feat(design-systems): declare what to write instead, rather than what not to
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Milestone #254 step 6, first half (#2295) — and this reframes the task rather
than answering it. The operator's call:

  "in this case we should declare what should be used in place of pure white,
   it's not a prohibition it's what should be used in its place."

None of the three options on the table (a constraints record / the panel reads
both sources / negative token rows) was right, because all three kept the
prohibition as a KIND OF THING. It isn't one. "Pure white is never text" is the
shadow cast by a positive fact — text is Parchment — and a design system that
stores what things ARE has no row for a ban because it never needed one.

So `design_tokens` gains `supersedes`: the literal values this token should be
written instead of. `--color-text-on-action` supersedes `#fff` / `#ffffff`. Same
fact as the rule, stated forwards, and now actionable — a finding can say what
to write rather than only objecting.

It has to be DECLARED, not derived, and that is the crux: `#fff` and Parchment
`#E8E4D8` are different colours, so no value-matching check could ever have
connected them. That mismatch is precisely why the prohibition looked
unrepresentable until it was turned around.

`supersedes` cascades on EMPTINESS rather than on None. A child overriding a
colour says nothing about which literals it replaces, and blanking the family's
declaration there would silently disarm the check for every app that customises
the token — while a child that states its own list replaces it wholesale.

Two things this deliberately does NOT do:

  - It does not feed the drift panel. Superseded literals live in component CSS,
    which `designDrift.ts` cannot see and already documents as a blind spot.
    This is input for the source lint (#2277). Declaring it with nothing
    consuming it yet is honest; wiring it to a panel that cannot check it would
    not be.
  - It does not remove the panel's `prohibited_color` arm yet — that happens
    when the panel is repointed at a resolved system, which needs #2288 first.

The declaration also exposes a missing token: most of the 67 hardcoded
`color: #fff` (#2275) are text on a coloured action button, and the system has
no token for that role at all. Every view hardcodes it. Declaring the token that
was never there is the first real output of the operator's framing.
This commit is contained in:
2026-07-30 21:16:45 -04:00
parent 78489308b8
commit 3da40abcb8
11 changed files with 305 additions and 8 deletions
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
"""design_tokens.supersedes — the literals a token should be used instead of
Revision ID: 0073
Revises: 0072
Create Date: 2026-07-30
Records what a prohibition was actually trying to say.
A design rulebook writes "pure white #FFFFFF is NEVER used as text color". That
sentence has no row in a table of tokens, because a design system stores what
things ARE — which looked like a gap in the model and was really a sentence
written backwards. The positive fact is "text is Parchment", and the useful
record is the mapping from the literal someone would otherwise write to the
token they should write instead.
So `supersedes` is a JSONB array of literal values, e.g. `["#fff", "#ffffff"]`
on a text-on-action token. A finding built from it can say what to write, not
merely what not to.
It must be DECLARED rather than derived. `#fff` and Parchment `#E8E4D8` are
different colours, so no value-matching rule could ever have connected them —
which is exactly why the prohibition felt unrepresentable until it was turned
around.
Consumed by the source lint that reads component CSS, not by the drift panel:
these literals are in the components, which the panel cannot see.
NOT NULL with a `'[]'` default, matching `value_by_mode` — a nullable JSONB
column has two empty states and every reader has to test for both.
Downgrade drops the column; the declarations are lost, which costs the lint its
input and nothing else.
"""
from alembic import op
import sqlalchemy as sa
from sqlalchemy.dialects.postgresql import JSONB
revision = "0073"
down_revision = "0072"
branch_labels = None
depends_on = None
def upgrade() -> None:
op.add_column(
"design_tokens",
sa.Column(
"supersedes", JSONB, nullable=False, server_default=sa.text("'[]'::jsonb")
),
)
def downgrade() -> None:
op.drop_column("design_tokens", "supersedes")
+9
View File
@@ -26,6 +26,13 @@ export interface DesignToken {
value_by_mode: Record<string, string>;
group_name: string | null;
purpose: string | null;
/** Literal values this token should be used INSTEAD OF, e.g. ["#fff"].
