hyperhive/docs/web-ui/css-vars.md
iris afe627e0a9 swarm-ui: derive theme override from colors.css instead of duplicating hex values
mara's review: the theme override read as a hand-copied duplicate of
colors.css's hex values instead of deriving from it. Restructured
colors.css to declare each palette's 16 hex values exactly once
(--mocha-baseNN, --latte-baseNN) and have every activation block
(the default, the prefers-color-scheme media query, and two new
:root[data-theme='light'|'dark'] blocks) just re-point the active
--baseNN slot at one of those two raw palettes via var() - never a
second copy of a hex value.

theme-apply.ts simplifies to match: it now only toggles a data-theme
attribute on <html>, same shape motion-apply.ts already had. No
palette values live in JS at all anymore.

Re-verified the override still genuinely outranks the media query
with the new mechanism: same seed-localStorage-while-forcing-the-
opposite-OS-preference test as before, both directions still render
the stored override correctly.
2026-08-18 23:58:48 +02:00

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# CSS custom properties (theme variables)
Colour variables live in **two standalone stylesheets**, split so a theme
swap touches only the first:
1. **`colors.css`** — the 16 `--base00``--base0F` base16 slots. **This is
the entire theme swap contract.** A generator (e.g. one fed a stylix
base16 scheme, which is natively base00base0F) replaces _only this
file_.
2. **`theme.css`** — the semantic layer: `--bg`, `--fg`, `--purple`, …
_derived_ from the base16 slots (`--bg: var(--base00)` etc.). This is
what the app references and it **never changes on a swap**.
Both files live in `frontend/packages/shared/src/`. Per-page stylesheets
(`common.css`, `dashboard.css`, `flow.css`, `logs.css`, `agent.css`)
reference the **semantic** names and must **not** redeclare them or reach
for the raw `--baseNN` slots directly. (`base.css` holds only the shared
`body` typography — it references the palette but no longer defines it.)
`colors.css` declares each palette's 16 hex values exactly once —
`--mocha-baseNN` (dark, Catppuccin Mocha) and `--latte-baseNN` (light,
Catppuccin-Latte-derived; `base08`-`base0F` are darkened from stock
Latte to actually clear WCAG AA against how this app uses them — real
contrast failures found in review, see the comment above those
declarations in `colors.css` for the numbers and why). Everything else
in the file just points the active `--baseNN` slot at one of those two
raw palettes via `var()`, never a second copy of a hex value: an
unconditional default (Mocha), a row gated behind `@media
(prefers-color-scheme: light)` (Latte, the OS/browser-level default),
and two `:root[data-theme='light'|'dark']` blocks a per-user override
sets (swarm-ui's `SettingsMenu`) — an attribute selector always
outranks the plain `:root` inside the media query, so the override wins
regardless of the actual OS preference. Absent an override, the media
query decides; that's what a client with no more specific theme
decision gets (see "Theme swapping" below for how a stylix deployment
supersedes all of this at once).
Both are deliberately standalone, not `@import`ed into the page bundles:
each package re-exports them (`src/{colors,theme}.css`
`@import "@hive/shared/…"`) so esbuild emits its own
`dist/static/colors.css` + `dist/static/theme.css`, and every page links
them **first** (`colors.css` then `theme.css`) ahead of the page CSS. Note
`theme.css` does **not** `@import` `colors.css` — that would bake the
slots back into it; they're two separate output files so a swap replaces
just `colors.css`. (Load order doesn't actually affect resolution —
custom properties resolve at computed-value time — but `colors.css` is
linked first for clarity.)
## Semantic palette (`theme.css`)
Each semantic var derives from a base16 slot (or, for the three that have
no clean slot, a `color-mix()` over base16 — pixel-identical under the
default palette). Default hexes shown are Catppuccin Mocha.
| Variable | Derives from | Default hex | Use |
| -------------- | --------------------------- | ----------- | --------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `--bg` | `base00` | `#1e1e2e` | page background |
| `--bg-elev` | `base01` | `#181825` | elevated surfaces: floating dropdowns, popovers |
| `--border` | `base02` | `#313244` | general borders, hover/active backgrounds |
| `--purple-dim` | `base03` | `#45475a` | subtle borders, terminal chrome, badge backgrounds |
| `--fg` | `base05` | `#cdd6f4` | primary text colour |
| `--red` | `base08` | `#f38ba8` | errors, fail state |
| `--amber` | `base09` | `#fab387` | warnings, pending / running state |
