Six ontological categories. Zero raw CSS in subdomains. AI agents that evolve the design genome. Welcome to the end of utility-class soup.
Padding belongs to entity. Font-size belongs to cognition. Grid belongs to environment. Box-shadow belongs to atmosphere. Hover belongs to synapse. Animation belongs to state. Two mixins on the same element can never compete for the same property. Specificity conflicts are not discouraged — they are architecturally impossible.
Subdomain developers write ZERO raw CSS properties. No padding. No margin. No color. No font-size. They describe what their content IS — genesis-entity('primary'), genesis-cognition('axiom') — and the engine resolves the rest. Change the engine, and every subdomain updates instantly.
Every CSS property belongs to exactly one ontological category. Padding to entity. Font-size to cognition. Grid to environment. Box-shadow to atmosphere. Hover to synapse. Animation to state. Two mixins on the same element can never compete for the same property. Specificity conflicts are architecturally impossible.
Design systems are usually dictionaries — static lists of components. Genesis is a genome. New variants are proposed through formal ontological propositions, reviewed by AI agents for semantic purity, and documented in GENOME.md with their complete origin story. This is design with memory.
Zero hex codes. Zero RGB. The entire palette is OKLCH — perceptually uniform, HDR-ready, and contrast-safe. Set L ≤ 0.55 for text on light surfaces and the physics of human vision guarantees readability. Dark mode is the same tokens with lightness inverted because OKLCH inversion actually works.
Not tested in. Built in. 44px touch targets enforced by every synapse variant. Contrast guaranteed by OKLCH lightness constraints. Landmarks required by the hierarchy system. Reduced motion respected in the one category (state) that owns all animation. You cannot build inaccessible pages without fighting the system.
Lit 3, light DOM, no Shadow DOM, no build step, no virtual DOM. Components enhance semantic HTML with progressive behavior — scroll detection, keyboard navigation, form validation — without replacing structure. Disable JavaScript and every page still works.
"A manifesto against the utility-class revolution and a case for ontological CSS — where you describe what content IS, not how it should look."
— The Death of Utility Classes: Why Ontological CSS Changes Everything
"Why each CSS concern belongs to exactly one ontological category — and how that makes specificity conflicts structurally impossible."
— Property Ownership: The Rule That Makes CSS Conflicts Impossible
"17 Lit-based custom elements that enhance semantic HTML without a build step, a virtual DOM, or a runtime framework."
— Web Components Without the Framework Tax
