design-tokens

name	design-tokens
description	Read and write design tokens in W3C DTCG format (tokens.json) and emit CSS, Tailwind, and Mantine outputs. Use when modifying or generating design tokens.

SKILL: design-tokens

Purpose

Read and write design tokens in W3C Design Token Community Group (DTCG) format (tokens.json). Emit framework-specific outputs: CSS custom properties, Tailwind config, and Mantine theme object. The tokens.json in docs/design/identity/ is the canonical source of truth; all framework outputs are derived and regenerated — never manually edited.

Token File: docs/design/identity/tokens.json

W3C DTCG format. Each token is an object with $value and $type:

{
  "$schema": "https://design-tokens.org/schema/v1.0.0",
  "_meta": { "status": "draft", "version": "1.0.0" },

  "color": {
    "brand": {
      "primary":   { "$value": "#2563eb", "$type": "color" },
      "secondary": { "$value": "#7c3aed", "$type": "color" },
      "accent":    { "$value": "#0ea5e9", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "semantic": {
      "success": { "$value": "#16a34a", "$type": "color" },
      "warning": { "$value": "#d97706", "$type": "color" },
      "error":   { "$value": "#dc2626", "$type": "color" },
      "info":    { "$value": "#0284c7", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "neutral": {
      "50":  { "$value": "#f8fafc", "$type": "color" },
      "500": { "$value": "#64748b", "$type": "color" },
      "900": { "$value": "#0f172a", "$type": "color" }
    },
    "surface": {
      "background": { "$value": "#ffffff", "$type": "color" },
      "foreground": { "$value": "#0f172a", "$type": "color" },
      "muted":      { "$value": "#f1f5f9", "$type": "color" },
      "border":     { "$value": "#e2e8f0", "$type": "color" }
    }
  },

  "typography": {
    "fontFamily": {
      "sans": { "$value": "Inter, system-ui, sans-serif", "$type": "fontFamily" },
      "mono": { "$value": "JetBrains Mono, monospace",   "$type": "fontFamily" }
    },
    "fontSize": {
      "sm":   { "$value": "0.875rem", "$type": "dimension" },
      "base": { "$value": "1rem",     "$type": "dimension" },
      "lg":   { "$value": "1.125rem", "$type": "dimension" },
      "xl":   { "$value": "1.25rem",  "$type": "dimension" },
      "2xl":  { "$value": "1.5rem",   "$type": "dimension" },
      "4xl":  { "$value": "2.25rem",  "$type": "dimension" }
    }
  },

  "spacing": {
    "1": { "$value": "0.25rem", "$type": "dimension" },
    "2": { "$value": "0.5rem",  "$type": "dimension" },
    "4": { "$value": "1rem",    "$type": "dimension" },
    "8": { "$value": "2rem",    "$type": "dimension" }
  },

  "radius": {
    "sm":   { "$value": "0.125rem", "$type": "dimension" },
    "md":   { "$value": "0.375rem", "$type": "dimension" },
    "lg":   { "$value": "0.5rem",   "$type": "dimension" },
    "full": { "$value": "9999px",   "$type": "dimension" }
  },

  "shadow": {
    "sm": { "$value": "0 1px 2px 0 rgb(0 0 0 / 0.05)", "$type": "shadow" },
    "md": { "$value": "0 4px 6px -1px rgb(0 0 0 / 0.1)", "$type": "shadow" },
    "lg": { "$value": "0 10px 15px -3px rgb(0 0 0 / 0.1)", "$type": "shadow" }
  }
}

Emit: CSS Custom Properties

Output to docs/design/identity/tokens.css:

import json, re

def flatten(obj, prefix=""):
    result = {}
    for k, v in obj.items():
        if k.startswith("$") or k.startswith("_"):
            continue
        key = f"{prefix}-{k}" if prefix else k
        if isinstance(v, dict) and "$value" in v:
            result[key] = v["$value"]
        elif isinstance(v, dict):
            result.update(flatten(v, key))
    return result

tokens = json.load(open("docs/design/identity/tokens.json"))
flat = flatten(tokens)

lines = [":root {"]
for name, value in sorted(flat.items()):
    css_var = "--" + name.replace(".", "-")
    lines.append(f"  {css_var}: {value};")
lines.append("}")

with open("docs/design/identity/tokens.css", "w") as f:
    f.write("\n".join(lines) + "\n")

print(f"[design-tokens] CSS  docs/design/identity/tokens.css  vars=")

