Automated Design Tokens Workflow

Visual Explainers

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The highest-performing teams don't manually transfer design decisions into code. They automate it.

But in most organizations this is the reality:

1. Designers create designs in Figma

2. They share Figma files with developers or export JSON manually

3. Developers manually implement these values in code

4. When designs change, the whole process repeats

This approach costs teams hundreds of hours annually and introduces inconsistencies that undermine brand quality.

Why automation matters?

🕣 Time savings: Changes deploy in minutes instead of days

📉 Error reduction: Eliminates human copying errors completely

☺️ Mental bandwidth: Frees designers and developers to focus on higher-value work

📊 Scalability: Systems grow without a proportional effort increase

I've found the ROI on implementing token automation typically exceeds 300% within 2 years for mid-sized teams.

What are the options?

➡️ Custom automation script
Tailored scripts for extracting and transforming tokens based on team needs.

➡️ Tokens Studio plugin
Manage tokens with the Figma plugin with code sync capabilities.

➡️ Figma API
Programmatic access for custom integrations with design files.

Let's check how you can automate design tokens from design → code.

Transform After Build

1: Figma

— — — in between Custom plugin or script

2: JSON Tokens converted to standardized JSON format for machine readability and technology independence.

3: Git Version control enables change tracking, collaboration, and rollback capabilities.

4: Validation Ensures tokens conform to expected schema and naming conventions.

5: Lint Catches stupid mistakes before they bite you.

6: Test Do the tokens actually work? Validates tokens meet requirements across different use cases.

7: Build Transform the raw into the ready. Package it up.

8: Distribution Makes tokens available via NPM, CDN, and API.

9: Transformer One source, many outputs. (CSS, iOS, Android, documentation).

Pros:

• Single source of truth for all design tokens

• Complete end-to-end visibility of the process

• Multiple distribution channels for different needs

• Feedback loop enables continuous improvement

Cons:

• Less efficient - requires a complete build before transformation can occur

• Potentially slower pipeline as transformation happens later in the process

• Overkill for smaller projects

• May lead to redundant processes

Transform-Within-Build Phase

Same pipeline with emphasis on the transformer's role in processing tokens before the build step. This approach is more common.

Figma → Tokens Studio (TS) → JSON → Git

Pros:

• Easier to test since it focuses on a specific segment of the pipeline

• Enables real-time local testing → faster feedback cycles

• More efficient development

Cons:

• More configuration to implement correctly

• Learning curve for designers for Tokens Studio

Figma API

Pros:

• Runs automatically without requiring manual interaction inside Figma.

• Ensures tokens stay in sync with design updates.

• Can fetch the latest tokens at predefined intervals (e.g., every night)

• No need for plugins

• API-based workflows are scalable

• Can run in server environments, Docker, or cloud functions

Cons:

• Requires coding & setup (more resources)

More detailed view from Figma to Tailwind

Remember that this example shows one possible path from Figma to Tailwind CSS. It may require modifications based on your team's specific tools and workflows.

Phase 1: Figma

Phase 2: Variables Import Variables to Tokens Studio

Phase 3: Tokens Studio Plugin that structures Figma variables into standardized token format.

Phase 4: JSON

Phase 5: GitHub

Phase 6: CI/CD Every change triggers automatic processing and delivery.

Phase 7: Style Dictionary The universal translator. Takes raw JSON tokens and spits out whatever format each platform needs.

Phase 8: CSS Variables Tokens become CSS custom properties. Instant theming power for your web projects.

Phase 9: Tailwind Tokens plug into your development workflow, ready to use.

As mentioned in the start, if you don’t want to use Tokens Studio, you can manually export JSON (for example, Design Tokens Manager) and then add it to GitHub. 🫠

I hope you have an overview of automated workflow now. 🙌 Aaaandd, what’s your process? 😅

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💎 Community Gems

Documenting Web Components With Storybook

James Ives

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Double click: When coding becomes conversation

Figma

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The End of Programming as We Know It

Tim O’Reilly

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❤️ People to follow

This week, I would like to introduce you to Valentin Grudnik. He is currently leading design system at Better. He was just guest in my podcast. Our conversation blew my mind with how small their team is and how much they are capable to do (even in healthcare industry with many restrictions). 🙌

Better shares a lot of their insights on blog as well. For example about design tokens, building a design system for digital solutions in healthcare and many more.

🔗 Follow Valentin on Linkedin