# Atrium command-center reference lock v1

## Product brief

Atrium is the shared ACE command center. Domain Packs configure what it watches;
they do not create competing applications. The first flagship demonstration is
World Intelligence focused on the fast-moving AI landscape.

The primary user is an executive or analyst who needs to answer four questions:

1. What changed?
2. Why does it matter?
3. What evidence supports it?
4. What needs a decision or a new watch?

The golden path is `connect -> orient -> watch -> brief -> inspect -> decide`.

The outcome-led first-run journey and the AI command-center jobs are frozen separately in
[Atrium JTBD onboarding and AI command-center reference lock](atrium-jtbd-onboarding-reference-lock-v1.md).
That document supersedes agent-led or connector-grid onboarding concepts while preserving this
command-center visual direction.

## Reference lock

The visual system is anchored in three researched patterns:

- Linear's changelog: a midnight command center built with subtle surface steps,
  graphite borders, compact typography, and almost no decorative shadow.
- Warp's precision workbench: electric blue reserved for focus, active state, and
  the product in action rather than spread across every surface.
- Parallel's research workspace: evidence-forward hierarchy, durable source context,
  and a clear separation between the narrative answer and its supporting record.

The ACE mark supplies the identity: cognitive blue is the primary/action color,
spectral cyan means live evidence, and semantic green means verified success only.
The blue-cyan-violet logo gradient stays inside the mark and rare brand moments; it
does not become a rainbow component system. Monospace typography is reserved for
receipts, timestamps, counts, and provenance.

## Decisions

| Area | Decision | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Theme | Dark, dense, evidence-first | Atrium should read as an always-on operating surface, not a marketing dashboard. |
| Brand | ACE cognitive blue on cool blue-black neutrals | Core must be recognizable without inheriting a customer's palette. |
| Home | Briefing plus attention plus stream | One current narrative is primary; changes and open cases remain visible around it. |
| Domain identity | Derive the display name from the governed page `product_id` | Core stays domain-neutral while every deployment is oriented. |
| Status | One compact coverage strip | Avoid a wall of KPI cards; show operational context in one scan. |
| Inspection | Side sheet with summary, significance, receipt, and lineage | Evidence remains one interaction from every claim. |
| Ask ACE | Search-like command surface over current resources | Intelligence questions stay grounded in the same governed resource plane. |
| World demo | World owns its resource fixture and topic configuration | The demo proves the domain boundary instead of weakening it. |

## Explicit rejections

- decorative globes and maps without decision value;
- rainbow severity palettes;
- oversized KPI-card grids;
- command-line cosplay;
- a World-specific route or hard-coded World vocabulary inside Core;
- a separate World dashboard that forks the Atrium experience.
- a public domain pack that silently replaces ACE identity with a customer's brand;
- a source-catalog wall or agent-by-agent configuration wizard during first use;
- a blank dashboard or a second guided tour after the first Brief is ready.

## Media strategy

Use code-native data marks, sparklines, source marks, and evidence graphs. The
command center does not require stock imagery or generated illustration.
