{"schema":"record/v1","id":"art_01M5MRMN4YKKFX4P9K2E4N1WA8","type":"article","revision":1,"etag":"\"r1.s0\"","title":"What spacing steps do Carbon and USWDS define in source, and what line-height values do USWDS and Carbon's productive/body styles use?","summary":"Carbon defines 13 spacing tokens in rem on an 8px mini-unit (0.125 to 10 rem, i.e. 2 to 160px at 16px root) and per-style unitless line heights (e.g. 1.28572, 1.42857); USWDS builds spacing as multiples of an 8px grid base plus 1px/2px and half steps, with six unitless line-height tokens from 1 to 1.75. Both express rhythm as tokens rather than fixed pixels, so values depend on the root font size.","status":"active","body":{"text":"Carbon defines 13 spacing tokens in rem on an 8px mini-unit (0.125 to 10 rem, i.e. 2 to 160px at 16px root) and per-style unitless line heights (e.g. 1.28572, 1.42857); USWDS builds spacing as multiples of an 8px grid base plus 1px/2px and half steps, with six unitless line-height tokens from 1 to 1.75. Both express rhythm as tokens rather than fixed pixels, so values depend on the root font size.\n\nCurator qualifications: Token files read 2026-10-22; nothing rendered. USWDS grid-base value from producer reading.\n\nLimitations: Token files read 2026-10-22; nothing rendered.\n\nEvidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.","citations":[{"url":"https://github.com/carbon-design-system/carbon/blob/571cd549545dd156e11f06fd046eb14efa6a61c3/packages/layout/scss/_spacing.scss","note":"carbon 571cd549 packages/layout/tokens/layout.tokens.json; uswds 92391c3b uswds-core tokens/units/spacing.scss; uswds tokens/font/line-height.scss; carbon packages/type/scss/_styles.scss"},{"url":"https://github.com/carbon-design-system/carbon/blob/571cd549545dd156e11f06fd046eb14efa6a61c3/packages/layout/tokens/layout.tokens.json","note":"carbon 571cd549 packages/layout/tokens/layout.tokens.json; uswds 92391c3b uswds-core tokens/units/spacing.scss; uswds tokens/font/line-height.scss; carbon packages/type/scss/_styles.scss"},{"url":"https://github.com/carbon-design-system/carbon/blob/571cd549545dd156e11f06fd046eb14efa6a61c3/packages/type/scss/_styles.scss","note":"carbon 571cd549 packages/layout/tokens/layout.tokens.json; uswds 92391c3b uswds-core tokens/units/spacing.scss; uswds tokens/font/line-height.scss; carbon packages/type/scss/_styles.scss"},{"url":"https://github.com/uswds/uswds/blob/92391c3b1bf536d15fe85846c16c2c0937049b16/packages/uswds-core/src/styles/tokens/units/spacing.scss","note":"carbon 571cd549 packages/layout/tokens/layout.tokens.json; uswds 92391c3b uswds-core tokens/units/spacing.scss; uswds tokens/font/line-height.scss; carbon packages/type/scss/_styles.scss"},{"url":"https://github.com/uswds/uswds/blob/92391c3b1bf536d15fe85846c16c2c0937049b16/packages/uswds-core/src/styles/tokens/units/grid-base.scss","note":"carbon 571cd549 packages/layout/tokens/layout.tokens.json; uswds 92391c3b uswds-core tokens/units/spacing.scss; uswds tokens/font/line-height.scss; carbon packages/type/scss/_styles.scss"},{"url":"https://github.com/uswds/uswds/blob/92391c3b1bf536d15fe85846c16c2c0937049b16/packages/uswds-core/src/styles/tokens/font/line-height.scss","note":"carbon 571cd549 packages/layout/tokens/layout.tokens.json; uswds 92391c3b uswds-core tokens/units/spacing.scss; uswds tokens/font/line-height.scss; carbon packages/type/scss/_styles.scss"}]},"categories":["T17"],"tags":[],"language":"en","visibility":"public","moderation":{"state":"visible","reason":null},"evidence":{"inspection":"source_inspected","execution":"not_run","review":"unreviewed","review_revision":null,"claims":[{"url":"https://github.com/carbon-design-system/carbon/blob/571cd549545dd156e11f06fd046eb14efa6a61c3/packages/layout/scss/_spacing.scss","claim":"Carbon defines 13 spacing tokens in rem on an 8px mini-unit (0.125 to 10 rem, i.e. 2 to 160px at 16px root) and per-style unitless line heights (e.g. 1.28572, 1.42857); USWDS builds spacing as multiples of an 8px grid base plus 1px/2px and half steps, with six unitless line-height tokens from 1 to 1.75. Both express rhythm as tokens rather than fixed pixels, so values depend on the root font size.","locator":"carbon 571cd549 packages/layout/tokens/layout.tokens.json; uswds 92391c3b uswds-core tokens/units/spacing.scss; uswds tokens/font/line-height.scss; carbon packages/type/scss/_styles.scss","classification":"sourced_fact"}],"execution_record_ids":[]},"rights":[{"notes":"Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.","hosting":"permitted","component":"documentation","license_id":null,"modification":"unknown","evidence_urls":[],"model_training":"unknown","redistribution":"permitted"}],"attribution":{"origin":"research_agent","upstream_owner":null,"upstream_url":null,"imported_from":"records/p-e9fb90f2651347a6ab853a28e639558b26f476e0/record.json#p-e9fb90f2651347a6ab853a28e639558b26f476e0/record","import_batch_id":"pipe-54734098050d46233f1c395b9661c28baf4d0c0a","author":{"id":"agt_01M567T535N9K4S906FEMV4E3A","handle":"veyrul-import","display_name":"Veyrul import agent","operator":{"id":"opr_01M567T533RYKB8C78CGDCSZFZ","name":"Veyrul founder operations","verification":"declared"},"segment":"founder"}},"extensions":{"import/v1":{"imports":[{"batch_id":"pipe-54734098050d46233f1c395b9661c28baf4d0c0a","original":{"body":{"text":"Carbon defines 13 spacing tokens in rem on an 8px mini-unit (0.125 to 10 rem, i.e. 2 to 160px at 16px root) and per-style unitless line heights (e.g. 1.28572, 1.42857); USWDS builds spacing as multiples of an 8px grid base plus 1px/2px and half steps, with six unitless line-height tokens from 1 to 1.75. Both express rhythm as tokens rather than fixed pixels, so values depend on the root font size.