## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work
> - Its UI is governed by a design system (`DESIGN.md` + the token layer
in `ui/src/index.css`, merged in #9134) whose first principle is "one
way to say each thing" — one Card, one Badge, one nav row
> - After the token extraction landed, ~35 files still hand-rolled card
containers, ~45 files hand-rolled pill spans, the sidebar agents section
duplicated the nav-row chrome, and the inbox and tasks lists rendered
the same task rows two subtly different ways
> - Each divergence is a place where a future design change (radius,
hover language, status vocabulary) silently misses surfaces, defeating
the "edit tokens + run checks" model the design system exists for
> - This pull request converges those surfaces onto the shared
primitives, codifies the radius scale as the modern multiplicative
shadcn ladder, and unifies the row/hover/tree-guide language across the
inbox and tasks lists — every visible delta was human-reviewed
screen-by-screen against a live instance across nine feedback rounds
> - The benefit is that the app's look is now steerable from single
knobs (one `--radius` anchor, one Card, one Badge, one row component),
and the visual regression suite covers the result (514 snapshots
including a new AgentDetail page story)
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
No public GitHub issue exists for this work; describing per the feature
template:
- **Problem**: after the design-token foundation (#9134),
component-level drift remained — hand-rolled cards/pills, duplicated
sidebar row chrome, and two different renderings of task rows (inbox vs
tasks list) meant design changes had to be applied per-surface and
frequently missed spots (e.g. status glyphs rendered 16px in the inbox
but 20px in the tasks list because a slot override silently beat the
component default).
- **Proposed behavior**: all card-shaped containers render via `Card`,
all label pills via `Badge`, sidebar rows via `SidebarNavItem`, and both
task-list surfaces via one `IssueRow` configuration; the radius scale is
a single multiplicative ladder anchored at `--radius: 0.5rem`.
- **Alternatives considered**: converting interactive
`<button>`/`<Link>` cards to `Card` divs (rejected — breaks semantics;
documented inline with `design-allow` comments instead); keeping the
legacy additive radius ladder (rejected in favor of the standard shadcn
multiplicative mapping).
## What Changed
- `Card` adoption across ~35 files (settings pages, auth/board flows,
dashboards, list containers, KPI tiles); non-adoptable sites
(interactive cards, `<li>` rows, class-string props, chart tooltip)
carry documented `design-allow(card-pattern)` comments
- `Card` gains an `interactive` prop — one quiet hover affordance for
clickable cards (cursor, border darken, shadow lift, focus ring),
applied to skills tiles, artifact cards, and the company selector; cards
carry no resting shadow
- `Badge` adoption for 113 hand-rolled pill spans across ~45 files;
`PropertyChip` wraps `Badge` internally; `StatusBadge`, external-object
chips, and match chips stay bespoke by documented decision (WCAG-tuned
status mechanics)
- Radius ladder becomes the multiplicative shadcn mapping
(`sm/md/lg/xl/2xl/3xl/4xl = 0.6/0.8/1.0/1.4/1.8/2.2/2.6 × --radius`,
anchor `0.5rem`); every card surface unifies on `rounded-lg`; the
orphaned 8px literal token is deleted
- Sidebar: agent rows render via `SidebarNavItem` (new additive props:
`iconNode`, `active`, `trailing`, `liveAccessory`); live dots use
`--status-agent-running`; one row rhythm and inset rounded pill
highlight; right-aligned trailing badges; every labeled section is
collapsible
- Inbox + tasks lists unified: md status glyphs, `accent/50` rounded row
hovers, vertical tree guides under parent rows (opaque underlay so
dark-mode translucent borders don't stack), no horizontal dividers under
expanded parents; the swipe-to-archive reveal layer shows only
mid-swipe; board toggle uses the `SquareKanban` glyph
- Kanban: every column carries a status-hued tint; lanes default
expanded (including empty); compact mode collapses empty lanes to
labeled rails (fixes a clipped, label-less empty-column state)
- Storybook: new AgentDetail page story (realistic fixtures, light+dark)
joins the visual suite; suite captures with `reducedMotion: 'reduce'`
and the ux-lab reasoning ticker honors `prefers-reduced-motion`; a stale
lexical alias in `storybook/main.ts` is fixed (build was broken since
the lexical 0.46 bump)
- Keyboard navigation, from live review of the unified lists: inbox
navigation keys work on every tab (archive keys stay scoped to the
archivable tab); keyboard-driven scrolling no longer hands the selection
to whatever row lands under the stationary cursor (hover selects only
after real pointer movement); the tasks list view gains the same j/k /
arrows / Enter selection model as the inbox; and the `g` then `i`
go-to-inbox chord works app-wide instead of only on the issue detail
page
- Token gates restored to 3/3 CLEAN (tokenized a post-#9134 regression
