Specify Design Token Format

The Specify Design Token Format (SDTF) is a JSON based notation capturing the architecture of information of Design Tokens. Supporting 50+ token types, the SDTF allows to compose the most complex ones by referencing/aliasing others.

The SDTF is a transport format, hence if it can be read easily, we do not recommend writing its content directly. Instead, use the APIs provided by Specify.

Usage

Use the SDTF engine

The createSDTFEngine is the package main function to work with any SDTF token tree.

import {
  matchIsDimensionTokenState,
  createSDTFEngine,
  SpecifyDesignTokenFormat,
} from './src/index.js';

const tokens: SpecifyDesignTokenFormat = {
  // ...
};

const sdtfEngine = createSDTFEngine(tokens);

// To start exploring the graph, you can grab the children of the root node:
const groupStates = sdtfEngine.query.getGroupChildren();
const collectionStates = sdtfEngine.query.getCollectionChildren();
const tokenStates = sdtfEngine.query.getTokenChildren();

// let's pretend we have data in tokenStates, we can iterate over it:
tokenStates.forEach(tokenState => {
  // match[tokenType]TokenState functions are available for all token types
  // We narrow down the type of tokenState to DimensionTokenState
  if (matchIsDimensionTokenState(tokenState)) {
    // We can now use the TokenState API with proper typing

    // To get the JSON value
    const resolvedValue = tokenState.getJSONValue();
    const initialValue = tokenState.getJSONValue({ resolveAliases: false });
    const resolvedValueWithoutUnresolvableAliases = tokenState.getJSONValue({
      resolveAliases: true,
      allowUnresolvable: false,
    });
    const resolvedValueForAGivenMode = tokenState.getJSONValue({
      resolveAliases: true,
      targetMode: 'small',
    });

    // To get the JSON token — all getJSONValue options are available here too
    const resolvedToken = tokenState.getJSONToken();

    // To get the stateful value
    const statefulValue = tokenState.getStatefulValueResult();

    // To get the collection the token belongs to
    const collectionState = tokenState.getCollection();
  }
});

// To dive into a specific node, you can use the path to that node:
const getGroupResult = sdtfEngine.query.getGroupState(['basis', 'spacing']);
const getCollectionResult = sdtfEngine.query.getCollectionState(['basis', 'spacing']);
const getTokenResult = sdtfEngine.query.getTokenState(['basis', 'spacing', 'base']);

// To get all node instances of a given type
const allTokenStates = sdtfEngine.query.getAllTokenStates();
const allGroupStates = sdtfEngine.query.getAllGroupStates();
const allCollectionStates = sdtfEngine.query.getAllCollectionStates();
const allNodeStates = sdtfEngine.query.getAllNodeStates();

// When iterating on allNodeStates, you can use the type guard to narrow down the type of the node
allNodeStates.forEach(nodeState => {
  if (nodeState.isToken) {
    const tokenState = nodeState;
  } else if (nodeState.isGroup) {
    const groupState = nodeState;
  } else if (nodeState.isCollection) {
    const collectionState = nodeState;
  }
});

Run a custom query

import { createSDTFEngine, SpecifyDesignTokenFormat } from './index.js';

const tokens: SpecifyDesignTokenFormat = {
  // ...
};

const sdtfEngine = createSDTFEngine(tokens);

const queryResults = sdtfEngine.query.run({
  where: {
    token: '.*',
    select: {
      token: true,
      parents: true,
    },
  },
});

// We can simply iterate over results
queryResults.forEach(treeNode => {
  // ...
});

// Or we can use the built-in methods

// The `isContinuous` property tells whether the resulting nodes are part of the same tree branch
if (queryResults.isContinuous === true) {
}

// The render method evaluates the returned nodes and group them by continuous branches
const queryResultDetails = queryResults.render();

queryResultDetails.forEach(queryResultDetail => {
  queryResultDetail.isComplete; // tells whether the graph section holds all initial nodes
  queryResultDetail.isRoot; // tells whether the graph section is bound to the tree root
  queryResultDetail.nodes; // holds the nodes of the rebuilt graph section
  queryResultDetail.sdtf; // holds the JSON representation of the rebuilt graph section
});

