Sentinel Style Guide

"The Sentinel's rigour in code must extend to every pixel the user sees."

This document codifies the Sentinel Visual Language — the binding rules for all Zenzic documentation pages. Every contributor must follow these rules. Reviewers must reject PRs that violate them.

Directive: ZRT-DOC-002

1. Card Rule (High-Density UX)

Navigation cards orient. They do not replace the sidebar.

Structure

Every card in a <div class="grid cards" markdown> block must have exactly:

An icon (<Icon name="..." /> — see §3).
A bold title.
A description of at most two lines.
A single action link using the arrow prefix.

Canonical example

- <Icon name="play" /> &nbsp; **User Guide**

    Everything you need to install, configure, and integrate Zenzic into
    your CI/CD workflow.

    [<Icon name="arrow-right" /> Explore the Guide](../../../how-to/install.mdx)

Forbidden patterns

Pattern	Why
Horizontal link chains (`·`-separated)	Creates a wall of text; impossible to scan
Nested `<li>` lists inside a card	Breaks card height uniformity
`---` separators inside a card	Adds visual noise without information gain
Cards with zero action links	Dead-end; the user has nowhere to go

Exception

Presentation cards (e.g., homepage "Sentinel in Action" demos) may omit the action link because their purpose is visual demonstration, not navigation. They must still receive the card CSS (border, hover, transition).

2. Admonition Taxonomy

Each admonition type has one — and only one — semantic role.

Type	Role	When to use
`:::tip`	Quick Win	One-liner commands the reader can run immediately
`:::info`	Sentinel Output	CLI output blocks and Sentinel report samples
`:::danger`	Security Gate	Exit Code 2 (credentials) and Exit Code 3 (path traversal) only
`:::warning`	Design Constraint	Architectural rules, contributor policies, "use sparingly" caveats
`:::note`	Clarification	Engine-specific facts, contributor onboarding, multi-step guidance
`:::info`	Cross-Reference Bridge	Links from the current section to the next actionable step
`:::info`	Community CTA	Engagement calls ("Help us grow", "Join the discussion")
`:::note`	Philosophy	Project vision, design manifesto, Sentinel creed

Enforcement

If a block does not fit any category above, rewrite it as prose. Admonitions are not decoration.

3. Iconography Law (ZRT-DOC-003)

The `<Icon />` Component

Every icon in the documentation must be rendered with:

<Icon name="icon-name" />

Optional size override (default is 1.15em, inherits from surrounding text):

<Icon name="shield-check" size={20} />

All icon names follow the Lucide icon set naming convention (lowercase, hyphen-separated).

Hierarchy

Priority	Set	Syntax	Notes
1	Lucide	`<Icon name="play" />`	All UI and navigation icons

Rules

Semantic consistency: if an icon represents "Contribute" on one page, it

must be the same icon on every page.
Uniform syntax: every icon in a card grid uses <Icon name="..." />.

No mixing of syntaxes or icon sets.
Tree-shaking contract: before using a new icon name, add it to the

explicit iconsMap in src/components/Icon.tsx. Unregistered names render a red placeholder and emit a console.warn.

4. Anchor ID Protocol (ZRT-DOC-004)

When to add explicit IDs

Add {#id} to a heading when it satisfies both of:

It is an H2 or H3 heading (never H1 — Docusaurus auto-generates H1 IDs from sidebar_label).
It is referenced by a cross-page link ([text](page.mdx#anchor)).

i18n Invariant

The canonical ID is always the English slug. Italian (and any future language) pages must use the same {#id} value:

{/* EN */}
## Getting Started \{#getting-started}

{/* IT */}
## Inizia Ora \{#getting-started}

This ensures the VSM resolver and cross-language links never break due to translation-dependent slug generation.

Heading format

## Section Title \{#section-title}

Do not add IDs to headings that are never linked to externally. Every explicit ID is a maintenance contract.

5. Code Block Rule

Every opening fence must carry a language tag:

Fence	Verdict
```python	✓
```bash	✓
```toml	✓
```text	✓ (plain output)
```	✗ FORBIDDEN

Use text for output that has no syntax highlighting. Naked fences hurt accessibility tools and syntax highlighters.

Gutter specificity: for CLI output shown inside :::info blocks, always use the text tag to prevent the syntax highlighter from generating random colours on log strings or file paths.

6. SPDX Header

Every .md file must begin with:

{/* SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 PythonWoods <[email protected]> */}
{/* SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0 */}

Files with YAML frontmatter place the SPDX block immediately after the closing ---.

7. Visual Consistency Checklist

Before submitting a PR, verify:

8. SentinelUI Gateway

All branded terminal output in Zenzic flows through a single object: SentinelUI in src/zenzic/ui.py. Command modules must never instantiate Console or SentinelUI directly — they must call get_ui() and get_console() from zenzic.cli._shared.

Core methods

Method	When to use
`print_header(version)`	The top-of-output Forge Frame banner — once per command invocation
`make_panel(content, *, title, border_style)`	Styled Rich `Panel` — for structured output blocks
`print_exception_alert(message, *, context, title, border_style)`	Error panels for `ZenzicError` and `PluginContractError`

Usage pattern

# In any _check.py / _clean.py / _standalone.py command
from . import _shared

# Print the Zenzic banner header
_shared.get_ui().print_header(__version__)

# Print a styled panel
panel = _shared.get_ui().make_panel(
    "Content here",
    title="Panel Title",
    border_style="bold cyan",
)
_shared.get_console().print(panel)

Why the gateway matters

The --no-color and --force-color CLI flags call configure_console(), which atomically replaces the module-level console and _ui singletons. Any locally-created Console or SentinelUI instance will be frozen before the flag takes effect, silently ignoring the user's color preference.

The force_terminal parameter must always be None (auto-detect) in the module-level Console, never False. Explicit False disables color system detection entirely — resulting in no ANSI styling even in truecolor terminals. This is the most common source of visual regressions in the Zenzic CLI layer.

Checklist addition

Add to your PR checklist:

No Console(...) or SentinelUI(...) instantiation in command modules.
All banner output uses get_ui().print_header(), not a locally-created UI instance.
force_terminal on any new Console call is None or conditional (True if ... else None), never False.

9. SentinelPalette — Zero Hex Law

SentinelPalette in src/zenzic/ui.py is the sole authorised source of colour values in the entire Zenzic codebase. This is the Zero Hex Law.

The Law

:::warning Design Constraint

No hex colour string (e.g. #4f46e5) and no raw Rich colour name (e.g. "red", "cyan") may appear anywhere in src/ except inside SentinelPalette._* private class attributes. Every other file must address only the semantic public attributes shown below.

:::

Semantic palette

Attribute	Hex	Meaning
`SentinelPalette.BRAND`	`#4f46e5`	Zenzic primary / brand accent (Indigo)
`SentinelPalette.SUCCESS`	`#10b981`	OK · clean · pass (Emerald)
`SentinelPalette.WARNING`	`#f59e0b`	Caution · advisory (Amber)
`SentinelPalette.ERROR`	`#f43f5e`	Failure · broken links (Rose)
`SentinelPalette.DIM`	`#64748b`	Muted · secondary text (Slate)
`SentinelPalette.FATAL`	`#8b0000`	Security breach · path traversal (Blood)

Pre-composed style strings

For the most common combinations, use a STYLE_* constant instead of constructing f"bold {X}" inline:

Constant	Expands to
`SentinelPalette.STYLE_BRAND`	`"bold #4f46e5"`
`SentinelPalette.STYLE_OK`	`"bold #10b981"`
`SentinelPalette.STYLE_WARN`	`"bold #f59e0b"`
`SentinelPalette.STYLE_ERR`	`"bold #f43f5e"`
`SentinelPalette.STYLE_DIM`	`"#64748b"`

Usage pattern

# CORRECT — semantic alias via SentinelPalette
from zenzic.ui import SentinelPalette

table = Table(border_style=SentinelPalette.DIM, header_style=SentinelPalette.STYLE_BRAND)
text = Text.from_markup(f"[{SentinelPalette.BRAND}]Zenzic[/]")
panel = Panel("...", border_style=SentinelPalette.STYLE_ERR)

# FORBIDDEN — hex literal outside SentinelPalette
text = Text.from_markup("[#4f46e5]Zenzic[/]")   # ✗

# FORBIDDEN — flat constant import (removed in v0.7.0)
from zenzic.ui import INDIGO, EMERALD            # ✗

# FORBIDDEN — inline alias
P = SentinelPalette                              # ✗  use full qualification

Updating the palette

To change a colour, edit only the corresponding _PRIVATE hex attribute inside SentinelPalette in src/zenzic/ui.py. All semantic aliases and pre-composed style strings derive from those private attributes — the entire codebase updates automatically.

Checklist addition

Add to your PR checklist:

No hex literal (#rrggbb) anywhere in src/ outside SentinelPalette._*.
No raw Rich colour names ("red", "cyan") for brand-palette usage — use SentinelPalette.*.
No local alias P = SentinelPalette — always use the full class name.
No from zenzic.ui import INDIGO (or any removed flat constant).

1. Card Rule (High-Density UX)​

Structure​

Canonical example​

Forbidden patterns​

Exception​

2. Admonition Taxonomy​

Enforcement​

3. Iconography Law (ZRT-DOC-003)​

The <Icon /> Component​

Hierarchy​

Rules​

4. Anchor ID Protocol (ZRT-DOC-004)​

When to add explicit IDs​

i18n Invariant​

Heading format​

5. Code Block Rule​

6. SPDX Header​

7. Visual Consistency Checklist​

8. SentinelUI Gateway​

Core methods​

Usage pattern​

Why the gateway matters​

Checklist addition​

9. SentinelPalette — Zero Hex Law​

The Law​

Semantic palette​

Pre-composed style strings​

Usage pattern​

Updating the palette​

Checklist addition​

1. Card Rule (High-Density UX)

Structure

Canonical example

Forbidden patterns

Exception

2. Admonition Taxonomy

Enforcement

3. Iconography Law (ZRT-DOC-003)

The `<Icon />` Component

Hierarchy

Rules

4. Anchor ID Protocol (ZRT-DOC-004)

When to add explicit IDs

i18n Invariant

Heading format

5. Code Block Rule

6. SPDX Header

7. Visual Consistency Checklist

8. SentinelUI Gateway

Core methods

Usage pattern

Why the gateway matters

Checklist addition

9. SentinelPalette — Zero Hex Law

The Law

Semantic palette

Pre-composed style strings

Usage pattern

Updating the palette

Checklist addition