*
* How a design system records what a prohibition was trying to say: not
* "white is banned" but "write this token instead". Declared rather than
* inferred, because a superseded literal and the token's own value are
* usually different values and nothing could connect them by matching. */
supersedes: string[];
order_index: number;
}
@@ -49,6 +56,7 @@ export interface ResolvedToken {
name: string;
group_name: string | null;
purpose: string | null;
supersedes: string[];
order_index: number;
value_by_mode: Record<string, string>;
origin_by_mode: Record<string, number>;
@@ -93,6 +101,7 @@ export const createDesignToken = (
value_by_mode?: Record<string, string>;
group_name?: string | null;
purpose?: string | null;
supersedes?: string[];
order_index?: number;
},
) => apiPost<DesignToken>(`/api/design-systems/${designSystemId}/tokens`, body);
+39 -1
View File
@@ -245,6 +245,10 @@ const tokenGroup = ref("");
const tokenPurpose = ref("");
/** Mode/value pairs, edited as a list so a token can carry any number of modes. */
const tokenModes = ref<{ mode: string; value: string }[]>([{ mode: "base", value: "" }]);
/** Literals this token should be written instead of, comma-separated in the
* form. Kept as one text field rather than a repeater: it is a short list of
* literals, and a row-per-value UI would cost more than it explains. */
const tokenSupersedes = ref("");
const savingToken = ref(false);
const editingTokenId = ref<number | null>(null);
@@ -253,6 +257,7 @@ function resetTokenForm() {
tokenGroup.value = "";
tokenPurpose.value = "";
tokenModes.value = [{ mode: "base", value: "" }];
tokenSupersedes.value = "";
editingTokenId.value = null;
showAddToken.value = false;
}
@@ -262,6 +267,7 @@ function startEditToken(token: DesignToken) {
tokenName.value = token.name;
tokenGroup.value = token.group_name ?? "";
tokenPurpose.value = token.purpose ?? "";
tokenSupersedes.value = (token.supersedes ?? []).join(", ");
const entries = Object.entries(token.value_by_mode);
tokenModes.value = entries.length
? entries.map(([mode, value]) => ({ mode, value }))
@@ -288,6 +294,10 @@ async function submitToken() {
value_by_mode: collectModes(),
group_name: tokenGroup.value.trim() || null,
purpose: tokenPurpose.value.trim() || null,
supersedes: tokenSupersedes.value
.split(",")
.map((v) => v.trim())
.filter(Boolean),
};
if (editingTokenId.value !== null) {
await updateDesignToken(editingTokenId.value, body);
@@ -555,6 +565,20 @@ function isColourish(value: string): boolean {
</div>
</div>
<div class="field">
<label class="field-label" for="token-supersedes">Use instead of</label>
<input
id="token-supersedes" v-model="tokenSupersedes" class="input mono" type="text"
placeholder="#fff, #ffffff"
/>
<p class="field-hint">
Literal values that should be written as this token instead —
comma separated. This is where a rule like "pure white is never
text" belongs: not as a prohibition, but as the thing to write
in its place. Checked by the source lint, not by this page.
