Divi 5 CSS Patterns

Divi 5 CSS Development Patterns

Overview

Divi 5 (released February 26, 2026, current version 5.11.0 as of August 15, 2026 — weekly release cadence) is a complete architecture overhaul:

• React 18-based Visual Builder — no Shadow DOM, standard DOM with et_pb_* classes
• Flexbox-first layout — sections, rows, columns use Flexbox by default
• Native CSS Grid support — convertible from Flexbox in builder; 5.6 added full CSS track values (grid-auto-columns, grid-auto-rows); 5.9 added a visual CSS Grid Editor
• Design Variable Manager — 7 variable types (Colors, Fonts, Numbers, Images, Text, Links, and Gradients from 5.7)
• Preset System — Option Group, Element, Stacked, and Nested presets. 5.3 added Nested Option Presets (presets within presets, e.g., CTA > Button > Border)
• Block-based storage — JSON format, no shortcodes
• 7 responsive breakpoints — 3 active by default, 4 optional
• Dynamic CSS — 94% smaller stylesheets, per-page CSS generation. Per-module components combine into a unique per-page stylesheet.
• Critical CSS + Inline Stylesheets — auto-extracted above-the-fold CSS inlined; non-critical deferred. Together they eliminate render-blocking CSS.
• Composable Settings (5.2) — toggle any design option on any sub-element, reducing CSS needs
• Canvas System — local/global canvases for off-canvas menus, popups, staging areas
• Canvas Portal Module — inject canvas content at specific layout locations
• Interaction Builder — cross-canvas interactions with Click, Mouse, Viewport, Load triggers
• Loop Builder — native repeating content loops with CSS Grid for dynamic layouts
• Page Manager — create/edit/duplicate/delete pages without leaving the builder
• Divi AI Agent — AI tool sets integrated into the builder (5.2; 5.5 added canvas AI tools for natural-language workflows)

Divi 5.3 – 5.11 Additions (Use Builder First)

The skill auto-activates for any Divi CSS task, but many things that previously required custom CSS now have native equivalents. Reach for these first:

5.3 (April 24, 2026) — Form overhaul

• Pseudo-class editing modes: design tabs now expose :checked, :focus, :active directly. Style field focus rings, checked checkboxes, and active states in the builder — no custom CSS for these.
• Harmonized field options across all form-based modules (Contact Form, Email Optin, Login, Signup).
• New checkbox and radio field groups with preset support — style once, apply across forms.
• Contact Form 7 Styler module — renders + styles CF7 inside Divi with full design controls. Use this instead of writing CF7 CSS manually.
• Nested Option Presets — presets within presets. Common sub-options (e.g., Call To Action > Button > Border) now support presets.

5.4 — Variable Generators

• Sizing Variable Generator — automates fluid responsive sizing via clamp(). Use this instead of hand-writing clamp() for every type scale.
• Relative Colorscheme Generator — HSL-based color systems. Generates derivative shades from a single base color.

5.5 (May 12, 2026) — Image overhaul

• Aspect Ratio settings on every image element — eliminates CLS by reserving space before the image loads. Always set this on image modules.
• Framing settings — reposition cropped images within their aspect ratio (object-fit + object-position via builder).
• Image Presets — preset support across all modules with images.
• SVG sanitization for inline SVG (paves way for 5.6 SVG module).
• Composable settings for image option groups — set image-specific options on any module containing an image.

5.6 (May 25, 2026) — Five new modules

• Timeline — vertical/horizontal event chronologies. Pairs with Loop Builder.
• Breadcrumbs — navigation hierarchy. Great for Theme Builder templates. (Note: Home Link uses dedicated Home Link settings, NOT the general breadcrumb link styling.)
• SVG — inline SVG with native stroke and width settings.
• Table of Contents — auto-generates from page headings.
• Instagram Feed — image gallery sourced from Instagram.
• Color Scale Generator — systematic color derivative creation.
• Color Harmony Generator — tetradic, triadic, analogous color relationships.
• Fixed: decimal values in Section Divider Horizontal Repeat (0.6x); grid track values beyond single numerics; global number/font variables on frontend; responsive padding on columns with child modules.

