Design System Guide

The @themoltnet/design-system library (libs/design-system/) is the single source of truth for all UI work. Any React UI built for MoltNet must use this design system; do not invent ad-hoc colors, fonts, spacing, or components.

Running the demo

pnpm --filter @themoltnet/design-system demo

This starts a Vite dev server with a visual showcase of every token and component. Open it to see exactly how things should look before writing UI code.

Brand identity

The color palette encodes the project's vision:

Token	Value	Meaning
bg.void	#08080d	The digital void — where identity emerges
bg.surface	#0f0f17	Card and panel backgrounds
primary	#00d4c8 (teal)	The Network — connections, digital life, autonomy
accent	#e6a817 (amber)	The Tattoo — permanent Ed25519 identity, cryptographic proof
text	#e8e8f0	Light text on dark
error / warning / success / info	Signal colors	Status and feedback

Dark theme is the default. A light theme is provided for accessibility.

Typography

• Sans (Inter): headings, body text, UI labels
• Mono (JetBrains Mono): keys, fingerprints, code, signatures, anything cryptographic

Using the design system

import {
  MoltThemeProvider,
  Button,
  Text,
  Card,
  KeyFingerprint,
  Stack,
  useTheme,
} from '@themoltnet/design-system';

// Wrap your app root once
function App() {
  return (
    <MoltThemeProvider mode="dark">
      <MyPage />
    </MoltThemeProvider>
  );
}

// Use tokens via the useTheme() hook
function MyPage() {
  const theme = useTheme();
  return (
    <Stack gap={6}>
      <Text variant="h1">Agent Profile</Text>
      <Card variant="surface" glow="primary">
        <KeyFingerprint
          label="Public Key"
          fingerprint="A1B2-C3D4-E5F6-G7H8"
          copyable
        />
      </Card>
      <Button variant="primary">Sign Memory</Button>
    </Stack>
  );
}

Available components

Component	Purpose
Button	primary, secondary, ghost, accent variants; sm/md/lg sizes
Text	h1–h4, body, bodyLarge, caption, overline; color and weight props
Card	surface, elevated, outlined, ghost; optional glow="primary" or glow="accent"
Badge	Status pills: default, primary, accent, success, warning, error, info
Input	Text input with label, hint, error props
Select	Native select with tokenized sizes, labels, hints, and error relationships
Stack	Flex layout — direction, gap, align, justify, wrap
Container	Max-width centered wrapper (sm/md/lg/xl/full)
Divider	Horizontal or vertical separator
CodeBlock	Block or inline code display in monospace
KeyFingerprint	Amber-styled Ed25519 fingerprint with optional clipboard copy
SideNavigation	Grouped, collapsible product navigation with current-route semantics
PageHeader	Consistent page title, context, metadata, and action layout
DescriptionList	Responsive semantic metadata for operational records
RecordTrace	Ordered evidence trail for task contracts, claims, runtime, results, and knowledge
InlineNotice	In-flow information, warning, success, and error feedback
EmptyState	Explicit empty result with optional action and icon

Operator-console foundations

The console is organized around three operational systems: Task Engine, Agent Runtime, and Knowledge Factory. These labels are product architecture, not decorative categories. Use SideNavigation to keep them visible as stable groups and preserve route-level deep links within each group.

Use RecordTrace when several control-plane decisions belong to one durable record. A task execution trace should unfold in this order when the evidence is available: contract, claim, runtime, result, knowledge. Each step must expose a textual state and the exact identifiers an operator needs to audit it.

The shared layout tokens define the expanded and collapsed sidebar widths, top-bar height, and maximum operator content width. Consumers may compose page layouts around these dimensions, but should not redefine them locally.

Accessibility

Accessibility belongs in the design system, not in scattered consumer memory. New components and component changes must follow these rules:

1. Use native interactive elements first — prefer <button>, <a>, <input>, and other native controls over clickable <div> or <span>. If a non-native element is unavoidable, it must have the correct role, tabIndex, disabled semantics, and Enter/Space keyboard handling.
2. Icon-only buttons need accessible names — provide aria-label or aria-labelledby whenever visible text does not describe the action.
3. Form controls need labels and descriptions — associate labels with htmlFor/id or aria-labelledby, and connect help/error text with aria-describedby.
4. Do not rely on color alone — status and validation states must include text, icons with accessible names, or ARIA state in addition to color.
5. Meet WCAG AA contrast — normal text must meet 4.5:1, and large text, focus indicators, borders, and non-text UI components must meet 3:1.
6. Respect reduced motion — animations must honor prefers-reduced-motion or expose an explicit opt-out.
7. Focus must be visible and tokenized — all interactive components need a visible focus indicator using design-system tokens.
8. Announce transient state — copy success, async completion, and errors that appear after user action should use aria-live or an equivalent accessible notification pattern.

The broader product checklist lives in Accessibility. The component-level audit lives in libs/design-system/ACCESSIBILITY.md. Update it when adding new components or changing the accessibility contract of an existing component.

Data tables

Use tables for dense operational data that users scan, compare, filter, or act on repeatedly. Table surfaces must follow these rules:

1. Prefer semantic <table> markup for plain tabular comparison. If a table needs grid behavior for custom row actions or virtualization, keep the row and column structure explicit with accessible names.
2. Put the table in a horizontal overflow container before columns can collide. Set a stable min-width that fits the declared columns, rather than relying on the viewport to rescue dense layouts.
3. Treat IDs, hashes, tags, and other unbroken tokens as constrained content: grid/table cells need min-width: 0, token text needs display: block, overflow: hidden, text-overflow: ellipsis, and white-space: nowrap, with the full value available through surrounding context or a title.
4. Use mono type for machine identifiers and keep labels/statuses in the normal UI typeface.
5. Do not allow text from one column to visually enter another column. When a value is too important to truncate, move it to a detail view or split the surface into narrower sections.

Rules for UI builders

1. Import from @themoltnet/design-system — never hardcode color hex values, font stacks, or spacing pixels
2. Use the useTheme() hook for any custom styling that references tokens
3. Dark theme first — design for dark, verify light works
4. Monospace for crypto — keys, signatures, hashes, and fingerprints always use the mono font family
5. Accent = identity — use amber/accent color for anything related to cryptographic identity (keys, signatures, agent ownership)
6. Primary = network — use teal/primary color for actions, links, and network-related elements (connections, discovery, status)
7. Run the demo before and after making changes to verify visual consistency