ui: round five — no band in cards, the rail narrows again

Owner verdict on the accent step: way too light - in-card thinking
drops the band entirely (rail only, identical heights). The rail
narrows again: 14px gap inside the 3ch inset (rail calc(3ch-14px),
about 8px) - the wide rail was distracting. Total inset still 3ch,
chevron law intact.

tests/render-cards.test.tsx

@@ -295,14 +295,13 @@ describe("render smoke tests", () => {
 		// trigger row only — the thinking text is one click away, never loud.
 		assert.ok(html.includes('data-testid="your-thinking-trigger"'), "the trigger row");
 		assert.ok(html.includes('aria-expanded="false"'), "arrives collapsed");
-		// ONE GEOMETRY + THE ACCENT STEP (owner round four, 2026-10-07): the
-		// in-card row carries the accent band — the same one-step lift the
-		// chat band gets; collapsed heights match everywhere.
+		// ONE GEOMETRY, NO BAND IN CARDS (owner round five, 2026-10-07): the
+		// accent lift read too light — rail only, heights match everywhere.
 		const yourRow = html.slice(html.indexOf('data-testid="your-thinking"'));
-		assert.ok(yourRow.slice(0, 400).includes("bg-accent"), "accent inside the card");
+		assert.ok(!yourRow.slice(0, 400).includes("bg-card") && !yourRow.slice(0, 400).includes("bg-accent"), "no band inside the card");
 		// THE RAIL GROUPS (owner correction): the label sits INSIDE the rail —
 		// ownership readable from the rail alone, collapsed or expanded.
-		const railAt = html.indexOf("border-l-[calc(3ch-8px)]");
+		const railAt = html.indexOf("border-l-[calc(3ch-14px)]");
 		const trigAt = html.indexOf("your-thinking-trigger");
 		assert.ok(railAt !== -1 && railAt < trigAt, "the rail opens before the label (same quote)");
 		assert.ok(!html.includes("brightness isn&#x27;t distance"), "the text is hidden until expanded");

tests/render-md-blocks.test.tsx

@@ -246,18 +246,18 @@ describe("ThinkingBlock — the document band + ⌘T sync (owner rounds, 2026-10
 	it("the row is the document band — round four geometry (owner, 2026-10-07)", () => {
 		const html = renderToStaticMarkup(<ThinkingBlock text="banded" defaultOpen />);
 		assert.ok(html.includes("bg-card"), "the card-color band");
-		assert.ok(html.includes("border-l-[calc(3ch-8px)]"), "thinner rail — 8px gap inside the 3ch inset");
-		assert.ok(html.includes("py-1") && html.includes("pl-[8px]"), "4px band padding");
+		assert.ok(html.includes("border-l-[calc(3ch-14px)]"), "narrow rail — 14px gap inside the 3ch inset");
+		assert.ok(html.includes("py-1") && html.includes("pl-[14px]"), "4px band padding");
 		assert.ok(html.includes("pr-4"), "the text wraps early — air at the band's right edge");
 		assert.ok(html.includes("w-full"), "full width — no chat side");
 		assert.match(html, /aria-expanded="true"/);
 		assert.ok(html.includes("banded"), "text visible on arrival");
 	});
 
-	it("in-card rows step the band to accent — the same one-step lift (owner round four)", () => {
+	it("in-card rows take no band — the accent step read too light (owner round five)", () => {
 		const html = renderToStaticMarkup(<ThinkingBlock text="in card" inCard />);
-		assert.ok(html.includes("bg-accent"), "accent on the card's surface");
-		assert.ok(!html.includes("bg-card"), "card-color would vanish on the card");
+		assert.ok(!html.includes("bg-accent") && !html.includes("bg-card"), "transparent on the card");
+		assert.ok(html.includes("border-l-[calc(3ch-14px)]"), "rail only, same geometry");
 	});
 
 	it("⌘T sets every row — explicit sets stomp individual state, late mounts honor the last set", () => {

tests/render-practice-surface.test.tsx

@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ describe("the practice transcript cards", () => {
 		assert.match(trace, /aria-expanded="true"/);
 		assert.ok(trace.includes("stuck at step two"), "the text is visible on arrival");
 		assert.ok(trace.includes("bg-card"), "the card-color band");
-		assert.ok(trace.includes("border-l-[calc(3ch-8px)]"), "thinner rail inside the 3ch inset");
+		assert.ok(trace.includes("border-l-[calc(3ch-14px)]"), "narrow rail inside the 3ch inset");
 		const legacy = renderToStaticMarkup(<ThinkingCard data={{ problemCallId: "c", commit: true, text: "It is 42." }} />);
 		assert.match(legacy, /YOUR THINKING/);
 		assert.doesNotMatch(legacy, /Your solution/);