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design language·yinchuang

Yinchuang

A portable design language for agents: download the markdown first, then inspect the preview, tokens, and rules as needed.

Download DESIGN.md

Portable DESIGN.md source of truth for most agents and apps.

the spec

specification

philosophy
summary
印床 — the carver's bed. A reimagination of the seal-carving concept: instead of a stamp pressed onto a page, every record begins on the bed (印床), the vise that holds the stone square while the knife works. Yinchuang makes that bed its whole structure — each panel is a cell on a tessellated stone grid, tiles abutting tiles, and the only border is the thin uncarved channel between them. Emphasis is not a shadow or an outline; it is cinnabar coverage — the cell that matters is flooded with ink, the way uncarved paper defines a relief seal. The ground is dark carved stone, not warm paper; cinnabar glows against it. Headings are mechanical condensed caps, not literati serif. This is the console for the things a seal proves: collection catalogues, provenance trails, and the authentication desk where impressions are registered against the master rubbing.
values
The bed holds the stone — every record sits in a cell on one tessellated gridThe channel is the only border — uncarved negative space defines every mass around itEmphasis is cinnabar coverage, not a floating shadow — the lit cell carries the inkRegistration is alignment — a gold crosshair squares the stone in the viseSquare geometry and mechanical caps convey carved authority without calligraphy
anti-values
×Card borders, outlines, or single accent edges — the channel does that work×Warm-paper cream grounds and giant literati serif mastheads — that is the refinement, not this×Floating soft drop-shadows that lift tiles off the bed×Pills and circular badges — seal forms are square×Gradients and photographic backgrounds inside the UI — the field is flat carved stone×Bounce or elastic easing — the press is firm and decisive
tokens
colors17 items
bg
#14110D
surface
#1F1A13
surface_2
#2A231A
text
#F4ECDD
muted
#A99B83
border
#3A3025
channel
#0C0A07
accent
#D83A2A
accent_deep
#A82317
on_accent
#FBF2E2
gold
#C9A24B
success
#7FA04A
warning
#C9A24B
error
#E0533F
info
#5C8BB0
primary
#D83A2A
secondary
#F4ECDD
typography10 items
base size
17px
body font
Archivo
heading font
Archivo
mono font
IBM Plex Mono
serif accent font
Noto Serif SC
heading weight
900
heading transform
uppercase
letter spacing
-0.02em
line height
1.6
google fonts url
https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Archivo:wght@600;700;800;900&family=IBM+Plex+Mono:wght@400;500;600&family=Noto+Serif+SC:wght@700;900&display=swap
radii5 items
none
0px
sm
0px
md
0px
lg
0px
full
0px
shadows4 items
press
translateY(1px) on active — the firm decisive press
input stroke
inset 0 0 0 1px #3A3025
input focus
inset 0 0 0 2px #D83A2A
chop seal
inset 0 0 0 2px #D83A2A
spacing2 items
base
8px
scale
4px, 8px, 12px, 16px, 24px, 32px, 48px, 64px, 96px, 128px
surfaces3 items
treatment
dark carved-stone field with faint CSS paper-fiber speckle; raised stone slabs separated only by a 3px uncarved channel
card style
stone slab (surface) on a channel bed; the lit cell floods with cinnabar; no borders, never floating
bg pattern
subtle radial speckle and faint cinnabar/gold blobs via CSS gradients only; no photographic imagery in the UI
borders4 items
default width
0px
channel width
3px
style
none — the uncarved channel between tiles is the only divider
character
no card borders, no outlines, no single accent edges; the 3px channel and the lit cinnabar cell carry separation and emphasis
motion3 items
duration
160ms
easing
cubic-bezier(0.2,0,0.3,1)
philosophy
firm decisive press: the primary control translates one pixel down on activation; landing sections rise in once on scroll. Settled state is the no-JS default; an inline script gates the hidden start-state behind an .anim class on <html>. prefers-reduced-motion respected.
rules
composition
Tessellate content into a stone bed: a grid of stone-slab cells on a dark channel background, separated by a 3px uncarved channel and nothing else. Content caps at ~1180px and centres; only the landing hero spans 100vw. Elements align to strong horizontal and vertical axes, like glyphs composed inside a seal face. Gold registration crosshairs mark channel intersections.
hierarchy
Primary emphasis is cinnabar coverage — the lit cell. Secondary is Archivo weight in paper-ink text; tertiary is muted stone gray and mono labels. Headings are mechanical condensed caps (Archivo 900, uppercase). Chinese seal script appears only small, as a registered chop accent. Gold is reserved for authentication.
density
Medium-high. The bed packs records into square cells without crowding; consistent 8px units and a 3px channel separate zones. Mono labels and cell numbers keep the grid legible.
signature
The seal-bed grid: tiles tessellate, the channel between them is the only border, gold crosshairs register alignment, and the active record is a lit cinnabar cell. Six named patterns appear live in the embodiment — Carved Cell, Registration Crosshair, Stamp Button group, Seal Badge, Imprint Table, Chop-Mark Divider.
layout
grid
Tessellated CSS grid on a channel background (background:channel; gap:3px); cells are minmax(0,1fr) so they shrink, never overflow. Content max-width ~1180px, centred; landing hero full-bleed 100vw.
whitespace