Mutate Token tree states

import {createSDTFEngine, SpecifyDesignTokenFormat} from './index.js';

const tokens: SpecifyDesignTokenFormat = {
  // ...
};

const sdtfEngine = createSDTFEngine(tokens);

// Replace the current token tree with a new one
sdtfEngine.mutation.loadTokenTree({tokens: {}});

// Empty the current token tree
sdtfEngine.mutation.resetTokenTree();

// Rename nodes
sdtfEngine.mutation.renameToken({atPath: ['colors', 'red'], name: 'red-500'});
sdtfEngine.mutation.renameGroup({atPath: ['colors'], name: 'colours'});
sdtfEngine.mutation.renameCollection({atPath: ['colors', 'shade'], name: 'shades'});

// Rename modes
sdtfEngine.mutation.renameTokenMode({
  atPath: ['colors', 'red'],
  fromMode: 'light',
  toMode: 'Light',
});
sdtfEngine.mutation.renameCollectionMode({
  atPath: ['colors'],
  fromMode: 'light',
  toMode: 'Light',
});

// Update token value
sdtfEngine.mutation.updateTokenValue({
  atPath: ['colors', 'red'],
  value: {
    // We must specify all modes
    Light: {model: 'hex', hex: '#6B0404', alpha: 1},
    Dark: {model: 'hex', hex: '#D71212', alpha: 1},
  },
});
sdtfEngine.mutation.updateTokenModeValue({
  atPath: ['colors', 'red'],
  mode: 'Light',
  value: {model: 'hex', hex: '#FF0000', alpha: 1},
});

// Add nodes
sdtfEngine.mutation.addToken({
  parentPath: ['colors'],
  name: 'red-500',
  tokenProperties: {
    $type: 'color',
    $value: {default: {model: 'hex', hex: '#FF0000', alpha: 1}},
  },
});
sdtfEngine.mutation.addGroup({
  parentPath: [],
  name: 'core',
  groupProperties: {},
});
sdtfEngine.mutation.addCollection({
  parentPath: [],
  name: 'colors',
  collectionProperties: {
    $collection: {
      $modes: ['Light', 'Dark'],
    },
  },
});

// More APIs available in the `createSDTFEngine.mutation` namespace

Token tree example

const tokens: SpecifyDesignTokenFormat = {
  basis: {
    unit: {
      base: { $type: 'integerNumber', $value: { default: 4 } },
      '2x': { $type: 'integerNumber', $value: { default: 8 } },
      '3x': { $type: 'integerNumber', $value: { default: 12 } },
    },
    brandColors: {
      light: {
        $type: 'color',
        $value: {
          lighter: { model: 'hex', hex: '#E7E4FB', alpha: 1 },
          light: { model: 'hex', hex: '#8A78EE', alpha: 1 },
          base: { model: 'hex', hex: '#624DE3', alpha: 1 },
          dark: { model: 'hex', hex: '#4938C3', alpha: 1 },
        },
      },
      dark: {
        $type: 'color',
        $value: {
          lighter: { model: 'hex', hex: '#362A79', alpha: 1 },
          light: { model: 'hex', hex: '#5443BC', alpha: 1 },
          base: { model: 'hex', hex: '#624DE3', alpha: 1 },
          dark: { model: 'hex', hex: '#9A90DF', alpha: 1 },
        },
      },
    },
  },
  spacing: {
    $collection: { $modes: ['small', 'large'] },
    base: {
      $type: 'spacing',
      $value: {
        small: { unit: 'px', value: { $alias: 'basis.unit.base', $mode: 'default' } },
        large: { unit: 'px', value: { $alias: 'basis.unit.2x', $mode: 'default' } },
      },
    },
    double: {
      $type: 'spacing',
      $value: {
        small: { unit: 'px', value: { $alias: 'basis.unit.2x', $mode: 'default' } },
        large: { unit: 'px', value: { $alias: 'basis.unit.3x', $mode: 'default' } },
      },
    },
  },
  themes: {
    $collection: { $modes: ['light', 'dark'] },
    primary: {
      $type: 'color',
      $value: {
        light: { $alias: 'basis.brandColors.light', $mode: 'base' },
        dark: { $alias: 'basis.brandColors.dark', $mode: 'base' },
      },
    },
  },
};