</p>
</div>
<fieldset class="modes">
<legend class="field-label">Values by mode</legend>
<p class="field-hint">
@@ -613,7 +637,12 @@ function isColourish(value: string): boolean {
<code>{{ value }}</code>
</span>
</span>
<span class="token-meta">{{ token.purpose || token.group_name || "" }}</span>
<span class="token-meta">
{{ token.purpose || token.group_name || "" }}
<span v-if="token.supersedes.length" class="supersedes">
instead of {{ token.supersedes.join(", ") }}
</span>
</span>
<span class="token-actions">
<button class="btn-ghost btn-small" @click="startEditToken(token)">Edit</button>
<button class="btn-ghost btn-small" @click="removeToken(token)">
@@ -647,6 +676,9 @@ function isColourish(value: string): boolean {
<div class="resolved-head">
<code class="token-name">{{ token.name }}</code>
<span v-if="token.purpose" class="token-meta">{{ token.purpose }}</span>
<span v-if="token.supersedes.length" class="supersedes">
instead of {{ token.supersedes.join(", ") }}
</span>
</div>
<!-- One badge only when every mode agrees on its source. -->
@@ -1034,6 +1066,12 @@ function isColourish(value: string): boolean {
gap: 0.35rem;
}
.supersedes {
font-size: 0.75rem;
color: var(--color-text-muted);
font-style: italic;
}
.mode-chip {
display: inline-flex;
align-items: center;
+16 -2
View File
@@ -147,6 +147,7 @@ async def create_design_token(
value_by_mode: dict | None = None,
group_name: str = "",
purpose: str = "",
supersedes: list | None = None,
order_index: int = 0,
) -> dict:
"""Add a token to a design system.
@@ -162,6 +163,12 @@ async def create_design_token(
group_name: Free-text grouping — "surface", "text", "radius", whatever
this system's own vocabulary is.
purpose: What the token is for, e.g. "page bg, deepest surface".
supersedes: Literal values this token should be used INSTEAD OF, e.g.
["#fff", "#ffffff"]. This is how a design system records what a
prohibition was trying to say — not "white is banned" but "write
this token instead". Declare it rather than expecting it to be
inferred: a superseded literal and the token's own value are
usually different values, so nothing can connect them by matching.
order_index: Display position within its group.
"""
uid = current_user_id()
@@ -172,6 +179,7 @@ async def create_design_token(
value_by_mode=value_by_mode,
group_name=group_name or None,
purpose=purpose or None,
supersedes=supersedes,
order_index=order_index,
)
if token is None:
@@ -192,12 +200,14 @@ async def update_design_token(
value_by_mode: dict | None = None,
group_name: str = "",
purpose: str = "",
supersedes: list | None = None,
order_index: int = -1,
) -> dict:
"""Update a token. Empty/None args leave a field unchanged.
`value_by_mode` REPLACES the whole map rather than merging into it, so send
every mode you want the token to keep.
`value_by_mode` and `supersedes` REPLACE their whole value rather than
merging into it, so send every entry you want the token to keep. Pass `[]`
to clear `supersedes` entirely.
"""
uid = current_user_id()
fields: dict = {}
@@ -209,6 +219,10 @@ async def update_design_token(
fields["group_name"] = group_name
if purpose:
fields["purpose"] = purpose
# `is not None`, not truthiness: `[]` is a meaningful edit (drop every
# superseded literal) and would otherwise be unreachable.
if supersedes is not None:
fields["supersedes"] = supersedes
if order_index >= 0:
fields["order_index"] = order_index
token = await ds_svc.update_token(uid, token_id, **fields)
+19
View File
@@ -109,6 +109,24 @@ class DesignToken(Base, TimestampMixin, SoftDeleteMixin):
# vocabulary, and a whitelist would bake one install's kit into the schema.
group_name: Mapped[str | None] = mapped_column(Text, nullable=True)
purpose: Mapped[str | None] = mapped_column(Text, nullable=True)