Generous padding inside cells (32px), always padded above titles; the channel provides crisp separation between zones.

density

medium-high

responsive

Single column under 880px; nav hidden on mobile; table columns and registration crosshairs drop; nothing overflows horizontally; renders from ~390px to 2560px+.

breakpoints
mobile
390px
tablet
768px
desktop
1180px
wide
2560px
guidance
do
  • Lay content into a tessellated stone bed — cells on a channel background, 3px gap as the only divider
  • Light the cell that matters with flat cinnabar (#D83A2A); keep the rest quiet stone
  • Use Archivo 800-900 uppercase for headings — mechanical caps, not calligraphy
  • Reserve registration gold (#C9A24B) for alignment crosshairs and curator authentication
  • Use Noto Serif SC only small, as a registered chop accent (印鑒 真迹)
  • Keep every form control square with an inset stroke; focus deepens to a cinnabar stroke
  • Make one button cinnabar-primary; the set shares one height on a channel bed
  • Render the settled state with no JS; gate motion behind an .anim class on <html>
avoid
  • Don't add card borders, outlines, or single accent edges — the channel is the border
  • Don't use a warm cream-paper ground or a giant literati serif masthead — that is the Zhuwen refinement
  • Don't round corners — radius is 0 everywhere
  • Don't float tiles with soft drop-shadows off the bed
  • Don't use pills or circular badges — status reads as a square chop
  • Don't let cinnabar and gold fight; gold is authentication only
  • Don't put photographic imagery inside the UI — only the landing hero carries the cinnabar art
imagery
pairs with

cinnabar

summary
One full-bleed cinnabar seal-impression hero — a dense lattice of carved relief motifs (dragon, key-fret, cloud-scroll, phoenix, lotus) on a square nine-cell grid, vermilion on cream paper with grainy stamped edges, read behind a legible dark ink overlay. Inside the UI, imagery is abstract CSS only; the bed mechanic carries the visual identity.
subjects
a seal-bed lattice of carved relief motifsa single carved dragon chopa key-fret / cloud-scroll tessellationan archaic seal-script glyph block
usage

Landing hero only, full-bleed via background-image:var(--hero-image) under a solid-edge ink overlay; never inside dashboard/table UI.

katagami spec
# Yinchuang

## Philosophy

印床 — the carver's bed. A reimagination of the seal-carving concept: instead of a stamp pressed onto a page, every record begins on the bed (印床), the vise that holds the stone square while the knife works. Yinchuang makes that bed its whole structure — each panel is a cell on a tessellated stone grid, tiles abutting tiles, and the only border is the thin uncarved channel between them. Emphasis is not a shadow or an outline; it is cinnabar coverage — the cell that matters is flooded with ink, the way uncarved paper defines a relief seal. The ground is dark carved stone, not warm paper; cinnabar glows against it. Headings are mechanical condensed caps, not literati serif. This is the console for the things a seal proves: collection catalogues, provenance trails, and the authentication desk where impressions are registered against the master rubbing.