| `--yellow` | `base0A` | `#f9e2af` | flash messages, mild warnings |
| `--green` | `base0B` | `#a6e3a1` | success, ok state |
| `--cyan` | `base0C` | `#89dceb` | tool-use events, info accents |
| `--blue` | `base0D` | `#89b4fa` | links, interactive accent (distinct from cyan) |
| `--purple` | `base0E` | `#cba6f7` | accent — active tabs, links, highlights |
| `--pink` | `base0F` | `#f5c2e7` | thinking events |
| `--crust` | `mix(base00 58%, #000)` | `#11111b` | terminal / code block background (below `--bg`) |
| `--muted` | `mix(base05 55.5%, base00)` | `#7f849c` | secondary / dimmed text |
| `--subtext0` | `mix(base05 77.7%, base00)` | `#a6adc8` | toolbar/status text; dimmer than `--fg`, lighter than `--muted` |
## Common mistakes
The Catppuccin colour names do **not** map 1:1 to the variable names.
Variables to avoid (undefined — they will silently resolve to transparent / inherited):
| Wrong | Correct |
| -------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| `--text` | `--fg` |
| `--mauve` | `--purple` |
| `--surface0` | `--bg-elev` (float bg) or `--border` (border/hover) |
| `--surface1` | `--border` |
| `--surface2` | `--purple-dim` |
| `--overlay0`, `--overlay1` | `--muted` |
| `--base`, `--mantle` | `--bg`, `--bg-elev` |
## Usage guide
**Floating menus and dropdowns** (e.g. agent context menu, tabbar overflow):
```css
background: var(--bg-elev);
border: 1px solid var(--purple-dim);
```
**Hover / active state backgrounds**:
```css
background: var(--border);
```
**Active tab text / accent elements**:
```css
color: var(--purple);
```
**Muted / meta text**:
```css
color: var(--muted);
```
**Error / warning / success badges**:
```css
color: var(--red); /* error */
color: var(--amber); /* warning / running */
color: var(--green); /* ok */
```
## Theme swapping — the base16 contract
**The swap interface is `colors.css` — the 16 base16 slots, not our
semantic names.** A theme generator (e.g. one reading a stylix base16
scheme) overrides only `colors.css`; the semantic layer in `theme.css`
derives everything else, so the whole UI re-themes with nothing else to
template or regenerate. The base16 slot → semantic mapping is _internal_
to `theme.css` (the "Derives from" column above) — a generator never
needs to know our var names, and `theme.css` + the page bundles stay
untouched.
**Two palettes, one contract.** `colors.css` ships both a dark default
(Catppuccin Mocha, unconditional) and a light default (Catppuccin Latte,
behind `@media (prefers-color-scheme: light)`), plus a per-user override
path (`:root[data-theme]`) — a theme generator that overrides the file
wholesale (e.g. the stylix path, which writes a single unconditional
`:root` block with no media query, no `--mocha-*`/`--latte-*` vars, no
`[data-theme]` blocks) supersedes all of it at once, same as today.
`colors.css` base16 slot defaults (Catppuccin Mocha, dark default):
| Slot | Default | Standard base16 role | Mapped to |
| -------- | --------- | -------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| `base00` | `#1e1e2e` | default bg | `--bg`, (darkened) `--crust` |
| `base01` | `#181825` | lighter bg | `--bg-elev` |
| `base02` | `#313244` | selection/surface | `--border` |
| `base03` | `#45475a` | comments/dim surface | `--purple-dim` |
| `base04` | `#585b70` | dark foreground | _(unused; kept for completeness)_ |
| `base05` | `#cdd6f4` | default foreground | `--fg`, (blended) `--muted`/`--subtext0` |
| `base06` | `#f5e0dc` | light foreground | _(unused)_ |
| `base07` | `#b4befe` | lightest | _(unused)_ |
| `base08` | `#f38ba8` | red | `--red` |
| `base09` | `#fab387` | orange | `--amber` |
| `base0A` | `#f9e2af` | yellow | `--yellow` |
| `base0B` | `#a6e3a1` | green | `--green` |
| `base0C` | `#89dceb` | cyan | `--cyan` (our _sky_; Catppuccin's `base0C` is teal) |
| `base0D` | `#89b4fa` | blue | `--blue` |
| `base0E` | `#cba6f7` | magenta | `--purple` |
| `base0F` | `#f5c2e7` | extra accent | `--pink` |
Notes for theme authors:
- **`--crust`, `--muted`, `--subtext0` have no own slot** — they're
derived via `color-mix()` over base16 (`--crust` = a darkened `base00`;
`--muted`/`--subtext0` = `base05``base00` blends). They still track a
swap automatically; no generator action needed.
- A standard Catppuccin base16 scheme uses **teal** for `base0C`; we
default it to **sky** (`#89dceb`) to preserve the historical accent. A
stylix Catppuccin scheme will shift `--cyan` to teal — that's the
operator's chosen scheme, working as intended.
- `base04`/`base06`/`base07` aren't consumed by a semantic var today;
they're kept at their standard values so the 16-slot contract is
complete (a partial scheme override still works).