Metabase — decoded design system

metabase.com · light · professional · custom · deep decode — measured live

Metabase's design system, decoded live by Mozaika: measured color roles, type scale, buttons with real hover/focus states, motion and the brand's own tokens.

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This is a static, crawlable rendering for search & AI engines. The interactive version — filters, live decode console, copy & export — is at https://mozaika.design/decode/metabase.com.

Decoded design system

Metabase's decoded design system: background #FFFFFF, text #5A6072, accent #509EE3, link #22242B, primary #509EE3; type scale h1 60px / h2 58px / body 14px; 4px spacing base; 8px base radius. The single interactive/action color is #509EE3 — used only on interactive or must-notice elements (buttons, links, key highlights), never on large fills.

Color roles

Using these colors

• Action color #509EE3 — the single interactive color; only on things you click or must notice, never large fills.
• primary, accent, button_bg are all #509EE3 — one role, not several (the action color).
• accent #509EE3 — THE accent / action color — interactive & must-notice only (buttons, links, focus, one key highlight); never large fills or backgrounds. Scarcity is what makes it read as designed.
• link #22242B — reads as a neutral UI color, not a link accent — verify against the reference (action = #509EE3).
• secondary #E4ECFB — optional secondary accent — LOW decode confidence; use rarely (a status color or a single decorative moment) or omit it entirely. Prefer one accent unless the reference clearly shows two.

Typography

• Heading: Lato
• Body: Lato
• Mono: Roboto Mono
• h1: 60px
• h2: 58px
• body: 14px

Spacing

• base unit: 4px
• scale: 4px, 8px, 10px, 12px, 14px, 16px, 18px, 20px, 24px, 28px

Radii

• base: 8px
• button: 12px

Shadows (elevation)

• card: rgba(16, 24, 40, 0.1) 0px 4px 8px -2px, rgba(16, 24, 40, 0.06) 0px 2px 4px -2px
• overlay: rgba(24, 39, 75, 0.12) 0px 16px 28px -6px, rgba(24, 39, 75, 0.14) 0px 32px 88px -4px

Motion

Micro-interactions run at 300ms (dominant) with ease-in-out.

• durations: 300ms · 200ms · 150ms
• easings: ease-in-out · ease
• animated properties: box-shadow, transform, color, background-color

Native design tokens

…and 64 more measured on the page.

Button states (measured)

• primary hover: background #1C6BB0
• primary focus: box-shadow rgba(68, 134, 193, 0.5) 0px 0px 0px 4px · background #6AADE7

Layout (measured)

• container max-width: 1320px
• nav: 130px sticky
• common grid: 3 columns

Motion choreography (measured)

Load order: div.inner-marquee×2 → svg×2

Responsive (measured)

• breakpoints: 576px · 768px · 960px · 992px · 1024px · 1200px
• mobile (390px): hero 34px · nav hamburger

Install it

Drop this measured system into any shadcn/Tailwind project in one command:

npx shadcn add mozaika.design/r/decode/metabase.com

registry item · or query it over MCP: get_design_system("Metabase")

Export: DESIGN.md

# Metabase — Design System

> light, professional, medium, custom — deep decode (measured live)

## Colors

| Role | Value |
|------|-------|
| bg | `#FFFFFF` |
| surface | `#F5F5F6` |
| border | `#E6E7E9` |
| text | `#5A6072` |
| text_muted | `#989CA7` |
| primary | `#509EE3` |
| accent | `#509EE3` |
| link | `#22242B` |
| secondary | `#E4ECFB` |
| button_bg | `#509EE3` |
| button_text | `#FFFFFF` |

**Using these colors**

- **Action color** `#509EE3` — the single interactive color; it appears only on things you click or must notice (buttons, key highlights), never on large fills or backgrounds.
- `primary`, `accent`, `button_bg` are all `#509EE3` — one role, not several (your action color).
- **accent** `#509EE3` — THE accent / action color — interactive & must-notice only (buttons, links, focus, one key highlight); never large fills or backgrounds. Scarcity is what makes it read as designed.
- **link** `#22242B` — reads as a neutral UI color, not a link accent — verify against the reference (action = #509EE3).
- **secondary** `#E4ECFB` — optional secondary accent — LOW decode confidence; use rarely (a status color or a single decorative moment) or omit it entirely. Prefer one accent unless the reference clearly shows two.
- **Page coverage** (full-page screenshot pixels): `#F9FAFB` 92.1% · `#9CA2AD` 7.9%

## Typography

- Heading: **Lato**
- Body: **Lato**
- Mono: **Roboto Mono** _(measured)_

| Role | Size / weight · line-height · tracking |
|------|------------------------------------------|
| hero | 60px / 700 · lh 60px · tracking -2.4px |
| h2 | 58px / 700 · lh 55px · tracking -1.16px |
| h3 | 36px / 700 · lh 40px |
| body | 14px / 700 · lh 24px |
| small | 13px / 700 |
| eyebrow | 11px / 700 · tracking 1.1px |

- Weight ladder: 400 · 600 · 700 — use these exact measured weights, not the 400/600 defaults.

