whynot-design/DesignSystemIntroduction.md

# Design System Introduction

> How `whynot-design` fits into the broader `whynot` workflow — from atelier exploration to production deploys, across React, Django, plain HTML, or any future consumer.
>
> Audience: anyone (human or agent) about to add `whynot-design` as a dependency, or contribute changes back to it.

---

## 1. Mental model — three places, three jobs

`whynot-design` is one of three surfaces. Each has a different job. Don't confuse them.

| Place | Job | What lives there |
|---|---|---|
| **Claude atelier project** (`WhyNot Design System` template) | Explore, decide, mock | HTML cards, prototypes of new components, the README that defines the rules. Source of truth for the *language* of the system. |
| **`whynot-design` repo** (this one) | Distribute | A versioned, publishable package: tokens, CSS, web components, the logo bundle. Source of truth for the *artefact*. |
| **`whynot-*` consuming repos** (apps, prototypes, marketing sites) | Use | Add `@whynot/design` as a dependency. Use it from React, Django, Vue, or plain HTML — see [`MultiFrameworkSupport.md`](./MultiFrameworkSupport.md). |

This mirrors the existing organisational logic. `whynot-control` is the *control* surface (intent, scope, decisions, governance). `whynot-design` is the *implementation* surface for the visual language.

> The Claude-Design template is the atelier for the *next* design exploration. It is **not** what production code consumes. Production consumes this repo.

---

## 2. The three-layer architecture

`whynot-design` is **deliberately framework-agnostic**. It ships in three stacked layers, and consumers pick how deep they go.

```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  Layer 3 — Framework adapters (optional)                    │
│  Django partials · React thin wrappers · Vue, Svelte, …     │
│  All thin. All delegate to Layer 2.                         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Layer 2 — Web components (canonical)                       │
│  <wn-button>, <wn-card>, <wn-modal>, <wn-prototype-card>…   │
│  Lit-based. Light DOM. SSR-friendly. Work in any framework. │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  Layer 1 — Tokens + CSS                                     │
│  colors_and_type.css · components.css · tokens/*.json       │
│  Plain CSS variables and utility classes. Works in any HTML.│
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

### Why this shape

- **Layer 1 is the bedrock.** Tokens are framework-agnostic by definition. `colors_and_type.css` is just CSS variables — Django, Rails, Phoenix, plain HTML, any framework can `<link>` to it and inherit the system's typography and palette tomorrow. The component utility classes in `components.css` (e.g. `.wn-btn`, `.wn-card`) compose those tokens into the canonical recipes. **Anything in this repo can be consumed with no JS at all.**

- **Layer 2 adds behaviour without lock-in.** Web Components are a stable platform feature — they're not a framework dependency that ages out. Lit is the implementation detail; the *contract* is the HTML custom-element API. A `<wn-button variant="primary">` works in a React JSX file, a Django template, a Vue SFC, and `index.html` identically. **Layer 2 components render to light DOM**, which means Layer 1's CSS styles them — no shadow-DOM style isolation, no FOUC, no SSR friction.

- **Layer 3 is convenience, not commitment.** If a consumer wants typed React props or Django `{% include %}` shorthand, the repo ships *thin* wrappers in `adapters/`. They delegate to Layer 2. Removing or refactoring them does not break Layer 2 consumers.

### Which layer should *you* use?

| If your consumer is… | Use this layer | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Django (server-rendered HTML + HTMX) | Layer 1 + 2 directly, or Layer 3 partials | `<wn-button variant="primary">{{ label }}</wn-button>` |
| React (any meta-framework) | Layer 2 directly | `<wn-button variant="primary">Promote</wn-button>` — React handles custom elements natively |
| Plain HTML page / a prototype landing page | Layer 2 directly | `<wn-button variant="primary">Sign up</wn-button>` |
| Email, PDF, or no-JS context | Layer 1 only | `<button class="wn-btn wn-btn--primary">Open</button>` |
| You only need typography & colours | Layer 1 only | Just `<link>` the CSS. |

The discipline: **do not subclass, fork, or restyle Layer 2 components in your repo**. If a component doesn't fit a use case, add a variant *upstream* in `whynot-design`. The thing that makes a design system valuable is the discipline of not forking it locally.

For the full how-to per framework — including SSR, hydration, the `noscript` story, form participation, and HTMX integration — see [`MultiFrameworkSupport.md`](./MultiFrameworkSupport.md).

---

## 3. What this repo contains