### Values

- The bed holds the stone — every record sits in a cell on one tessellated grid
- The channel is the only border — uncarved negative space defines every mass around it
- Emphasis is cinnabar coverage, not a floating shadow — the lit cell carries the ink
- Registration is alignment — a gold crosshair squares the stone in the vise
- Square geometry and mechanical caps convey carved authority without calligraphy

### Anti-Values

- Card borders, outlines, or single accent edges — the channel does that work
- Warm-paper cream grounds and giant literati serif mastheads — that is the refinement, not this
- Floating soft drop-shadows that lift tiles off the bed
- Pills and circular badges — seal forms are square
- Gradients and photographic backgrounds inside the UI — the field is flat carved stone
- Bounce or elastic easing — the press is firm and decisive

## Tokens

### Colors

| Name | Value |
|------|-------|
| bg | `#14110D` |
| surface | `#1F1A13` |
| surface_2 | `#2A231A` |
| text | `#F4ECDD` |
| muted | `#A99B83` |
| border | `#3A3025` |
| channel | `#0C0A07` |
| accent | `#D83A2A` |
| accent_deep | `#A82317` |
| on_accent | `#FBF2E2` |
| gold | `#C9A24B` |
| success | `#7FA04A` |
| warning | `#C9A24B` |
| error | `#E0533F` |
| info | `#5C8BB0` |
| primary | `#D83A2A` |
| secondary | `#F4ECDD` |

### Typography

- **Base Size**: 17px
- **Body Font**: Archivo
- **Heading Font**: Archivo
- **Mono Font**: IBM Plex Mono
- **Serif Accent Font**: Noto Serif SC
- **Heading Weight**: 900
- **Heading Transform**: uppercase
- **Letter Spacing**: -0.02em
- **Line Height**: 1.6
- **Google Fonts Url**: https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Archivo:wght@600;700;800;900&family=IBM+Plex+Mono:wght@400;500;600&family=Noto+Serif+SC:wght@700;900&display=swap

### Radii

- **None**: 0px
- **Sm**: 0px
- **Md**: 0px
- **Lg**: 0px
- **Full**: 0px

### Shadows

- **Press**: translateY(1px) on active — the firm decisive press
- **Input Stroke**: inset 0 0 0 1px #3A3025
- **Input Focus**: inset 0 0 0 2px #D83A2A
- **Chop Seal**: inset 0 0 0 2px #D83A2A

### Spacing

- **Base**: 8px
- **Scale**: ["4px","8px","12px","16px","24px","32px","48px","64px","96px","128px"]

### Surfaces

- **Treatment**: dark carved-stone field with faint CSS paper-fiber speckle; raised stone slabs separated only by a 3px uncarved channel
- **Card Style**: stone slab (surface) on a channel bed; the lit cell floods with cinnabar; no borders, never floating
- **Bg Pattern**: subtle radial speckle and faint cinnabar/gold blobs via CSS gradients only; no photographic imagery in the UI

### Borders

- **Default Width**: 0px
- **Channel Width**: 3px
- **Style**: none — the uncarved channel between tiles is the only divider
- **Character**: no card borders, no outlines, no single accent edges; the 3px channel and the lit cinnabar cell carry separation and emphasis

### Motion

- **Duration**: 160ms
- **Easing**: cubic-bezier(0.2,0,0.3,1)
- **Philosophy**: firm decisive press: the primary control translates one pixel down on activation; landing sections rise in once on scroll. Settled state is the no-JS default; an inline script gates the hidden start-state behind an .anim class on <html>. prefers-reduced-motion respected.

## Rules

### Composition

Tessellate content into a stone bed: a grid of stone-slab cells on a dark channel background, separated by a 3px uncarved channel and nothing else. Content caps at ~1180px and centres; only the landing hero spans 100vw. Elements align to strong horizontal and vertical axes, like glyphs composed inside a seal face. Gold registration crosshairs mark channel intersections.

### Hierarchy

Primary emphasis is cinnabar coverage — the lit cell. Secondary is Archivo weight in paper-ink text; tertiary is muted stone gray and mono labels. Headings are mechanical condensed caps (Archivo 900, uppercase). Chinese seal script appears only small, as a registered chop accent. Gold is reserved for authentication.