5.7 (June 10, 2026) — Gradient overhaul + text effects

• New gradient picker panel consolidating all gradient options.
• Gradient Variables — a 7th Design Variable type. Define gradients once, reuse site-wide. Use these instead of hand-writing linear-gradient() in multiple places.
• Gradient and image text fills — gradients can now fill and stroke text; images can fill typography. No more background-clip: text custom CSS for most cases.
• Text-stroke controls in the builder.
• "Convert to variable" option in right-click field menus; inherited variables display at reduced opacity.

5.8 (June 20, 2026) — Workspaces + Tooltip module

• Customizable Workspaces — save personalized Visual Builder configurations (panel layouts, docking, tabbed groups, color schemes, light/dark modes).
• Tooltip module — native tooltips with full design controls. Use instead of custom ::after-based tooltip CSS.
• Fixed: false CSS linter errors on nested selectors without & in Free-Form CSS fields; cache bugs that made styles disappear intermittently.

5.9 (July 13, 2026) — Variable Fonts + CSS Grid Editor

• Variable Fonts — latest Google Fonts collection with variable-font axis controls (weight, width, slant, optical size).
• New typography options — drop caps, text-stroke, spacing controls, text direction, text columns, capitalization, hyphenation. Magazine-style layouts without custom CSS.
• CSS Grid Editor — visual interface for advanced grid layouts. Supports full start/end/span offset rules and number variables in the grid offset editor. Grid Editor layouts stay inside their container and work with the Loop Builder. Use this before writing grid-template-* custom CSS.

5.10 (August 11, 2026) — Loop Filters

• Post Filter + Post Filter Item modules — front-end searching, filtering, and reordering of Loop Builder results. Build filter forms that query post content, taxonomies, and custom fields; filter state lives in bookmarkable URL parameters.
• Row-granular below-the-fold lazy loading and deferred local MP4/WebM videos (load on scroll into view).
• Fixed: fluid breakpoint sizing in the Visual Builder (desktop 1025px, tablet-wide 981px, tablet 861px, phone-wide 768px preview widths); custom class/style attributes now merge instead of dropping duplicates; Theme Builder custom CSS on search results pages.

5.11 (August 15, 2026) — Four new modules

• Charts — interactive charts in nine formats with a tabular data editor.
• Gravity Forms — native Gravity Forms rendering + styling (Visual Builder preview, design controls for form output, validation, paging). Use this instead of writing Gravity Forms CSS manually.
• Imagely Gallery — NextGEN gallery module with Dynamic Assets-aware resource loading.
• Payment Button — PayPal/Stripe payment buttons with Button design parity.
• Flexbox alignItems CSS classes added to Column, Section, Row, and Group modules.

CSS Integration Methods

Method 1: Theme Options (Global Styles)

Location: Divi > Theme Options > Custom CSS Format: Raw CSS without <style> tags Priority: Loads after child theme — higher cascade priority

cssCopy code
:root {
  --custom-color: #2ea3f2;
}

Method 2: Page-Level Custom CSS

Location: Page Settings > Advanced Tab > Custom CSS Scope: Single page only

Method 3: Module Custom CSS (Advanced Tab)

Location: Any element > Advanced Tab > Custom CSS Organized into:

• Module Elements (Title, Body, Button, etc.) — accepts property declarations only, no selectors
• Before / Main Element / After — pseudo-element targeting
• Free-Form CSS — full rulesets with the selector keyword

Method 4: Free-Form CSS (New in Divi 5)

Uses the selector keyword as a placeholder for the current element:

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selector h4 { color: red; line-height: 1.5; }
selector { display: grid; grid-template-columns: repeat(2, 1fr); }
selector:hover { transform: scale(1.02); }

Multiple CSS blocks can be added per module. This is the most powerful per-element styling method.

