Sumi Rail

# Sumi Rail

## Philosophy

An ink-and-paper operating language refined from Minimalist Japanese. Structure is carried by the margin and a single seal, never by a frame drawn around everything. It treats intentional emptiness (ma) as a structural material and reserves one vermilion stamp for the single thing that earns ritual attention.

### Values

- intentional emptiness as structure
- paper-and-ink tactility
- measured asymmetry
- ritualized single-seal emphasis
- calm operational clarity

### Anti-Values

- framing every panel in a border
- status flooded into bright chips
- centered symmetrical dashboards
- heavy shadows or glossy gradients
- motion for spectacle

### Visual Character

- a vertical reading rail set upright in the margin names each region — navigation as architecture, not decoration
- one vermilion seal, pressed at a slight tilt, marks the single confirmation or live status that deserves ritual attention
- a hairline trailing rule extends far past each heading to anchor it to the grid as an editorial spread
- paper panels carry structure through surface, soft shadow, and space rather than a charcoal frame
- warm washi ground with faint horizontal grain and softly translucent shoji overlays on selected panels

## Tokens

### Colors

| Name | Value |
|------|-------|
| primary | `#C8442E` |
| secondary | `#3A4B63` |
| accent | `#C8442E` |
| background | `#EFE9DD` |
| surface | `#F8F4EC` |
| text | `#211C18` |
| muted | `#7A7065` |
| border | `#D7CDBC` |
| on_accent | `#FBF6EC` |
| error | `#A8341F` |
| success | `#5E7350` |
| warning | `#B07A1E` |
| info | `#3A4B63` |

### Typography

- **Heading Font**: "Zen Old Mincho", serif
- **Body Font**: "Zen Kaku Gothic New", sans-serif
- **Mono Font**: "IBM Plex Mono", monospace
- **Base Size**: 17px
- **Scale Ratio**: 1.2
- **Line Height**: 1.65
- **Letter Spacing**: 0.01em
- **Heading Weight**: 700
- **Heading Transform**: none
- **Google Fonts Url**: https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=IBM+Plex+Mono:wght@400;500&family=Zen+Kaku+Gothic+New:wght@400;500;700&family=Zen+Old+Mincho:wght@500;700&display=swap

### Spacing

- **Base Unit**: 8px
- **Base**: 8px
- **Scale**: ["4px","8px","16px","24px","40px","64px","96px"]

### Radii

- **None**: 0px
- **Md**: 16px
- **Lg**: 24px
- **Full**: 9999px

### Shadows

- **Sm**: 0 1px 0 rgba(33,28,24,0.05)
- **Md**: 0 14px 30px rgba(33,28,24,0.05)
- **Lg**: 0 18px 40px rgba(33,28,24,0.08)

### Surfaces

- **Treatment**: paper
- **Card Style**: soft-shadow paper panels with no frame border; selected panels carry a translucent shoji screen overlay
- **Bg Pattern**: faint horizontal line grain

### Borders

- **Default Width**: 1px
- **Style**: solid
- **Character**: hairlines used as rules between rows and as trailing heading anchors — never as a frame around containers

### Motion

- **Duration**: 180ms
- **Easing**: cubic-bezier(0.22, 1, 0.36, 1)
- **Philosophy**: deliberate, no bounce or overshoot; settled state renders with no JS, reveal added on top behind an html.anim gate

### Responsive

- **Breakpoints**: [1200,880,680,390]
- **Column Progression**: 12 → 8 → 4 → 1

## Rules

### Composition

Compose screens as editorial boards: a dominant content plane beside a narrow vertical annotation rail, arranged in measured asymmetry, with at least one large quiet zone per major viewport so density never becomes uniform.

### Hierarchy

Mincho headings carry a long trailing hairline rule; gothic carries operational UI; mono carries metadata and counts. Emphasis comes from position, spacing, and a single vermilion seal — not from many weights or many colours.

### Density

Low-to-medium. Controls are compact but never cramped; panels breathe with generous padding; every cluster is separated by rules and empty margin.

### Signature

The three devices: (1) a vertical reading rail (writing-mode vertical-rl, upright, wide tracking) names each region in the margin; (2) one vermilion square seal-stamp rotated ~2 degrees marks status, counts, and confirmations instead of pills; (3) a hairline rule extends far past each heading. Panels are paper with soft shadow and no frame border.

## Layout

### Grid

Desktop uses an asymmetrical editorial grid with a fixed narrow vertical rail beside a dominant content field and supporting paper panels. Tablet compresses the rail; phone collapses to a single column with the rail lying down to a horizontal label band.

### Whitespace

Whitespace is structural: 40-96px outer margins on desktop, 24-40px tablet, 16-24px phone. Never fill every cell; preserve blank modules to create rhythm.

