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

Tags

stats
css-grid
css-only
hairline
no-assets

the gap IS the rule — no borders

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 hss-strip--4">
  <div class="hss-tile"><span class="l">Documents</span><span class="f">1,482</span><span class="u">this period</span></div>
  <div class="hss-tile"><span class="l">Median time</span><span class="f">3.2s</span><span class="u">last 24h</span></div>
  <div class="hss-tile"><span class="l">Clean runs</span><span class="f">98.4%</span><span class="u">no retries</span></div>
  <div class="hss-tile"><span class="l">Quality score</span><span class="f missing">—</span><span class="u">not rated yet</span></div>
</div>

<div class="hss-strip hss-strip--5" data-hss-filter>
  <button class="hss-tile" aria-pressed="false" data-state="All">…</button>
  <!-- Queued · Downloading · Done · Failed -->
</div>
<ul class="hss-list">…</ul>
<p class="hss-status" role="status" 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, 1fr); } }
@media (min-width: 42rem) { .hss-strip--4 { grid-template-columns: repeat(4, 1fr); } }
@media (min-width: 52rem) { .hss-strip--5 { grid-template-columns: repeat(5, minmax(0, 1fr)); } }

.hss-tile { background: var(--surface); padding: 14px; min-width: 0; }
.hss-tile .l { font: 0.8125rem/1.3 ui-monospace, monospace; text-transform: uppercase; overflow-wrap: anywhere; }
.hss-tile .f { font-size: 1.6rem; font-weight: 700; font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; }
.hss-tile .f.missing { color: var(--dim); }
.hss-tile[aria-pressed="true"] {
  background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--accent) 14%, var(--surface));
}

const strip = document.querySelector('[data-hss-filter]');
const tiles = strip.querySelectorAll('button');
const items = document.querySelectorAll('[data-hss-item]');
const status = document.querySelector('.hss-status');

tiles.forEach((tile) => {
  tile.addEventListener('click', () => {
    const wasOn = tile.getAttribute('aria-pressed') === 'true';
    const state = wasOn ? 'All' : tile.dataset.state;
    tiles.forEach((other) => other.setAttribute('aria-pressed', String(!wasOn && other === tile && state !== 'All')));
    let shown = 0;
    items.forEach((item) => {
      item.hidden = state !== 'All' && item.dataset.hssItem !== state;
      if (!item.hidden) shown += 1;
    });
    status.textContent = state === 'All'
      ? 'Showing all 6 downloads.'
      : `Filtered to ${state}: ${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.