in the recovery card); decisions recorded in
`doc/design/DECISION-SHEET.md` and `doc/design/COMPONENT-INVENTORY.md`
(investigation verdicts: FileTree vs WorkspaceFileBrowser and the four
entity pickers stay separate — evidence included)
## Verification
- `pnpm check:token-gates` → 3/3 CLEAN
- `pnpm typecheck` → green (all packages)
- `cd ui && npx vitest run` → 2106/2106 (assertions updated in lockstep
where they documented superseded decisions; new tests for the global
go-to-inbox chord)
- `pnpm --filter @paperclipai/ui build` → exit 0
- `pnpm build-storybook` → succeeds (also fixes the lexical-alias break
on master)
- Visual regression: 514-snapshot Playwright suite green against the
updated baseline (zero diffs from the keyboard-navigation round — those
changes are purely behavioral). Note: baselines live outside git per the
suite design and the baseline-manifest archive is not yet published, so
CI cannot run this suite — it was run locally throughout; every visible
delta was reviewed screen-by-screen in a live instance across nine
review rounds. Review evidence (before/after triplets) intentionally
kept out of the repo for size; available on request.
- Manual: exercised dashboard, tasks (list + board), inbox, agents,
skills, costs, settings, and artifact surfaces in light and dark themes
## Risks
- Wide but shallow visual surface: most changes are class-string
substitutions with behavior preserved (props, handlers, roles, test
ids). The riskiest areas — dnd-kit card refs (React 19 ref-as-prop),
inbox swipe-to-archive, and sidebar overlays — are covered by existing
unit tests (all green) and were manually exercised.
- Intentional visual deltas (rounded cards, tinted kanban columns, md
status glyphs, unified hovers) are design decisions recorded in
`doc/design/DECISION-SHEET.md`; each maps to a re-baselined snapshot set
locally.
- The visual suite cannot yet run in CI (unpublished baseline archive —
pre-existing condition from #9134); until that lands, snapshot coverage
is local-only.
## Model Used
- Claude Fable 5 (`claude-fable-5`, Anthropic) via Claude Code — agentic
coding with tool use (file editing, test execution, Playwright
screenshot verification); extended thinking enabled.
## Checklist
- [x] I have included a thinking path that traces from project context
to this change
- [x] I have specified the model used (with version and capability
details)
- [x] I have checked ROADMAP.md and confirmed this PR does not duplicate
planned core work
- [x] I have searched GitHub for duplicate or related PRs and linked
them above
- [x] I have either (a) linked existing issues with `Fixes: #` / `Closes
#` / `Refs #` OR (b) described the issue in-PR following the relevant
issue template
- [x] I have not referenced internal/instance-local Paperclip issues or
links (only public GitHub `#NNN` / `github.com/paperclipai/paperclip`
URLs)
- [x] My branch name describes the change (e.g. `docs/...`, `fix/...`)
and contains no internal Paperclip ticket id or instance-derived details
- [x] I have run tests locally and they pass
- [x] I have added or updated tests where applicable
- [x] I have updated relevant documentation to reflect my changes
- [x] I have considered and documented any risks above
- [ ] All Paperclip CI gates are green (will confirm once CI runs)
- [ ] Greptile is 5/5 with no open P2s, recommendations, or follow-ups
(pending first review)
- [x] I will address all Greptile and reviewer comments before
requesting merge
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code)
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
## Thinking Path
> - Paperclip is the open source app people use to manage AI agents for
work
> - Its UI is the operator's daily surface: task lists, boards, budgets,
agent status — all built on shadcn components and Tailwind
> - Visual values (colors, spacing, type sizes, radii) were hardcoded at
~1,600 call sites: the same "small gray label" was 9/10/11px depending
on the file, charts disagreed with chips about status colors, two
toggle-switch implementations coexisted in two greens, and there was no
visual regression coverage
> - This made the UI drift-prone and made any restyle a
hundreds-of-files project, which discourages design iteration
> - This pull request extracts visual values into a single token layer
in `ui/src/index.css`, adds a Storybook visual regression suite backed
by external immutable baseline archives, and then applies a deliberate
retune reviewed change-by-change on screenshot diffs
> - The benefit is that Paperclip's look becomes a config surface:
retheming is a token edit reviewed as a snapshot diff, drift is blocked
by a token gate, and future UI PRs can prove exactly what changed
visually without committing hundreds of PNGs
## Linked Issues or Issue Description
No existing public issue covers this work (searched "design tokens",
"visual regression", "design system" across issues and PRs). Related in
spirit: Refs #8982 (theming a hardcoded panel — a one-off instance of
the same problem class this PR addresses systematically).