# Literal values this token should be used INSTEAD OF, e.g. ["#fff",
# "#ffffff"] on a text-on-action token.
#
# This is how a design system records the thing a prohibition was trying to
# say. "Pure white is never text" is the shadow of a positive fact — text is
# Parchment — and a system that stores what things ARE has no row for a ban.
# Recording the replacement keeps the check and makes it actionable: a
# finding can name what to write instead of merely objecting.
#
# It has to be DECLARED rather than inferred, because the superseded literal
# and the token's own value are usually different colours (#fff is not
# #E8E4D8). No value-matching rule could ever connect them.
#
# Consumed by the source lint (#2277), not by the drift panel: these
# literals live in component CSS, which the panel cannot see and says so.
supersedes: Mapped[list] = mapped_column(
JSONB, nullable=False, default=list, server_default=text("'[]'::jsonb")
)
order_index: Mapped[int] = mapped_column(Integer, default=0, server_default="0")
def to_dict(self) -> dict:
@@ -119,6 +137,7 @@ class DesignToken(Base, TimestampMixin, SoftDeleteMixin):
"value_by_mode": self.value_by_mode or {},
"group_name": self.group_name,
"purpose": self.purpose,
"supersedes": self.supersedes or [],
"order_index": self.order_index,
"created_at": self.created_at.isoformat() if self.created_at else None,
"updated_at": self.updated_at.isoformat() if self.updated_at else None,
+5 -1
View File
@@ -140,6 +140,7 @@ async def create_design_token(design_system_id: int):
value_by_mode=data.get("value_by_mode"),
group_name=data.get("group_name") or None,
purpose=data.get("purpose") or None,
supersedes=data.get("supersedes"),
order_index=data.get("order_index") or 0,
)
if token is None:
@@ -153,7 +154,10 @@ async def update_design_token(token_id: int):
data = await request.get_json() or {}
fields = {
k: v for k, v in data.items()
if k in ("name", "value_by_mode", "group_name", "purpose", "order_index")
if k in (
"name", "value_by_mode", "group_name", "purpose", "supersedes",
"order_index",
)
}
token = await ds_svc.update_token(_uid(), token_id, **fields)
if token is None:
+15 -1
View File
@@ -97,6 +97,7 @@ class ResolvedToken:
contributions: dict[str, tuple[Contribution, ...]]
group_name: str | None
purpose: str | None
supersedes: tuple[str, ...]
order_index: int
@property
@@ -132,6 +133,7 @@ class ResolvedToken:
"name": self.name,
"group_name": self.group_name,
"purpose": self.purpose,
"supersedes": list(self.supersedes),
"order_index": self.order_index,
"value_by_mode": self.value_by_mode,
"origin_by_mode": self.origin_by_mode,
@@ -206,7 +208,11 @@ def resolve_tokens(
)
meta = metadata.setdefault(
token.name, {"group_name": None, "purpose": None, "order_index": None}
token.name,
{
"group_name": None, "purpose": None,
"supersedes": None, "order_index": None,
},
)
for field in ("group_name", "purpose"):
if meta[field] is None:
@@ -218,6 +224,13 @@ def resolve_tokens(
# change that only touched a colour.
if not meta["order_index"]:
meta["order_index"] = getattr(token, "order_index", 0) or None
# `supersedes` cascades on EMPTINESS, not on None: a child that
# overrides a colour and says nothing about which literals it
# replaces should keep the family's declaration, and an empty list
# is what "said nothing" looks like once the column is NOT NULL.
# A child that states its own list replaces the whole thing.
if not meta["supersedes"]:
meta["supersedes"] = tuple(getattr(token, "supersedes", None) or ()) or None
resolved = [
ResolvedToken(
@@ -227,6 +240,7 @@ def resolve_tokens(
},
group_name=metadata[name]["group_name"],
purpose=metadata[name]["purpose"],
supersedes=metadata[name]["supersedes"] or (),
order_index=metadata[name]["order_index"] or 0,
)
for name, per_mode in contributions.items()
+9 -1
View File
@@ -183,6 +183,7 @@ async def create_token(
value_by_mode: dict | None = None,
group_name: str | None = None,
purpose: str | None = None,
supersedes: list | None = None,
order_index: int = 0,
) -> DesignToken | None:
if not await access.can_write_design_system(user_id, design_system_id):
