diff --git a/frontend/src/components/AppHeader.vue b/frontend/src/components/AppHeader.vue
index 37c567b..2af5cbc 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/AppHeader.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/components/AppHeader.vue
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import { useShortcuts } from "@/composables/useShortcuts";
 import { useAuthStore } from "@/stores/auth";
 import AppLogo from "@/components/AppLogo.vue";
 import NotificationBell from "@/components/NotificationBell.vue";
-import { Sun, Moon, Settings, Trash2 } from "lucide-vue-next";
+import { Sun, Moon, Palette, Settings, Trash2 } from "lucide-vue-next";
 
 const { theme, toggleTheme } = useTheme();
 const { toggleShortcuts } = useShortcuts();
@@ -64,6 +64,13 @@ router.afterEach(() => {
           <Moon v-else :size="16" />
         </button>
 
+        <!-- Design explorer. An icon rather than a sixth primary nav link: it's a
+             meta-surface like Trash and Settings, but hiding it entirely would
+             defeat the point of having somewhere the design system is visible. -->
+        <router-link to="/design" class="btn-icon" aria-label="Design" title="Design">
+          <Palette :size="16" />
+        </router-link>
+
         <!-- Trash link -->
         <router-link to="/trash" class="btn-icon" aria-label="Trash" title="Trash">
           <Trash2 :size="16" />
@@ -98,6 +105,7 @@ router.afterEach(() => {
       <router-link to="/rules" class="nav-link">Rulebooks</router-link>
       <router-link to="/shared" class="nav-link">Shared</router-link>
       <div class="mobile-divider"></div>
+      <router-link to="/design" class="nav-link">Design</router-link>
       <router-link to="/trash" class="nav-link">Trash</router-link>
       <router-link to="/settings" class="nav-link">Settings</router-link>
       <div class="mobile-divider"></div>
diff --git a/frontend/src/router/index.ts b/frontend/src/router/index.ts
index 43de4dd..bedd06c 100644
--- a/frontend/src/router/index.ts
+++ b/frontend/src/router/index.ts
@@ -109,6 +109,13 @@ const router = createRouter({
       name: "rules",
       component: () => import("@/views/RulesView.vue"),
     },
+    {
+      // Meta-surface, same family as /rules: it describes the app rather than
+      // holding the operator's records.
+      path: "/design",
+      name: "design",
+      component: () => import("@/views/DesignView.vue"),
+    },
     {
       path: "/tasks",
       redirect: "/",
diff --git a/frontend/src/views/DesignView.vue b/frontend/src/views/DesignView.vue
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..39cfd05
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/src/views/DesignView.vue
@@ -0,0 +1,372 @@
+<script setup lang="ts">
+/**
+ * Design explorer — the gallery (milestone #251 step 3).
+ *
+ * Renders the design system against the tokens that are actually live, read at
+ * runtime rather than parsed from source, so what you see here is what the app
+ * is using right now.
+ *
+ * HONESTY RULE, and the reason parts of this page say "not implemented":
+ * a gallery of hand-written look-alikes drifts from the app within a month and
+ * then lies — which is the same failure this whole surface exists to catch. So
+ * every specimen below is either a REAL component imported from the app, or a
+ * real token read from the browser, or it is explicitly marked as missing.
+ *
+ * Buttons are the case where that bites. Rule 65 specifies four variants, but
+ * `.btn-primary` is defined four separate times in four `<style scoped>` blocks
+ * and 30 of 54 SFCs carry their own button CSS (#2273). There is no shared
+ * button to import, so rendering one here would just make this a fifth copy.
+ * It is reported as a gap instead.
+ */
+import { computed, onMounted, ref } from "vue";
+
+import PriorityBadge from "@/components/PriorityBadge.vue";
+import StatusBadge from "@/components/StatusBadge.vue";
+import TagPill from "@/components/TagPill.vue";
+import { groupTokens, readTokens, type DesignToken, type TokenGroup } from "@/utils/designTokens";
+
+const tokens = ref<DesignToken[]>([]);
+
+/**
+ * Read on mount, not at module scope: the values depend on the live cascade,
+ * which needs the app's stylesheets applied and the theme attribute set.
