diff --git a/src/Testing/DesignGuard.php b/src/Testing/DesignGuard.php
index 7247dd3b..d26cc0ba 100644
--- a/src/Testing/DesignGuard.php
+++ b/src/Testing/DesignGuard.php
@@ -325,6 +325,10 @@ class DesignGuard
         }
 
         foreach ($this->files() as $file) {
+            if (str_ends_with($file->getFilename(), '.css')) {
+                continue; // A directly-scanned CSS file is check (iii)'s alone; these checks read Blade, PHP and JS.
+            }
+
             $contents = (string) file_get_contents($file->getPathname());
             $where = $this->relative($file->getPathname());
             $isBlade = str_ends_with($file->getFilename(), '.blade.php');
@@ -671,7 +675,7 @@ class DesignGuard
      */
     protected function literalColours(string $css): array
     {
-        $pattern = '/(?<![\w#-])(?:#[0-9a-fA-F]{3,8}\b|(?:rgb|rgba|hsl|hsla|oklch|oklab|lch|lab|color)\(|(?<=[:,(]\s{0,20})(?:'.self::CSS_NAMED_COLOURS.')\b(?!-))/i';
+        $pattern = '/(?<![\w#-])(?:#[0-9a-fA-F]{3,8}\b|(?:rgb|rgba|hsl|hsla|oklch|oklab|lch|lab|color)\([^)]*\)|(?<=[:,(]\s{0,20})(?:'.self::CSS_NAMED_COLOURS.')\b(?!-))/i';
 
         preg_match_all($pattern, $css, $matches, PREG_OFFSET_CAPTURE);
 
@@ -731,9 +735,16 @@ class DesignGuard
         return $found;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * A value `withoutTokenFunctions()` left with nothing but the empty shell of a `var()`/`calc()`
+     * call — whitespace where the call's own argument list used to be, the call's own name and
+     * parentheses still standing — is exactly as fine as one masked away entirely.
+     */
     protected function isSafeLiteralValue(string $value): bool
     {
-        return trim($value) === '' || in_array(strtolower(trim($value)), ['0', '0px', '0s', 'none', 'inherit', 'initial', 'unset', 'normal', 'auto'], true);
+        $value = trim((string) preg_replace('/\b(?:var|calc)\(\s*\)/i', '', $value));
+
+        return $value === '' || in_array(strtolower($value), ['0', '0px', '0s', 'none', 'inherit', 'initial', 'unset', 'normal', 'auto'], true);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/tests/Feature/DesignGuardTest.php b/tests/Feature/DesignGuardTest.php
index b130dd6c..c2d6a11f 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/DesignGuardTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/DesignGuardTest.php
@@ -411,6 +411,38 @@ it('reports a package tag the application shadows with its own component class',
     ]);
 });
 
