Tokens are a promise to your future team

The first time a design system saves you is not when you build it. It is eight months later, when a new engineer changes one value and the whole product stays consistent because the rule lived in one place.

Name things by intention

A token called blue-500 tells you nothing. A token called surface-raised tells you where it belongs and why. Name by role, not by value, and the system survives a rebrand.

The goal is a library your team can extend without you in the room. That is the difference between a style guide that rots and a system that grows.