Welcome to the official Cumulus UI Glossary, your single source of truth for every reusable term, token, and structural pattern in the system.
This is more than a list of definitions, it is a living alignment tool.
Whether you are a designer, engineer, QA specialist, or product manager, this glossary ensures we are all speaking the same precise language.
Entries are grouped by relevance, with context on where they are used and why they matter.
These terms appear consistently across every page of the knowledge base, so learning them here will make every future contribution faster and more confident.
Common Pitfall: Teams that skip a shared glossary often fall into terminology drift, where a single concept is described three different ways.
This leads to confusion, duplicate components, and avoidable rework.
Cumulus
A cloud‑native internal design system built for clarity, scalability, and collaboration.
Cumulus provides centralized tokens, documented components, and structured contribution workflows that scale across distributed teams.
Design Token
A reusable visual valuelike: a color, spacing unit, or font size used to maintain visual and behavioral consistency.
Tokens abstract hardcoded values into semantic variables, making updates predictable and safe.
Component
A self‑contained UI element (button, modal, card) built with tokenized styling, accessible logic, and predictable states.
Components in Cumulus are theme‑aware and fully documented.
Logic
The underlying rules that govern how components, permissions, tokens, or states behave and interact.
Onboarding
The guided process of introducing contributors to the system.
Includes role‑based entry points, checklists, and interactive previews that accelerate adoption.
Spacing
The consistent application of margins, padding, and grid gaps defined via tokens.
Spacing tokens ensure visual rhythm and reduce arbitrary pixel decisions.
States
Interactive variations in a component’s appearance or behavior (hover, active, disabled, error).
States are documented and driven by semantic tokens for consistency.
Accessibility
The practice of ensuring every feature is usable by people with diverse abilities.
Includes contrast ratios, keyboard navigation, ARIA roles, and WCAG‑aligned patterns baked into all components.
Clarity
A guiding principle: clear naming, clear boundaries, and minimal cognitive load in every component and document.
Contribution
The act of adding, refining, or documenting parts of the system.
Contributions follow workflows to ensure reusability and quality control.
Structure
The hierarchy and relationships between tokens, components, and documentation sections.
Strong structure creates predictable navigation and system resilience.
Documentation
The written, visual, and interactive explanations of how to use and extend the system.
Documentation is considered a core deliverable, not an afterthought.
System
The full ecosystem of rules, components, tokens, and workflows that define a consistent design language.
Visual
Any UI property or decision affecting what a user sees—color, typography, spacing, elevation, or animation.
Access
Defines what users can see or interact with.
Tied to role‑based permissions and UI gate states.
Team
A group of contributors aligned by purpose (design, engineering, product).
Cumulus supports asynchronous collaboration across teams and time zones.
Rules
The documented guidelines that enforce consistency, predictability, and compliance.
Values
The raw data behind tokens (e.g., #3F8CFF, 16px).
Values are abstracted by naming conventions for reusability and theme safety.
Elevation
The visual depth or layering of components (using shadows, z‑index).
Elevation tokens establish hierarchy in overlays, modals, and floating panels.
Theme Mode
Defines the color environment—such as light or dark—rendered by tokens.
Cumulus supports dynamic mode switching.
RBAC
Short for Role‑Based Access Control, a framework that dictates which roles can access certain features or states.
Semantic Token
A token with built‑in meaning, such as --color-success, which ties directly to system intent rather than raw values.
Audit Trail
A history of system events (token changes, role updates, merges) that provides traceability and accountability.
Interaction Pattern
A repeatable flow or behavior (e.g., form validation, hover feedback) implemented consistently across components.
Versioning
The process of tracking changes to tokens, components, and docs using semantic versioning principles.
It enables safe upgrades and clear rollback paths.
Contribution Persona
An archetype (Designer, Engineer, QA, PM) used to personalize onboarding and structure reviews.
Fallback State
A default UI or message shown when a feature is gated, inaccessible, or fails gracefully.
Drift
The gradual misalignment of components, tokens, or workflows from system standards.
Drift occurs when governance is ignored or documentation is outdated.
Thanks for reading the Knowledge Base for Cumulus UI Library. If you haven't, check out the other sections as well.