Aurora Core Design System

Foundations

Color Tokens

8-color palette. Gold emits light (glows on hover). Amber stays matte — warning never outranks hero intent.

GOLD
600
500
400
300
200
SILVER
600
500
400
300
200
PURPLE
600
500
400
300
200
BLUE
600
500
400
300
200
GREY
800
700
600
500
400
GREEN
600
500
400
300
200
RED
600
500
400
300
200
AMBER
600
500
400
300
200
Gold gets box-shadow glow on every interactive state. Amber never does — it only brightens its border.
Surfaces

Glass Depth System

Three optical tiers. Blur, border opacity, and inner luminance increase together. Hover any panel to see the depth shift.

DEPTH 1
Recessed
8px blur · 5% border
Inner panels, inputs
DEPTH 2
Standard
20px blur · 10% border
Cards, panels
DEPTH 3
Elevated
32px blur · 16% border
Hover, focus, nav
Foundations

Typography Scale

Major third ratio (1.25). Outfit for body, Space Mono for labels and data.

Page Title — 2.44rem
Stat Value — 1.95rem
Section Heading — 1.56rem
Card Title — 1.25rem
Large Body — 1.125rem
Body Text — 1rem
Caption / Button — 0.833rem
MONO LABEL — 0.694rem
System

Editor Tokens

Semantic color tokens for code editor surfaces. Each zone gets its own variable so themes stay consistent across any embedded editor.

--aurora-editor-bg
--aurora-editor-gutter-bg
--aurora-editor-active-line
--aurora-editor-selection
--aurora-editor-search
--aurora-editor-search-selected
System

App Shell

Layout tokens for the standard application shell. Sidebar width, titlebar height, padding, gap, and corner radius are all tokenized.

--aurora-app-shell-sidebar-width 220px
--aurora-app-shell-titlebar-height 44px
--aurora-app-shell-padding var(--space-6)
--aurora-app-shell-gap var(--space-6)
--aurora-app-shell-radius var(--radius-lg)
System

Input & Fields

Surface tokens for interactive inputs, selects, and scrollable regions. Focus ring is always gold.

Input Surfaces
Default surface: var(--aurora-input-surface-field)
Hover: var(--aurora-input-surface-field-hover)
Active: var(--aurora-input-surface-field-active)
Scrollbar Tokens

Custom scrollbar styling with --aurora-scrollbar-thumb tokens.

Token: --aurora-scrollbar-thumb
Token: --aurora-scrollbar-thumb-hover
Tracks inherit a faint tint of their fill color.
Never use neutral grey for tracks.
Scrollbar width matches the system default.
Thumb radius uses var(--radius-full).
Hover state brightens the thumb color.
Focus-visible applies the gold ring.
All values come from CSS custom properties.
No hard-coded colors in scrollbar styles.
--aurora-scrollbar-thumb
--aurora-scrollbar-thumb-hover
Data Display

Stat Cards

Seven color variants. Each has a top accent bar and corner aura. Gold glows, amber stays matte — even at the card level.

Revenue
$42.8K
↑ 12.5% vs last month
Active Users
1,847
↑ 8.2% vs last week
Uptime
99.97%
↑ 0.02% this quarter
Total Assets
2,340
across 12 repos
Warnings
23
↑ 4 since deploy
Errors
7
↓ 3 from yesterday
Deployments
156
↑ 18% this sprint
Actions

Buttons

Seven semantic variants plus icon buttons. Primary (gold) is the only button that emits light.


Icon buttons
Status

Badges

Semantic status indicators. Each has a pulsing dot — except amber (matte) and silver (no dot).

Active In Progress Deployed Healthy Warning Critical Archived
Inputs

Form Controls

Text inputs, selects, and error states. Focus ring is always gold.

Text Inputs
We'll never share your email.
Invalid API key format.
Select & Search
Feedback

Progress & Gauges

Linear progress bars with gradient fills. Circular gauges with SVG strokes and color-coded glow.

Progress Bars
Revenue Target84%
Build Pipeline78%
Test Coverage92%
Uptime SLA99.9%
Circular Gauges
80%
CPU
45%
Memory
92%
Health
Navigation

Tab Bar

Glass-backed tab pills. Active state uses depth-1 inner glass.

Feedback

Toast Notifications

Three levels: success (green glow), warning (amber, matte — no glow), error (red glow).

