Hairline stat strip

A row of stat tiles joined by hairlines that are grid gap, not borders — the container paints the border color and the tiles paint the surface, so separators never double up or break when the row wraps — in a reporting form and in a second form where each tile is the filter for the list beneath it.

Reach for it when building

summary strip at the top of a detail page
dashboard KPI row
account usage overview
report header figures
profile stats band

statscss-gridcss-onlyhairlineno-assets

Reporting only — the figures are the whole job.

Documents1,482this period

Median time3.2slast 24h

Clean runs98.4%no retries

Quality score—not rated yet

Same strip, working as the filter. Press a tile to narrow the list; press it again to clear.

Bicycle drivetrain teardownDone
Kiln firing, part threeDownloading
Field recording — marsh at dawnQueued
Lathe restoration, episode 12Done
Sourdough hydration testsFailed
Bookbinding: the long stitchQueued

Showing all 6 downloads.

<p class="hss-caption">Reporting only — the figures are the whole job.</p>
<div class="hss-strip">
  <div class="hss-tile"><span class="hss-label">Documents</span><span class="hss-fig">1,482</span><span class="hss-unit">this period</span></div>
  <div class="hss-tile"><span class="hss-label">Median time</span><span class="hss-fig">3.2s</span><span class="hss-unit">last 24h</span></div>
  <div class="hss-tile"><span class="hss-label">Clean runs</span><span class="hss-fig">98.4%</span><span class="hss-unit">no retries</span></div>
  <div class="hss-tile"><span class="hss-label">Quality score</span><span class="hss-fig missing">—</span><span class="hss-unit">not rated yet</span></div>
</div>

<p class="hss-caption">Same strip, working as the filter. Press a tile to narrow the list; press it again to clear.</p>
<div class="hss-strip five" role="group" aria-label="Filter downloads by status">
  <button class="hss-tile" aria-pressed="true" data-filter="all">…</button>
  <!-- Queued · Downloading · Done · Failed -->
</div>
<ul class="dl-list">…</ul>
<p class="dl-note" aria-live="polite">Showing all 6 downloads.</p>

Colors come from shared theme tokens — --surface, --ink, --border, --accent and friends — so this CSS carries no palette of its own. Use Runnable file to copy the tokens along with it.

.hss-strip {
  display: grid;
  gap: 1px;                         /* the hairline */
  background: var(--border);        /* shows through the gap */
  border: 1px solid var(--border);
  border-radius: var(--radius);
  overflow: hidden;
  grid-template-columns: 1fr;
}
@media (min-width: 21rem) { .hss-strip { grid-template-columns: repeat(2, minmax(0, 1fr)); } }
@media (min-width: 42rem) { .hss-strip { grid-template-columns: repeat(4, minmax(0, 1fr)); } }

.hss-tile { background: var(--surface); padding: 14px 16px; min-width: 0; }
.hss-label {
  font-family: ui-monospace, monospace;
  font-size: 0.8125rem;
  text-transform: uppercase;
  overflow-wrap: anywhere;          /* never spill out of a narrow tile */
}
.hss-fig { font-size: 1.6rem; font-weight: 700; font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; }
.hss-fig.missing { color: var(--dim); font-weight: 400; }

button.hss-tile[aria-pressed="true"] {
  background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--accent) 14%, var(--surface));
}

const tiles = document.querySelectorAll('[data-filter]');
const rows = document.querySelectorAll('[data-status]');
const note = document.querySelector('.dl-note');

tiles.forEach((tile) => tile.addEventListener('click', () => {
  const wasOn = tile.getAttribute('aria-pressed') === 'true';
  const active = wasOn ? 'all' : tile.dataset.filter;
  tiles.forEach((other) =>
    other.setAttribute('aria-pressed', String(other.dataset.filter === active)));
  let shown = 0;
  rows.forEach((row) => {
    row.hidden = active !== 'all' && row.dataset.status !== active;
    if (!row.hidden) shown += 1;
  });
  // counts on the tiles come from the unfiltered set, so they never change here
  note.textContent = active === 'all'
    ? 'Showing all 6 downloads.'
    : `Filtered to ${tile.dataset.label}: ${shown} of 6. Press the lit tile again to clear.`;
}));

Build a strip of statistic tiles that reads as one joined instrument panel rather than a row of floating cards.

The separators between tiles must not be borders. Make the container a CSS grid with gap: 1px and give the container itself the border color as its background; each tile then paints the surface color on top. The 1px of container showing through the gap is the hairline. This is the entire pattern: real borders double where two tiles meet and leave a stray edge when auto-fit wraps the row, and a gap physically cannot do either.

The full prompt continues with sections on pinning column counts, tile anatomy, two rules of honesty (render a missing value as a dimmed em dash; keep units with the number), the filter form, computing counts from the unfiltered set, and using aria-pressed rather than tab roles.

Related patterns

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