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Design Tokens

Last updated on 2026-03-26

The Kanban PM Kit uses oklch color tokens defined as CSS custom properties in app/globals.css. All components reference these tokens through Tailwind CSS v4 -- never hardcoded colors. The kit ships with a blue-violet theme (oklch hue 255).

oklch Color System

The kit uses oklch (Oklab Lightness Chroma Hue) instead of hex or hsl:

  • Perceptually uniform -- equal steps in lightness look equal to the human eye, so your palette looks balanced without manual tweaking
  • Wider gamut -- access to more vibrant colors on modern displays (P3, Rec. 2020)
  • Easy palette generation -- change one hue angle to produce a cohesive brand palette across all semantic tokens

The format is oklch(lightness chroma hue) where lightness is 0-1, chroma is 0-0.4 (saturation intensity), and hue is 0-360 (color angle on the color wheel).

Color Tokens

Semantic color tokens that automatically adapt between light and dark mode:

:root {
  --background: oklch(0.99 0.002 255);
  --foreground: oklch(0.17 0.02 255);
  --card: oklch(1 0 0);
  --card-foreground: oklch(0.17 0.02 255);
  --popover: oklch(1 0 0);
  --popover-foreground: oklch(0.17 0.02 255);
  --primary: oklch(0.45 0.2 255);
  --primary-foreground: oklch(0.98 0.005 255);
  --secondary: oklch(0.78 0.14 66);
  --secondary-foreground: oklch(0.25 0.05 66);
  --muted: oklch(0.96 0.005 255);
  --muted-foreground: oklch(0.4 0.03 255);
  --accent: oklch(0.94 0.02 255);
  --accent-foreground: oklch(0.35 0.15 255);
  --destructive: oklch(0.58 0.22 27);
  --border: oklch(0.91 0.01 255);
  --input: oklch(0.91 0.01 255);
  --ring: oklch(0.55 0.18 255);
}

Dark Mode Tokens

.dark {
  --background: oklch(0.16 0.02 255);
  --foreground: oklch(0.96 0.005 255);
  --card: oklch(0.21 0.025 255);
  --card-foreground: oklch(0.96 0.005 255);
  --popover: oklch(0.21 0.025 255);
  --popover-foreground: oklch(0.96 0.005 255);
  --primary: oklch(0.7 0.18 255);
  --primary-foreground: oklch(0.15 0.02 255);
  --secondary: oklch(0.72 0.14 66);
  --secondary-foreground: oklch(0.18 0.04 66);
  --muted: oklch(0.27 0.025 255);
  --muted-foreground: oklch(0.7 0.03 255);
  --accent: oklch(0.32 0.05 255);
  --accent-foreground: oklch(0.92 0.01 255);
  --destructive: oklch(0.704 0.191 22.216);
  --border: oklch(1 0 0 / 12%);
  --input: oklch(1 0 0 / 15%);
  --ring: oklch(0.6 0.16 255);
}

Dedicated tokens for the workspace sidebar navigation:

:root {
  --sidebar: oklch(0.97 0.008 255);
  --sidebar-foreground: oklch(0.17 0.02 255);
  --sidebar-primary: oklch(0.45 0.2 255);
  --sidebar-primary-foreground: oklch(0.98 0.005 255);
  --sidebar-accent: oklch(0.93 0.025 255);
  --sidebar-accent-foreground: oklch(0.35 0.15 255);
  --sidebar-border: oklch(0.91 0.01 255);
  --sidebar-ring: oklch(0.55 0.18 255);
}

.dark {
  --sidebar: oklch(0.19 0.025 255);
  --sidebar-foreground: oklch(0.96 0.005 255);
  --sidebar-primary: oklch(0.7 0.18 255);
  --sidebar-primary-foreground: oklch(0.15 0.02 255);
  --sidebar-accent: oklch(0.28 0.04 255);
  --sidebar-accent-foreground: oklch(0.92 0.01 255);
  --sidebar-border: oklch(1 0 0 / 12%);
  --sidebar-ring: oklch(0.6 0.16 255);
}

