Palettes cannot recolor the threads-list unread marker: proposal for a dedicated --unread-dot theme token

[ben-vargas]

The workflow

I wanted unread threads to stand out in the sidebar, so I made a custom palette (Settings → Appearance → Palette → Create / bb theme set) intending to recolor the threads-list unread marker to a bright accent. There is no theme token for the marker, so a palette cannot target it: the only levers are overriding --muted-foreground (which recolors every secondary-text surface in the app) or writing CSS against compiled Tailwind utility class names, which silently breaks whenever the implementation classes change.

What happens today

The unread marker's color is a hardcoded alpha step on the secondary-text token, in both consumers:

• Web: SIDEBAR_SUCCESS_STATUS_DOT_CLASS paints bg-muted-foreground/60 —

  bb/apps/app/src/components/sidebar/sidebarRowClasses.ts

  Lines 27 to 28 in 31d66d9

  	export const SIDEBAR_SUCCESS_STATUS_DOT_CLASS =
  	"size-[5px] rounded-full bg-muted-foreground/60 max-md:pointer-coarse:size-1.5";

• Mobile: the unread-success case in ThreadStatusGlyph paints the same literal class —

  bb/apps/mobile/src/screens/sidebar/ThreadStatusGlyph.tsx

  Line 61 in 31d66d9

  className="h-2 w-2 rounded-full bg-muted-foreground/60"

The working custom-palette workaround (fragile by construction, keyed to compiled class names):

span.size-\[5px\].rounded-full.bg-muted-foreground\/60 {
  background-color: oklch(0.6 0.2 145) !important;
}

What you would expect

A dedicated --unread-dot role token, following the same pattern as --version-upgrade/--surface-attention: defined in both mode blocks of theme.css as color-mix(in oklab, var(--muted-foreground) 60%, transparent) (the exact mix the current utility compiles to, so default rendering and palettes that re-anchor --muted-foreground are pixel-identical), bridged as --color-unread-dot, with both consumers on bg-unread-dot. A palette then recolors the marker with one line and nothing else moves.

Prototype (reviewed and tested, rebased on 31d66d9d4): ben-vargas@c635944 (branch feat/unread-dot-theme-token). 7 files, +44/−2:

• theme.css token + Tailwind bridge; theme.test.ts guards (bridge registered; both modes pin the exact 60% oklab derivation, as the visual-parity invariant).
• Mobile lockstep: --color-unread-dot in global.css, theme.native.ts regenerated via theme:generate (unreadDot on every palette × mode; regeneration reproduces the committed file byte-identically), mobile glyph consumer updated.
• bb-cli/references/theming.md token-table row.
• Verified: turbo run test --filter=@bb/app --filter=@bb/mobile passes (including generate-native-theme.test.ts / theme-vars.test.ts); typecheck for @bb/app, @bb/mobile, @bb/server clean.

Happy to open the PR if this gets sign-off.

Context and alternatives

The sibling working-status glyphs have the identical gap, but I deliberately left them out of the prototype because the token shape there is a design decision I'd rather leave to you. SIDEBAR_WORKING_STATUS_COLOR_CLASS (text-muted-foreground/50,

bb/apps/app/src/components/sidebar/sidebarRowClasses.ts

Line 23 in 31d66d9

export const SIDEBAR_WORKING_STATUS_COLOR_CLASS = "text-muted-foreground/50";

) is shared by seven indicator kinds — the runtime spinner plus the shine-animated workflow / background-agent / background-command / plan-mode / goal / working-draft glyphs. A single family-wide --working-status token preserves the current one-tier semantics but recolors all seven together; per-kind tokens allow finer theming but split a deliberately unified tier. If you have a preference, I'm glad to do a follow-up matching this prototype's pattern.

Ruled out: overriding --muted-foreground in a palette (recolors all secondary text); scoping the override to the marker via its wrapper ([data-sidebar-thread-trailing-indicator]) still keys on implementation DOM rather than a token contract.

Checks

• I searched open and closed issues for the same request.
• If an agent wrote this, the body ends with > AGENT GENERATED.

AGENT GENERATED