# Tastefile
> Magically simple: the interface should disappear, leaving only the thing you came to do — and nothing on screen should look janky or half-finished.

## Core direction
- Minimalism as the default, not a flourish — every element justifies itself or gets cut.
- Hide complexity behind one obvious action; the happy path should feel effortless and almost invisible.
- Calm over busy: one primary focal point per screen, never competing ones.
- Let whitespace carry structure instead of borders, boxes, and dividers.
- Polish is non-negotiable — no crooked, default-looking, "generated without thought" surfaces. If a control looks off, it isn't done.

## Color & surfaces
- Restrained, near-monochrome palette; reserve a single accent for the one primary action.
- Flat surfaces — no heavy cards, drop shadows, or gradients; separate regions with space, not chrome.
- Backgrounds stay quiet and neutral so content, not the container, draws the eye.

## Typography
- One typeface; a small, deliberate set of sizes.
- Build hierarchy from weight and spacing, not from many type styles or colors.

## Density & spacing
- Airy and uncrowded — generous margins and real breathing room around primary content.
- Few elements per view; when in doubt, remove rather than add.

## Components
- Buttons: exactly one clear primary per screen, plainly labeled; secondary actions stay quiet and low-contrast.
- Forms & selects: treat these as first-class — custom, consistent styling, never raw browser defaults; minimal fields, no decorative framing, inline and obvious. Settings screens in particular must feel intentional, not assembled.
- Nav / header: shallow and genuinely convenient — surface only what's needed to move forward, and make the top bar easy to use, not just present.
- Tables/lists: plain rows separated by space and subtle rhythm, not boxed grids.

## Motion
- Sparse and purposeful — motion reinforces effortlessness, never decorates.
- Nothing should jitter, lag, or animate for its own sake.

## Anti-patterns
- No visual clutter, ornamental chrome, or decoration for its own sake.
- Never ship default/unstyled selects, inputs, or settings — the "raw vibecode" look is the thing to avoid.
- Don't crowd a screen with multiple primary actions or competing focal points.
- Don't lean on borders and boxes where space would do.
- Don't expose complexity the user doesn't need in the moment.
- Don't let any region look unfinished or misaligned — janky beats nothing here, and janky is unacceptable.