```
whynot-design/
├── README.md                       Full design language.
├── DesignSystemIntroduction.md     This file.
├── MultiFrameworkSupport.md        How to consume from React, Django, Vue, plain HTML.
├── SKILL.md                        Agent Skill manifest, cross-compatible with Claude Code.
├── CONTRIBUTING.md                 How to propose, review, and ship a change.
├── CHANGELOG.md                    Hand-edited, one entry per release.
├── BOOTSTRAP.md                    First-push instructions. Delete after use.
├── package.json                    @whynot/design — Lit is the one runtime dependency.
│
├── tokens/                         Source-of-truth design tokens (JSON).
│
├── src/
│   ├── styles/
│   │   ├── colors_and_type.css     Layer 1 — tokens + semantic element styles.
│   │   └── components.css          Layer 1 — utility classes for all components.
│   ├── elements/                   Layer 2 — Lit web components, light DOM.
│   │   ├── atoms.js                button, tag, eyebrow, stamp, stage-dot, phase-dot, icon
│   │   ├── form.js                 input, textarea, select, search-input, field-row
│   │   ├── layout.js               card, modal, table, toast, empty-state, breadcrumb
│   │   └── chrome.js               top-nav, sidebar, page-header, pipeline, prototype-card
│   └── index.js                    Side-effect import: registers all custom elements.
│
├── adapters/                       Layer 3 — optional wrappers.
│   └── django/templates/whynot/    Django {% include %} partials over the web components.
│
├── assets/                         Logo, mark, future imagery.
├── examples/
│   ├── showcase/                   Plain-HTML demo of every component.
│   └── whynot-control/             React + custom-element click-through UI kit.
└── .gitea/workflows/               Lint + Playwright visual regression on PR.
```

---

## 4. Integrating with a consuming codebase

### 4.1 Distribution channels at A1

In order of effort:

**a) pnpm workspaces (recommended for now)** — put `whynot-design` and your consuming app in the same monorepo (or use `file:` / `link:` references). Zero registry, zero auth, instant updates.

**b) Install directly from Gitea** — no registry needed.

```sh
pnpm add git+ssh://git@gitea.example.com/whynot/whynot-design.git#v0.2.0
```

Pin to a tag, not `main`. Tag-pinning is the entire versioning discipline at A1.

When you outgrow either (second team needs read access without cloning, semver resolution becomes valuable), publish to **Gitea Packages** (native npm protocol) or a private Verdaccio.

### 4.2 What a consumer imports

The smallest viable consumption is:

```html
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/whynot/colors_and_type.css">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/whynot/components.css">
<script type="module" src="/static/whynot/index.js"></script>
```

That's it. Now `<wn-button>`, `<wn-card>`, `<wn-modal>` etc. work everywhere on the page, in any framework, server-rendered or client-rendered.

For a Node-tooled consumer:

```jsx
// At app root, once.
import "@whynot/design/styles/colors_and_type.css";
import "@whynot/design/styles/components.css";
import "@whynot/design";              // side-effect: registers all custom elements

// In any component file — React, Vue, Svelte, all behave the same.
function NewBetaPage() {
  return (
    <article>
      <wn-eyebrow>whynot · closed beta</wn-eyebrow>
      <h1>Concierge prototype triage</h1>
      <wn-button variant="primary">Request an invite</wn-button>
    </article>
  );
}
```

Three rules of consumption:

1. **Import the CSS once at the app's root.** Both stylesheets.
2. **Use tokens for any colour, type, or spacing decision** that components don't cover. If the token doesn't exist, that's a signal to extend the system upstream — not to invent.
3. **Don't restyle components by overriding their CSS.** If a component doesn't fit, contribute a variant.

### 4.3 Bootstrapping a new consuming repo

```sh
mkdir whynot-prototype-WNO-022
cd whynot-prototype-WNO-022
pnpm init
pnpm add @whynot/design  # or the git+ssh URL
# Then in your entry point:
echo 'import "@whynot/design/styles/colors_and_type.css"' >> src/main.js
echo 'import "@whynot/design/styles/components.css"' >> src/main.js
echo 'import "@whynot/design"' >> src/main.js
```

If it takes longer than this, the design system is fighting you.

---

## 5. Propagation pipeline — five hops

The end-to-end flow for a single design change:

```
[Claude atelier]              [whynot-design]            [Consuming repo]           [Deploy]