Deployment completed successfully
API rate limit approaching threshold
Feedback

Inline Alerts

Five semantic tones for inline status banners. Gold glows (hero emphasis), amber stays matte (warning never outranks hero).

New feature unlocked — dark mode is now available for your workspace.
Settings saved successfully.
API rate limit at 80% — consider upgrading your plan.
Build failed — check pipeline logs for details.
Scheduled maintenance window: Saturday 02:00–04:00 UTC.
Identity

Avatar Stack

Overlapping initials with color-coded backgrounds. Seam borders match the surface base.

AK
LR
JT
MH
+4
8 online
Patterns (Extended)

Glass Cards

Cards at three optical depth tiers. Blur, border opacity, and inner luminance increase together. Hover to see the depth shift.

Depth 1 · 8px
Recessed Panel

Best for inner panels, nested containers, and input backgrounds. Lowest blur and border opacity creates a subtle inset feel.

Depth 2 · 20px
Standard Surface

The default for cards, panels, and content containers. Medium blur with visible edge luminance creates balanced elevation.

Depth 3 · 32px
Elevated Surface

Reserved for hover states, floating elements, and navigation. Maximum blur with strong edge light and pronounced luminance.

Patterns (Extended)

Modals & Dialogs

Glass-backed modal overlays with optical depth. Click the buttons to open interactive demos.

Modals use depth-3 glass (32px blur) to float above the content layer. The backdrop dims with a 45% opacity overlay. Focus is trapped within the modal for accessibility.

Patterns (Extended)

Status Badges

Extended status indicators with colored dots, labels, and semantic meaning. Gold glows, amber stays matte.

Operational All systems normal
Degraded Partial outage detected
Down Service unreachable
Maintenance Scheduled window active
Patterns (Extended)

Context Menu

Right-click style context menu with glass surface, keyboard shortcuts, separators, and submenu indicators.

Patterns (Extended)

Tab Strip

Editor-style tab strip with close buttons, dirty indicators, and gold active tab. Click tabs to switch, close buttons to remove.

1  <!doctype html>
2  <html lang="en">
3  <head>
Patterns (Extended)

Banners

Full-width info, warning, and error banners with icons and dismiss buttons. Amber banners stay matte, never glow.

Patterns (Extended)

Split Panes

Resizable split container with a drag handle. Drag the center divider to resize the left and right panels.

Editor
function render() {
  return "hello";
}
Preview
Live preview of the editor content would render here. Drag the handle to resize.
Governance

System Rules

Three non-negotiable rules that govern every component, every state, every platform.

01
Gold emits light

Hero actions, focus rings, premium metrics, and primary buttons all get box-shadow glow. Gold is the only color that radiates.

02
Amber stays matte

Warning states use amber but never glow. Border may brighten on hover, but box-shadow glow is forbidden. Warning never outranks hero intent.

03
Depth is optical

Three tiers: blur, edge light, and internal luminance increase together. 8px / 20px / 32px. Never mix depth signals.

These rules are enforced at every level — from badge dots to stat card auras to toast notifications. The sampler tests all three on every component.
Reference

Design Token Reference

Use named tokens exclusively — no magic numbers. All spacing uses a 4px base unit.

Spacing
TokenValueUsage
--space-14pxTight gaps, inline padding
--space-28pxIcon gaps, badge padding
--space-312pxButton padding, input padding
--space-416pxForm group margins, small section gaps
--space-624pxCard padding, grid gap
--space-948pxSection margins
--space-1064pxMajor section separation
Typography Scale

Major Third (1.25) ratio. Use named tokens — never raw pixel values.

TokenSizeUsage
--text-xs~11pxOverlines, mono labels, badge text
--text-sm~13pxCaptions, metadata, button labels
--text-base16pxBody text, input text
--text-lg20pxCard titles, panel headers
--text-xl25pxSection headings, gauge values
--text-2xl31pxStat values, key metrics
--text-3xl39pxPage title only
Color Decision Tree

How to choose the right color for any element.

RoleColorGlow?Usage
Hero / PrimaryGoldYesCTA buttons, focus, premium metrics, active nav
SecondaryPurpleYesAnalytics, process states, secondary actions
InformationalBlueYesSystem info, links, data visualization
SuccessGreenYesHealthy, approved, positive change
WarningAmberNoCaution — border only, never glows
ErrorRedYesCritical, failed, negative change
NeutralSilver/GreyNoArchived, disabled, tertiary actions
Resources

Documentation

Source files, platform references, and governance docs. Open any file to dive deeper.