Tinte - Design System Infrastructure

Generate, compile, install, and preview design systems from one source of truth.

Tinte maintains a theme graph of 13 semantic OKLCH color tokens that compiles to shadcn/ui presets, VS Code themes, terminal configs, and 19+ other formats.

Preset API (shadcn v4 compatible)

Every public Tinte theme is installable as a shadcn registry:base item.

Install a theme

npx shadcn@latest add https://tinte.dev/api/preset/{slug}

Install theme fonts

npx shadcn@latest add https://tinte.dev/api/preset/{slug}/font?variable=sans
npx shadcn@latest add https://tinte.dev/api/preset/{slug}/font?variable=mono

Get full preset pack (base + fonts + install commands)

GET https://tinte.dev/api/preset/{slug}?type=pack

Response:

{
  "base": { "$schema": "...", "name": "...", "type": "registry:base", "cssVars": { "light": {...}, "dark": {...} } },
  "fonts": [{ "$schema": "...", "name": "font-inter", "type": "registry:font", "font": {...} }],
  "slug": "theme-slug",
  "install": {
    "base": "npx shadcn@latest add https://tinte.dev/api/preset/{slug}",
    "fonts": ["npx shadcn@latest add https://tinte.dev/r/font/inter?variable=sans"]
  }
}

Browse Themes

GET https://tinte.dev/api/themes/public?search={query}&limit=20&page=1

Optional filters: ?vendor=tinte|tweakcn|rayso

Response includes themes[] with slug, name, concept, and color tokens.

Get Theme Details

GET https://tinte.dev/api/themes/slug/{slug}

Returns full theme data including light/dark color blocks and overrides.

Registry Routes (shadcn compatible)

These routes serve raw registry:base and registry:font items:

GET https://tinte.dev/r/{slug}                    # registry:base or registry:theme
GET https://tinte.dev/r/{slug}?type=registry:base  # explicit base type
GET https://tinte.dev/r/font/{family}?variable=sans # registry:font

Extract Theme from Image

Upload a screenshot or design image to extract a color theme:

curl -s -X POST https://ray.tinte.dev/api/v1/extract-theme \
  -F "image=@design.png" | jq

AI mode for higher fidelity:

curl -s -X POST "https://ray.tinte.dev/api/v1/extract-theme?mode=ai&model=anthropic/claude-haiku-4.5" \
  -F "image=@design.png" | jq

Response:

{
  "dark": { "bg": "#0a0a12", "bg_2": "#0f0f18", "ui": "...", "tx": "...", "pr": "...", "sc": "...", "ac_1": "...", "ac_2": "...", "ac_3": "..." },
  "light": { "bg": "#fafafa", "bg_2": "#f0f0f0", ... },
  "name": "Extracted Theme Name",
  "gradient": "linear-gradient(...)",
  "swatches": { "vibrant": { "hex": "#e84393" }, ... }
}

Screenshot Preview

Generate a code screenshot with any Tinte theme applied:

curl -s -X POST https://ray.tinte.dev/api/v1/screenshot \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{
    "code": "const x = 42;",
    "language": "typescript",
    "theme": "{slug}",
    "title": "preview.ts"
  }' -o preview.png

Agent Workflows

1. Browse and install a design system

1. GET https://tinte.dev/api/themes/public?search=minimal → pick theme
2. GET https://tinte.dev/api/preset/{slug}?type=pack → get install commands
3. npx shadcn@latest add https://tinte.dev/api/preset/{slug} → install base
4. npx shadcn@latest add https://tinte.dev/api/preset/{slug}/font?variable=sans → install fonts
5. npx shadcn info --json → verify

2. Extract design system from screenshot

1. POST ray.tinte.dev/api/v1/extract-theme -F image=@screenshot.png → get TinteBlock
2. Use extracted colors to search for matching themes or create new one
3. Install via preset API

3. Switch design system

1. npx shadcn info --json → read current project config
2. GET https://tinte.dev/api/themes/public?search=dark+minimal → browse alternatives
3. npx shadcn@latest add https://tinte.dev/api/preset/{new-slug} → overwrite with new theme

4. Preview result

1. POST ray.tinte.dev/api/v1/screenshot with theme slug → get PNG
2. Open screenshot to verify visual result

Color Model

Tinte uses 13 semantic OKLCH tokens per mode (light/dark):

Token	Role
bg	Background
bg_2	Elevated surface
ui	Border, separator
ui_2	Subtle border
ui_3	Hover state
tx	Primary text
tx_2	Secondary text
tx_3	Muted text
pr	Primary accent
sc	Secondary accent
ac_1	Accent 1
ac_2	Accent 2
ac_3	Accent 3

These compile to 30+ shadcn CSS variables (background, foreground, card, primary, secondary, muted, accent, destructive, chart-1..5, sidebar-*, etc.) with OKLCH color space formatting.

Design system compiler (Agent Plugins)

tinte compiles a project identity into an installable Agent Plugin (agent-plugins.org 1.0.0) so coding agents generate on-brand UI instead of default slop.

tinte build --plugin --config tinte.config.json --out ./acme-plugin
# emits: plugin.json + skills/<name>-design/SKILL.md (composition law + identity)
#        + references/tokens.css (OKLCH token API from the theme graph)

tinte lint src/            # scan for hex/rgb/hsl literals and Tailwind palette classes
tinte lint --json          # machine-readable; exit 1 on violations (CI gate)

Extracting an identity from a reference site

The CLI never guesses colors. The agent looks, the CLI does the math:

tinte from --emit-script > extract.js
agent-browser open https://example.com && agent-browser wait --load networkidle
agent-browser eval "$(cat extract.js)" > candidates.json
# The agent (vision) reviews a screenshot to assign semantic roles if needed.
tinte from --normalize candidates.json --name example --out draft-identity.json
# Draft only: fill voiceWords/dosDonts by hand, then validate strictly via tinte build.

--normalize detects primaryStyle: "inverted" (sites whose CTA is a foreground/background pair, not a hue) and normalizes pill radii. Tokens that need app states (destructive, ring, input) are reported as warnings, never invented.