System · Harbor

AI surfaces

Object-bound AI, provenance, activity.

ai-surfaces.md

Meridian — ai-surfaces.md

Object-bound AI UI. Ranking: influences.md.
Primary absorb: Cursor application composer · OpenAI provenance simplicity · Fluent/Polaris quiet chrome · anti-drift contracts.

1. Laws

AI attaches to a product object — issue, file, tool call, verification step — never a floating chatbot.
Show provenance — data-provenance + mono labels (user · assistant · tool · source · app · action).
Activity encodes verb — bg-activity-thinking|search|read|edit — not decoration.
Rail is optional — appear when selection needs it (progressive disclosure).
Same material laws — control radius, thin stroke, brand wash selection.
Agents authoring UI follow design.md / agents.md — freeze tokens, compose shadcn.

2. Canonical layouts

Workbench agent rail

[ index with selected row bg-brand/10 ]
[ rail header: Sparkle + mono object id ]
[ events: provenance cards edge ]
[ input: ask about this object ]

Composer shell

[ explorer files ]
[ tabs + editor — highlight agent edit line ]
[ agent pane: user → assistant(+spin) → tool ]

Proofs: workbench.tsx, composer-shell.tsx.

3. Provenance card anatomy

┌─────────────────────────────┐
│ mono label   [activity chip]│
│ body text 12–13px           │
│ optional mono path / tool   │
└─────────────────────────────┘

Surface: bg-card + edge
Radius: rounded-lg (control-scale message)
No avatar soup unless identity matters

4. Activity semantics

Activity	Meaning
thinking	Model reasoning
search	Retrieval
read	Inspecting source
edit	Writing code/content

Do not reuse as general accent chips.

5. Copy tone

Do	Don’t
Bound to `ISS-1842`	“Chat with AI”
“Ask about this issue…”	“Ask me anything”
Mono tool filenames	Vague “Assistant said” without object

6. Anti-drift for AI authors

From Superdesign:

Failure	Meridian fix
Token fabrication	`@/lib/design` + lint
Within-session drift	Skills + proofs
Between-session amnesia	`design.md` / `agents.md` every session
Silent breaking changes	Reviewer agent + tests

7. States

State	UI
Idle	Rail hidden or “Ready”
Bound	Mono id in header
Working	Spinner + activity chip
Error	Destructive inline on rail
Review needed	Clear accept/reject affordance near diff

8. Agent checklist

Object id visible
data-provenance on events
Activity token if tool running
No floating widget
Contrast on paper + theater

Sources

Cursor application patterns (in-repo proofs)
Superdesign — AI design system drift
Fluent 2 material for chrome
Polaris Pro meaning

Raw