## 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>
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