Method 5: Code Module (Page-Specific)

Location: Add Code Module to page Format: CSS wrapped in <style></style> tags

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<style>
.page-specific-style {
  background-color: var(--custom-color);
}
</style>

Method 6: Custom HTML Wrappers (New in Divi 5)

Location: Advanced Tab > HTML option group

• HTML Before and HTML After fields
• Inject wrapper divs, data attributes, or helper markup around any element
• Available on every element (sections, rows, columns, modules)
• Often replaces Code Modules for structural wrapper needs

Method 7: Semantic Elements (New in Divi 5)

Location: Advanced Tab > HTML option group > Element Type dropdown Change any element's HTML tag: section, nav, header, article, aside, footer, main, button, etc.

Method 8: Child Theme (Production)

Location: child-theme/style.css Note: Divi's cached-inline-styles loads after child theme. Use !important or Theme Options CSS for higher priority.

Method 9: Attributes Panel (Replaces CSS ID & Classes)

Location: Advanced Tab > Attributes

• The old "CSS ID & Classes" toggle is gone in Divi 5
• Supports: id, class, aria-label, data-*, rel, title, and any HTML attribute
• Existing D4 IDs/classes auto-migrate to this panel

Adding Custom Classes in Divi 5

1. Select the module
2. Go to Advanced Tab > Attributes
3. Click Add Attribute
4. Set Name to class
5. Set Value to your class name(s)

Selector Specificity for Divi Overrides

Divi applies many styles inline or with !important. To override:

Standard Override Pattern

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/* May not work — too low specificity */
.et_pb_button {
  background-color: black;
}

/* Better — higher specificity */
body .et_pb_button {
  background-color: black !important;
}

/* Best — with custom class */
body .et_pb_button.custom-btn {
  background-color: black !important;
}

Button Override Template

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body .et_pb_button {
  background-color: #000000 !important;
  border-radius: 0 !important;
  letter-spacing: 4px !important;
  text-transform: uppercase !important;
  font-family: 'Lato', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif !important;
  font-weight: 400 !important;
  border: 1px solid #000000 !important;
}

body .et_pb_button:hover {
  background-color: #222222 !important;
  border-color: #222222 !important;
}

Section Override Patterns

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.et_pb_section.custom-dark-section {
  background-color: #1d1f22 !important;
}

.et_pb_section.custom-dark-section h1,
.et_pb_section.custom-dark-section h2,
.et_pb_section.custom-dark-section p {
  color: #ffffff !important;
}

Class Naming Convention

Use a unique prefix to avoid conflicts with Divi's classes:

Avoid numbered classes (.et_pb_text_0, .et_pb_text_1) — they're positional and change when modules are reordered.

Common Divi Module Selectors

Structural Elements

Content Modules

New Divi 5 Modules

Divi 5 Design Variable System

Divi 5 has 7 types of Design Variables (managed via the Visual Builder UI):

Design Variables complement CSS custom properties — they don't replace them. Use Design Variables for no-code workflows and CSS variables for developer control.

Preset Hierarchy

1. Option Group Presets — Modular building blocks for individual properties (e.g., "Primary Button Style")
2. Element Presets — Complete design packages for entire module types (e.g., "Hero Section")
3. Stacked Presets — Multiple presets layered on one element, merged intelligently
4. Nested Presets — Option Group Presets inside Element Presets, individually swappable

Recommended workflow: Define Design Variables → Build Option Group Presets → Nest into Element Presets → Use Inspector to audit consistency.

Typography Patterns

Builder-first (5.9+): variable fonts, drop caps, text-stroke, text columns, text direction, capitalization, and hyphenation are all native builder controls now. Write custom typography CSS only for patterns those controls don't cover.