+ */
+onMounted(() => {
+  tokens.value = readTokens();
+});
+
+const grouped = computed(() => groupTokens(tokens.value));
+
+const GROUP_ORDER: TokenGroup[] = ["color", "radius", "glow", "gradient", "focus", "layout", "other"];
+const orderedGroups = computed(() =>
+  GROUP_ORDER.filter((g) => grouped.value.has(g)).map((g) => ({ group: g, tokens: grouped.value.get(g)! })),
+);
+
+/** A token whose value reads as a colour is worth showing as a swatch. */
+function isColourish(value: string): boolean {
+  return /^(#|rgba?\(|hsla?\(|color-mix\()/.test(value.trim());
+}
+
+/** Rule 65's four variants — none of which exists as a shared artifact (#2273). */
+const RULEBOOK_BUTTONS = [
+  { name: "Primary", spec: "Moss #4A5D3F bg, Parchment text, no border" },
+  { name: "Secondary", spec: "Bronze #8B7355 bg, Parchment text, no border" },
+  { name: "Ghost", spec: "transparent, Parchment text, 0.5px Pewter border" },
+  { name: "Destructive", spec: "Oxblood #6B2118 bg, Parchment text, pair with icon" },
+];
+
+const TYPE_SPECIMENS = [
+  { token: "Display", spec: "40 / 500 / Fraunces" },
+  { token: "H1", spec: "32 / 500 / Fraunces" },
+  { token: "H2", spec: "24 / 500 / Fraunces" },
+  { token: "H3", spec: "18 / 500 / Inter" },
+  { token: "Body", spec: "15 / 400 / Inter" },
+  { token: "Body small", spec: "13 / 400 / Inter" },
+  { token: "Label", spec: "12 / 500 / Inter" },
+  { token: "Code", spec: "13 / 400 / JetBrains Mono" },
+  { token: "Tiny", spec: "11 / 500 / Inter, uppercase +0.08em" },
+];
+</script>
+
+<template>
+  <div class="design-view">
+    <header class="design-header">
+      <h1>Design</h1>
+      <p class="lede">
+        The system as it actually is. Token values are read from the browser at
+        runtime, so this page reflects the live cascade rather than what the
+        stylesheet says. Components shown are the real ones — where a piece of
+        the system has no shared implementation, it is marked missing rather
+        than mocked up.
+      </p>
+    </header>
+
+    <!-- Real components: these are imported, not recreated. -->
+    <section class="design-section">
+      <h2>Components</h2>
+      <p class="section-note">Imported from the app. What you see is what ships.</p>
+
+      <div class="specimen">
+        <span class="specimen-label">Status badge</span>
+        <div class="specimen-row">
+          <StatusBadge status="todo" />
+          <StatusBadge status="in_progress" />
+          <StatusBadge status="done" />
+          <StatusBadge status="cancelled" />
+        </div>
+      </div>
+
+      <div class="specimen">
+        <span class="specimen-label">Priority badge</span>
+        <div class="specimen-row">
+          <PriorityBadge priority="low" />
+          <PriorityBadge priority="medium" />
+          <PriorityBadge priority="high" />
+          <span class="muted">(<code>none</code> renders nothing, by design)</span>
+        </div>
+      </div>
+
+      <div class="specimen">
+        <span class="specimen-label">Tag pill</span>
+        <div class="specimen-row">
+          <TagPill tag="design-system" />
+          <TagPill tag="dismissible" dismissible />
+        </div>
+      </div>
+    </section>
+
+    <!-- The honest gap. -->
+    <section class="design-section">
+      <h2>Buttons</h2>
+      <div class="gap-notice">
+        <strong>Not implemented as a shared component.</strong>
+        <p>
+          Rule 65 specifies four variants. In practice <code>.btn-primary</code> is
+          defined four separate times in four <code>&lt;style scoped&gt;</code>
+          blocks, and 30 of 54 single-file components carry their own button CSS.
+          There is no shared button to render here, and drawing one would make
+          this page a fifth copy of it — the exact drift this surface exists to
+          catch. Tracked as issue #2273.
+        </p>
+      </div>
+      <ul class="spec-list">
+        <li v-for="b in RULEBOOK_BUTTONS" :key="b.name">
+          <span class="spec-name">{{ b.name }}</span>
+          <span class="spec-detail">{{ b.spec }}</span>
+          <span class="spec-status missing">missing</span>
+        </li>
+      </ul>
+    </section>
+
+    <!-- Typography: the families load, the scale does not exist as tokens. -->
+    <section class="design-section">
+      <h2>Type scale</h2>
+      <div class="gap-notice">
+        <strong>Families load; the scale has no tokens.</strong>
+        <p>
+          Fraunces, Inter and JetBrains Mono are imported (rule 59), but rule 60's
+          scale is not expressed as custom properties, so sizes and weights are
+          set ad hoc per component. Listed here as specification, not as a live
+          specimen — there is nothing to read.