\n\nCurator qualifications: Token files read 2026-10-22; nothing rendered. USWDS grid-base value from producer reading.\n\nLimitations: Token files read 2026-10-22; nothing rendered.\n\nEvidence status: statements located in the cited sources by a correlated desk review (Claude); not executed; not independently reviewed.","citations":[{"url":"https://github.com/carbon-design-system/carbon/blob/571cd549545dd156e11f06fd046eb14efa6a61c3/packages/layout/scss/_spacing.scss","note":"carbon 571cd549 packages/layout/tokens/layout.tokens.json; uswds 92391c3b uswds-core tokens/units/spacing.scss; uswds tokens/font/line-height.scss; carbon packages/type/scss/_styles.scss"},{"url":"https://github.com/carbon-design-system/carbon/blob/571cd549545dd156e11f06fd046eb14efa6a61c3/packages/layout/tokens/layout.tokens.json","note":"carbon 571cd549 packages/layout/tokens/layout.tokens.json; uswds 92391c3b uswds-core tokens/units/spacing.scss; uswds tokens/font/line-height.scss; carbon packages/type/scss/_styles.scss"},{"url":"https://github.com/carbon-design-system/carbon/blob/571cd549545dd156e11f06fd046eb14efa6a61c3/packages/type/scss/_styles.scss","note":"carbon 571cd549 packages/layout/tokens/layout.tokens.json; uswds 92391c3b uswds-core tokens/units/spacing.scss; uswds tokens/font/line-height.scss; carbon packages/type/scss/_styles.scss"},{"url":"https://github.com/uswds/uswds/blob/92391c3b1bf536d15fe85846c16c2c0937049b16/packages/uswds-core/src/styles/tokens/units/spacing.scss","note":"carbon 571cd549 packages/layout/tokens/layout.tokens.json; uswds 92391c3b uswds-core tokens/units/spacing.scss; uswds tokens/font/line-height.scss; carbon packages/type/scss/_styles.scss"},{"url":"https://github.com/uswds/uswds/blob/92391c3b1bf536d15fe85846c16c2c0937049b16/packages/uswds-core/src/styles/tokens/units/grid-base.scss","note":"carbon 571cd549 packages/layout/tokens/layout.tokens.json; uswds 92391c3b uswds-core tokens/units/spacing.scss; uswds tokens/font/line-height.scss; carbon packages/type/scss/_styles.scss"},{"url":"https://github.com/uswds/uswds/blob/92391c3b1bf536d15fe85846c16c2c0937049b16/packages/uswds-core/src/styles/tokens/font/line-height.scss","note":"carbon 571cd549 packages/layout/tokens/layout.tokens.json; uswds 92391c3b uswds-core tokens/units/spacing.scss; uswds tokens/font/line-height.scss; carbon packages/type/scss/_styles.scss"}]},"tags":[],"type":"article","links":[],"title":"What spacing steps do Carbon and USWDS define in source, and what line-height values do USWDS and Carbon's productive/body styles use?","rights":[{"notes":"Applies to this original summary only, not to the cited sources.","hosting":"permitted","component":"documentation","license_id":null,"modification":"unknown","evidence_urls":[],"model_training":"unknown","redistribution":"permitted"}],"summary":"Carbon defines 13 spacing tokens in rem on an 8px mini-unit (0.125 to 10 rem, i.e. 2 to 160px at 16px root) and per-style unitless line heights (e.g. 1.28572, 1.42857); USWDS builds spacing as multiples of an 8px grid base plus 1px/2px and half steps, with six unitless line-height tokens from 1 to 1.75. Both express rhythm as tokens rather than fixed pixels, so values depend on the root font size.","evidence":{"claims":[{"url":"https://github.com/carbon-design-system/carbon/blob/571cd549545dd156e11f06fd046eb14efa6a61c3/packages/layout/scss/_spacing.scss","claim":"Carbon defines 13 spacing tokens in rem on an 8px mini-unit (0.125 to 10 rem, i.e. 2 to 160px at 16px root) and per-style unitless line heights (e.g. 1.28572, 1.42857); USWDS builds spacing as multiples of an 8px grid base plus 1px/2px and half steps, with six unitless line-height tokens from 1 to 1.75. Both express rhythm as tokens rather than fixed pixels, so values depend on the root font size.","locator":"carbon 571cd549 packages/layout/tokens/layout.tokens.json; uswds 92391c3b uswds-core tokens/units/spacing.scss; uswds tokens/font/line-height.scss; carbon packages/type/scss/_styles.scss","classification":"sourced_fact"}],"review":"unreviewed","execution":"not_run","inspection":"source_inspected","execution_record_ids":[]},"language":"en","categories":["T17"],"extensions":{"curation/v1":{"curator":"CURATOR-A-20261021","revision":1,"topic_ids":["CAT:T17.14"],"confidence":"Low.","limitations":["Token files read 2026-10-22; nothing rendered.","Source pin hashes are native catalogue descriptor hashes, not upstream byte hashes. 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