### Density

low-to-medium

### Responsive

390px single column with the rail as a horizontal band, scrollable/wrapping tables, full-width actions; 680px stacked narrative panels; 880px two-tier grid; 1200px+ full editorial spread; full-bleed hero spans 100vw, contained content caps and centres on ultra-wide.

### Breakpoints

- **Xl**: 1200px
- **Lg**: 880px
- **Md**: 680px
- **Sm**: 390px

## Guidance

### Do

- use the vermilion seal only for the single signal that deserves ritual attention
- let space, surface, and the trailing rule carry structure before any border
- set status as a small rotated seal square, never a bright pill or chip
- combine Mincho headings with gothic UI labels and mono metadata for clear role separation
- treat the vertical rail as navigational architecture and let it lie down on mobile

### Don't

- do not frame every panel with a charcoal border or inset inner frame
- do not centre everything or build perfectly symmetrical dashboards
- do not turn every status into a bright chip, and do not add a second loud accent
- do not use heavy shadows, glossy gradients, or bounce/overshoot motion
- do not collapse whitespace to fit more widgets

### Accessibility

Body text 17px+ on a warm paper ground at high contrast (sumi ink on washi). Seal squares are paired with a text label so status never relies on colour alone. Focus states swap the input ring to vermilion. Motion respects prefers-reduced-motion; the settled state renders with no JavaScript.

## Imagery Direction

### Pairs With

sumi-ink-wash

### Summary

Sumi-e ink-wash brushwork: one dark pigment, decisive loaded strokes, graded washes, and bare warm paper as structural negative space, with a single restrained vermilion seal mark.

### Subjects

- misted mountain ridges and pine
- a standing heron in still water
- a cast-iron tetsubin teapot
- a craftsman's portrait
- a single bowl or vessel

### Usage

Hero images push the inked subject to one edge and leave the larger area as bare-paper negative space for the headline overlay. Feature and avatar slots keep the subject centred in wide emptiness. One small seal mark is the only colour.

---
version: "alpha"
name: "Sumi Rail"
description: "Agent-curated design language exported from Katagami as DESIGN.md."
colors:
  primary: "#C8442E"
  secondary: "#3A4B63"
  accent: "#C8442E"
  background: "#EFE9DD"
  surface: "#F8F4EC"
  text: "#211C18"
  muted: "#7A7065"
  border: "#D7CDBC"
  on_accent: "#FBF6EC"
  error: "#A8341F"
  success: "#5E7350"
  warning: "#B07A1E"
  info: "#3A4B63"
typography:
  headline-lg:
    fontFamily: "\"Zen Old Mincho\", serif"
    fontSize: "2.075rem"
    fontWeight: 700
    lineHeight: 1.1
    letterSpacing: "0.01em"
  headline-md:
    fontFamily: "\"Zen Old Mincho\", serif"
    fontSize: "1.66rem"
    fontWeight: 600
    lineHeight: 1.15
    letterSpacing: "0.01em"
  body-md:
    fontFamily: "\"Zen Kaku Gothic New\", sans-serif"
    fontSize: "17px"
    fontWeight: 400
    lineHeight: 1.5
    letterSpacing: "0.01em"
  label-md:
    fontFamily: "\"IBM Plex Mono\", monospace"
    fontSize: "0.75rem"
    fontWeight: 600
    lineHeight: 1
    letterSpacing: "0.08em"
rounded:
  none: "0px"
  md: "16px"
  lg: "24px"
  full: "9999px"
spacing:
  base: "8px"
  xs: "4px"
  sm: "8px"
  md: "16px"
  lg: "24px"
  xl: "40px"
  2xl: "64px"
  3xl: "96px"
  base_unit: "8px"
components:
  color-reference-primary:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.primary}"
  color-reference-secondary:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.secondary}"
  color-reference-accent:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.accent}"
  color-reference-background:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.background}"
  color-reference-surface:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.surface}"
  color-reference-text:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.text}"
  color-reference-muted:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.muted}"
  color-reference-border:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.border}"
  color-reference-on_accent:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.on_accent}"
  color-reference-error:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.error}"
  color-reference-success:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.success}"
  color-reference-warning:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.warning}"
  color-reference-info:
    backgroundColor: "{colors.info}"
  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"
---

# Sumi Rail

## Overview

An ink-and-paper operating language refined from Minimalist Japanese. Structure is carried by the margin and a single seal, never by a frame drawn around everything. It treats intentional emptiness (ma) as a structural material and reserves one vermilion stamp for the single thing that earns ritual attention.