> **Fonts —** Lato — free, on Google.

## Spacing
- base unit: 4px (inferred from the measured scale)
- measured scale: 4px, 8px, 10px, 12px, 14px, 16px, 18px, 20px, 24px, 28px — snap all gaps/padding to these
- section rhythm: 96px top/bottom padding per section (measured)

## Radius
- base: 8px
- button: 12px
- card: 12px
- pill: 9999px

## Buttons

| Button | Fill / text | Border | Radius | Padding | Font | Shadow |
|--------|-------------|--------|--------|---------|------|--------|
| primary | `#509EE3` / `#FFFFFF` | 1px solid rgb(80, 158, 227) | 12px | 10px 18px 10px 18px | 700 14px | none |
| secondary | `#FFFFFF` / `#509EE3` | 1px solid rgba(198, 201, 210, 0.5) | 12px | 10px 18px 10px 18px | 700 14px | none |

**States (measured, not guessed)**

- primary hover: background `#1C6BB0`
- primary focus: box-shadow `rgba(68, 134, 193, 0.5) 0px 0px 0px 4px` · background `#6AADE7`
- secondary hover: border `1px solid rgb(194, 218, 240)` · background `#EEF6FC`
- transition: `all 0.3s ease`

## Shadows (elevation)
- card: `rgba(16, 24, 40, 0.1) 0px 4px 8px -2px, rgba(16, 24, 40, 0.06) 0px 2px 4px -2px`
- overlay: `rgba(24, 39, 75, 0.12) 0px 16px 28px -6px, rgba(24, 39, 75, 0.14) 0px 32px 88px -4px`

## Motion
- durations: 300ms (dominant) · 200ms · 150ms
- easings: `ease-in-out` (dominant) · `ease`
- animated properties: box-shadow, transform, color, background-color

Micro-interactions use the dominant duration + easing; nothing on the page animates slower than the longest duration above — don't invent springier motion.

## Their own tokens (verbatim from :root)

| Token | Value |
|-------|-------|
| `--base-color-neutral-15` | `#22242b` |
| `--base-color-neutral-40` | `#5a6072` |
| `--base-color-neutral-60` | `#8d93a5` |
| `--base-color-neutral-80` | `#c6c9d2` |
| `--base-color-blue-25` | `#12436e` |
| `--base-color-blue-40` | `#1c6bb0` |
| `--base-color-blue-50` | `#3685ca` |
| `--base-color-blue-60` | `#509ee3` |
| `--base-color-blue-75` | `#cbdaf6` |
| `--base-color-blue-95` | `#e4ecfb` |
| `--base-color-blue-105` | `#fafbfe` |
| `--text-color-link-hover` | `#12436e` |

_…and 62 more measured on the page._

Prefer these names when extending their system — it's the brand's actual vocabulary.

## Layout (measured)
- container max 1320px · common grid: 3-col
- nav: 130px sticky

| Section (y) | Height | Cols | Gap | Pad y | Split |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 876 | 381 | 2 | 14 | 14/14 | — |
| 1676 | 988 | 3 | 32 | 120/140 | — |
| 2664 | 2830 | — | — | 96/0 | — |

## Motion choreography (measured)
Load order: `div.inner-marquee`×2 @0ms → `svg`×2 @240ms

Rebuild the timeline, not just the durations — order, delays and staggers above are the choreography.

## Components (measured)
- link: #509EE3 · no underline — hover #1C6BB0

## Responsive (measured)
- breakpoints: 576px · 768px · 960px · 992px · 1024px · 1200px
- mobile (390px): hero 34px · body 16px · nav: hamburger

## How to apply
Paste the Tailwind `@theme` (or CSS variables) as your base, then build each
section to its spec — verify every color, radius, and font against these tokens.
Hover/focus states, shadows and motion timings above are measured from the live page — match them exactly, don't re-guess them.

← All decoded design systems

An automated reading of Metabase's publicly-visible CSS (colors, fonts, spacing, motion) — not affiliated with metabase.com. No screenshots stored. Removal requests: hello@mozaika.design.