Avoid Gradients Unless Requested
NEVER: Use gradients unless explicitly requested. Solid colors are easier to maintain, more accessible, and don't clash with content.
Solid colors are cleaner and more maintainable - only use gradients when explicitly asked
Bad
Good
Why it matters
That is the rule verbatim from the baseline-ui skill — one RFC-2119 line under "Design". Our reasoning: a gradient is a decision nobody asked for that then has to be maintained in every theme, and it quietly breaks the things around it. Text on a gradient has no single contrast ratio, so it passes at one end and fails at the other; a gradient surface has no single token, so dark mode has to re-author it rather than re-map it.
Solid colours are cheaper, testable, and themable. If the brand genuinely calls for a gradient, that is an explicit request — build it once, as a token, and keep text off it.