@@ -197,6 +198,10 @@ async def create_token(
value_by_mode=value_by_mode or {},
group_name=group_name,
purpose=purpose,
# `or []` for the same reason as value_by_mode above: the column is
# NOT NULL so absence has one spelling, and None would store JSON
# null instead of an empty array.
supersedes=supersedes or [],
order_index=order_index,
)
session.add(token)
@@ -270,7 +275,10 @@ async def resolve_design_system(
async def update_token(
user_id: int, token_id: int, **fields: object
) -> DesignToken | None:
allowed = {"name", "value_by_mode", "group_name", "purpose", "order_index"}
allowed = {
"name", "value_by_mode", "group_name", "purpose", "supersedes",
"order_index",
}
async with async_session() as session:
token = await session.get(DesignToken, token_id)
if token is None or token.deleted_at is not None:
+79 -2
View File
@@ -102,10 +102,11 @@ def test_the_guard_survives_a_hierarchy_that_is_already_corrupt():
# because resolve_tokens is pure and duck-typed — which is the whole reason it
# lives here rather than inside the service.
def _token(name, value_by_mode, group_name=None, purpose=None, order_index=0):
def _token(name, value_by_mode, group_name=None, purpose=None, order_index=0,
supersedes=None):
return SimpleNamespace(
name=name, value_by_mode=value_by_mode, group_name=group_name,
purpose=purpose, order_index=order_index,
purpose=purpose, order_index=order_index, supersedes=supersedes or [],
)
@@ -310,3 +311,79 @@ def test_resolution_terminates_on_a_corrupt_hierarchy():
assert set(resolved) == {"--fs-a", "--fs-b"}
# Each system contributes exactly once, not endlessly.
assert len(resolved["--fs-a"].contributions["base"]) == 1
# --- supersedes -------------------------------------------------------------
#
# The declaration that replaces a prohibition. A design system stores what things
# ARE, so "pure white is never text" has no row — but "write this token instead
# of #fff" does, and it is the same fact stated forwards.
def test_supersedes_is_inherited_when_the_override_is_silent_about_it():
"""LOAD-BEARING. A child overriding a colour says nothing about which
literals it replaces, and blanking the family's declaration there would
silently disarm the check for every app that customises the token."""
resolved = _by_name(resolve_tokens(
APP, PARENTS,
{
FAMILY: [_token("--fs-text", {"base": "#e8e4d8"}, supersedes=["#fff", "#ffffff"])],
APP: [_token("--fs-text", {"base": "#f0ece0"})],
},
))
text = resolved["--fs-text"]
assert text.supersedes == ("#fff", "#ffffff")
assert text.value_by_mode == {"base": "#f0ece0"} # the value still overrode
def test_an_override_that_states_its_own_supersedes_replaces_the_list():
"""Whole-list replacement, not a merge — an app that means "only #fff" must
be able to say so without inheriting entries it deliberately dropped."""
resolved = _by_name(resolve_tokens(
APP, PARENTS,
{
FAMILY: [_token("--fs-text", {"base": "a"}, supersedes=["#fff", "#ffffff"])],
APP: [_token("--fs-text", {"base": "b"}, supersedes=["#fff"])],
},
))
assert resolved["--fs-text"].supersedes == ("#fff",)
def test_a_token_that_supersedes_nothing_resolves_to_an_empty_tuple():
"""Most tokens replace nothing. That has to be an empty sequence rather than
None, so no caller has to test for two kinds of nothing."""
resolved = _by_name(resolve_tokens(
FAMILY, PARENTS, {FAMILY: [_token("--fs-radius-md", {"base": "8px"})]},
))
assert resolved["--fs-radius-md"].supersedes == ()
def test_supersedes_survives_serialisation_as_a_list():
resolved = _by_name(resolve_tokens(
FAMILY, PARENTS,
{FAMILY: [_token("--fs-text", {"base": "#e8e4d8"}, supersedes=["#fff"])]},
))
assert resolved["--fs-text"].to_dict()["supersedes"] == ["#fff"]
def test_the_superseded_literal_need_not_match_the_tokens_own_value():
"""The whole reason this is DECLARED rather than derived. `#fff` and
Parchment are different colours, so a value-matching rule could never have
connected them — which is why the prohibition looked unrepresentable until
it was turned around."""