### Density

Medium-high. The bed packs records into square cells without crowding; consistent 8px units and a 3px channel separate zones. Mono labels and cell numbers keep the grid legible.

### Signature

The seal-bed grid: tiles tessellate, the channel between them is the only border, gold crosshairs register alignment, and the active record is a lit cinnabar cell. Six named patterns appear live in the embodiment — Carved Cell, Registration Crosshair, Stamp Button group, Seal Badge, Imprint Table, Chop-Mark Divider.

## Layout

### Grid

Tessellated CSS grid on a channel background (background:channel; gap:3px); cells are minmax(0,1fr) so they shrink, never overflow. Content max-width ~1180px, centred; landing hero full-bleed 100vw.

### Whitespace

Generous padding inside cells (32px), always padded above titles; the channel provides crisp separation between zones.

### Density

medium-high

### Responsive

Single column under 880px; nav hidden on mobile; table columns and registration crosshairs drop; nothing overflows horizontally; renders from ~390px to 2560px+.

### Breakpoints

- **Mobile**: 390px
- **Tablet**: 768px
- **Desktop**: 1180px
- **Wide**: 2560px

## Guidance

### Do

- Lay content into a tessellated stone bed — cells on a channel background, 3px gap as the only divider
- Light the cell that matters with flat cinnabar (#D83A2A); keep the rest quiet stone
- Use Archivo 800-900 uppercase for headings — mechanical caps, not calligraphy
- Reserve registration gold (#C9A24B) for alignment crosshairs and curator authentication
- Use Noto Serif SC only small, as a registered chop accent (印鑒 真迹)
- Keep every form control square with an inset stroke; focus deepens to a cinnabar stroke
- Make one button cinnabar-primary; the set shares one height on a channel bed
- Render the settled state with no JS; gate motion behind an .anim class on <html>

### Don't

- Don't add card borders, outlines, or single accent edges — the channel is the border
- Don't use a warm cream-paper ground or a giant literati serif masthead — that is the Zhuwen refinement
- Don't round corners — radius is 0 everywhere
- Don't float tiles with soft drop-shadows off the bed
- Don't use pills or circular badges — status reads as a square chop
- Don't let cinnabar and gold fight; gold is authentication only
- Don't put photographic imagery inside the UI — only the landing hero carries the cinnabar art

### Accessibility

WCAG AA on dark stone: paper-ink text (#F4ECDD) on ground (#14110D) ~13:1; cinnabar primary text on cinnabar (#FBF2E2 on #D83A2A) meets AA for the large mono labels used. Status badges always carry a text label, never colour alone. Focus states use a 2px cinnabar inset stroke or a gold outline. Touch targets meet 44px. prefers-reduced-motion disables reveals.

## Imagery Direction

### Pairs With

cinnabar

### Summary

One full-bleed cinnabar seal-impression hero — a dense lattice of carved relief motifs (dragon, key-fret, cloud-scroll, phoenix, lotus) on a square nine-cell grid, vermilion on cream paper with grainy stamped edges, read behind a legible dark ink overlay. Inside the UI, imagery is abstract CSS only; the bed mechanic carries the visual identity.

### Subjects

- a seal-bed lattice of carved relief motifs
- a single carved dragon chop
- a key-fret / cloud-scroll tessellation
- an archaic seal-script glyph block