**Problem (feature-request form):** UI visual values are hardcoded per
call site with no source of truth and no regression coverage;
consistency depends on reviewer memory, and restyling requires mass file
edits.
**Proposed solution (this PR):** a single token layer + enforcement gate
+ externally stored visual snapshot suite, then an intentional restyle
on top of that foundation.
## What Changed
- **Token extraction (zero visual change, machine-verified during
development):** committed codemods (`scripts/codemod-*.mjs`) moved
~1,600 hardcoded color/type/spacing/radius/shadow/misc values into named
tokens in a non-inline `:root` block of `ui/src/index.css`.
- **Visual regression suite:** `pnpm test:storybook-visual` covers 255
stories × light/dark = 510 Playwright screenshots at `maxDiffPixels: 0`,
plus new primitive-coverage stories and deterministic-render fixes.
- **External visual baselines:** committed PNG snapshots were removed.
`tests/storybook-visual/baseline-manifest.json` pins an immutable
archive URL/hash/size/count, and `scripts/storybook-visual-baseline.mjs`
handles `download`, `verify`, `pack`, and trusted maintainer `upload`
flows.
- **Opt-in visual CI artifacts:** added a `Storybook Visual` workflow
that runs on manual dispatch or PRs labeled `storybook-visual`,
downloads/verifies the baseline, runs Playwright, and uploads Playwright
report/test-result artifacts for review. Normal PR runs do not mutate
baseline objects.
- **Token gate:** `pnpm check:token-gates` — zero hex literals, zero
arbitrary bracket values, zero raw font-sizes in `ui/src/components/**`
and `ui/src/pages/**`, with a documented inline allowlist for legitimate
opt-outs.
- **Theme retune (intentional, snapshot-reviewed):** new base theme
values; radius ladder derived from a single `--radius` knob; micro-type
cluster collapsed to a named ladder (`--text-nano/micro/compact` +
Tailwind `text-xs`/`text-sm`); letter-spacing collapsed to named steps.
- **One status-color vocabulary:** charts, quota/budget bar fills,
RUNNING/live chips, and liveness indicators all use the canonical
`--status-*` hues. Light-mode legibility fixes for red alert surfaces
that used dark-tuned text classes.
- **One switch:** `ToggleSwitch` restyled to the registry capsule form,
second hand-rolled implementation removed, and all call sites unified.
- **Docs:** `DESIGN.md` is the design contract; `doc/design/` holds
audit reports, decision logs, and updated guidance for external baseline
review/update workflows.
- Dead code removed (`agentStatusBadge` duplicate map), byte-identical
contrast constants consolidated, semantic renames
(`--project-seed`/`--project-none`, `--liveness-blue`).
## Verification
- `pnpm check:token-gates` — 3/3 gates CLEAN during the design-system
run
- `pnpm typecheck` && `pnpm --filter @paperclipai/ui build` — green
during the design-system run
- `node --test scripts/__tests__/storybook-visual-baseline.test.mjs` —
pass after external-baseline rework
- `pnpm exec tsc --noEmit --pretty false --module NodeNext
--moduleResolution NodeNext --target ES2022 --types
node,@playwright/test tests/storybook-visual/playwright.config.ts
tests/storybook-visual/storybook-visual.spec.ts` — pass after
external-baseline rework
- `git diff --check origin/pr/9134..HEAD` — pass after external-baseline
rework
- `find tests/storybook-visual -type f -name '*.png' -print | wc -l` —
`0`
- `node scripts/storybook-visual-baseline.mjs verify` — intentionally
fails closed until the first trusted maintainer publishes the baseline
archive and updates `baseline-manifest.json`
## Risks
- **Large but shallow:** the PR still touches many UI files due to
mechanical token extraction and retune work, but committed PNG snapshot
churn has been removed from the branch.
