly.

ViewEncapsulation and Scoped Styles

Angular scopes styles by default (similar to Vue's scoped). When scanning component styles:

• Look for :host selectors — these style the component's root element
• ::ng-deep (deprecated but still used) — styles that pierce encapsulation
• Repeated values across components indicate design system conventions

PrimeNG / Nebular / NG-ZORRO

If component libraries are used:

• PrimeNG (v17/v18/v19+): Look for modern theme configuration in src/app.config.ts (e.g., providePrimeNG({ theme: { preset: Aura, options: { darkModeSelector: '.app-dark' } } })). Check for Tailwind v4 integration via @plugin 'tailwindcss-primeui' in CSS assets. Inspect CSS custom properties defined by PrimeNG tokens (--primary-color, --surface-*).
• Nebular: nb-theme() in styles.scss with custom theme object.
• NG-ZORRO (Ant Design for Angular): ng-zorro-antd.less variables or custom theme config in angular.json.

Modern Angular (v17 - v19) Standalone Components & Control Flow

In modern Angular repositories:

• Standalone Components (@Component({ standalone: true })): Components import their own dependencies directly without NgModules. Inspect templateUrl and styleUrl(s) in component metadata to locate the template and style files.
• Control Flow (@if, @for, @switch): Notice how conditional layouts and lists are structured in .html templates when analyzing component density and spacing rules.
• Signals & Zoneless (signal(), input(), computed(), provideZonelessChangeDetection()): Dynamic styling or theme toggling is often driven by signals bound to [class.dark] or custom CSS classes in templates. Notice app.config.ts for app-wide providers.

Responsive Patterns

Check for:

• @media queries in styles.scss and component styles
• Angular CDK BreakpointObserver usage in components
• Tailwind responsive prefixes if Tailwind is configured
• Angular Flex-Layout directives (fxLayout, fxFlex) in templates