diff --git a/data/outstanding-issues-snapshot.json b/data/outstanding-issues-snapshot.json
index bac6314625..7e579749ee 100644
--- a/data/outstanding-issues-snapshot.json
+++ b/data/outstanding-issues-snapshot.json
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
   "version": "outstanding-issues-snapshot-v1",
   "ledger_revision": {
     "sha": "707b965965a9b843c13deb6b5c9ddd158fe2631d",
-    "committed_at": "2026-08-25T17:45:01Z"
+    "committed_at": "2026-08-25T17:45:01+00:00"
   },
   "counts": {
     "open": 91,
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
     "p2": 57,
     "p3": 33,
     "queued": 9,
-    "pending": 4,
+    "pending": 7,
     "resolved": 412
   },
   "queue": [
@@ -942,6 +942,12 @@
       "summary": "Cancel request 8b2a3f89-9bdb-4fb1-8fd0-35165d050263: Implemented the requested local source-card width constant in this owning answer-page change.",
       "created_at": "2026-08-25"
     },
+    {
+      "request_id": "40ff11ca-52f3-4b95-9118-5e0c107e68f0",
+      "action": "cancel",
+      "summary": "Cancel request 970b4089-9e76-4bcf-821e-2e70e16a3617: Superseded before reconciliation: the original wording incorrectly implied every component metric belongs in :root. The replacement distinguishes module-local one-consumer constants from shared CSS custom properties.",
+      "created_at": "2026-08-26"
+    },
     {
       "request_id": "485bdac6-7f79-4539-9d90-347866604b35",
       "action": "add",
@@ -954,6 +960,18 @@
       "summary": "The answer source-rail card carries three hardcoded pixel measurements, one of them duplicated",
       "created_at": "2026-08-25"
     },
+    {
+      "request_id": "970b4089-9e76-4bcf-821e-2e70e16a3617",
+      "action": "add",
+      "summary": "Component metrics stay in :root, not @theme — record the rule where reviewers read it, because bots keep re-raising it",
+      "created_at": "2026-08-26"
+    },
+    {
+      "request_id": "b85ad821-4c9b-4925-b86b-2d5767052b20",
+      "action": "add",
+      "summary": "Scope the component-metric rule: keep one-consumer values local; use :root only for shared off-scale CSS custom properties, not @theme",
+      "created_at": "2026-08-26"
+    },
     {
       "request_id": "d2a6122a-4fcd-4429-92a7-6004fa19eb24",
       "action": "add",
diff --git a/docs/outstanding-issues-inbox/40ff11ca-52f3-4b95-9118-5e0c107e68f0.json b/docs/outstanding-issues-inbox/40ff11ca-52f3-4b95-9118-5e0c107e68f0.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5bcaa73c99
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/outstanding-issues-inbox/40ff11ca-52f3-4b95-9118-5e0c107e68f0.json
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+{
+  "version": 2,
+  "id": "40ff11ca-52f3-4b95-9118-5e0c107e68f0",
+  "createdOn": "2026-08-26",
+  "action": "cancel",
+  "payload": {
+    "requestId": "970b4089-9e76-4bcf-821e-2e70e16a3617",
+    "reason": "Superseded before reconciliation: the original wording incorrectly implied every component metric belongs in :root. The replacement distinguishes module-local one-consumer constants from shared CSS custom properties."
