Design Tokens Sync

Keep one source of truth actually true. Every design system decays the same way: a hex gets hardcoded in a hurry, a token gets renamed in Figma but not in Tailwind, a second half-copy of the palette appears in a one-off CSS file. This skill finds the drift, decides direction with the user, and reconciles.

Workflow

1. Locate the truths. Find every place tokens are defined: tokens.json/.tokens.json (W3C format), Figma variables export, tailwind.config. theme, CSS custom properties, TS theme objects, SCSS variable files. If more than one claims to be canonical, ask which wins before touching anything -- direction of sync is a human decision.
2. Build the graph. For each token: canonical value, every downstream definition, and every consumption site. For each raw value in code (hex, px, rem, ms, cubic-bezier): whether a token exists for it.
3. Drift report. Output token-drift-report.md in four buckets:

- STALE COPIES -- downstream definitions that no longer match canonical (with both values) - HARDCODED -- raw values in components where a matching token exists (exact match, then near-match within perceptual distance for colors) - ORPHANS -- tokens defined but consumed nowhere - UNTOKENIZED -- raw values appearing 3+ times with no token; these are tokens waiting to be named

1. Reconcile on approval. Stale copies: regenerate downstream from canonical. Hardcoded: replace with token references -- exact matches automatically, near-matches only with per-case confirmation (that slightly-off blue might be intentional). Untokenized: propose names following the existing convention and add to canonical. Orphans: list for deletion; never auto-delete.
2. Guard. Offer to add the cheap tripwire: a script (npm run tokens:check) that re-runs the drift detection and fails CI on new stale copies or hardcoded near-matches, so the system stays synced after you leave.

Rules

• Never sync both directions in one run. Canonical wins; anything flowing the other way (a designer wants the code's newer value) is an explicit canonical edit first.
• Near-match replacement is per-case, never bulk. #0B1121 vs #0b1220 may be drift or may be a decision.
• Preserve semantic layering: if the system has color.blue.500 -> color.accent -> button.bg, fix references at the right layer instead of flattening everything to primitives.
• Renames propagate everywhere or nowhere -- a half-renamed token is worse than the old name.
• Respect generated files: if theme.css is built from tokens.json, fix the source and rebuild; never hand-edit output.
• The report quantifies health: token coverage percentage (tokenized vs. raw values in components) is the number to move release over release.

Quick Commands

• "Audit my tokens" -- steps 1-3, report only
• "Sync from [source]" -- full reconciliation with the named canonical
• "What's hardcoded?" -- the HARDCODED bucket only
• "Add the CI guard" -- step 5 standalone