Nuxt UI v4 Expertise

Activation Triggers

• Creating Vue components with UI elements
• Working with buttons, cards, modals, forms
• Implementing navigation, dropdowns, tooltips
• Building responsive layouts
• Adding loading states or skeletons

Component Reference

Buttons (UButton)

<!-- Variants -->
<UButton>Default (solid)</UButton>
<UButton variant="outline">Outline</UButton>
<UButton variant="soft">Soft</UButton>
<UButton variant="ghost">Ghost</UButton>
<UButton variant="link">Link</UButton>

<!-- Colors -->
<UButton color="primary">Primary</UButton>
<UButton color="secondary">Secondary</UButton>
<UButton color="success">Success</UButton>
<UButton color="warning">Warning</UButton>
<UButton color="error">Error</UButton>

<!-- Sizes -->
<UButton size="xs">Extra Small</UButton>
<UButton size="sm">Small</UButton>
<UButton size="md">Medium (default)</UButton>
<UButton size="lg">Large</UButton>
<UButton size="xl">Extra Large</UButton>

<!-- With Icons -->
<UButton icon="i-heroicons-arrow-right" trailing>Next</UButton>
<UButton icon="i-heroicons-check" leading>Complete</UButton>

<!-- Loading State -->
<UButton :loading="isLoading">Submit</UButton>

<!-- Disabled -->
<UButton disabled>Disabled</UButton>

Cards (UCard)

<UCard>
  <template #header>
    <h3 class="text-lg font-semibold">Card Title</h3>
  </template>
  
  <p>Card content goes here.</p>
  
  <template #footer>
    <UButton>Action</UButton>
  </template>
</UCard>

<!-- Variants -->
<UCard variant="outline">Outline card</UCard>
<UCard variant="soft">Soft background</UCard>

Badges (UBadge)

<UBadge>Default</UBadge>
<UBadge color="success">Completed</UBadge>
<UBadge color="warning">In Progress</UBadge>
<UBadge color="error">Failed</UBadge>

<!-- Variants -->
<UBadge variant="solid">Solid</UBadge>
<UBadge variant="outline">Outline</UBadge>
<UBadge variant="soft">Soft</UBadge>

Progress (UProgress)

<!-- Basic -->
<UProgress :value="75" />

<!-- With Label -->
<UProgress :value="75" :max="100">
  <template #indicator="{ percent }">
    {{ percent }}%
  </template>
</UProgress>

<!-- Colors -->
<UProgress :value="75" color="success" />
<UProgress :value="30" color="warning" />

Accordion (UAccordion)

<UAccordion :items="items" />

<script setup>
const items = [
  {
    label: 'Phase 1: SDLC',
    icon: 'i-heroicons-academic-cap',
    content: 'Learn Software Development Life Cycle...',
    defaultOpen: true
  },
  {
    label: 'Phase 2: Foundations',
    icon: 'i-heroicons-command-line',
    content: 'Master Linux, Git, and networking basics...'
  }
]
</script>

Modal (UModal)

<UButton @click="isOpen = true">Open Modal</UButton>

<UModal v-model:open="isOpen">
  <template #header>
    <h3>Modal Title</h3>
  </template>
  
  <p>Modal content here.</p>
  
  <template #footer>
    <UButton variant="outline" @click="isOpen = false">Cancel</UButton>
    <UButton @click="handleConfirm">Confirm</UButton>
  </template>
</UModal>

Checkbox & Radio

<!-- Checkbox -->
<UCheckbox v-model="isChecked" label="Mark as complete" />

<!-- Radio Group -->
<URadioGroup v-model="selected" :items="options" />

<script setup>
const options = [
  { label: 'Option A', value: 'a' },
  { label: 'Option B', value: 'b' },
  { label: 'Option C', value: 'c' }
]
</script>

Skeleton (Loading States)

<!-- Text skeleton -->
<USkeleton class="h-4 w-32" />

<!-- Multiple lines -->
<div class="space-y-2">
  <USkeleton class="h-4 w-full" />
  <USkeleton class="h-4 w-3/4" />
  <USkeleton class="h-4 w-1/2" />
</div>