Font Stack Template

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:root {
  --font-body: 'Fira Sans', system-ui, sans-serif;
  --font-title: 'Josefin Sans', sans-serif;
  --font-heading: 'Playfair Display', Georgia, serif;
  --font-button: 'Lato', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
}

Heading Overrides

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body .et_pb_module h1 {
  font-family: var(--font-title) !important;
  text-transform: uppercase;
  letter-spacing: 3px;
}

body .et_pb_module h2 {
  font-family: var(--font-heading) !important;
  color: #3f445e !important;
}

Text Line Length (Readability)

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.et_pb_text_inner p,
.et_pb_text_inner li {
  max-width: 60rem;
}

.et_pb_text_align_center .et_pb_text_inner p {
  margin-left: auto;
  margin-right: auto;
}

Responsive Breakpoints

Divi 5 supports 7 customizable breakpoints (3 active by default). The defaults — what your media queries must match unless the site owner has customized the widths:

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/* BASE: Desktop — no media query */

@media (max-width: 980px) { /* Tablet and below */ }
@media (max-width: 767px) { /* Phone */ }
@media (min-width: 1280px) { /* Widescreen (if enabled) */ }

Enable additional breakpoints in Divi: Visual Builder → three-dot icon next to device icons → Sitewide Responsive Breakpoints → enable Phone Wide, Tablet Wide, Widescreen, Ultra Wide. All widths are customizable there too.

Optional: 2025-aligned custom widths. The responsive-breakpoints-2025.md reference recommends customizing the 7 widths to match 2025 device traffic (479 / 767 / 1023 / 1279 / BASE 1280–1535 / 1536 / 1920). Only write media queries against those values if the site's Divi breakpoints have actually been changed to match — otherwise your CSS and the builder's responsive previews will disagree.

Best practice: Use clamp(), vw, calc() for fluid responsive values to reduce breakpoint overrides:

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font-size: clamp(1rem, 2vw + 0.5rem, 2rem);
padding: clamp(1rem, 3vw, 4rem);

For complete 7-breakpoint templates, device statistics, and typography scales, see:

• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/divi5-css-patterns/examples/responsive-7-breakpoints.css — full responsive template
• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/divi5-css-patterns/references/responsive-breakpoints-2025.md — 2025 device data, configuration guide, framework comparison

Layout Patterns

Flexbox (Default in Divi 5)

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.et_pb_row {
  display: flex !important;
  flex-direction: row !important;
  gap: 2rem !important;
  flex-wrap: wrap !important;
}

CSS Grid

Builder-first (5.9+): the CSS Grid Editor builds advanced grid layouts visually, including start/end/span offsets and number variables. Reach for it before writing grid CSS. Custom grid CSS is still the right tool for auto-fit/minmax() intrinsic grids:

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/* Free-Form CSS on a row or section */
selector {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fit, minmax(300px, 1fr));
  gap: 2rem;
}

Flexbox alignment classes (5.11+): Column, Section, Row, and Group modules emit CSS classes for their flexbox alignItems setting — inspect in DevTools before overriding alignment with custom CSS.

Component Patterns

Card Pattern

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.et_pb_blurb.custom-card,
.et_pb_column.custom-card {
  background: #ffffff;
  border-radius: 8px;
  box-shadow: 0 4px 20px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
  padding: 2rem;
  transition: all 0.3s ease;
}

.et_pb_blurb.custom-card:hover,
.et_pb_column.custom-card:hover {
  transform: translateY(-4px);
  box-shadow: 0 10px 40px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15);
}

Quote Block Pattern

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.et_pb_text.custom-quote {
  border-left: 4px solid #b2a065;
  padding-left: 2rem;
  font-family: var(--font-title);
  font-size: 1.375rem;
  font-style: italic;
}

Info Box Pattern

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.custom-info-box {
  background-color: #f5f5f5;
  border-left: 4px solid #b2a065;
  padding: 2rem;
  border-radius: 0 8px 8px 0;
}

