Tokens are more than variables that name color values. They are a contract that makes design decisions centralized, reusable and portable across platforms. As a product grows, the way that contract is layered directly affects maintenance cost.
Separate raw values from semantic meaning
Instead of using blue-600 directly, define a meaningful token such as color-action-primary. Components can keep the same semantic contract even when brand colors change.
- Keep raw scales in primitive tokens.
- Name semantic tokens by their purpose.
- Add component tokens only for genuinely specific needs.
The goal of a token system is not to create more variables, but to make change cheaper.