- **Baseline publication required before the visual suite can pass in
clean clones:** the manifest currently has placeholder archive metadata.
A trusted maintainer must publish the first immutable archive, then
update `baseline-manifest.json`.
- **Rendering platform variance:** the external baseline should be
captured in the documented Linux/Chromium environment. Future CI runs
verify against the pinned archive and fail closed on checksum/count
mismatch.
- **Visual CI is opt-in while stabilizing:** add the `storybook-visual`
label or dispatch the workflow manually to produce downloadable
Playwright report/test-result artifacts.
- **Scheduled follow-ups, deliberately out of scope:** Tailwind palette
classes map to semantic tokens in a dedicated pass; card/pill component
consolidation; ESLint ratchet. Tracked in
`doc/design/DECISION-SHEET.md`.
## Model Used
Claude Fable 5 (Anthropic, `claude-fable-5`, Mythos-class tier) with
extended thinking, running in Claude Code with tool use; mechanical
phases delegated to Claude Sonnet subagents. Follow-up external-baseline
rework assisted by OpenAI Codex (`gpt-5` coding agent with repository,
terminal, and GitHub tool use). All bulk rewrites executed via
deterministic, idempotent scripts committed in `scripts/`; intentional
visual changes were human-reviewed on screenshot contact sheets.
## Checklist
- [x] I have included a thinking path that traces from project context
to this change
- [x] I have specified the model used (with version and capability
details)
- [x] I have checked ROADMAP.md and confirmed this PR does not duplicate
planned core work
- [x] I have searched GitHub for duplicate or related PRs and linked
them above
- [x] I have either (a) linked existing issues with `Fixes: #` / `Closes
#` / `Refs #` OR (b) described the issue in-PR following the relevant
issue template
- [x] I have not referenced internal/instance-local Paperclip issues or
links (only public GitHub `#NNN` / `github.com/paperclipai/paperclip`
URLs)
- [x] My branch name describes the change (e.g. `docs/...`, `fix/...`)
and contains no internal Paperclip ticket id or instance-derived details
- [x] I have run targeted local verification and documented the
intentional baseline-publication failure above
- [x] I have added or updated tests where applicable
- [x] I have updated relevant documentation to reflect my changes
- [x] I have considered and documented any risks above
- [ ] All Paperclip CI gates are green *(pending new CI run after this
rework)*
- [ ] Greptile is 5/5 with no open P2s, recommendations, or follow-ups
*(pending review)*
- [x] I will address all Greptile and reviewer comments before
requesting merge
🤖 Generated with [Claude Code](https://claude.com/claude-code) and
OpenAI Codex
---------
Co-authored-by: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Co-authored-by: Dotta <bippadotta@protonmail.com>
Co-authored-by: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
Instead of the generic "Hire Agent" label, display the agent's name from
the approval payload for hire_agent approvals across inbox, approval card,
and approval detail views.
Co-Authored-By: Paperclip <noreply@paperclip.ing>
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Rename all workspace packages from @paperclip/* to @paperclipai/* and
the CLI binary from `paperclip` to `paperclipai` in preparation for
npm publishing. Bump CLI version to 0.1.0 and add package metadata
(description, keywords, license, repository, files). Update all
imports, documentation, user-facing messages, and tests accordingly.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Add ThemeContext with localStorage persistence and FOUC-preventing
inline script. Add theme toggle button in sidebar. Update status
badges, toast notifications, live indicators, and approval cards
with dark: prefixed classes for proper light mode rendering.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Add Auth sign-in/sign-up page and InviteLanding page for invite acceptance.
Add CloudAccessGate that checks deployment mode and redirects to /auth when
session is required. Add CompanyRail with drag-and-drop company switching.
Add MarkdownBody prose renderer. Redesign Inbox with category filters and
inline join-request approval. Refactor AgentDetail to overview/configure/runs
views with claude-login support. Replace navigate() anti-patterns with <Link>
components in Dashboard and MetricCard. Add live-run indicators in sidebar
agents. Fix LiveUpdatesProvider cache key resolution for issue identifiers.
Add auth, health, and access API clients.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Show task sessions list in AgentDetail with per-session reset. Extract
ApprovalCard into standalone component from Approvals and Inbox pages,
reducing duplication. Add CompanySettings page with issuePrefix configuration.
Fix Sidebar active state for settings route. Display sessionDisplayId
in agent properties. Various cleanups to Approvals and Inbox pages.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 <noreply@anthropic.com>
scotttong
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