 explore variants    ──►    PR with token /        ──►   Renovate / pnpm     ──►    staging
 in the template            component change             up opens PR bumping
 user approves              + Playwright diff             @whynot/design                │
                            + CHANGELOG entry                                           ▼
                                  │                              │                     prod
                            tag v0.3.1                       CI runs visual
                            CI publishes /                  regression on the
                            attaches release                consuming app
                            asset                              │
                                  │                          merge if green
                                  └──────────────────────────────┘
```

### Hop-by-hop

1. **Atelier → `whynot-design` PR.** Someone (you, a designer, or an agent) takes a change agreed in the Claude project and opens a PR against `whynot-design`. The PR description quotes the atelier decision.

2. **`whynot-design` CI** runs:
   - Lint + (optional) typecheck.
   - **Visual regression** — Playwright screenshots `examples/showcase/index.html` and `examples/whynot-control/index.html`, diffs against baselines. This catches both styling regressions and behavioural ones.
   - A `CHANGELOG.md` entry is required.

3. **Merge → tag → publish.** On merge to `main`:
   - Bump `package.json` (patch for token tweaks, minor for new components, major for renames/removals).
   - Tag `v0.3.1`.
   - Push tag. CI uploads release notes from the CHANGELOG.

4. **Consumer auto-PR.** Renovate or Dependabot watches `@whynot/design` and opens a PR in every consuming repo bumping the version.

5. **Consumer CI + deploy.** The consuming repo's *own* CI runs *its* visual regression. If unchanged, auto-merge. If changed, a human reviews. Merge triggers existing deploys to staging → prod.

The whole loop, warm, takes minutes. **Automation works only because every step has a deterministic check** — visual regression on both sides, semver, changelogs. Skip those and the pipeline is a slow manual process with extra tools.

---

## 6. Versioning discipline

Strict semver, even at A1.

| Change | Bump |
|---|---|
| Token value tweak that doesn't visibly break any existing example | **patch** — `0.2.0 → 0.2.1` |
| New component, new variant, new token | **minor** — `0.2.0 → 0.3.0` |
| Removing / renaming a component, prop, or token; changing default behaviour | **major** — `0.3.0 → 1.0.0` |

Stay in `0.x.x` until something built with this system is in production. While in `0.x.x`, **minor bumps are allowed to break things** — that's the convention. This gives you permission to iterate without ceremony.

Promotion past `1.0.0` should appear in `whynot-control/DECISIONS.md`. Same rule as promotion to Helix or Coulomb: it's a deliberate act, not a release-script side-effect.

---

## 7. Where Claude fits

Two distinct roles, both useful:

- **The Claude atelier template** — used at hop 1. Designer (or you) opens a new project, mocks variations, decides, hands off a PR description + diff to whoever writes the `whynot-design` PR. The atelier never publishes anything to production directly.

- **Claude Code with `SKILL.md`** — used at hop 1 *and* hop 5. The same SKILL file works in both contexts:
  - Pointed at `whynot-design`, Claude Code can write component PRs.
  - Pointed at a consuming repo, Claude Code can build screens that respect the rules.

That's why `SKILL.md` ships with this repo. Drop it into `.claude/skills/` of any consuming repo and any agent operating in that repo will know the visual language.

---

## 8. Pragmatic A1 staging — don't build the whole pipeline yet

Right now, `whynot` is at A1 Incubating. Build the smallest pipeline that still has the right *shape*. Promote each piece only when a real signal demands it.

| Hop | A1 version | Promote to full when… |
|---|---|---|
| Atelier | Claude template, as-is. | Never — stays here. |
| `whynot-design` repo | This seed. Tokens + CSS + Lit web components. | Never — this is the canonical shape. |
| Distribution | pnpm workspace, or `git+ssh` install from tags. | An external collaborator needs read access without cloning. |
| Visual regression | Playwright over `examples/showcase/` and `examples/whynot-control/`. | The system has >40 components or >3 consuming apps. |
| Dependency updates | Manual `pnpm up` once a week. | More than two consuming repos. |
| Release notes | Hand-edited `CHANGELOG.md`. | More than two contributors. |
| Per-framework adapters | Django partials only, for the 4–5 most-used components. | Another non-React, non-Django consumer appears. |

This staging is exactly the *"low-cost learning first"* posture in `whynot-control/OPERATING_MODEL.md`. A design system with one consumer and one author does not need Chromatic. A design system with five consumers and three authors absolutely does.

---

## 9. First-week checklist

For whoever is bootstrapping this repo right now:

- [ ] Push the seed contents to `gitea.example.com/whynot/whynot-design`.
- [ ] Tag `v0.2.0` immediately so consumers can pin.
- [ ] Add the repo as a remote dependency in **one** consuming app (the Django one) and verify imports work end-to-end. Follow [`MultiFrameworkSupport.md` §Django](./MultiFrameworkSupport.md#django-server-rendered-templates--htmx).
- [ ] Open one trivial PR against `whynot-design` (e.g. a CHANGELOG typo) to confirm CI passes end-to-end.
- [ ] Record this bootstrap in `whynot-control/DECISIONS.md` as DEC-004 — *"Established whynot-design as the implementation surface, three-layer architecture, Lit web components as the canonical component layer."*
- [ ] Update `whynot-control/SCOPE.md` to mention `whynot-design` as a sibling.

That's it. Anything more is over-engineering for the current stage.

---

> A design system can be interesting and still be parked. `whynot-design` exists to reduce visual uncertainty across prototypes, not to create more obligations.