fix(theme): generated waybar/rofi CSS invisible on on-surface palettes (item 27)

Follow-on to the swaync fix (a643391): the generated Waybar CSS colored
the module row and #window @subtext and dim states @muted, and the
generated rofi theme put @fg text on @surface chips — invisible where
palettes use those roles as "on-surface" (flexoki-light: subtext==base,
surface==text; gruvbox: muted/base = 1.27). flexoki-light has no
whole-swap, so it ran this CSS. Generated surfaces only — the summer
whole-swaps are hand-authored and untouched.

- waybar: secondary text → alpha(@text, 0.85); dim states (inactive
  workspaces, DND bell, muted volume) → alpha(@text, 0.5).
- rofi: @dim → text+"80", @surface → text+"1a" (#RRGGBBAA fg tints).
- check-theme-contrast.py pairings/docs now cover all three generated
  surfaces; status glyphs (good/warn/bad on base, worst 2.05) are
  deliberately not held to a text ratio — raising them is palette
  design, a human decision.

Verified: V0; V1 (checks.theme-contrast green over 21 themes;
downstream-template-home builds; rendered waybar style has zero
@subtext/@muted/@surface; rendered custom.rasi shows fg-derived
tints). Honesty: NOT visually verified — V3 queued (flexoki-light
eyeball + dark-theme regression spot-check).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>

agent/BACKLOG.md

@@ -25,26 +25,6 @@ next, in what order*.
 *Items 21–27: real-hardware QA findings from the Latitude 5410
 (Bernardo, 2026-07-04) — bugs found on metal outrank the queue.*
 
-### 27. Generated waybar/rofi CSS invisible on on-surface palettes
-Found by item 25's audit: the generated Waybar CSS colors `#window` and
-the whole module row `@subtext`, and the generated rofi theme puts `@fg`
-text on `@surface` backgrounds (inputbar, textbox, `element alternate`).
-In palettes where subtext/surface mean "on-surface" (flexoki-light:
-subtext==base AND surface==text) those are invisible. summer-day/night
-escape via their whole-swap waybar.css/rofi.rasi — **flexoki-light does
-not** and runs the generated CSS. Same class of fix as the shipped
-swaync one (63136a8-follow-on): move the generated surfaces to pairings
-that contrast by construction (alpha(@text) tints; @text for module
-text with per-module accents kept), then extend
-tools/check-theme-contrast.py's PAIRINGS to cover waybar/rofi so
-`checks.theme-contrast` guards them too. Waybar changes must respect
-the parity rule (generated bar only — the summer whole-swaps are
-hand-authored and unaffected). Alternative worth weighing in-iteration:
-normalize the flexoki-light palette itself (make subtext dim-text,
-surface elevated-bg) — smaller diff but changes the theme's look
-everywhere. **Verify:** V1 + the extended contrast check across all 21
-themes; V2 themed-VM screenshot on flexoki-light if cheap; V3 eyeball.
-
 ### 22. Network menu shows nameless/weird entries
 Reported: `networkmanager_dmenu` lists entries with no names (likely
 hidden-SSID APs rendered as blank rows, possibly other adapters/

agent/HARDWARE-QUEUE.md

@@ -44,6 +44,11 @@ QA machine), the **T14s** (webcam case).
       readable body text; open the control centre (SUPER+N), hover a
       notification row and check the Clear button — all text legible
       (body/buttons now @text on tinted chips, not subtext/surface).
+- [ ] **Bar + rofi legible on flexoki-light** (item 27 fix) — switch to
+      flexoki-light: every Waybar module readable (window title, tray
+      row, dimmed inactive workspaces / muted volume visible-but-dim),
+      rofi inputbar/alternate rows show text. Spot-check one dark theme
+      (e.g. tokyo-night) for no visual regression in the same spots.
 - [ ] **Keyboard hotplug picker (re-verify after in-flake graduation)** —
       plug an external keyboard post-login, pick a layout in rofi, confirm
       it applies per-device only, persists in `settings.keyboard.devices`,

agent/JOURNAL.md

@@ -17,6 +17,23 @@ Template:
 
 ---
 
+## 2026-07-04 — waybar/rofi palette-safe pairings (iteration #10, item 27)
+- **Task:** BACKLOG NOW#27 — generated waybar/rofi CSS invisible on
+  on-surface palettes (flexoki-light runs it; summers whole-swap).
+- **Did:** waybar.nix generated CSS: module row + #window →
+  alpha(@text, 0.85); inactive workspaces / dnd / pulseaudio.muted →
+  alpha(@text, 0.5) (gruvbox's muted/base was 1.27). rofi.nix: @dim →
+  text+80, @surface → text+1a (#RRGGBBAA fg tints). Contrast check
+  docstring/pairings now cover all three generated surfaces. Status
+  glyphs (good/warn/bad on base, worst 2.05) left as-is — palette
+  design, human call. Generated bar only; whole-swaps untouched.
+- **Verified:** V0; V1 — checks.theme-contrast green (21 themes),
+  downstream-template-home builds, rendered waybar style has zero
+  @subtext/@muted/@surface, rendered custom.rasi shows fg-derived
+  tints. NOT visually verified — V3 queued (flexoki-light eyeball).
+- **Pending:** V3 flexoki-light + dark-theme regression spot-check.
+- **Next suggestion:** item 22 (network menu rows) — V1-actionable.
+
 ## 2026-07-04 — swaync contrast fix + theme-contrast check (iteration #9, item 25)
 - **Task:** BACKLOG NOW#25 — swaync text invisible on summer-day.
 - **Did:** swaync.nix now uses only palette-safe pairings: body/summary

