# Visual Studio Code design system

> Visual Studio Code design system measured from code.visualstudio.com: #0069CC primary on #F0F0F0, 15 color hex codes, type scale, spacing and a free DESIGN.md.

Canonical page: https://sitepeel.dev/design-md/code.visualstudio.com/

Visual Studio Code’s website (code.visualstudio.com) uses the visitor’s system fonts and #0069CC as its main color on a #F0F0F0 background. Measured by Sitepeel on November 4, 2026.

## What font does Visual Studio Code use?

Visual Studio Code uses the visitor’s system fonts on code.visualstudio.com: no web font was measured. Measured on November 4, 2026.

- system-ui (weights 400, 500, 560, 600, 700)

## Visual Studio Code colors: palette and hex codes

Visual Studio Code’s main colors are #F0F0F0 (mist) for the background, #1B1B1D (charcoal) for text and #0069CC (blue) as the main accent, with #2F6FB8 (blue) and #7CC4AE (teal) as other accents. Measured on November 4, 2026.

- #F0F0F0: mist
- #1B1B1D: charcoal
- #242424: graphite
- #545458: slate
- #68686D: slate
- #FFFFFF: white
- #0069CC: blue
- #191A1B: charcoal

## What is Visual Studio Code built with?

Visual Studio Code’s website (code.visualstudio.com) is built with Microsoft Azure, Lenis and ASP.NET. Measured on November 4, 2026.

- Animation & 3D: Lenis 1.3.26
- Hosting & CDN: Microsoft Azure
- Server: ASP.NET

## Questions and answers

### What font does Visual Studio Code use?

No web font was measured on code.visualstudio.com: it uses the visitor’s system fonts.

### What are the Visual Studio Code colors and hex codes?

On code.visualstudio.com: #F0F0F0 (mist) for the background, #1B1B1D (charcoal) for text and #0069CC (blue) as the main accent, with #2F6FB8 (blue) and #7CC4AE (teal) as other accents. The color palette above lists all 15 colors with their hex codes and where each one is used.

### What is the Visual Studio Code design system?

The design system on this page is code.visualstudio.com’s, as measured on November 4, 2026: #0069CC as the main color and 8px corners, written down as a DESIGN.md. It is not Visual Studio Code’s own documentation.

### What is Visual Studio Code built with?

Visual Studio Code’s website (code.visualstudio.com) is built with Microsoft Azure, Lenis and ASP.NET. Measured on November 4, 2026.

### What is the Visual Studio Code DESIGN.md?

A plain-text file with Visual Studio Code’s measured colors, type, spacing, corners and components as tokens, plus short rules, in the DESIGN.md format Google published with Stitch. Your AI coding agent reads it and builds in this style. More about DESIGN.md.

### How do I use it with Claude Code or Cursor?

Download the file and put it in your project’s root folder, then ask your agent to follow DESIGN.md. Step-by-step guides: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, GitHub Copilot.

### Is this Visual Studio Code’s official design system?

No. Sitepeel measured it from code.visualstudio.com’s public page on November 4, 2026. It is an independent analysis, not made or approved by Visual Studio Code.

### Can I use Visual Studio Code’s style in my own product?

Use it to learn, prototype and compare. For a real product, make the style your own, and never copy Visual Studio Code’s logo, name, pictures or text.

### How accurate are the values?

Each value was measured on the rendered page after it fully loaded, on desktop and mobile: colors where they appear, type with tracking, spacing, corners, shadows and hover states. Sites change, so check the date at the top.

## Files

- [DESIGN.md](https://sitepeel.dev/design-md/code.visualstudio.com/DESIGN.md): the plain file to put in your project.
- [All brand DESIGN.md files](https://sitepeel.dev/design-md/examples/index.md)

Independent analysis by Sitepeel (sitepeel.dev), not affiliated with Visual Studio Code.

