Jan 28, 2026
Token architecture that scales
Core, semantic and component tokens that survive growth.
Design Tokens * Architecture * Scale
TL;DR
- Three layers: core (raw values), semantic (intent), component (scoped).
- Never use core tokens in product code.
- Semantic tokens are your public API.
Key claims
Teams using semantic-only tokens have 70% fewer theming bugs.
Direct core token usage is the #1 cause of dark mode bugs.
Steal this
- Three-layer token architecture diagram
- Semantic token naming convention
- ESLint rule to block core token imports
Next step
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