docs/ROADMAP.md

@@ -858,8 +858,13 @@ how to override it. Items marked ✓ are shipped.
   worst ratio 5.18 across 21 themes) and alpha(@text, 0.1) tints for
   chips/hovers — guarded permanently by `checks.theme-contrast`
   (tools/check-theme-contrast.py, WCAG ratios over themes/*.json).
-  The same audit found generated waybar/rofi CSS shares the bug class,
-  exposed on flexoki-light (BACKLOG item 27).
+  The same audit found generated waybar/rofi CSS shared the bug class,
+  exposed on flexoki-light (no whole-swap) — fixed in the follow-on:
+  waybar dim/secondary shades are alpha(@text) tints, rofi @dim/@surface
+  are fg-derived #RRGGBBAA tints, and the contrast check's pairings now
+  cover all three generated surfaces. Status glyph accents
+  (good/warn/bad on base, 2.0–2.7 in some palettes) were left as-is —
+  raising them is palette design, a human call.
 - ✓ **Waybar crash on theme switch left the session bar-less** (Latitude
   hardware QA, 2026-07-04): exec-once has no supervisor, so any crash
   orphaned the session until relogin — and the switch path itself was

modules/home/rofi.nix

@@ -696,8 +696,13 @@ in
           "*" = {
             bg = mkLiteral c.base;
             fg = mkLiteral c.text;
-            dim = mkLiteral c.subtext;
-            surface = mkLiteral c.surface;
+            # @dim/@surface are fg-derived #RRGGBBAA tints, NOT the
+            # palette's subtext/surface roles — "on-surface" palettes
+            # (flexoki-light: subtext==base, surface==text) made the
+            # inputbar, textbox and alternate rows invisible (item 27;
+            # guarded by tools/check-theme-contrast.py).
+            dim = mkLiteral (c.text + "80");
+            surface = mkLiteral (c.text + "1a");
             accent = mkLiteral c.accent;
 
             background-color = mkLiteral "transparent";

modules/home/waybar.nix

@@ -253,9 +253,13 @@ let
       border-radius: ${toString t.ui.rounding}px;
     }
 
+    /* Dim/secondary shades are alpha(@text) tints, NOT the palette's
+       subtext/muted roles — those mean "on-surface" in some palettes
+       (flexoki-light: subtext==base, gruvbox: muted≈base) and vanish
+       against the bar (item 27; tools/check-theme-contrast.py). */
     #workspaces button {
       padding: 0 8px;
-      color: @muted;
+      color: alpha(@text, 0.5);
       border-radius: ${toString t.ui.rounding}px;
     }
 
@@ -270,7 +274,7 @@ let
     }
 
     #window {
-      color: @subtext;
+      color: alpha(@text, 0.85);
       padding: 0 12px;
     }
 
@@ -280,7 +284,7 @@ let
     }
 
     #tray, #pulseaudio, #cpu, #memory, #custom-powerprofile, #custom-nightlight, #custom-updates, #custom-vpn, #language, #battery, #custom-notification {
-      color: @subtext;
+      color: alpha(@text, 0.85);
       padding: 0 10px;
     }
 
@@ -300,9 +304,9 @@ let
     /* notifications waiting → accent; Do-Not-Disturb → muted bell-off */
     #custom-notification.notification { color: @accent; }
     #custom-notification.dnd-none,
-    #custom-notification.dnd-notification { color: @muted; }
+    #custom-notification.dnd-notification { color: alpha(@text, 0.5); }
 
-    #pulseaudio.muted { color: @muted; }
+    #pulseaudio.muted { color: alpha(@text, 0.5); }
     #battery.warning { color: @warn; }
     #battery.critical { color: @bad; }
     #battery.charging { color: @good; }

tools/check-theme-contrast.py

@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 #!/usr/bin/env python3
-"""Guard against invisible-text palettes (BACKLOG item 25).
+"""Guard against invisible-text palettes (BACKLOG items 25 + 27).
 
 Asserts, for every themes/*.json, the WCAG contrast ratio of each
-hex-on-hex fg/bg pairing the generated swaync CSS uses. Pairings built
-from alpha(@text) tints over @base are contrast-by-construction and
-need no assert. Extend PAIRINGS as more generated surfaces are fixed to
-palette-safe roles (item 27 tracks waybar/rofi, which still use
-subtext/surface and would fail here today).
+hex-on-hex fg/bg pairing the generated swaync/waybar/rofi CSS uses.
+Pairings built from alpha(@text) / #RRGGBBAA text tints are
+contrast-by-construction and need no assert. Status glyph accents
+(good/warn/bad on base) are deliberately NOT held to a text ratio —
+several palettes sit at 2.0–2.7 there by design.
 
 Wired as `checks.theme-contrast` in flake.nix; also runnable directly:
     python3 tools/check-theme-contrast.py themes/
@@ -19,8 +19,9 @@ from pathlib import Path
 # borders (@accent/@bad on @base in swaync) are decorative and not held
 # to a text ratio (miasma's bad-on-base is 2.3, fine for a border).
 PAIRINGS = [
-    ("text", "base",   4.5, "swaync body/summary/titles on the toast"),
-    ("base", "accent", 3.0, "swaync widget-title button:hover"),
+    ("text", "base",   4.5, "swaync body / waybar modules / rofi rows"),
+    # symmetric ratio also covers accent-on-base (waybar updates, rofi prompt)
+    ("base", "accent", 3.0, "swaync button:hover / waybar active ws / rofi selected row"),
 ]