### Values

- intentional emptiness as structure
- paper-and-ink tactility
- measured asymmetry
- ritualized single-seal emphasis
- calm operational clarity

### Anti-Values

- framing every panel in a border
- status flooded into bright chips
- centered symmetrical dashboards
- heavy shadows or glossy gradients
- motion for spectacle

### Visual Character

- a vertical reading rail set upright in the margin names each region — navigation as architecture, not decoration
- one vermilion seal, pressed at a slight tilt, marks the single confirmation or live status that deserves ritual attention
- a hairline trailing rule extends far past each heading to anchor it to the grid as an editorial spread
- paper panels carry structure through surface, soft shadow, and space rather than a charcoal frame
- warm washi ground with faint horizontal grain and softly translucent shoji overlays on selected panels

## Colors

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

| Token | Value |
|-------|-------|
| primary | `#C8442E` |
| secondary | `#3A4B63` |
| accent | `#C8442E` |
| background | `#EFE9DD` |
| surface | `#F8F4EC` |
| text | `#211C18` |
| muted | `#7A7065` |
| border | `#D7CDBC` |
| on_accent | `#FBF6EC` |
| error | `#A8341F` |
| success | `#5E7350` |
| warning | `#B07A1E` |
| info | `#3A4B63` |

## Typography

- **Headline-Lg**: "Zen Old Mincho", serif, 2.075rem, weight 700, line-height 1.1.
- **Headline-Md**: "Zen Old Mincho", serif, 1.66rem, weight 600, line-height 1.15.
- **Body-Md**: "Zen Kaku Gothic New", sans-serif, 17px, weight 400, line-height 1.5.
- **Label-Md**: "IBM Plex Mono", monospace, 0.75rem, weight 600, line-height 1.

## Layout

### Spacing Tokens

- **Base**: `8px`
- **Xs**: `4px`
- **Sm**: `8px`
- **Md**: `16px`
- **Lg**: `24px`
- **Xl**: `40px`
- **2xl**: `64px`
- **3xl**: `96px`
- **Base Unit**: `8px`

### Grid

Desktop uses an asymmetrical editorial grid with a fixed narrow vertical rail beside a dominant content field and supporting paper panels. Tablet compresses the rail; phone collapses to a single column with the rail lying down to a horizontal label band.

### Whitespace

Whitespace is structural: 40-96px outer margins on desktop, 24-40px tablet, 16-24px phone. Never fill every cell; preserve blank modules to create rhythm.

### Density

low-to-medium

### Responsive

390px single column with the rail as a horizontal band, scrollable/wrapping tables, full-width actions; 680px stacked narrative panels; 880px two-tier grid; 1200px+ full editorial spread; full-bleed hero spans 100vw, contained content caps and centres on ultra-wide.

### Breakpoints

- **Xl**: 1200px
- **Lg**: 880px
- **Md**: 680px
- **Sm**: 390px

## Elevation & Depth

### Shadows

- **Sm**: 0 1px 0 rgba(33,28,24,0.05)
- **Md**: 0 14px 30px rgba(33,28,24,0.05)
- **Lg**: 0 18px 40px rgba(33,28,24,0.08)

## Shapes

### Rounded

- **None**: `0px`
- **Md**: `16px`
- **Lg**: `24px`
- **Full**: `9999px`

### Surfaces

- **Treatment**: paper
- **Card Style**: soft-shadow paper panels with no frame border; selected panels carry a translucent shoji screen overlay
- **Bg Pattern**: faint horizontal line grain

### Borders

- **Default Width**: 1px
- **Style**: solid
- **Character**: hairlines used as rules between rows and as trailing heading anchors — never as a frame around containers

## Components

### Composition

Compose screens as editorial boards: a dominant content plane beside a narrow vertical annotation rail, arranged in measured asymmetry, with at least one large quiet zone per major viewport so density never becomes uniform.

### Hierarchy

Mincho headings carry a long trailing hairline rule; gothic carries operational UI; mono carries metadata and counts. Emphasis comes from position, spacing, and a single vermilion seal — not from many weights or many colours.

### Density

Low-to-medium. Controls are compact but never cramped; panels breathe with generous padding; every cluster is separated by rules and empty margin.

### Signature

The three devices: (1) a vertical reading rail (writing-mode vertical-rl, upright, wide tracking) names each region in the margin; (2) one vermilion square seal-stamp rotated ~2 degrees marks status, counts, and confirmations instead of pills; (3) a hairline rule extends far past each heading. Panels are paper with soft shadow and no frame border.

