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
Reporting only — the figures are the whole job.
Same strip, working as the filter. Press a tile to narrow the list; press it again to clear.
- Bicycle drivetrain teardown Done
- Kiln firing, part three Downloading
- Field recording — marsh at dawn Queued
- Lathe restoration, episode 12 Done
- Sourdough hydration tests Failed
- Bookbinding: the long stitch Queued
Showing all 6 downloads.
<p class="hss-cap">Reporting only — the figures are the whole job.</p>
<div class="hss-strip four">
<div class="hss-tile"><span class="hss-label">Documents</span><span class="hss-fig">1,482</span><span class="hss-sub">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-sub">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-sub">no retries</span></div>
<div class="hss-tile"><span class="hss-label">Quality score</span><span class="hss-fig none" aria-label="No value">—</span><span class="hss-sub">not rated yet</span></div>
</div>
<p class="hss-cap" style="margin-top:1.75rem">Same strip, working as the filter. Press a tile to narrow the list; press it again to clear.</p>
<div class="hss-strip five" data-hss-filter role="group" aria-label="Filter downloads by status">
<button class="hss-tile" type="button" data-status="all" aria-pressed="true"><span class="hss-label">All</span><span class="hss-fig">6</span><span class="hss-sub">downloads</span></button>
<button class="hss-tile" type="button" data-status="queued" aria-pressed="false"><span class="hss-label">Queued</span><span class="hss-fig">2</span><span class="hss-sub">downloads</span></button>
<button class="hss-tile" type="button" data-status="downloading" aria-pressed="false"><span class="hss-label">Downloading</span><span class="hss-fig">1</span><span class="hss-sub">download</span></button>
<button class="hss-tile" type="button" data-status="done" aria-pressed="false"><span class="hss-label">Done</span><span class="hss-fig">2</span><span class="hss-sub">downloads</span></button>
<button class="hss-tile" type="button" data-status="failed" aria-pressed="false"><span class="hss-label">Failed</span><span class="hss-fig">1</span><span class="hss-sub">download</span></button>
</div>
<ul class="hss-list" data-hss-list>
<li data-status="done">Bicycle drivetrain teardown <span>Done</span></li>
<li data-status="downloading">Kiln firing, part three <span>Downloading</span></li>
<li data-status="queued">Field recording — marsh at dawn <span>Queued</span></li>
<li data-status="done">Lathe restoration, episode 12 <span>Done</span></li>
<li data-status="failed">Sourdough hydration tests <span>Failed</span></li>
<li data-status="queued">Bookbinding: the long stitch <span>Queued</span></li>
</ul>
<p class="hss-status" data-hss-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); /* container paints the line */
border: 1px solid var(--border);
border-radius: var(--radius);
overflow: hidden;
grid-template-columns: 1fr;
}
.hss-wrap { container-type: inline-size; }
@container (min-width: 21rem) { .hss-strip { grid-template-columns: repeat(2, 1fr); } }
@container (min-width: 42rem) { .hss-strip { grid-template-columns: repeat(4, 1fr); } }
.hss-tile {
background: var(--surface); /* tiles paint the surface */
padding: 1rem 1.1rem;
display: flex; flex-direction: column; gap: .15rem;
min-width: 0; /* labels wrap instead of overflowing */
}
.hss-label { font: 500 .8125rem/1.3 ui-monospace, monospace; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: .1em; color: var(--dim); }
.hss-fig { font-size: 1.6rem; font-weight: 700; font-variant-numeric: tabular-nums; color: var(--ink); }
.hss-fig.none { color: var(--dim); font-weight: 400; }
button.hss-tile[aria-pressed="true"] {
background: color-mix(in srgb, var(--accent) 14%, var(--surface));
}
:root {
--ground: #eef0f3; --surface: #ffffff; --surface-2: #f5f7f9;
--border: #d2d8e0; --ink: #161b22; --dim: #56606e;
--accent: #364f6a; --radius: 10px;
}
const strip = document.querySelector('[data-hss-filter]');
const rows = document.querySelectorAll('[data-hss-list] li');
const status = document.querySelector('[data-hss-status]');
let current = 'all';
strip.addEventListener('click', (event) => {
const tile = event.target.closest('button.hss-tile');
if (!tile) return;
const value = tile.dataset.status;
current = current === value || value === 'all' ? 'all' : value;
strip.querySelectorAll('button.hss-tile').forEach((button) => {
button.setAttribute('aria-pressed', String(button.dataset.status === current));
});
let shown = 0;
rows.forEach((row) => {
const match = current === 'all' || row.dataset.status === current;
row.hidden = !match;
if (match) shown += 1;
});
status.textContent = current === 'all'
? `Showing all ${rows.length} downloads.`
: `Filtered to ${tile.querySelector('.hss-label').textContent}: ${shown} of ${rows.length}. 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 prompt continues with
- Pinning column counts (1, then 2, then 4) instead of letting auto-fit leave an orphan tile.
- Tile anatomy: mono uppercase label, bold tabular figure, a plain-language sub-line.
- Two rules of honesty: render a missing value as a dimmed em dash, and keep units with the number.
- The filter form, where each tile toggles the list beneath it.
- Computing counts from the unfiltered set, so tiles never report zero for themselves.
- Using
aria-pressedrather than tab roles.