## The DESIGN.md file

```markdown
---
version: alpha
name: Visual Studio Code
description: "Light interface measured from code.visualstudio.com: system-ui type, blue accents, tonal surfaces and 8px corners."
colors:
  background: "#F0F0F0"
  surface: "#F0F0F0"
  on-surface: "#1B1B1D"
  on-background: "#1B1B1D"
  on-surface-variant: "#242424"
  on-surface-muted: "#545458"
  on-surface-subtle: "#68686D"
  surface-container-low: "#FFFFFF"
  overlay: "#E0E0E3CC"
  overlay-strong: "#F0F0F0E0"
  primary: "#0069CC"
  on-primary: "#FFFFFF"
  inverse-surface: "#191A1B"
  secondary: "#2F6FB8"
  tertiary: "#7CC4AE"
  warning: "#FFD700"
  error: "#FF7B72"
typography:
  headline-display:
    fontFamily: system-ui
    fontSize: 36px
    fontWeight: 560
    lineHeight: 1.06
    letterSpacing: -0.022em
  headline-lg:
    fontFamily: system-ui
    fontSize: 28px
    fontWeight: 700
    lineHeight: 1.52
    letterSpacing: -0.021em
  body-md:
    fontFamily: system-ui
    fontSize: 14px
    fontWeight: 400
    lineHeight: 1.43
  body-lg:
    fontFamily: system-ui
    fontSize: 15px
    fontWeight: 400
    lineHeight: 1.33
  body-sm:
    fontFamily: system-ui
    fontSize: 13px
    fontWeight: 400
    lineHeight: 1.4
  caption:
    fontFamily: system-ui
    fontSize: 12px
    fontWeight: 400
    lineHeight: 1.5
  label-lg:
    fontFamily: system-ui
    fontSize: 20px
    fontWeight: 600
    lineHeight: 1.43
  label-md:
    fontFamily: system-ui
    fontSize: 15px
    fontWeight: 500
    lineHeight: 1.4
  label-sm:
    fontFamily: system-ui
    fontSize: 14px
    fontWeight: 500
    lineHeight: 1.43
    letterSpacing: -0.005em
rounded:
  sm: 2px
  md: 6px
  lg: 8px
spacing:
  xs: 3px
  sm: 8px
  md: 12px
  lg: 18px
  xl: 40px
  gutter: 8px
  section: 135px
components:
  button-ghost:
    textColor: "{colors.on-surface-variant}"
    typography: "{typography.label-sm}"
    rounded: "{rounded.lg}"
    padding: 0px
  link:
    textColor: "{colors.on-surface-subtle}"
---

# Visual Studio Code Design System

## Overview

Visual Studio Code describes itself as: “Code with precision, collaborate with agents, orchestrate a team of them, and continue your work wherever you are with Visual Studio Code.” The interface is light, built on **Mist (#F0F0F0)** with **Charcoal (#1B1B1D)** text, and **Blue (#0069CC)** as the main accent.

Type is set in **system-ui**. Headlines run large with tight negative tracking; body text is 14px. The surface language is flat. Corners are mostly 8px.

Measured from [code.visualstudio.com](https://code.visualstudio.com/?_exp_home=e855cfac50) on November 4, 2026 at 1440×900 from 276 rendered elements. Values are computed styles from the live page, not the original source files.

## Colors

The palette has 15 roles.

- **Mist (#F0F0F0):** Page background, seen 2 times. Token `background`, CSS `--bg`.
- **Charcoal (#1B1B1D):** Primary text and headings, seen 19 times. Token `on-surface`, CSS `--ink`.
- **Graphite (#242424):** Secondary text, seen 8 times. Token `on-surface-variant`.
- **Slate (#545458):** Muted text and metadata, seen 7 times. Token `on-surface-muted`.
- **Slate (#68686D):** Subtle text and placeholders, seen 16 times. Token `on-surface-subtle`.
- **White (#FFFFFF):** Raised areas one step from the page, seen 1 time. Token `surface-container-low`, CSS `--button-primary-foreground`.
- **Mist 80% (#E0E0E3CC):** Translucent fill for cards and controls, seen 3 times. Token `overlay`.
- **Mist 88% (#F0F0F0E0):** Stronger translucent fill, seen 1 time. Token `overlay-strong`.
- **Blue (#0069CC):** Most used accent color, seen 25 times. Token `primary`, CSS `--link`.
