AURA's color system is built around five roles: backgrounds, typography, accent, borders, and status. Every color has a specific job. Using a color outside its role — even with the right hex value — breaks the visual hierarchy the system is designed to create.

Background colors

These four values create a depth system where elevation is communicated through warmth, not brightness. Page base is #0E0B09 — warm near-black, the foundation of every page. Card default is #1A1410. Card elevated is #241C16. Surface 3 is #2F251B. New sections and components should always pull from this stack. Never introduce a fifth background color from outside the system.

Typography colors

Text primary is #F5F0E8 — warm white for headlines and high-emphasis elements. Text secondary is #C4B8A4 for body text. Text tertiary is #8A7B6A for captions, muted labels, and eyebrows. Text disabled is #4A3F35. Never use pure white (#FFFFFF) — it creates harsh contrast on warm backgrounds that reads as cheap rather than crisp.

Gold accent

Default is #C9A96E. Hover is #DFC08A. Glow and subtle borders use #C9A96E at 10% opacity. Subtle background tint uses #3D3020. Accent border hover uses #C9A96E at 25% opacity. Gold communicates action, value, and premium quality. Maximum 20% of any surface — see the Using Gold Accent Correctly article for the full rule.

Border colors

Subtle is #2F251B. Default is #3D3020. Strong is #594835. Borders in AURA are always warm-toned. A cold grey border on a warm background immediately signals a component imported from outside the system.

Status colors

All four status colors are desaturated — Bloomberg terminal, not startup dashboard. Success is #7DAF8A. Warning is #C4944A. Error is #A85555. Info is #7A9EAD. These communicate meaning without creating visual noise. Never repurpose status colors as decorative accents.