Xaem Theme UI

XAEM Theme UI - Theme Generation & Code Translation

Two-pass pipeline for generating high-entropy visual themes and translating them into implementable code. Works upstream of scientific-luxury constraint enforcement.

Description

XAEM Theme UI adds a creative generation layer to the design system. While scientific-luxury enforces structural constraints (OLED black, 0.5px borders, rounded-sm, physics-based easings), it does not generate themes. This skill fills that gap with a two-pass pipeline:

1. Pass 1 (Generate): Create high-entropy visual themes -- spectral colour palettes, glow intensities, animation timing scales, typography weight distributions, opacity hierarchies
2. Pass 2 (Translate): Convert generated themes into implementable code -- CSS variables, TypeScript design tokens, Tailwind config extensions, Framer Motion preset overrides, component style maps

The structural skeleton remains immutable. Only the visual skin is customisable.

When to Apply

Positive Triggers

• Generating new colour palettes or theme variations
• Creating design tokens for a new feature area
• Building theme presets (dark variants, branded themes)
• User mentions: "theme", "palette", "colour scheme", "design tokens", "generate theme"
• Translating a mood board or colour brief into code
• Customising glow intensities, animation timing, or opacity scales

Negative Triggers

• Enforcing existing design constraints (use scientific-luxury instead)
• Reviewing component layout compliance (use scientific-luxury instead)
• Optimising algorithm performance (use council-of-logic instead)
• Writing backend logic, API routes, or database schemas

The Two Laws

Law 1: Generate Then Translate

Every theme goes through both passes sequentially. Never ship a palette without its code translation. Never write design token code without a generation rationale.

Law 2: Never Violate Structural Constraints

The following are immutable and cannot be overridden by any theme:

Pass 1: Theme Generation

1.1 Colour Palette Generation

Every theme defines exactly six spectral colours mapped to semantic roles:

Palette Strategies

Analogous -- Colours within 30 degrees on the colour wheel. Produces harmonious, low-contrast themes suited for ambient dashboards.

Example: Primary #00F5FF → Success #00FFC8 → Warning #88FF00

Complementary -- Pairs colours from opposite sides of the wheel. High contrast, suited for alert-heavy interfaces.

Example: Primary #00F5FF → Accent #FF0A55

Triadic -- Three colours evenly spaced at 120 degrees. Balanced vibrancy for data-rich views.

Example: Primary #00F5FF → Warning #FF8800 → Accent #AA00FF

Palette Constraints

• All colours must have sufficient contrast against #050505 (minimum 4.5:1 for text)
• No pastel or desaturated colours (saturation must be >= 70%)
• No pure white (#FFFFFF) as a spectral colour
• Each colour must be visually distinct at 50% opacity over OLED black

1.2 Glow Intensity Curves

Glow is the primary visual feedback mechanism. Three intensity tiers:

Themes may adjust these values within these bounds:

• Inner opacity: 15%--65%
• Outer opacity: 8%--35%
• Spread: 12px--80px

1.3 Animation Timing Scale

Themes define a timing scale with six duration values:

All durations must use physics-based easing. Linear timing is banned.

1.4 Typography Weight Distribution

Themes select from the permitted weight range:

Font families are locked: JetBrains Mono (data), Inter/SF Pro (editorial).

1.5 Opacity Hierarchy Tuning

Themes define a six-step text opacity scale and a three-step border opacity scale:

Text:   primary(0.85-0.95) → secondary(0.65-0.75) → tertiary(0.45-0.55)
        → muted(0.35-0.45) → subtle(0.25-0.35) → ghost(0.15-0.25)

Border: visible(0.08-0.12) → subtle(0.04-0.08) → ghost(0.02-0.04)

Pass 2: Code Translation

2.1 CSS Variable Output

:root {
  /* Spectral Palette */
  --spectral-primary: #00F5FF;
  --spectral-success: #00FF88;
  --spectral-warning: #FFB800;
  --spectral-danger: #FF4444;
  --spectral-accent: #FF00FF;
  --spectral-neutral: #6B7280;

  /* Glow Intensities */
  --glow-low-inner: 20;
  --glow-low-outer: 10;
  --glow-med-inner: 40;
  --glow-med-outer: 20;
  --glow-high-inner: 60;
  --glow-high-outer: 30;

  /* Animation Timing */
  --duration-fast: 0.2s;
  --duration-normal: 0.4s;
  --duration-slow: 0.6s;
  --duration-breathe: 2s;
  --duration-pulse: 1.5s;
  --duration-ambient: 3s;

  /* Text Opacity Hierarchy */
  --text-primary: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9);
  --text-secondary: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);
  --text-tertiary: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.5);
  --text-muted: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.4);
  --text-subtle: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.3);
  --text-ghost: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.2);

  /* Border Opacity Hierarchy */
  --border-visible: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.1);
  --border-subtle: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.06);
  --border-ghost: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.03);
}

2.2 TypeScript Design Token File

export const THEME = {
  spectral: {
    primary: '#00F5FF',
    success: '#00FF88',
    warning: '#FFB800',
    danger: '#FF4444',
    accent: '#FF00FF',
    neutral: '#6B7280',
  },
  glow: {
    low: { inner: '20', outer: '10', spread: 20 },
    medium: { inner: '40', outer: '20', spread: 40 },
    high: { inner: '60', outer: '30', spread: 60 },
  },
  durations: {
    fast: 0.2,
    normal: 0.4,
    slow: 0.6,
    breathe: 2.0,
    pulse: 1.5,
    ambient: 3.0,
  },
  weights: {
    hero: 200,
    title: 300,
    body: 400,
    data: 500,
    label: 400,
  },
} as const;

