Design System 1.2
Frozen scope
| Layer | Frozen responsibility | Page developers provide |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation / Token | Color, type, spacing, radius, elevation, motion, z-index, density | Nothing |
| Pattern | Theme, Shell, Workspace, List, Filter, Saved View | An approved selection |
| Recipe | List, Detail, Edit, Wizard, Dashboard, Identity | SDK calls, permissions, fields, columns, copy |
| Product Page | No new design rules | Business content and orchestration |
The dependency direction is fixed:
Reference -> System -> Component -> shadcn Compatibility | Pattern -> Recipe -> PageFrozen means that a page cannot rewrite the stable contract. It does not mean every advanced Pattern has shipped. Implementation gaps continue to converge on the contract and remain explicit in the conformance ledger.
Authority order
Resolve conflicts in this order:
- ADR 0801 and
frontend/AGENTS.md; - this frozen v1 manual;
- Frontend Design Guardian and the UI Done Checklist;
- shadcn component contracts;
- external design skills, competitors, old screenshots, and Axhub references.
Historical screens provide evidence about domain complexity. They are not a visual baseline.
Stable themes
| Order | ID | Name | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | enterprise-neutral | Slate | Framework and generic Platform fallback |
| 1 | legal-navy | Navy | Default Legal theme |
| 2 | legal-amber | Gold | Warm commercial and premium services |
| 3 | legal-burgundy | Burgundy | Boutique firms and partner portals |
| 4 | legal-jade | Jade | Knowledge, compliance, and an East Asian professional tone |
| 5 | legal-orange | Orange | Energy, manufacturing, and activity-driven brands |
Display names match the name field in theme.tokens.json and the i18n strings. The workspace theme picker shows themes in workspaceBrandThemeIds order: Navy, Gold, Burgundy, Jade, Slate, Orange. Slate (enterprise-neutral) is both the Framework fallback and a selectable option in the workspace picker.
Frozen experience profiles
| Profile | Shell | Workspace | Density | Use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
platform-workbench | Side | Managed Tabs | Compact | Main desktop legal workspace |
platform-portal | Top | Single Route | Compact | Smaller portal or search-centered product |
identity-flow | Minimal | Single Route | Comfortable | Login, invitation, MFA, recovery |
touch-context | Responsive | Single Route | Comfortable | Narrow or touch environment |
Density has four levels: dense, compact, comfortable, spacious. The profile table lists only the default level for each scenario. dense targets high-density tables and bulk operations; spacious targets touch and accessibility scaling. Users can switch in preferences.
Theme, Mode, Density, Shell, and Workspace are independent. A theme does not change navigation, and frontend visibility never replaces backend authorization.
Current implementation status
| Capability | Design contract | Current code |
|---|---|---|
| Token layers and ownership | Frozen | Landed in packages/materials; deterministic generator emits CSS/TS/schema |
| Six brand themes | Frozen | Color ramps generated; AppearanceProvider injects at runtime |
| Light/Dark x Brand x Density | Frozen | Four density levels, six themes, and mode cascades all implemented |
| Accessibility overrides | Frozen | fontScale, highContrast, colorVision, reduceMotion axes implemented |
| Shell / Workspace | Frozen | Side/Top and Single Route are live; Managed Tabs restore and dirty-state work remains |
| List / Filter | Frozen | Shared list/filter foundations are live; Advanced Filter, Query Studio, and Saved View advance slice by slice |
| Identity | Delivered | Completed as a full tracer-bullet |
Reading path
Start with design language, then read token architecture, application shells, list and filter patterns, and implementation gates.
Chapter Navigation
- 01/09
Design Language and Reference Boundaries
The visual formula, legal-industry reference boundary, and anti-template redlines for Design System 1.2.
- 02/09
Token Architecture and Ownership
Design System 1.2 Reference, System, Component, and shadcn Compatibility layers, naming rules, and engineering ownership.
- 03/09
Color and Legal Themes
Design System 1.2 neutral surfaces, status colors, brand semantics, and the Navy, Amber, Burgundy, Jade, and Orange legal themes.
- 04/09
Typography, Space, and Material
Design System 1.2 fonts, type scale, spacing, radius, elevation, motion, z-index, and density.
- 05/09
Multi-Brand, Dark Mode, and Profiles
Design System 1.2 orthogonal Mode, Brand, Density, Shell, and Workspace axes, accessibility overrides, persistence, and tenant boundaries.
- 06/09
Application Shell and Workspace
Design System 1.2 Side and Top shells, navigation ownership, sticky Local Tabs, global tools, and workspace semantics.
- 07/09
Lists and Advanced Filters
Design System 1.2 List Recipe, Simple/Structured/Expert queries, Saved Views, table density, and URL state.
- 08/09
Interface Usage Guide
End-user conventions for themes, navigation, workspace tabs, filters, saved views, tables, and application states.
- 09/09
Implementation and Conformance Gates
Design System 1.2 generation pipeline, landed implementation, quality gates, and sweep checks.