### Usage

Landing hero only, full-bleed via background-image:var(--hero-image) under a solid-edge ink overlay; never inside dashboard/table UI.
DESIGN.md
---
version: "alpha"
name: "Yinchuang"
description: "Agent-curated design language exported from Katagami as DESIGN.md."
colors:
  bg: "#14110D"
  surface: "#1F1A13"
  surface_2: "#2A231A"
  text: "#F4ECDD"
  muted: "#A99B83"
  border: "#3A3025"
  channel: "#0C0A07"
  accent: "#D83A2A"
  accent_deep: "#A82317"
  on_accent: "#FBF2E2"
  gold: "#C9A24B"
  success: "#7FA04A"
  warning: "#C9A24B"
  error: "#E0533F"
  info: "#5C8BB0"
  primary: "#D83A2A"
  secondary: "#F4ECDD"
typography:
  headline-lg:
    fontFamily: "Archivo"
    fontSize: "2.075rem"
    fontWeight: 700
    lineHeight: 1.1
    letterSpacing: "-0.02em"
  headline-md:
    fontFamily: "Archivo"
    fontSize: "1.66rem"
    fontWeight: 600
    lineHeight: 1.15
    letterSpacing: "-0.02em"
  body-md:
    fontFamily: "Archivo"
    fontSize: "17px"
    fontWeight: 400
    lineHeight: 1.5
    letterSpacing: "-0.02em"
  label-md:
    fontFamily: "IBM Plex Mono"
    fontSize: "0.75rem"
    fontWeight: 600
    lineHeight: 1
    letterSpacing: "0.08em"
rounded:
  none: "0px"
  sm: "0px"
  md: "0px"
  lg: "0px"
  full: "0px"
spacing:
  base: "8px"
  xs: "4px"
  sm: "8px"
  md: "12px"
  lg: "16px"
  xl: "24px"
  2xl: "32px"
  3xl: "48px"
  4xl: "64px"
  step-8: "96px"
  step-9: "128px"
components:
  color-reference-bg:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.bg}"
  color-reference-surface:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.surface}"
  color-reference-surface_2:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.surface_2}"
  color-reference-text:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.text}"
  color-reference-muted:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.muted}"
  color-reference-border:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.border}"
  color-reference-channel:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.channel}"
  color-reference-accent:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.accent}"
  color-reference-accent_deep:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.accent_deep}"
  color-reference-on_accent:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.on_accent}"
  color-reference-gold:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.gold}"
  color-reference-success:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.success}"
  color-reference-warning:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.warning}"
  color-reference-error:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.error}"
  color-reference-info:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.info}"
  color-reference-primary:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.primary}"
  color-reference-secondary:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.secondary}"
  button-primary:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.primary}"
    textColor: "#ffffff"
    typography: "{typography.label-md}"
    rounded: "{rounded.md}"
    padding: "{spacing.md}"
  card-surface:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.surface}"
    textColor: "{colors.text}"
    rounded: "{rounded.md}"
    padding: "{spacing.md}"
  input-default:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.surface}"
    textColor: "{colors.text}"
    rounded: "{rounded.md}"
    height: "44px"
---

# Yinchuang

## Overview

印床 — the carver's bed. A reimagination of the seal-carving concept: instead of a stamp pressed onto a page, every record begins on the bed (印床), the vise that holds the stone square while the knife works. Yinchuang makes that bed its whole structure — each panel is a cell on a tessellated stone grid, tiles abutting tiles, and the only border is the thin uncarved channel between them. Emphasis is not a shadow or an outline; it is cinnabar coverage — the cell that matters is flooded with ink, the way uncarved paper defines a relief seal. The ground is dark carved stone, not warm paper; cinnabar glows against it. Headings are mechanical condensed caps, not literati serif. This is the console for the things a seal proves: collection catalogues, provenance trails, and the authentication desk where impressions are registered against the master rubbing.

### Values

- The bed holds the stone — every record sits in a cell on one tessellated grid
- The channel is the only border — uncarved negative space defines every mass around it
- Emphasis is cinnabar coverage, not a floating shadow — the lit cell carries the ink
- Registration is alignment — a gold crosshair squares the stone in the vise
- Square geometry and mechanical caps convey carved authority without calligraphy

### Anti-Values

- Card borders, outlines, or single accent edges — the channel does that work
- Warm-paper cream grounds and giant literati serif mastheads — that is the refinement, not this
- Floating soft drop-shadows that lift tiles off the bed
- Pills and circular badges — seal forms are square
- Gradients and photographic backgrounds inside the UI — the field is flat carved stone
- Bounce or elastic easing — the press is firm and decisive

## Colors

Use the YAML color tokens as the normative palette. The prose below names the roles agents should preserve when generating UI.

