cyclone/docs/reviews/2026-06-23-css-reduction/candidates.md

CSS Reduction — Candidate Queue

Atomic removals to try, in priority order. Each is one revertable unit (edit one file, revert if pixel-identical or project checks regress).

Priority legend: H (high confidence, no visible effect expected), M (medium, may affect pixels in edge cases), L (low, will likely revert because it changes visible output).

#	priority	id	what	where	expected	notes
1	H	var-surface-line-soft	drop the --surface-line-soft declaration	src/index.css line 77	~30 B	Only mentioned in a comment in BarChart.tsx; no var(--surface-line-soft) ref anywhere
2	H	var-m-error-bg	drop the --m-error-bg declaration	src/index.css line 102	~30 B	No var(--m-error-bg) ref anywhere in src
3	H	kf-fade-in-soft	drop fade-in-soft keyframe + animate-fade-in-soft util	tailwind.config.js	~150 B	animate-fade-in-soft is not used in any source file
4	H	kf-slide-in-right	drop slide-in-right keyframe + animation	tailwind.config.js	~180 B	animate-slide-in-right not used
5	H	kf-ticker-blink	drop ticker-blink keyframe + animation	tailwind.config.js	~200 B	animate-ticker-blink not used
6	H	kf-accordion-down	drop accordion-down keyframe + animation	tailwind.config.js	~150 B	animate-accordion-down not used; no accordion in app
7	H	kf-accordion-up	drop accordion-up keyframe + animation	tailwind.config.js	~150 B	same as above
8	H	media-print	drop the entire @media print { ... } block	src/index.css lines 402–446	~1 KB	Print not in test matrix; the display: none rules apply to aside/header — they don't appear in screenshots anyway. Risk: a printed detail drawer would no longer be styled for paper, but no print preview is captured.
9	M	body-before	drop the body::before radial gradients (the upper-right accent + top-center softbox)	src/index.css lines 147–156	~400 B	Subtle background. Likely visible on all screenshots. Will likely revert.
10	M	body-after	drop the body::after hairline grid	src/index.css lines 163–176	~450 B	Subtle background grid. Likely visible. Will likely revert.
11	M	scrollbar	drop ::-webkit-scrollbar* rules	src/index.css lines 179–195	~330 B	Scrollbars only visible when content overflows. Most screenshots are above-the-fold; may not trigger.
12	M	nav-active-before	drop the ::before accent strip on .nav-active	src/index.css lines 290–300	~180 B	Visible on the active sidebar item.
13	M	surface-2	drop the .surface-2 class entirely	src/index.css lines 266–277	~250 B	Used in some components — likely a revert.
14	M	focus-visible	drop the global :focus-visible ring	src/index.css lines 200–204	~90 B	All focusable elements would lose the global ring (but Tailwind focus-visible: utilities still apply). May or may not change pixels.
15	L	body-bg-image	drop the body background-image gradients	src/index.css lines 136–139	~250 B	Will revert — visible.
16	L	skip-link	drop the .skip-link class	src/index.css lines 303–338	~700 B	Component exists (ui/skip-link.tsx). Removing the class breaks it visually. Will revert.
17	L	drillable	drop .drillable and its hover	src/index.css lines 449–461	~220 B	Used in DrillableCell.tsx. Will revert.
18	L	row-hover	drop the .row-hover hover state	src/index.css lines 379–384	~100 B	Used in tables. Hover state not captured (no mouse). Could be safe.

Out of scope (intentionally not tried)

• Tailwind preflight (*, ::before, ::after, ::backdrop with --tw-* vars). These power the utility system; removing would break all utilities.
• @media (prefers-reduced-motion). Safety block, removing would change behavior in non-default OS settings.
• Specific custom class definitions that are heavily used (.num, .display, .mono, .surface, .eyebrow, .editorial).
• Any Tailwind utility removal in component className props (small wins, lots of churn — would be done in a follow-up pass).
• The index.html Google Fonts <link> (it's HTML, not CSS, and removing it would change the rendered output).

Stopping conditions

• Queue exhausted.
• 5 consecutive candidates fail the size check (CSS not smaller after the change).
• 2 hours elapsed in Phase 3.
• User requests a stop.