## 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-019efd5c-b9c0-7190-90fa-b9390d8f8ab6/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 use the vermilion seal only for the single signal that deserves ritual attention
- Do let space, surface, and the trailing rule carry structure before any border
- Do set status as a small rotated seal square, never a bright pill or chip
- Do combine Mincho headings with gothic UI labels and mono metadata for clear role separation
- Do treat the vertical rail as navigational architecture and let it lie down on mobile
- Don't do not frame every panel with a charcoal border or inset inner frame
- Don't do not centre everything or build perfectly symmetrical dashboards
- Don't do not turn every status into a bright chip, and do not add a second loud accent
- Don't do not use heavy shadows, glossy gradients, or bounce/overshoot motion
- Don't do not collapse whitespace to fit more widgets

### Accessibility

Body text 17px+ on a warm paper ground at high contrast (sumi ink on washi). Seal squares are paired with a text label so status never relies on colour alone. Focus states swap the input ring to vermilion. Motion respects prefers-reduced-motion; the settled state renders with no JavaScript.

## Imagery Direction

### Pairs With

sumi-ink-wash

### Summary

Sumi-e ink-wash brushwork: one dark pigment, decisive loaded strokes, graded washes, and bare warm paper as structural negative space, with a single restrained vermilion seal mark.

### Subjects

- misted mountain ridges and pine
- a standing heron in still water
- a cast-iron tetsubin teapot
- a craftsman's portrait
- a single bowl or vessel

### Usage

Hero images push the inked subject to one edge and leave the larger area as bare-paper negative space for the headline overlay. Feature and avatar slots keep the subject centred in wide emptiness. One small seal mark is the only colour.

```json
{
  "$schema": "https://ui.shadcn.com/schema/registry-item.json",
  "name": "sumi-rail",
  "type": "registry:theme",
  "title": "Sumi Rail shadcn Theme",
  "cssVars": {
    "theme": {},
    "light": {
      "background": "#EFE9DD",
      "foreground": "#211C18",
      "card": "#F8F4EC",
      "card-foreground": "#211C18",
      "popover": "#F8F4EC",
      "popover-foreground": "#211C18",
      "primary": "#C8442E",
      "primary-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "secondary": "#3A4B63",
      "secondary-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "muted": "#7A7065",
      "muted-foreground": "#211C18",
      "accent": "#C8442E",
      "accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "destructive": "#A8341F",
      "border": "#D7CDBC",
      "input": "#D7CDBC",
      "ring": "#C8442E",
      "chart-1": "#C8442E",
      "chart-2": "#3A4B63",
      "chart-3": "#C8442E",
      "chart-4": "#5E7350",
      "chart-5": "#B07A1E",
      "sidebar": "#F8F4EC",
      "sidebar-foreground": "#211C18",
      "sidebar-primary": "#C8442E",
      "sidebar-primary-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "sidebar-accent": "#3A4B63",
      "sidebar-accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "sidebar-border": "#D7CDBC",
      "sidebar-ring": "#C8442E",
      "radius": "16px"
    },
    "dark": {
      "background": "#0f1115",
      "foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "card": "#181b22",
      "card-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "popover": "#181b22",
      "popover-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "primary": "#C8442E",
      "primary-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "secondary": "#252a33",
      "secondary-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "muted": "#252a33",
      "muted-foreground": "#a1a1aa",
      "accent": "#C8442E",
      "accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "destructive": "#A8341F",
      "border": "#303642",
      "input": "#303642",
      "ring": "#C8442E",
      "chart-1": "#C8442E",
      "chart-2": "#3A4B63",
      "chart-3": "#C8442E",
      "chart-4": "#5E7350",
      "chart-5": "#B07A1E",
      "sidebar": "#181b22",
      "sidebar-foreground": "#f8fafc",
      "sidebar-primary": "#C8442E",
      "sidebar-primary-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "sidebar-accent": "#C8442E",
      "sidebar-accent-foreground": "#ffffff",
      "sidebar-border": "#303642",
      "sidebar-ring": "#C8442E",
      "radius": "16px"
    }
  },
  "meta": {
    "source": "katagami",
    "languageId": "en-019efd5c-b9c0-7190-90fa-b9390d8f8ab6",
    "slug": "sumi-rail",
    "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",
        "background",
        "border",
        "error",
        "info",
        "muted",
        "on_accent",
        "primary",
        "secondary",
        "success",
        "surface",
        "text",
        "warning"
      ],
      "typography": [
        "base_size",
        "body_font",
        "google_fonts_url",
        "heading_font",
        "heading_transform",
        "heading_weight",
        "letter_spacing",
        "line_height",
        "mono_font",
        "scale_ratio"
      ],
      "spacing": [
        "base",
        "base_unit",
        "scale"
      ],
      "radii": [
        "full",
        "lg",
        "md",
        "none"
      ],
      "shadows": [
        "lg",
        "md",
        "sm"
      ],
      "surfaces": [
        "bg_pattern",
        "card_style",
        "treatment"
      ],
      "borders": [
        "character",
        "default_width",
        "style"
      ],
      "motion": [
        "duration",
        "easing",
        "philosophy"
      ],
      "responsive": [
        "breakpoints",
        "column_progression"
      ]
    }
  }
}
```