# lipgloss package docs — raw colors, no role system

## Metadata

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Institute | Molodetz Institute — Research & Retrieval Division |
| Subject | tui-framework-design |
| Document type | Source Dossier |
| Tier | 1 |
| Source title | lipgloss package documentation (pkg.go.dev) |
| Source URL | https://pkg.go.dev/github.com/charmbracelet/lipgloss |
| Source publisher / author | Charm (lipgloss project) |
| Source type | vendor docs |
| Source date (published) | Unknown — not stated |
| Date researched | 2026-10-11 |
| Researched by | tai (agent), model: Muse Spark, on behalf of retoor |
| Research method | direct page fetch |
| Confidence | Medium |
| Status | Active |

## Summary

Lipgloss's API documentation shows a styling library with deliberately no role or theme system: it offers raw colors plus `AdaptiveColor` (separate Light/Dark values, auto-detected) and `CompleteColor` (per-terminal-profile values), leaving role structs to the user. Evidence for what tai should not copy wholesale — and for deferring adaptive color.

## Key findings

- No built-in theme roles: lipgloss provides color primitives and style composition; role groupings are user-defined structs.
- `AdaptiveColor` carries separate Light and Dark values resolved by auto-detected terminal background; `CompleteColor` carries per-terminal-color-profile values.

## Pros / strengths

- `AdaptiveColor` is the cleanest light/dark primitive surveyed: two values plus background detection, no theme machinery required.
- Demonstrates that a styling layer can ship without any role system and still succeed.

## Cons / limitations / caveats

- No registry, no switching, no roles — every theme-shaped need is left to the user, which is exactly the gap tai is filling.
- lipgloss v2's `LightDark` successor to `AdaptiveColor` was seen in snippet only, not fetched — not claimed here.

## Relevance to tai

- Shapes the palette-role conclusion by negation (tai needs the roles lipgloss omits) and by deferral (the `AdaptiveColor` idea is recorded as a later enhancement, not v1 scope).

## Changelog

| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| 2026-10-11 | Initial dossier created from 2026-10-11 research-pass evidence (body opened via web_fetch by researching agent). |