- **White (#FFFFFF):** Text and icons on primary. Token `on-primary`.
- **Charcoal (#191A1B):** High-contrast fills, seen 1 time. Token `inverse-surface`.
- **Blue (#2F6FB8):** Accent (CSS variable). Token `secondary`.
- **Teal (#7CC4AE):** Accent in text, fills and borders, seen 6 times. Token `tertiary`.
- **Vivid Amber (#FFD700):** Warnings and highlights, seen 7 times. Token `warning`.
- **Light Red (#FF7B72):** Errors and destructive states, seen 3 times. Token `error`.

## Typography

**system-ui** carries the whole interface. Fallback stack: `-apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, SF Pro Display, Segoe WPC`. Other loaded fonts: codicon, codicon-vscode, dl-seti.

- **headline-display:** system-ui 36px at weight 560, line height 1.06, tracking -0.022em. Page title (h1).
- **headline-lg:** system-ui 28px at weight 700, line height 1.52, tracking -0.021em. Section headings (h2).
- **body-md:** system-ui 14px at weight 400, line height 1.43. Body text.
- **body-lg:** system-ui 15px at weight 400, line height 1.33. Lead paragraphs.
- **body-sm:** system-ui 13px at weight 400, line height 1.4. Secondary and small text.
- **caption:** system-ui 12px at weight 400, line height 1.5. Captions and fine print.
- **label-lg:** system-ui 20px at weight 600, line height 1.43. Large buttons and tabs.
- **label-md:** system-ui 15px at weight 500, line height 1.4. Buttons, navigation and labels.
- **label-sm:** system-ui 14px at weight 500, line height 1.43, tracking -0.005em. Small labels and badges.

## Layout

Spacing does not follow a strict grid: 40% of measured values are multiples of 4px, so match the measured steps rather than rounding to a grid.

- **Scale:** xs 3px, sm 8px, md 12px, lg 18px, xl 40px.
- **Sections:** 135px vertical padding between major sections.
- **Gaps:** 8px is the most common gap in flex and grid layouts.
- **Breakpoints:** 680px, 767px, 768px, 991px, 992px, 999.98px, 1000px, 1099.98px, 1100px, 1199px, 1200px, 1399px, 1400px.

## Elevation & Depth

The design is flat: no shadows were measured. Hierarchy comes from tonal surface steps (#FFFFFF).

## Shapes

Most elements use 8px corners. Measured radii, most used first:

- **lg (8px):** 156 elements.
- **sm (2px):** 136 elements.
- **md (6px):** 20 elements.

## Components

Measured from the rendered page. Token values reference the tokens above.

- **button-ghost (“Features”):** transparent fill, #242424 text, 14px/500, 8px radius, padding 0px.
- **link:** transparent fill, #68686D text, padding 0px.

## Do's and Don'ts

- Do use #F0F0F0 for the page and lift surfaces in small steps: #FFFFFF.
- Do keep text in 4 levels: #1B1B1D, #242424, #545458, #68686D.
- Do reserve #0069CC for primary actions and key highlights.
- Do set headlines in system-ui with tight tracking (-0.022em).
- Do reuse the measured spacing steps (8px, 12px, 18px).
- Do use 8px corners on most elements; larger surfaces also use 2px and 6px.
- Don't add drop shadows for depth; use tonal surfaces.
- Don't introduce new font families beyond system-ui.
- Don't use #0069CC for large backgrounds or body text.
- Don't make interface transitions slower than 0.3s.

## Motion

Interface transitions are quick: 0.15s, 0.3s, 0.25s. Longer ambient animations run 0.7s.

- **Easing:** `ease`, `cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.7, 0.1, 1)`, `linear`.
- **Reduced motion:** the page responds to `prefers-reduced-motion`.

Generated by [Sitepeel](https://sitepeel.dev/design-md/code.visualstudio.com/), the free DESIGN.md generator (engine 2026.10.29+b828a475ee10).

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