<!-- Card skeleton -->
<UCard>
  <USkeleton class="h-48 w-full rounded-lg" />
  <div class="mt-4 space-y-2">
    <USkeleton class="h-4 w-3/4" />
    <USkeleton class="h-4 w-1/2" />
  </div>
</UCard>

Tooltip

<UTooltip text="This is a helpful tip">
  <UButton>Hover me</UButton>
</UTooltip>

Dropdown Menu

<UDropdownMenu :items="menuItems">
  <UButton icon="i-heroicons-ellipsis-vertical" variant="ghost" />
</UDropdownMenu>

<script setup>
const menuItems = [
  [
    { label: 'Edit', icon: 'i-heroicons-pencil' },
    { label: 'Duplicate', icon: 'i-heroicons-document-duplicate' }
  ],
  [
    { label: 'Delete', icon: 'i-heroicons-trash', color: 'error' }
  ]
]
</script>

Breadcrumb

<UBreadcrumb :items="breadcrumbs" />

<script setup>
const breadcrumbs = [
  { label: 'Home', to: '/' },
  { label: 'Phase 1', to: '/phase-1-sdlc' },
  { label: 'SDLC Models', to: '/phase-1-sdlc/sdlc-models' },
  { label: 'Waterfall Model' }
]
</script>

Navigation Menu

<UNavigationMenu :items="navItems" />

<script setup>
const navItems = [
  {
    label: 'Phases',
    children: [
      { label: 'Phase 1: SDLC', to: '/phase-1-sdlc' },
      { label: 'Phase 2: Foundations', to: '/phase-2-foundations' }
    ]
  }
]
</script>

Icons

Nuxt UI uses Heroicons by default. Use the i-heroicons-* prefix:

<!-- Outline (default) -->
<UIcon name="i-heroicons-check" />
<UIcon name="i-heroicons-x-mark" />
<UIcon name="i-heroicons-arrow-right" />
<UIcon name="i-heroicons-academic-cap" />

<!-- Solid -->
<UIcon name="i-heroicons-check-solid" />

<!-- Common icons for LMS -->
i-heroicons-academic-cap      <!-- Learning/education -->
i-heroicons-book-open         <!-- Lessons -->
i-heroicons-check-circle      <!-- Completed -->
i-heroicons-play-circle       <!-- Start/continue -->
i-heroicons-clock             <!-- Duration -->
i-heroicons-chart-bar         <!-- Progress -->
i-heroicons-trophy            <!-- Achievement -->
i-heroicons-document-text     <!-- Content -->
i-heroicons-question-mark-circle  <!-- Quiz -->

Theme Configuration

// app.config.ts
export default defineAppConfig({
  ui: {
    colors: {
      primary: 'indigo',
      secondary: 'slate',
      success: 'green',
      warning: 'amber',
      error: 'red'
    }
  }
})

Common Patterns

Card with Progress

<UCard>
  <div class="flex items-center justify-between mb-4">
    <h3 class="font-semibold">Phase 1: SDLC</h3>
    <UBadge color="success">4/5 Complete</UBadge>
  </div>
  <UProgress :value="80" color="success" class="mb-4" />
  <UButton block>Continue Learning</UButton>
</UCard>

Empty State

<div class="text-center py-12">
  <UIcon name="i-heroicons-document-text" class="w-12 h-12 mx-auto text-gray-400" />
  <h3 class="mt-4 text-lg font-medium">No lessons yet</h3>
  <p class="mt-2 text-gray-400">Start by selecting a topic from the sidebar.</p>
  <UButton class="mt-4">Browse Topics</UButton>
</div>

Loading Card

<UCard v-if="loading">
  <USkeleton class="h-6 w-1/2 mb-4" />
  <USkeleton class="h-4 w-full mb-2" />
  <USkeleton class="h-4 w-3/4" />
</UCard>
<UCard v-else>
  <!-- Actual content -->
</UCard>

Best Practices

1. Always use Nuxt UI components instead of raw HTML for consistency
2. Use the color prop instead of custom Tailwind colors
3. Provide loading states with USkeleton for async content
4. Use icons consistently from Heroicons set
5. Leverage slots (header, footer, default) for flexible layouts
6. Add cursor-pointer class to custom clickable elements (UButton handles this automatically)