Design Token Template

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:root {
  /* Brand Colors */
  --color-primary: #2ea3f2;
  --color-primary-hover: #1a8fd4;
  --color-secondary: #b2a065;
  --color-secondary-hover: #9a8a57;

  /* Dark Theme */
  --color-dark-section: #1d1f22;
  --color-dark-overlay: rgba(29, 31, 34, 0.95);
  --color-gray-section: rgba(150, 150, 150, 0.47);

  /* Text Colors */
  --color-white: #ffffff;
  --color-body-text: #222222;
  --color-body-text-light: #666666;
  --color-heading-text: #333333;
  --color-heading-accent: #3f445e;

  /* Backgrounds */
  --color-light-gray: #f5f5f5;
  --color-footer: #1d1f22;

  /* Typography */
  --font-body: 'Fira Sans', system-ui, sans-serif;
  --font-title: 'Josefin Sans', sans-serif;
  --font-heading: 'Playfair Display', Georgia, serif;
  --font-button: 'Lato', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;

  /* Sizing */
  --max-width: 1400px;
  --max-width-text: 60rem;
  --radius-card: 8px;
}

Performance Best Practices

1. Enable Dynamic CSS — 94% smaller stylesheets
2. Enable Critical CSS — eliminates render-blocking requests
3. Disable Static CSS during development — enable after finalization
4. Don't combine Divi Critical CSS with WP Rocket RUCSS — they conflict
5. Use clamp() and fluid values to reduce breakpoint-specific CSS

Accessibility Patterns

1. Use Semantic Elements to change <div> to <nav>, <section>, <header>, etc.
2. Add ARIA attributes via Attributes panel or accessibility plugins
3. Visible focus indicators for keyboard navigation
4. Color contrast — meet WCAG 2.1 AA standards
5. Recommended plugin: Divi-Modules Accessibility Attributes

Composable Settings (Divi 5.2+)

Composable Settings let you enable any of Divi's design options for any module sub-element. This dramatically reduces the need for custom CSS.

What It Replaces

Before 5.2, adding a width to a button, a border to a title, or an animation to an image required custom CSS. Now you can toggle these on in the builder.

How It Works

1. Select any module sub-element (Title, Body, Button, Image, etc.)
2. Click the Compose Settings icon
3. Enable any design option: sizing, spacing, borders, animations, transforms, etc.
4. Configure directly in the builder UI

When to Still Use CSS

• Complex selectors or pseudo-elements
• Design patterns not covered by builder options
• Cross-element relationships (sibling/parent selectors)
• @media queries beyond Divi's breakpoint system
• prefers-reduced-motion and other preference queries
• Custom animations with @keyframes

Canvas System (Divi 5+)

Canvas Types

• Main Canvas — the page's primary visible content
• Local Canvases — detached workspaces per page/template, kept separate until connected
• Global Canvases — site-wide reusable canvases (e.g., shared popup, menu)

CSS Patterns for Canvas Content

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/* Off-canvas menu styling */
.{prefix}-offcanvas {
  position: fixed;
  top: 0;
  left: -100%;
  width: min(80vw, 400px);
  height: 100vh;
  z-index: var(--z-fixed, 1030);
  transition: left 0.4s cubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.36, 1);
  overflow-y: auto;
}

/* Popup/modal overlay */
.{prefix}-modal-overlay {
  position: fixed;
  inset: 0;
  background: rgba(0,0,0,0.6);
  backdrop-filter: blur(4px);
  z-index: var(--z-modal, 1050);
}

Interaction Builder + Canvas Workflow

1. Build content in a local or global canvas
2. Use Canvas Portal Module to inject at a specific layout location
3. Create Interactions on main canvas targeting canvas elements
4. Triggers: Click, Mouse Enter/Exit, Viewport Enter/Exit, Load
5. Divi auto-appends targeted canvases to the main canvas on the frontend