2.3 Tailwind Theme Extension

// tailwind.config.ts (theme.extend block)
{
  colors: {
    spectral: {
      primary: 'var(--spectral-primary)',
      success: 'var(--spectral-success)',
      warning: 'var(--spectral-warning)',
      danger: 'var(--spectral-danger)',
      accent: 'var(--spectral-accent)',
      neutral: 'var(--spectral-neutral)',
    },
  },
  transitionDuration: {
    fast: 'var(--duration-fast)',
    normal: 'var(--duration-normal)',
    slow: 'var(--duration-slow)',
  },
}

2.4 Framer Motion Preset Overrides

import { THEME } from './design-tokens';

export const themeMotion = {
  fadeInLeft: {
    initial: { opacity: 0, x: -20 },
    animate: { opacity: 1, x: 0 },
    transition: {
      duration: THEME.durations.normal,
      ease: [0.19, 1, 0.22, 1],
    },
  },
  breathing: {
    animate: { opacity: [1, 0.6, 1], scale: [1, 1.05, 1] },
    transition: {
      duration: THEME.durations.breathe,
      repeat: Infinity,
      ease: 'easeInOut',
    },
  },
  glowPulse: (colour: string) => ({
    animate: {
      boxShadow: [
        `0 0 0 ${colour}00`,
        `0 0 ${THEME.glow.medium.spread}px ${colour}${THEME.glow.medium.inner}`,
        `0 0 0 ${colour}00`,
      ],
    },
    transition: { duration: THEME.durations.pulse, repeat: Infinity },
  }),
};

2.5 Status Colour Mapping

import { THEME } from './design-tokens';

export const STATUS_MAP = {
  pending: THEME.spectral.neutral,
  in_progress: THEME.spectral.primary,
  awaiting_verification: THEME.spectral.warning,
  verification_in_progress: THEME.spectral.warning,
  verification_passed: THEME.spectral.success,
  verification_failed: THEME.spectral.danger,
  completed: THEME.spectral.success,
  failed: THEME.spectral.danger,
  blocked: THEME.spectral.warning,
  escalated_to_human: THEME.spectral.accent,
} as const;

Existing Design Tokens Reference

The current baseline lives at apps/web/lib/design-tokens.ts. Key exports:

• SPECTRAL -- Six-colour palette (cyan, emerald, amber, red, magenta, grey)
• BACKGROUNDS -- OLED black foundation with elevation steps
• TEXT -- Six-step text opacity hierarchy
• BORDERS -- Three-step border opacity hierarchy
• EASINGS -- Four physics-based cubic-bezier curves
• DURATIONS -- Six animation duration tokens
• MOTION_PRESETS -- Framer Motion animation presets
• TW -- Tailwind class helper constants

All generated themes must be compatible with this token structure.

Theme Presets

Scientific Luxury (Default)

The baseline theme. All values match apps/web/lib/design-tokens.ts.

Primary: #00F5FF (Cyan)    Success: #00FF88 (Emerald)
Warning: #FFB800 (Amber)   Danger:  #FF4444 (Red)
Accent:  #FF00FF (Magenta) Neutral: #6B7280 (Grey)
Glow: standard | Timing: standard | Weights: standard

Midnight Aurora

Cool-shifted palette with extended glow spread for ambient dashboards.

Primary: #00D4FF (Ice Blue)   Success: #00E87A (Mint)
Warning: #FF9F00 (Deep Amber) Danger:  #FF3355 (Crimson)
Accent:  #CC44FF (Violet)     Neutral: #5A6270 (Slate)
Glow: high-spread (50px med)  Timing: slower (+20%)
Weights: lighter (hero 100, title 200)

Solar Flare

Warm-shifted palette with snappy timing for alert-dense interfaces.

Primary: #FFAA00 (Solar Gold) Success: #44FF66 (Neon Green)
Warning: #FF6600 (Flame)      Danger:  #FF2222 (Hot Red)
Accent:  #FF44AA (Hot Pink)   Neutral: #7A7A80 (Warm Grey)
Glow: tight (spread 16px)     Timing: faster (-15%)
Weights: heavier (data 600, title 400)

Deep Ocean

Desaturated blue-green palette with slow, ambient timing for monitoring views.

Primary: #0099CC (Deep Teal)  Success: #00CC99 (Sea Green)
Warning: #CCAA00 (Muted Gold) Danger:  #CC3344 (Muted Red)
Accent:  #9944CC (Deep Purple) Neutral: #556677 (Ocean Grey)
Glow: diffuse (spread 70px)   Timing: slowest (+30%)
Weights: standard

Anti-Patterns

Checklist

Before merging any generated theme:

• Six spectral colours defined with hex values
• All colours pass 4.5:1 contrast against #050505
• Glow intensities within permitted bounds (inner 15-65%, outer 8-35%)
• Animation durations within permitted ranges (0.15s--4.0s)
• Typography weights within permitted ranges (100--600)
• Text opacity scale has six steps, all within bounds
• Border opacity scale has three steps, all within bounds
• CSS variables generated and valid
• TypeScript design token file compiles without errors
• Tailwind config extension is syntactically correct
• Framer Motion presets use physics-based easing only
• Status colour mapping covers all AgentStatus values
• No structural constraints overridden (background, borders, radius, layout)
• Australian English used throughout (colour, not color)

Response Format

[AGENT_ACTIVATED]: XAEM Theme UI
[PHASE]: {Generation | Translation | Review}
[PASS]: {1 - Generate | 2 - Translate}
[STATUS]: {in_progress | awaiting_verification | complete}

{theme generation output or code translation}

[NEXT_ACTION]: {what happens next}

Integration Points

Australian Localisation

All generated tokens, comments, and documentation must use Australian English spelling conventions: colour (not color), customise (not customize), optimise (not optimize), analyse (not analyze).

XAEM THEME UI - GENERATION PIPELINE ACTIVE