# Dark Mode

## Objective

Add a dark theme that respects the system preference and the user's choice.

A complete dark theme, defaulting to the operating system preference and overridable by the user.

## Before You Begin

This feature is being added to an application that already exists and already
works. Do not scaffold a new project, and do not assume a blank slate.

Inspect the codebase first and establish:

- The existing application structure and where code of this kind already lives.
- The framework and version in use.
- The existing design system — colours, spacing, typography, and component conventions.
- Existing UI components you can reuse instead of writing new ones.
- The existing database structure, if this feature needs to persist anything.
- The existing authentication and authorization system, if this feature is user-scoped.
- Dependencies already installed, so you don't add a library that duplicates one.
- The existing test setup and conventions.

Only start writing code once you understand the above. If the application
already implements part of this feature, extend it rather than replacing it.

## Implementation Instructions

1. Audit every colour in the app first and report where they are defined. If colours are hardcoded throughout, extract them into tokens before anything else — that refactor is the bulk of this work.
2. Define a dark palette against those tokens. Do not simply invert the light theme.
3. Default to the system preference via prefers-color-scheme, and let the user override it.
4. Persist the choice and apply it before first paint, so the page never flashes the wrong theme.

## UI and UX Requirements

Match the application's existing design system exactly. Reuse its components,
spacing, and typography. This feature should look like it was always there.

## Responsive Requirements

Works on mobile, tablet, and desktop. Touch targets are large enough to hit on a
phone, and nothing overflows horizontally at 320px.

## Accessibility Requirements

- Fully keyboard navigable.
- Correct semantic elements and ARIA roles.
- Visible focus states.
- Meets WCAG AA contrast.
- Dynamic changes are announced to screen readers.
- Respects prefers-reduced-motion.

## Edge Cases

- Images, logos, and illustrations with baked-in light backgrounds need dark variants or a background treatment.
- Third-party embeds and iframes will not follow your theme — handle them explicitly.
- Syntax highlighting, charts, and maps usually need their own dark themes.
- Re-check contrast in dark mode. Grey-on-grey passes design review and fails WCAG.

## Testing

Exercise the feature end to end in the running application. Cover every edge case
above, then run the existing test suite and confirm nothing regressed.

## Acceptance Criteria

- [ ] Every screen is legible in dark mode — no unstyled white panels.
- [ ] The theme follows the system preference by default.
- [ ] The user can override it and the choice persists across sessions.
- [ ] There is no flash of the wrong theme on load.
- [ ] Contrast meets WCAG AA in both themes.
- [ ] Images and embeds do not glare in dark mode.
- [ ] The feature matches the existing design system.
- [ ] No existing functionality is broken.

## Adaptation Rules

- Match the existing design system. Do not introduce a new colour palette,
  spacing scale, or component library.
- Reuse existing components and utilities wherever they fit.
- Follow the naming, file layout, and code style already present.
- Do not upgrade, replace, or remove existing dependencies to make this
  feature fit. Adapt the feature to the app, not the app to the feature.
- Do not break existing functionality. If a change is genuinely required in
  existing code, make the smallest one that works and say so.
- If something in these instructions conflicts with how the application is
  built, follow the application and explain the deviation.

## Final Verification

Before you report the work as done:

1. Re-read the acceptance criteria above and check each one against what you
   actually built.
2. Run the application and exercise the feature end to end.
3. Run the existing test suite and confirm you have broken nothing.
4. Check the feature on mobile, tablet, and desktop widths.
5. Check keyboard navigation and focus handling.
6. Summarize what changed: files added, files modified, and anything you
   deliberately did differently because of how this application is built.

If any acceptance criterion is unmet, fix it before reporting completion.