+        </p>
+      </div>
+      <ul class="spec-list">
+        <li v-for="t in TYPE_SPECIMENS" :key="t.token">
+          <span class="spec-name">{{ t.token }}</span>
+          <span class="spec-detail">{{ t.spec }}</span>
+          <span class="spec-status missing">no token</span>
+        </li>
+      </ul>
+    </section>
+
+    <!-- Tokens: entirely real, read live. -->
+    <section v-for="{ group, tokens: groupTokenList } in orderedGroups" :key="group" class="design-section">
+      <h2 class="token-group-heading">{{ group }} <span class="count">{{ groupTokenList.length }}</span></h2>
+      <ul class="token-list">
+        <li v-for="token in groupTokenList" :key="token.name" class="token-row">
+          <span
+            v-if="isColourish(token.value)"
+            class="swatch"
+            :style="{ background: token.value }"
+            aria-hidden="true"
+          />
+          <span v-else class="swatch swatch-none" aria-hidden="true" />
+          <code class="token-name">{{ token.name }}</code>
+          <code class="token-value">{{ token.value || "—" }}</code>
+          <span v-if="token.overriddenInDark" class="token-flag" title="Re-declared in the dark block">
+            mode-aware
+          </span>
+        </li>
+      </ul>
+    </section>
+
+    <p v-if="!tokens.length" class="muted">Reading tokens…</p>
+  </div>
+</template>
+
+<style scoped>
+.design-view {
+  max-width: var(--page-max-width);
+  margin: 0 auto;
+  padding: 1.5rem var(--page-padding-x) 4rem;
+}
+
+.design-header {
+  margin-bottom: 2rem;
+}
+
+.lede {
+  color: var(--color-text-secondary);
+  max-width: 60ch;
+  line-height: 1.7;
+}
+
+.design-section {
+  margin-bottom: 2.5rem;
+}
+
+.design-section h2 {
+  margin-bottom: 0.25rem;
+}
+
+.token-group-heading {
+  text-transform: capitalize;
+}
+
+.count {
+  color: var(--color-text-muted);
+  font-size: 0.8rem;
+  font-weight: 400;
+}
+
+.section-note,
+.muted {
+  color: var(--color-text-muted);
+  font-size: 0.85rem;
+  margin-bottom: 1rem;
+}
+
+/* Specimens -------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+.specimen {
+  padding: 0.75rem 0;
+  border-bottom: 1px solid var(--color-border);
+}
+
+.specimen-label {
+  display: block;
+  font-size: 0.75rem;
+  text-transform: uppercase;
+  letter-spacing: 0.08em;
+  color: var(--color-text-muted);
+  margin-bottom: 0.5rem;
+}
+
+.specimen-row {
+  display: flex;
+  flex-wrap: wrap;
+  gap: 0.5rem;
+  align-items: center;
+}
+
+/* Gaps ------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+.gap-notice {
+  background: var(--color-surface);
+  border: 1px solid var(--color-border);
+  border-left: 3px solid var(--color-warning);
+  border-radius: var(--radius-sm);
+  padding: 0.75rem 1rem;
+  margin-bottom: 1rem;
+}
+
+.gap-notice p {
+  margin: 0.5rem 0 0;
+  color: var(--color-text-secondary);
+  font-size: 0.9rem;
+  line-height: 1.6;
+  max-width: 70ch;
+}
+
+.spec-list {
+  list-style: none;
+  padding: 0;
+  margin: 0;
+}
+
+.spec-list li {
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: baseline;
+  gap: 0.75rem;
+  padding: 0.4rem 0;
+  border-bottom: 1px solid var(--color-border);
+  flex-wrap: wrap;
+}
+
+.spec-name {
+  min-width: 8rem;
+  font-weight: 500;
+}
+
+.spec-detail {
+  color: var(--color-text-secondary);
+  font-size: 0.85rem;
+  flex: 1;
+}
+
+.spec-status {
+  font-size: 0.7rem;
+  text-transform: uppercase;
+  letter-spacing: 0.08em;
+  padding: 0.1rem 0.45rem;
+  border-radius: var(--radius-sm);
+}
+
+.spec-status.missing {
+  background: var(--color-priority-medium-bg);
+  color: var(--color-priority-medium);
+}
+
+/* Tokens ----------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
+.token-list {
+  list-style: none;
+  padding: 0;
+  margin: 0;
+}
+
+.token-row {
+  display: flex;
+  align-items: center;
+  gap: 0.75rem;
+  padding: 0.3rem 0;
+  border-bottom: 1px solid var(--color-border);
+  flex-wrap: wrap;
+}
+
+.swatch {
+  width: 1.25rem;
+  height: 1.25rem;
+  flex: none;
+  border: 1px solid var(--color-border);
+  border-radius: var(--radius-sm);
+}
+
+.swatch-none {
+  background: repeating-linear-gradient(
+    45deg,
+    transparent,
+    transparent 3px,
+    var(--color-border) 3px,
+    var(--color-border) 4px
+  );
+}
+
+.token-name {
+  min-width: 16rem;
+  font-size: 0.8rem;
+}
+
+.token-value {
+  color: var(--color-text-secondary);
+  font-size: 0.8rem;
+  flex: 1;
+  word-break: break-all;
+}
+
+.token-flag {
+  font-size: 0.65rem;
+  text-transform: uppercase;
+  letter-spacing: 0.08em;
+  color: var(--color-text-muted);
+  border: 1px solid var(--color-border);
+  border-radius: var(--radius-sm);
+  padding: 0.05rem 0.35rem;
+}
+
+@media (max-width: 640px) {
+  .token-name {
+    min-width: 0;
+  }
+}
+</style>