diff --git a/skill/scripts/lib/staleness-deep.mjs b/skill/scripts/lib/staleness-deep.mjs
index 8981b654a..53beb1b4b 100644
--- a/skill/scripts/lib/staleness-deep.mjs
+++ b/skill/scripts/lib/staleness-deep.mjs
@@ -129,6 +129,9 @@ function hasCoverageValue(value) {
   return false;
 }
 
+const SEED_DESIGN_MARKER = '<!-- SEED: established with the user before implementation; '
+  + "re-run /impeccable document once there's code to capture the actual tokens and components. -->";
+
 export function checkDesignCoverage({ design, designPath, parseDesignMd }) {
   if (!design || typeof parseDesignMd !== 'function') return [];
   let model;
@@ -137,7 +140,10 @@ export function checkDesignCoverage({ design, designPath, parseDesignMd }) {
   } catch {
     return [];
   }
-  const missing = ['colors', 'typography', 'components']
+  const requiredSections = design.includes(SEED_DESIGN_MARKER)
+    ? ['colors', 'typography']
+    : ['colors', 'typography', 'components'];
+  const missing = requiredSections
     .filter((section) => !model[section] && !hasCoverageValue(model.frontmatter?.[section]));
   if (!missing.length) return [];
   return [finding({
diff --git a/tests/doctor.test.mjs b/tests/doctor.test.mjs
index fbd9db19d..2063da2c3 100644
--- a/tests/doctor.test.mjs
+++ b/tests/doctor.test.mjs
@@ -172,6 +172,34 @@ describe('checkDesignCoverage', () => {
     assert.deepEqual(checkDesignCoverage({ design, designPath: 'DESIGN.md', parseDesignMd }), []);
   });
 
+  it('allows Components to be absent from a marked seed document', () => {
+    const design = [
+      '<!-- SEED: established with the user before implementation; re-run /impeccable document once there\'s code to capture the actual tokens and components. -->',
+      '',
+      '# Design System: X',
+      '',
+      '## Colors', '', '### Primary', '- **Ink** (#111): Text.', '',
+      '## Typography', '', '**Body Font:** Inter', '',
+      '### Hierarchy', '- **Body** (400, 16px, 1.5): Paragraphs.', '',
+    ].join('\n');
+    assert.deepEqual(checkDesignCoverage({ design, designPath: 'DESIGN.md', parseDesignMd }), []);
+  });
+
+  it('still requires seed documents to cover Colors and Typography', () => {
+    const design = [
+      '<!-- SEED: established with the user before implementation; re-run /impeccable document once there\'s code to capture the actual tokens and components. -->',
+      '',
+      '# Design System: X',
+      '',
+      '## Typography', '', '**Body Font:** Inter', '',
+      '### Hierarchy', '- **Body** (400, 16px, 1.5): Paragraphs.', '',
+    ].join('\n');
+    const findings = checkDesignCoverage({ design, designPath: 'DESIGN.md', parseDesignMd });
+    assert.deepEqual(ids(findings), ['design-md-coverage']);
+    assert.match(findings[0].summary, /no colors section/);
+    assert.doesNotMatch(findings[0].summary, /components/);
+  });
+
   it('counts machine-readable frontmatter as section coverage', () => {
     const design = [
       '---',