Human Interface Guidelines
The Parch HIG defines how applications look, behave, and integrate with Parch GNU/Linux. It exists so that software from different authors, in different toolkits, still feels like one operating system.
How to use the HIG
- Start with Design philosophy, five principles that resolve most design debates.
- Build with the Design System, which implements these rules as working components.
- Follow the toolkit mapping in Platform integration when your app uses GTK or Qt, the HIG defines intent; your toolkit supplies native widgetry.
- Persian and English are first-class: read RTL and Persian before your first layout, not after your first bug report.
Sections
Design foundations
Philosophy, visual identity, color, typography, layout, materials, iconography, motion, themes, RTL, accessibility, and density.
Application structure
Windows, header bars, navigation patterns, dialogs, forms, states, collections, and destructive actions.
Interaction design
Keyboard and pointer interaction, shortcuts, progress, error recovery, unsaved changes, and offline behavior.
Platform integration
KDE Plasma and GTK integration, system themes, Wayland, desktop files, notifications, and file associations.
Scope
The HIG binds first-party Parch applications and sets expectations for third-party software in the Parch repositories. It does not force every app to look identical: a KDE Plasma utility should use Plasma patterns, a libadwaita app should use GNOME patterns, mapped onto the shared intent defined here. Where a Parch rule deliberately differs from a toolkit default, we say so explicitly on the relevant page.