Loop Builder

Build dynamic content layouts without plugins:

1. Design the loop item template using Divi modules
2. Divi pulls and repeats data from the database
3. Combine with CSS Grid for product grids, blog layouts, etc.
4. Add front-end filtering with the Post Filter + Post Filter Item modules (5.10+) — filter state is carried in bookmarkable URL parameters, no custom JS needed

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/* Loop Builder grid layout */
selector {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, minmax(280px, 1fr));
  gap: clamp(1rem, 2vw, 2rem);
}

Best Practices Summary

1. Check Composable Settings first — many CSS overrides are now unnecessary in Divi 5.2+
2. Use pseudo-class editing in the builder (5.3+) — :checked, :focus, :active no longer need custom CSS for most use cases
3. Set Aspect Ratio on every image (5.5+) — eliminates CLS with zero custom CSS
4. Use the Sizing Variable Generator (5.4+) instead of hand-writing clamp() for fluid type scales
5. Use Gradient Variables (5.7+) instead of repeating linear-gradient() values, and builder text effects instead of background-clip: text CSS
6. Use the CSS Grid Editor (5.9+) for explicit grid layouts; reserve custom grid CSS for auto-fit/minmax() intrinsic grids
7. Use builder typography controls (5.9+) for variable fonts, drop caps, text columns, and hyphenation
8. Use Free-Form CSS with selector keyword for per-element styling
9. Use body prefix and !important when overriding Divi buttons and module styles
10. Prefix all custom classes to avoid conflicts (e.g., my-btn)
11. Use CSS Variables in :root for maintainability
12. Use Design Variables + Nested Presets (5.3+) for no-code consistency
13. Use Custom HTML Wrappers instead of Code Modules for structural needs
14. Use Canvases for off-canvas menus, popups, and staging areas
15. Test all active breakpoints before production
16. Use clamp() for fluid responsive values to minimize breakpoint overrides
17. Avoid numbered classes (.et_pb_text_0) — use custom classes
18. Clear Static CSS cache after any style changes
19. Include prefers-reduced-motion with all animations
20. Add :focus-visible styles — Divi removes default focus indicators

Reference Files

For complete examples, see:

• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/divi5-css-patterns/examples/button-variants.css — Button style variants
• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/divi5-css-patterns/examples/design-tokens.css — Design system tokens template
• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/divi5-css-patterns/examples/animations.css — Animation patterns with reduced-motion
• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/divi5-css-patterns/examples/dark-mode.css — System-aware dark mode
• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/divi5-css-patterns/examples/woocommerce.css — WooCommerce styling patterns
• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/divi5-css-patterns/examples/accessibility.css — WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility fixes
• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/divi5-css-patterns/examples/responsive-7-breakpoints.css — Full 7-breakpoint responsive template (2025)
• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/divi5-css-patterns/examples/loop-builder.css — Loop Builder CSS Grid patterns, masonry, product cards, pagination
• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/divi5-css-patterns/examples/forms.css — Form styling with Divi 5.3 pseudo-class editing, Contact Form 7
• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/divi5-css-patterns/examples/new-modules.css — Styling for the 5.6–5.11 new modules (Timeline, Breadcrumbs, SVG, TOC, Instagram Feed, Tooltip, Post Filter, Charts, Gravity Forms, Payment Button)
• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/divi5-css-patterns/references/divi-selectors.md — Complete selector reference
• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/divi5-css-patterns/references/responsive-breakpoints-2025.md — 2025 breakpoint research and device statistics
• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/divi5-compatibility/references/unit-conversions.md — CSS unit reference (in the compatibility skill)
• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/divi5-performance/SKILL.md — Performance optimization patterns (Critical CSS, Dynamic CSS, font loading)
• ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/skills/divi5-performance/references/core-web-vitals.md — Full Core Web Vitals reference