+  }
+}
diff --git a/docs/outstanding-issues-inbox/970b4089-9e76-4bcf-821e-2e70e16a3617.json b/docs/outstanding-issues-inbox/970b4089-9e76-4bcf-821e-2e70e16a3617.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6f5e7908ea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/outstanding-issues-inbox/970b4089-9e76-4bcf-821e-2e70e16a3617.json
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+{
+  "version": 2,
+  "id": "970b4089-9e76-4bcf-821e-2e70e16a3617",
+  "createdOn": "2026-08-26",
+  "action": "add",
+  "payload": {
+    "pri": "P3",
+    "type": "rec",
+    "summary": "Component metrics stay in :root, not @theme — record the rule where reviewers read it, because bots keep re-raising it",
+    "detail": "Review bots have now asked twice, on consecutive PRs, to move a component metric into the Tailwind 4 @theme block: cardTextWidth (max-w-[158px], PR #2374) and --answer-message-gutter (calc(2.75rem + 1px), PR #2377). Both were declined for the same reason and the reasoning currently lives only in a code comment beside --answer-mark-* in src/app/globals.css, which the bots do not read, so the cost repeats every PR that adds one. THE RULE, as already practised: a value that is a component metric rather than a step on a design scale stays a :root custom property. @theme generates a whole utility family from each token (p-, m-, w-, gap-) and implies a scale step, so a one-consumer or off-grid value there reads as a design decision that was never made; --answer-message-gutter is deliberately off the 4px grid because its 1px compensates for a transparent border, and no existing spacing token equals it. It also couples: tests/tailwind-merge-config.test.ts requires every @theme --spacing-* token to have a matching CLINICAL_TWMERGE_THEME.spacing entry, so the move is never one line. NEXT ACTION (small, docs-only): add a prohibition-table row to docs/design-system/GATES.md section 3 stating the :root-versus-@theme boundary and naming both declined instances, in the same shape as the #336 breakpoint decision recorded there. That is the artifact a reviewer or a future session will actually find. Do NOT convert either value as part of it. Worth pairing with .coderabbit.yaml path instructions if the suggestion recurs after the doc lands.",
+    "source": "session 2026-08-26, PRs #2374 and #2377 (CodeRabbit nitpicks declined twice with the same reasoning)",
+    "issueUlid": "01M0XX7KC1Z1AG1WQAH2SBH5HD"
+  }
+}
diff --git a/docs/outstanding-issues-inbox/b85ad821-4c9b-4925-b86b-2d5767052b20.json b/docs/outstanding-issues-inbox/b85ad821-4c9b-4925-b86b-2d5767052b20.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..305a4137e7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/outstanding-issues-inbox/b85ad821-4c9b-4925-b86b-2d5767052b20.json
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+{
+  "version": 2,
+  "id": "b85ad821-4c9b-4925-b86b-2d5767052b20",
+  "createdOn": "2026-08-26",
+  "action": "add",
+  "payload": {
+    "pri": "P3",
+    "type": "rec",
+    "summary": "Scope the component-metric rule: keep one-consumer values local; use :root only for shared off-scale CSS custom properties, not @theme",
+    "detail": "The earlier pending request overgeneralised the :root-versus-@theme boundary. Correct rule: keep a one-consumer component metric local to its owning JS/TS module, such as cardTextWidth (max-w-[158px] in src/components/clinical-dashboard/answer-source-rail.tsx); do not promote it to a global CSS custom property or an @theme token. Apply the :root-versus-@theme decision only when a shared CSS custom property is needed by multiple non-nested consumers: a shared off-scale metric such as --answer-message-gutter (calc(2.75rem + 1px), including its transparent-border compensation) belongs in :root, while @theme is reserved for deliberate design-scale tokens that should generate a utility family. NEXT ACTION (small, docs-only): add a prohibition-table row to docs/design-system/GATES.md section 3 that states this three-way boundary (module-local component constant vs shared :root custom property vs @theme scale token), names both prior examples accurately, and explicitly does not convert either value. The existing tailwind-merge coupling still applies to any deliberate @theme --spacing-* token: tests/tailwind-merge-config.test.ts requires CLINICAL_TWMERGE_THEME.spacing coverage.",
+    "source": "PR #2381 review thread PRRT_kwDOSh5Fis6cUDDj, reviewing request 970b4089-9e76-4bcf-821e-2e70e16a3617; prior instances #2374 and #2377",
+    "issueUlid": "01M0XNVN00HX1KSZ3K6AVD9KXZ"
+  }
+}