# Kiduna Master Color System

## Authority

This document defines the canonical color hierarchy introduced in Kiduna Design System 1.4.0. The unchanged Violet core remains the visual authority. Supporting Earth warmth from V0.7 and the approved Power Map colors now belong to one governed system.

Every use should feel:

- **Warm** — Violet, earth, cream, berry, and fire rather than cold utility color.
- **Deep** — layered fields and surfaces rather than flat black.
- **Magical** — luminous contrast with restraint rather than spectacle.
- **Alive** — color communicates presence, growth, relation, action, and change.

## Hierarchy

Hierarchy describes prominence, not permission.

### Core

Deep Violet, Deep Edge, Warm Surface, Sky Current, Sun Gold, and Cream White establish unmistakable Kiduna identity.

### Secondary

Elevated Violet, Royal Violet, Lavender, Mint, Aubergine, Moon Cream, and Camel carry warmth, magic, living state, and materiality.

### Tertiary

Nocturne, Deep Indigo, Jade, Living Lime, Ember, Fired Orange, Oxblood, Crimson, Raspberry, and Cocoa provide expressive domain and Power Map identity.

### Extended ranges

The seven canonical ranges are:

1. Violet — identity and magic.
2. Nocturne Blue — orientation and record.
3. Living Green — growth and relation.
4. Fire — consequence and invitation.
5. Berry — expression and imagination.
6. Earth — material and history.
7. Warm Neutral — structure and text.

Use `tokens/kiduna.tokens.json` for the complete machine-readable values.

## Power Map themes

A Power Map may use any canonical family as its primary scoped theme. Map raw palette values into variant-owned semantic roles such as ground, primary node, active path, presence, focus, and light. Record the domain rationale and contrast evidence.

A titleless review should recognize the domain or a defensible close neighbor. A Power Map that reads only as “Kiduna” or “Violet” has not gone far enough; a Power Map that reads cold, flat, generic, or neon has left the master atmosphere.

## Feedback

Feedback meanings are fixed:

| Meaning | Token | Value |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Danger | `--danger` / `--kin-error` | `#DC525C` |
| Warning | `--warning` / `--kin-warning` | `#F2B84B` |
| Success | `--success` / `--kin-complete` | `#4FC08D` |
| Information | `--info` / `--kin-skyblue` | `#03CCD9` |

Do not assign these meanings to decorative color, and do not use decorative color as an unlabeled substitute for feedback.

## Migration from the V1.3 Power Map palette

| V1.3 name | Canonical replacement |
| --- | --- |
| `--kid-palette-darkest-blue` | `--kid-nocturne` |
| `--kid-palette-navy-blue` | `--kid-deep-indigo` |
| `--kid-palette-blue` | `--kid-deep-indigo` |
| `--kid-palette-gold` | `--kid-sun-gold` |
| `--kid-palette-bright-red` | `--kid-crimson` |
| `--kid-palette-dark-red` | `--kid-oxblood` |
| `--kid-palette-orange` | `--kid-orange` |
| `--kid-palette-lime` | `--kid-living-lime` |
| `--kid-palette-magenta` | `--kid-raspberry` |

The V1.3 names remain available as compatibility aliases. New work must use the canonical replacements.