| Token | Value |
|-------|-------|
| bg | `#14110D` |
| surface | `#1F1A13` |
| surface_2 | `#2A231A` |
| text | `#F4ECDD` |
| muted | `#A99B83` |
| border | `#3A3025` |
| channel | `#0C0A07` |
| accent | `#D83A2A` |
| accent_deep | `#A82317` |
| on_accent | `#FBF2E2` |
| gold | `#C9A24B` |
| success | `#7FA04A` |
| warning | `#C9A24B` |
| error | `#E0533F` |
| info | `#5C8BB0` |
| primary | `#D83A2A` |
| secondary | `#F4ECDD` |

## Typography

- **Headline-Lg**: Archivo, 2.075rem, weight 700, line-height 1.1.
- **Headline-Md**: Archivo, 1.66rem, weight 600, line-height 1.15.
- **Body-Md**: Archivo, 17px, weight 400, line-height 1.5.
- **Label-Md**: IBM Plex Mono, 0.75rem, weight 600, line-height 1.

## Layout

### Spacing Tokens

- **Base**: `8px`
- **Xs**: `4px`
- **Sm**: `8px`
- **Md**: `12px`
- **Lg**: `16px`
- **Xl**: `24px`
- **2xl**: `32px`
- **3xl**: `48px`
- **4xl**: `64px`
- **Step-8**: `96px`
- **Step-9**: `128px`

### Grid

Tessellated CSS grid on a channel background (background:channel; gap:3px); cells are minmax(0,1fr) so they shrink, never overflow. Content max-width ~1180px, centred; landing hero full-bleed 100vw.

### Whitespace

Generous padding inside cells (32px), always padded above titles; the channel provides crisp separation between zones.

### Density

medium-high

### Responsive

Single column under 880px; nav hidden on mobile; table columns and registration crosshairs drop; nothing overflows horizontally; renders from ~390px to 2560px+.

### Breakpoints

- **Mobile**: 390px
- **Tablet**: 768px
- **Desktop**: 1180px
- **Wide**: 2560px

## Elevation & Depth

### Shadows

- **Press**: translateY(1px) on active — the firm decisive press
- **Input Stroke**: inset 0 0 0 1px #3A3025
- **Input Focus**: inset 0 0 0 2px #D83A2A
- **Chop Seal**: inset 0 0 0 2px #D83A2A

## Shapes

### Rounded

- **None**: `0px`
- **Sm**: `0px`
- **Md**: `0px`
- **Lg**: `0px`
- **Full**: `0px`

### Surfaces

- **Treatment**: dark carved-stone field with faint CSS paper-fiber speckle; raised stone slabs separated only by a 3px uncarved channel
- **Card Style**: stone slab (surface) on a channel bed; the lit cell floods with cinnabar; no borders, never floating
- **Bg Pattern**: subtle radial speckle and faint cinnabar/gold blobs via CSS gradients only; no photographic imagery in the UI

### Borders

- **Default Width**: 0px
- **Channel Width**: 3px
- **Style**: none — the uncarved channel between tiles is the only divider
- **Character**: no card borders, no outlines, no single accent edges; the 3px channel and the lit cinnabar cell carry separation and emphasis

## Components

### Composition

Tessellate content into a stone bed: a grid of stone-slab cells on a dark channel background, separated by a 3px uncarved channel and nothing else. Content caps at ~1180px and centres; only the landing hero spans 100vw. Elements align to strong horizontal and vertical axes, like glyphs composed inside a seal face. Gold registration crosshairs mark channel intersections.

### Hierarchy

Primary emphasis is cinnabar coverage — the lit cell. Secondary is Archivo weight in paper-ink text; tertiary is muted stone gray and mono labels. Headings are mechanical condensed caps (Archivo 900, uppercase). Chinese seal script appears only small, as a registered chop accent. Gold is reserved for authentication.

### Density

Medium-high. The bed packs records into square cells without crowding; consistent 8px units and a 3px channel separate zones. Mono labels and cell numbers keep the grid legible.

### Signature

The seal-bed grid: tiles tessellate, the channel between them is the only border, gold crosshairs register alignment, and the active record is a lit cinnabar cell. Six named patterns appear live in the embodiment — Carved Cell, Registration Crosshair, Stamp Button group, Seal Badge, Imprint Table, Chop-Mark Divider.

## shadcn/ui Usage

When the target app uses shadcn/ui, copy DESIGN.md with shadcn instead of the plain DESIGN.md. It contains the same Katagami design-language source plus the shadcn/ui primitives, imports, theme variables, component recipes, and preview-shot guidance.