Emit: Tailwind Config

Output to docs/design/identity/tailwind.tokens.js:

import json

tokens = json.load(open("docs/design/identity/tokens.json"))

def extract_colors():
    result = {}
    for group, values in tokens.get("color", {}).items():
        result[group] = {}
        for name, token in values.items():
            if "$value" in token:
                result[group][name] = token["$value"]
    return result

colors = extract_colors()
font_family = {
    k: v["$value"]
    for k, v in tokens.get("typography", {}).get("fontFamily", {}).items()
}

config = f"""/** @type {{import('tailwindcss').Config}} */
// AUTO-GENERATED — edit docs/design/identity/tokens.json, not this file
module.exports = {{
  theme: {{
    extend: {{
      colors: {json.dumps(colors, indent(6))},
      fontFamily: {json.dumps(font_family, indent(6))},
    }},
  }},
}};
"""

with open("docs/design/identity/tailwind.tokens.js", "w") as f:
    f.write(config)

print("[design-tokens] TAILWIND  docs/design/identity/tailwind.tokens.js")

Emit: Mantine Theme

Output to docs/design/identity/mantine.theme.ts:

import json

tokens = json.load(open("docs/design/identity/tokens.json"))

primary = tokens["color"]["brand"]["primary"]["$value"]
secondary = tokens["color"]["brand"]["secondary"]["$value"]

theme = f"""// AUTO-GENERATED — edit docs/design/identity/tokens.json, not this file
import {{ createTheme }} from '@mantine/core';

export const theme = createTheme({{
  primaryColor: 'brand',
  colors: {{
    brand: [
      '{tokens["color"]["neutral"]["50"]["$value"]}',
      '{tokens["color"]["neutral"]["100"]["$value"] if "100" in tokens["color"]["neutral"] else "#f1f5f9"}',
      '{tokens["color"]["neutral"]["200"]["$value"] if "200" in tokens["color"]["neutral"] else "#e2e8f0"}',
      '{tokens["color"]["neutral"]["300"]["$value"] if "300" in tokens["color"]["neutral"] else }',
      '',
      '',
      '',
      '',
      '',
      '',
    ],
  }},
  fontFamily: '',
  fontFamilyMonospace: '',
}});
"""

 (, )  f:
    f.write(theme)

()

Emit: Terminal Theme (tui target)

When design.target is tui, emit docs/design/identity/terminal-theme.json from tokens.json instead of the CSS/Tailwind/Mantine outputs. Map each color role to an ANSI-256 index (and the hex) plus a lipgloss style name, and record the foreground/background pairs with their contrast ratios so the a11y auditor can flag any pair under WCAG 2.2 AA. Shape:

{
  "roles": {
    "primary":    { "fg": "#7aa2f7", "ansi256": 111, "lipgloss": "primary" },
    "muted":      { "fg": "#565f89", "ansi256": 60,  "lipgloss": "muted" },
    "accent":     { "fg": "#bb9af7", "ansi256": 141, "lipgloss": "accent" },
    "error":      { "fg": "#f7768e", "ansi256"    
               
          
          
  
   
           
                
  

Run All Emitters

python3 - <<'EOF'
# Run all three emitters in sequence
# (inline the three scripts above, or import from scripts/emit-tokens.py)
EOF

Update Tokens (read-write)

To update a single token value:

import json, sys

tokens = json.load(open("docs/design/identity/tokens.json"))
# Set tokens["color"]["brand"]["primary"]["$value"] = "#1d4ed8"
# Write back, then re-run all emitters
json.dump(tokens, open("docs/design/identity/tokens.json", "w"), indent=2)

Always re-emit all framework outputs after any token change.

Failure Modes

Condition	Action
tokens.json malformed	Log parse error with line number. Do not emit partial output.
Missing required token key	Log MISSING_TOKEN: {path}. Emit with placeholder TODO value.
Emitted file differs from committed	Acceptable — these are always regenerated.
_meta.status != approved	Log warning. Emit anyway (dev workflow). Gate is in visual-identity approval, not here.

Logging

[design-tokens] READ    docs/design/identity/tokens.json  tokens=47
[design-tokens] CSS     docs/design/identity/tokens.css   vars=47
[design-tokens] TAILWIND docs/design/identity/tailwind.tokens.js
[design-tokens] MANTINE  docs/design/identity/mantine.theme.ts
[design-tokens] MISSING_TOKEN  color.neutral.100  — using placeholder