resolved = _by_name(resolve_tokens(
FAMILY, PARENTS,
{FAMILY: [_token("--fs-text", {"base": "#e8e4d8"}, supersedes=["#fff"])]},
))
text = resolved["--fs-text"]
assert text.value_by_mode["base"] not in text.supersedes
def test_rows_without_a_supersedes_attribute_at_all_still_resolve():
"""Duck-typed input: a caller passing rows from before the column existed
must not crash the cascade."""
legacy = SimpleNamespace(
name="--fs-x", value_by_mode={"base": "a"},
group_name=None, purpose=None, order_index=0,
)
resolved = _by_name(resolve_tokens(FAMILY, PARENTS, {FAMILY: [legacy]}))
assert resolved["--fs-x"].supersedes == ()
+21
View File
@@ -189,3 +189,24 @@ async def test_resolve_returns_serialised_tokens_with_their_provenance():
{"system_id": 2, "value": "#5b4a8a"},
{"system_id": 1, "value": "#6b2118"},
]
@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_update_token_can_clear_supersedes_with_an_empty_list():
"""`[]` means "this token replaces nothing after all" — a real edit. Guarded
on `is not None` so it isn't swallowed as "unchanged", the same trap #2077
recorded for update_snippet."""
with patch("scribe.mcp.tools.design_systems.ds_svc") as svc:
svc.update_token = AsyncMock(return_value=_fake_token())
from scribe.mcp.tools.design_systems import update_design_token
await update_design_token(token_id=9, supersedes=[])
assert svc.update_token.await_args.kwargs["supersedes"] == []
@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_update_token_leaves_supersedes_alone_when_omitted():
with patch("scribe.mcp.tools.design_systems.ds_svc") as svc:
svc.update_token = AsyncMock(return_value=_fake_token())
from scribe.mcp.tools.design_systems import update_design_token
await update_design_token(token_id=9, purpose="text on action surfaces")
assert "supersedes" not in svc.update_token.await_args.kwargs
+38
View File
@@ -236,3 +236,41 @@ async def test_resolve_scopes_the_hierarchy_to_the_systems_OWNER_not_the_caller(
assert result == [] # empty chain, not None
assert parent_map.await_args.args[1] == owner # NOT `caller`
# --- supersedes (step 6's reframe) ------------------------------------------
@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_create_token_supersedes_defaults_to_an_empty_list_not_json_null():
"""Same NOT NULL reasoning as value_by_mode: absence gets one spelling."""
mock_session = _make_mock_session()
captured = {}
mock_session.add = MagicMock(
side_effect=lambda obj: captured.update(supersedes=obj.supersedes)
)
with patch("scribe.services.design_systems.async_session") as mock_cls, \
patch("scribe.services.design_systems.access") as acc:
acc.can_write_design_system = AsyncMock(return_value=True)
mock_cls.return_value = mock_session
from scribe.services.design_systems import create_token
await create_token(user_id=1, design_system_id=3, name="--fs-x", supersedes=None)
assert captured["supersedes"] == []
@pytest.mark.asyncio
async def test_create_token_records_the_literals_it_replaces():
mock_session = _make_mock_session()
captured = {}
mock_session.add = MagicMock(
side_effect=lambda obj: captured.update(supersedes=obj.supersedes)
)
with patch("scribe.services.design_systems.async_session") as mock_cls, \
patch("scribe.services.design_systems.access") as acc:
acc.can_write_design_system = AsyncMock(return_value=True)
mock_cls.return_value = mock_session
from scribe.services.design_systems import create_token
await create_token(
user_id=1, design_system_id=3, name="--fs-text-on-action",
value_by_mode={"base": "#e8e4d8"}, supersedes=["#fff", "#ffffff"],
)
assert captured["supersedes"] == ["#fff", "#ffffff"]