design: dark-default + DESIGN_SYSTEM alignment on docs home

[indykish]

Summary

Design review against ~/Projects/usezombie/docs/DESIGN_SYSTEM.md v0.1 (Operational Restraint) on the live docs at docs.usezombie.com. Four atomic fixes landed; two clusters of findings deferred per Captain's call.

• 434ea8d — docs.json: appearance.default = "dark". DESIGN_SYSTEM §Color says docs landing pages ship dark. Site was rendering system-default light.
• e02955f — docs.json: colors.dark #2dd4bf → #5eead4. The old value is --pulse-dim (pressed-button state); the spec's dark-mode --pulse is #5eead4. Dark-mode links/CTAs were rendering the pressed state at rest.
• 65feeae — index.mdx: title becomes An always-on agent runtime. Removes <title>usezombie - usezombie</title> brand-name duplication and gives the hero a real value-prop H1.
• 4e4523b — index.mdx: drop 🧟 from stealth banner. "Friendly mascots" is on the spec's anti-vibes list.

Deferred (per Captain, not addressed here)

• <Card icon> grids on the home (Three pillars / How a stage works / Explore) — would close more AI-slop distance but is invasive and a content judgement call.
• Mintlify chrome — touch targets <44px, <Card> titles rendering as <h2> (~22 H2s on the home), 404 page using --pulse as decorative fill. No docs.json/*.mdx fix surface; would require a custom-CSS override.

Expected impact

Metric	Before	After (this PR)
Design score vs DESIGN_SYSTEM	C+	B
AI-slop score	D	C+
Browser title	usezombie - usezombie	An always-on agent runtime - usezombie
Default theme	system (mostly light)	dark
Dark-mode link/CTA color	#2dd4bf (--pulse-dim)	#5eead4 (--pulse)

Full report: ~/Projects/docs/.gstack/design-reports/design-audit-20260511/design-audit-docs-usezombie-com.md (gitignored).

Test plan

• Mintlify preview deploy renders dark by default on first visit (no localStorage set)
• Light-mode toggle still works and persists
• Browser tab title reads An always-on agent runtime - usezombie on /
• Hover/focus on links and the Install CTA shows #5eead4 in dark mode
• Stealth-mode banner no longer carries the 🧟 prefix
• Spot-check a few other pages (changelog, quickstart, concepts) — they should pick up the dark default and the new dark-pulse hex without any per-page tweaks

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

Greptile Summary

Four atomic design-system alignment fixes targeting the docs home: dark-default appearance, corrected dark-mode accent color, de-duplicated hero title, and emoji removal from the stealth banner.

• docs.json gains appearance.default = \"dark\" and corrects colors.dark from #2dd4bf (pressed/dim state) to #5eead4 (the spec's --pulse rest value); colors.light was already #5eead4, so both modes now share the same hex — intentional per the design spec.
• index.mdx replaces the self-referential usezombie title with the value-prop headline An always-on agent runtime, updates the meta description to lead with "Long-lived daemons", and strips the 🧟 prefix from the warning banner.

Confidence Score: 5/5

Safe to merge — all changes are additive config tweaks and copy updates with no logic, no data model, and no API surface affected.

The two files changed are a Mintlify config and an MDX landing page. The appearance default, color hex correction, title rewrite, and emoji removal are all narrow, well-scoped edits that match the stated design-system intent and carry no regression risk beyond the visual layer.

No files require special attention.

Important Files Changed

Filename	Overview
docs.json	Three targeted changes: adds appearance.default = "dark", corrects colors.dark from #2dd4bf to #5eead4, leaving colors.light and colors.dark now identical — intentional per DESIGN_SYSTEM.
index.mdx	Title changed to value-prop copy, description reworded, and 🧟 emoji removed from stealth banner; no structural or content issues.

Flowchart

%%{init: {'theme': 'neutral'}}%%
flowchart TD
    A[User visits docs.usezombie.com] --> B{localStorage theme set?}
    B -- No --> C[appearance.default = dark\nnew: renders dark mode]
    B -- Yes --> D[Restores user preference\nlight or dark]
    C --> E[Links/CTAs use colors.dark\nnew: #5eead4 -- pulse rest-state]
    D -- dark --> E
    D -- light --> F[Links/CTAs use colors.light\n#5eead4 -- unchanged]
    E --> G[Browser title\nnew: An always-on agent runtime - usezombie]
    F --> G

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