Chart Colors

Five chart-specific color tokens used by the Recharts analytics and sprint charts:

:root {
  --chart-1: oklch(0.55 0.2 255);   /* Blue-violet (primary) */
  --chart-2: oklch(0.75 0.14 66);   /* Amber */
  --chart-3: oklch(0.65 0.2 141);   /* Green */
  --chart-4: oklch(0.6 0.18 321);   /* Magenta */
  --chart-5: oklch(0.7 0.15 191);   /* Teal */
}

.dark {
  --chart-1: oklch(0.7 0.18 255);
  --chart-2: oklch(0.72 0.14 66);
  --chart-3: oklch(0.65 0.2 141);
  --chart-4: oklch(0.65 0.18 321);
  --chart-5: oklch(0.7 0.15 191);
}

Usage in Tailwind

Tokens map directly to Tailwind utility classes. Use them like standard Tailwind colors:

<div className="bg-background text-foreground border-border">
  <button className="bg-primary text-primary-foreground">
    Create Task
  </button>
  <span className="text-muted-foreground">Last updated 2 hours ago</span>
  <div className="bg-sidebar text-sidebar-foreground">
    Sidebar content
  </div>
</div>

Dark Mode

The kit uses next-themes with class-based dark mode. The ThemeToggle component handles the switch:

import { ThemeToggle } from "@/components/layout/theme-toggle"

<ThemeToggle />

Dark mode values are defined in the .dark selector within globals.css. All semantic tokens automatically switch when the theme changes. The ThemeToggle component includes proper aria-label text that updates to reflect the current action ("Switch to light mode" / "Switch to dark mode").

Typography

The kit uses three font families configured in app/layout.tsx:

Token Font Usage
--font-sans Inter Body text
--font-heading DM Sans Headings (h1-h6)
--font-mono JetBrains Mono Code blocks

Headings use tighter letter-spacing (-0.025em) and shorter line-height (1.2) for visual weight. Body text uses -0.011em letter-spacing with 1.6 line-height for readability.

Border Radius

The kit uses a base radius value with computed variants:

--radius: 0.625rem;
--radius-sm: calc(var(--radius) * 0.6);    /* 0.375rem */
--radius-md: calc(var(--radius) * 0.8);    /* 0.5rem */
--radius-lg: var(--radius);                /* 0.625rem */
--radius-xl: calc(var(--radius) * 1.4);    /* 0.875rem */
--radius-2xl: calc(var(--radius) * 1.8);   /* 1.125rem */
--radius-3xl: calc(var(--radius) * 2.2);   /* 1.375rem */
--radius-4xl: calc(var(--radius) * 2.6);   /* 1.625rem */

Animations

The kit includes premium animation keyframes defined in globals.css:

Animation Duration Usage
fade-in-up 0.5s Page sections, cards on mount
fade-in 0.4s Overlays, tooltips
scale-in 0.3s Modals, popovers
float 6s (loop) Decorative elements
shimmer 1.5s (loop) Loading skeletons

Stagger delay utilities (.stagger-1 through .stagger-6) add 100ms increments for cascading entrance animations.

All animations are disabled when prefers-reduced-motion: reduce is active.

Customizing for Your Brand

To rebrand the kit, change the hue value in app/globals.css. The default blue-violet theme uses hue 255. Update it to your brand color and all 45+ screens adapt automatically:

:root {
  /* Change hue from 255 (blue-violet) to 160 (teal) */
  --primary: oklch(0.45 0.2 160);
  --primary-foreground: oklch(0.98 0 0);
  --ring: oklch(0.55 0.18 160);
  /* Update remaining tokens to match... */
}

.dark {
  --primary: oklch(0.7 0.18 160);
  --primary-foreground: oklch(0.15 0.02 160);
  /* ... */
}

All components automatically inherit the new palette -- buttons, badges, links, charts, sidebar accents, Kanban column indicators, priority icons, and focus rings all update at once.

For full customization details, see the Customization guide.

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