Intent · CHG-2026-014919

change_id: CHG-2026-014919
risk_class: R1
autonomy_tier: A2
controls: ['TRC-01', 'CHG-04']
data_classification: internal
originator: olaf@freundcloud.com
agent_identity: svc-agent-platform
model_route: gateway/tier-balanced
supersedes: None

Problem

Three containers in the stylesheet carry a 3px coloured border down one side: blockquote (orange), pre (grey) and .disclaimer (yellow). A design linter flags all three as the side-tab pattern — a thick coloured edge on one side of a card, which has become a recognisable tell of generated interfaces.

The flag is worth acting on rather than suppressing. It is not that the pattern is wrong in principle; it is that it does decoration’s job while the content does none. A callout on this site nearly always opens **Like this.**, and that lead is what tells the reader what kind of callout it is. The stripe repeats the message in paint.

Suppressing the rule file-wide was the alternative and it is worse: it would silence the check for every future edit to this stylesheet, including a genuine instance.

Who is affected

Every page. Blockquotes are the site’s primary callout device — roughly forty across the published pages, and ten in the playbook alone.

Success criteria

1. No 3px coloured side border remains on a container.
2. The three boxes stay visually distinct from each other and from body text. Removing the tell must not flatten the hierarchy.
3. Nothing about the content changes.

Out of scope

• .stage, whose 2px left border is a timeline rail joining stage markers, terminated by border-left-color: transparent on the last child. It is a connector, not a card accent, and the linter does not flag it.
• .audio-card, which already uses a full 1px border.