Color & surfaces | Once UI Handbook

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6 min · Beginner · Foundations

Static panels use Column + surface props. Card is for interactive surfaces only.

Color schemes

Colors follow {scheme}-{weight} or {scheme}-alpha-{weight}:

Scheme	Use for
`neutral`	Text, borders, subtle backgrounds
`brand`	Primary accent, CTAs, highlights
`accent`	Secondary accent (sparingly)
`danger` / `warning` / `success` / `info`	Status and feedback

Weights: weak, medium, strong. Alpha variants (brand-alpha-medium) are for overlays and glows. Background shortcuts: surface, overlay, page, transparent.

The static panel recipe

For pricing tiers, stats, settings sections — anything not clickable: This is the workhorse pattern. Memorize it.

Card is interactive only

Card is for surfaces with href or onClick — clickable tiles, links, selectable items.

Surface type	Component
Static panel	`Column` + surface recipe
Clickable tile	`Card href="..."` or `Card onClick`
Button action	`Button`

Using Card for a non-interactive box is one of the most common Once UI mistakes.

Text on colored backgrounds

Use onBackground to set text color relative to the parent:

Write this / not this

✅ Once UI way	❌ Common mistake
`background="surface"`	`background: "#f5f5f5"`
`border="neutral-alpha-weak"`	`border: 1px solid #e5e5e5`
`Column` + surface props	`<Card>` for static content
`onBackground="neutral-weak"`	Hardcoded text color

Decoration colors

For glows and gradients, prefer alpha tokens:

brand-alpha-medium — glows, ambient layers
neutral-alpha-weak — dot textures, subtle overlays

Never mix multiple accent families in decoration on one page.

Check yourself

Static panels use the surface recipe on Column
Card only appears with href or onClick
No hex/rgb colors anywhere

Next step

→ Typography scale