DESIGN.md with shadcn: `/language/en-019efa8a-f916-7643-ab11-7dd8580b3f43/DESIGN.with-shadcn.md`.

The shadcn page also exposes optional machine-readable files for automation, but the human-facing handoff is DESIGN.md with shadcn.

Install recommended primitives with `npx shadcn@latest add button card input textarea select dialog sheet tabs badge separator checkbox switch slider tooltip dropdown-menu table`.

Use these primitives in shadcn apps:
- button
- card
- input
- textarea
- select
- dialog
- sheet
- tabs
- badge
- separator
- checkbox
- switch
- slider
- tooltip
- dropdown-menu
- table

Implementation rule for agents: import shadcn primitives from `@/components/ui/*`, apply the generated CSS variables first, then compose the language-specific recipes from the companion MD. Katagami remains the source of truth; shadcn names are the implementation surface.

## Do's and Don'ts

- Do Lay content into a tessellated stone bed — cells on a channel background, 3px gap as the only divider
- Do Light the cell that matters with flat cinnabar (#D83A2A); keep the rest quiet stone
- Do Use Archivo 800-900 uppercase for headings — mechanical caps, not calligraphy
- Do Reserve registration gold (#C9A24B) for alignment crosshairs and curator authentication
- Do Use Noto Serif SC only small, as a registered chop accent (印鑒 真迹)
- Do Keep every form control square with an inset stroke; focus deepens to a cinnabar stroke
- Do Make one button cinnabar-primary; the set shares one height on a channel bed
- Do Render the settled state with no JS; gate motion behind an .anim class on <html>
- Don't Don't add card borders, outlines, or single accent edges — the channel is the border
- Don't Don't use a warm cream-paper ground or a giant literati serif masthead — that is the Zhuwen refinement
- Don't Don't round corners — radius is 0 everywhere
- Don't Don't float tiles with soft drop-shadows off the bed
- Don't Don't use pills or circular badges — status reads as a square chop
- Don't Don't let cinnabar and gold fight; gold is authentication only
- Don't Don't put photographic imagery inside the UI — only the landing hero carries the cinnabar art

### Accessibility

WCAG AA on dark stone: paper-ink text (#F4ECDD) on ground (#14110D) ~13:1; cinnabar primary text on cinnabar (#FBF2E2 on #D83A2A) meets AA for the large mono labels used. Status badges always carry a text label, never colour alone. Focus states use a 2px cinnabar inset stroke or a gold outline. Touch targets meet 44px. prefers-reduced-motion disables reveals.

## Imagery Direction

### Pairs With

cinnabar

### Summary

One full-bleed cinnabar seal-impression hero — a dense lattice of carved relief motifs (dragon, key-fret, cloud-scroll, phoenix, lotus) on a square nine-cell grid, vermilion on cream paper with grainy stamped edges, read behind a legible dark ink overlay. Inside the UI, imagery is abstract CSS only; the bed mechanic carries the visual identity.

### Subjects

- a seal-bed lattice of carved relief motifs
- a single carved dragon chop
- a key-fret / cloud-scroll tessellation
- an archaic seal-script glyph block

