DO
Use #f35815 (orange-500) for one thing: primary CTAs and active states. Don't dilute it.
Keep button labels short — maximum 3 words: "Get started", "Deploy", "Connect".
Use monospace for code, data, branch names, and keys — the font stack communicates precision.
Communicate status exclusively with the status palette: green = live, red = error, yellow = warning.
Use border-primary (#414141) borders to define structure — 1px border beats a shadow every time.
Default to dark mode in any embedded widget, screenshot, or code example.
DON'T
Don't use orange for more than one thing — mixing it into status or decorative elements destroys its signal value.
Don't use font-weight: 700 — semibold (600) is the maximum per brand guidelines.
Don't round corners beyond 4px in the product UI — 8px+ reads as consumer-app softness.
Don't use shadow-heavy elevation — express it through the #111111 → #1a1a1a background step.
Don't fake the monospace aesthetic — use the actual system monospace stack, not letter-spacing hacks.
Don't use purple outside Postgres-specific contexts — it's a semantic differentiator for PostgreSQL.
