Chroma design specDev Tools

Quiet, technical open-source restraint — the most understated developer surface in the library, where small type, tiny radii and a single warm hairline do all the work and the only colour is the logo. The canvas is a warm off-white #fafaf9 and the chrome is monochrome Tailwind-neutral (ink #0a0a0a, greys #737373 and #404040), set in Inter for UI and IBM Plex Mono for code, with NO chromatic UI accent anywhere. Three signatures give it character: the display is deliberately SMALL at 24px weight 400, so emphasis comes from weight 600 on 14px sub-labels rather than scale; the dominant card border is a warm brown-black #27201c rather than a cool grey; and elevation is a hard OFFSET shadow (#f0f0f0 6px 6px 0, no blur) that reads like a printed card. Buttons are compact 36px near-black #171717 rectangles at a tiny 6px radius with a white outline secondary, while the search field is a full pill and the Agent/Search segmented tab fills pure black when active. The one moment of life is a WebGL canvas driving an animated data-flow search visualization; there are no CSS gradients, no soft drop shadows and no dark theme. Motion is a fast 0.15s cubic-bezier(0.4,0,0.2,1), and the site ships infinite animations with no reduced-motion block.

Browse Chroma in the interactive gallery

Captured from the live site's computed styles into a prompt-ready DESIGN.md you can paste into Cursor, v0, Lovable, Bolt or Claude Code. Below is a summary of each captured surface.

Marketing site

Source: trychroma.com (live DOM, computed styles), 2026-07-26 (desktop 1512px). Coverage: home page. Dashboard behind login (needs-dashboard). Tailwind v4 site (neutral ladder + --tw-ease); the red/orange/amber --color-* ladders are Tailwind defaults used for docs/data, excluded from the brand palette. Reality check: hint ("clean light, restrained technical") is accurate and, if anything, understated. This is the most restrained developer surface in the library — a warm off-white #fafaf9 canvas, monochrome Tailwind-neutral chrome, Inter + IBM Plex Mono, and the display is an unusually SMALL 24px (restraint by SIZE, not weight). Three signatures the hint misses: the dominant border is a warm brown-black #27201c (not a cool grey); depth is a hard OFFSET shadow #f0f0f0 6px 6px 0 0 (no blur, sticker-like); and the hero visual is a WebGL <canvas> (1280×865) driving an animated data-flow search visualization (flow-down/flow-data keyframes). Colour is otherwise absent from chrome — only the multicolour logo mark carries it.

Visual Theme & Atmosphere

Quiet, technical, open-source restraint — a warm off-white developer surface where small type, tiny radii and a single warm-brown hairline do all the work, and the only colour is the logo. Nothing shouts: the hero headline is just 24px, buttons are compact near-black rectangles, and structure comes from 1px borders plus a flat offset shadow that reads like a printed card. The one moment of motion and life is a WebGL data-flow visualization behind the product demo. It deliberately avoids gradients, large display type, colour accents and heavy shadows. Feels: restrained, technical, precise, calm.

Color Palette & Roles

Neutral ladder (Tailwind neutral)

TokenHexRole / usage
neutral-950#0a0a0aPrimary text (970 uses)
neutral-900#171717Primary button fill
neutral-800#262626Deep text
neutral-700#404040Body / caption text
neutral-600#525252Secondary text
neutral-500#737373Muted
neutral-400#a1a1a1Faint
neutral-300#d4d4d4Border
neutral-200#e5e5e5Button / card border
neutral-100#f5f5f5Inset fill
neutral-50#fafafaButton text on dark

Surfaces & borders

TokenHexRole / usage
canvas#fafaf9Page background (warm off-white)
white#ffffffCards, inputs, buttons
panel#f9fafbSection fill
brown-border#27201cDominant card border (warm brown-black, 43×)
border-cool#d1d5dcInput border
slate-600#4a5565 · #364153Slate-tinted secondary text / placeholder
offset-shadow#f0f0f0Hard offset shadow colour

Accent

TokenHexRole / usage
logo gradientmulticolourThe Chroma logo mark only — a raster asset, not a :root token; exact stops not captured

Rule: chrome is monochrome neutral; colour appears only in the logo mark. No chromatic accent in UI.

Typography Rules

RoleSize/LineWeightTracking
Display (h1)24 / 36400normal
Section (h2)16 / 24400normal
Sub (h3)14 / 20600normal
Body16 / 24400normal
Caption12 / 16400normal
Nav16 / 24400normal
Button14 / 20500normal
Mono / code16400normal, IBM Plex Mono

Patterns: the display is deliberately SMALL (24px) at weight 400 — restraint by size. Tracking is normal everywhere. Emphasis is weight 600 on small sub-labels, not scale.

Also documented in the full DESIGN.md: Component Stylings, Layout Principles, Depth & Elevation, Motion, Backgrounds, Effects & WebGL, Do's and Don'ts, Responsive Behavior, Agent Prompt Guide.