Token Documentation and Governance
Document your token system, enforce naming conventions, and set up review processes to maintain token consistency across a growing design system.
Why Token Governance Matters
A design token system without governance quickly becomes chaotic. Without rules, developers add tokens arbitrarily, names become inconsistent, and the system grows unmaintainable. Token governance means establishing clear ownership, naming conventions, change processes, and documentation standards that ensure the token layer remains an asset rather than a liability as the team and codebase grow.
Establishing a Naming Convention
Choose a naming convention and apply it consistently to every token. A widely adopted pattern is category-role-variant — for example color-action-primary, color-action-secondary, color-feedback-error, spacing-layout-section. Document the convention in a dedicated file so every contributor understands what each segment means and where new tokens should be categorized.
/*
Naming convention: --{category}-{role}-{variant}
Categories: color, spacing, font, radius, shadow, motion
Roles: action, surface, text, border, feedback
Variants: primary, secondary, muted, inverse, hover, active, disabled
Examples:
--color-action-primary
--color-action-primary-hover
--color-feedback-error
--color-surface-overlay
--spacing-layout-section
--font-heading-weight
*/All lessons in this course
- Primitive vs Semantic Tokens
- CSS Variable-Based Theming
- Multi-Brand Theming Strategy
- Token Documentation and Governance