### Usage

Landing hero only, full-bleed via background-image:var(--hero-image) under a solid-edge ink overlay; never inside dashboard/table UI.
shadcn/ui theme
```json
{
  "$schema": "https://ui.shadcn.com/schema/registry-item.json",
  "name": "yinchuang",
  "type": "registry:theme",
  "title": "Yinchuang shadcn Theme",
  "cssVars": {
    "theme": {},
    "light": {
      "background": "#14110D",
      "foreground": "#F4ECDD",
      "card": "#1F1A13",
      "card-foreground": "#F4ECDD",
      "popover": "#1F1A13",
      "popover-foreground": "#F4ECDD",
      "primary": "#D83A2A",
      "primary-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "secondary": "#F4ECDD",
      "secondary-foreground": "#111111",
      "muted": "#A99B83",
      "muted-foreground": "#F4ECDD",
      "accent": "#D83A2A",
      "accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "destructive": "#E0533F",
      "border": "#3A3025",
      "input": "#3A3025",
      "ring": "#D83A2A",
      "chart-1": "#D83A2A",
      "chart-2": "#F4ECDD",
      "chart-3": "#D83A2A",
      "chart-4": "#7FA04A",
      "chart-5": "#C9A24B",
      "sidebar": "#1F1A13",
      "sidebar-foreground": "#F4ECDD",
      "sidebar-primary": "#D83A2A",
      "sidebar-primary-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "sidebar-accent": "#5C8BB0",
      "sidebar-accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "sidebar-border": "#3A3025",
      "sidebar-ring": "#D83A2A",
      "radius": "0px"
    },
    "dark": {
      "background": "#0f1115",
      "foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "card": "#181b22",
      "card-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "popover": "#181b22",
      "popover-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "primary": "#D83A2A",
      "primary-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "secondary": "#252a33",
      "secondary-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "muted": "#252a33",
      "muted-foreground": "#a1a1aa",
      "accent": "#D83A2A",
      "accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "destructive": "#E0533F",
      "border": "#303642",
      "input": "#303642",
      "ring": "#D83A2A",
      "chart-1": "#D83A2A",
      "chart-2": "#F4ECDD",
      "chart-3": "#D83A2A",
      "chart-4": "#7FA04A",
      "chart-5": "#C9A24B",
      "sidebar": "#181b22",
      "sidebar-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "sidebar-primary": "#D83A2A",
      "sidebar-primary-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "sidebar-accent": "#D83A2A",
      "sidebar-accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "sidebar-border": "#303642",
      "sidebar-ring": "#D83A2A",
      "radius": "0px"
    }
  },
  "meta": {
    "source": "katagami",
    "languageId": "en-019efa8a-f916-7643-ab11-7dd8580b3f43",
    "slug": "yinchuang",
    "componentManifest": [
      "button",
      "card",
      "input",
      "textarea",
      "select",
      "dialog",
      "sheet",
      "tabs",
      "badge",
      "separator",
      "checkbox",
      "switch",
      "slider",
      "tooltip",
      "dropdown-menu",
      "table"
    ],
    "installCommand": "npx shadcn@latest add button card input textarea select dialog sheet tabs badge separator checkbox switch slider tooltip dropdown-menu table",
    "nativeTokenNames": {
      "colors": [
        "accent",
        "accent_deep",
        "bg",
        "border",
        "channel",
        "error",
        "gold",
        "info",
        "muted",
        "on_accent",
        "primary",
        "secondary",
        "success",
        "surface",
        "surface_2",
        "text",
        "warning"
      ],
      "typography": [
        "base_size",
        "body_font",
        "google_fonts_url",
        "heading_font",
        "heading_transform",
        "heading_weight",
        "letter_spacing",
        "line_height",
        "mono_font",
        "serif_accent_font"
      ],
      "radii": [
        "full",
        "lg",
        "md",
        "none",
        "sm"
      ],
      "shadows": [
        "chop_seal",
        "input_focus",
        "input_stroke",
        "press"
      ],
      "spacing": [
        "base",
        "scale"
      ],
      "surfaces": [
        "bg_pattern",
        "card_style",
        "treatment"
      ],
      "borders": [
        "channel_width",
        "character",
        "default_width",
        "style"
      ],
      "motion": [
        "duration",
        "easing",
        "philosophy"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```
in the wild

embodiments

bespoke marketing landingopen full page ↗
landing · yinchuang
DESIGN.md

at a glance

Typography

headline-lgArchivo · 33px · 700

The quick brown fox jumps

headline-mdArchivo · 27px · 600

The quick brown fox jumps

body-mdArchivo · 17px · 400

The quick brown fox jumps

label-mdIBM Plex Mono · 12px · 600

The quick brown fox jumps

shadcn/ui

implementation kit

built with

Agent-generated

remix lane

try a remix

Keep Yinchuangand swap a palette and an art style onto it — the landing & dashboard recolor live. The Studio does the same with all three lanes free.

UI language · fixed
Yinchuang
Palette
Art style
Landing Page
live preview · recolored + filled
lineage

Family

Evolved from
related

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