+it('finds every literal design value and off-scale media query in the application\'s own CSS', function () {
+    $violations = fixtureRelative(DesignGuard::scan(realpath(GUARD_FIXTURES.'/app-css/app.css'))->violations());
+
+    expect($violations)->toBe([
+        'app-css/app.css:3 literal colour `#ff0000` — use `var(--md-sys-color-*)`',
+        'app-css/app.css:4 literal colour `rgb(0, 0, 0)` — use `var(--md-sys-color-*)`',
+        'app-css/app.css:6 literal colour `rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2)` — use `var(--md-sys-color-*)`',
+        'app-css/app.css:5 literal radius `border-radius: 12px` — use `var(--md-sys-shape-corner-*)`',
+        'app-css/app.css:6 literal shadow `box-shadow: 0 2px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2)` — use `var(--md-sys-elevation-*)`',
+        'app-css/app.css:7 literal font size `font-size: 14px` — use `var(--md-sys-typescale-*)`, which sets size, line height and weight together',
+        'app-css/app.css:8 literal font weight `font-weight: 600` — use `var(--md-sys-typescale-*)` or `var(--md-sys-typescale-emphasized-*)`',
+        'app-css/app.css:9 literal line height `line-height: 1.4` — use `var(--md-sys-typescale-*)`, which sets it with the size',
+        'app-css/app.css:10 literal letter spacing `letter-spacing: 0.02em` — use `var(--md-sys-typescale-*-tracking)`',
+        'app-css/app.css:11 literal easing in `transition: opacity 200ms ease-in-out` — use `var(--md-sys-motion-spatial-*)`/`var(--md-sys-motion-effects-*)`, paired with its `-duration`',
+        'app-css/app.css:11 literal duration in `transition: opacity 200ms ease-in-out` — use `var(--md-sys-motion-…-duration)`, paired with its easing',
+        "app-css/app.css:21 media query width `700px` is not one of M3's breakpoints — use 600, 840, 1200 or 1600px (medium, expanded, large, extra-large)",
+    ]);
+});
+
+it('ignores the generated material-scheme.css, by name and by its generated header, wherever it sits among the scanned paths', function () {
+    $withScheme = fixtureRelative(DesignGuard::scan(realpath(GUARD_FIXTURES.'/app-css'))->violations());
+    $withoutScheme = fixtureRelative(DesignGuard::scan(realpath(GUARD_FIXTURES.'/app-css/app.css'))->violations());
+
+    expect($withScheme)->toBe($withoutScheme);
+});
+
+it('never reads a Tailwind-shaped word out of running text', function () {
+    $violations = DesignGuard::scan(realpath(GUARD_FIXTURES.'/running-text.blade.php'))->violations();
+
+    expect($violations)->toBe([]);
+});
+
 it('passes the package\'s own views', function () {
     $violations = DesignGuard::scan([__DIR__.'/../../resources/views', __DIR__.'/../../resources/js', __DIR__.'/../../src'])->violations();
 
diff --git a/tests/Fixtures/design-guard/app-css/app.css b/tests/Fixtures/design-guard/app-css/app.css
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a832ac0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Fixtures/design-guard/app-css/app.css
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+/* comments are ignored */
+.card {
+    color: #ff0000;
+    background: rgb(0, 0, 0);
+    border-radius: 12px;
+    box-shadow: 0 2px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);
+    font-size: 14px;
+    font-weight: 600;
+    line-height: 1.4;
+    letter-spacing: 0.02em;
+    transition: opacity 200ms ease-in-out;
+}
+
+.fine {
+    border-radius: var(--md-sys-shape-corner-lg);
+    color: var(--md-sys-color-primary);
+    padding: calc(var(--md-sys-measurement-space100) * 2);
+    border: 0;
+}
+
+@media (min-width: 700px) {
+    .card {
+        display: flex;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Fixtures/design-guard/app-css/generated-scheme.css b/tests/Fixtures/design-guard/app-css/generated-scheme.css
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7719e826
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Fixtures/design-guard/app-css/generated-scheme.css
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+/*
+ * Material 3 colour roles, generated by Google's material-color-utilities (spec 2025).
+ */
+
+:root {
+    --md-sys-color-primary: #6750a4;
+}
diff --git a/tests/Fixtures/design-guard/app-css/material-scheme.css b/tests/Fixtures/design-guard/app-css/material-scheme.css
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fcfd48e2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Fixtures/design-guard/app-css/material-scheme.css
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+:root {
+    --md-sys-color-primary: #6750a4;
+}
diff --git a/tests/Fixtures/design-guard/running-text.blade.php b/tests/Fixtures/design-guard/running-text.blade.php
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d0d16065
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Fixtures/design-guard/running-text.blade.php
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{{-- Running text is not a class list: none of Tailwind's bare-word utilities should be read out
+     of prose just because they share a spelling with one. --}}
+<p>This creates a grid of cards, in a flex layout that stays hidden below medium and stacks into a
+    block once the pane narrows. Nothing here truncates or grows, and the sample is not a table.</p>