Design System Managers

This section is for the architects of your design system, the ones responsible for managing tokens, building components, and extending the Handoff engine. Master the technical foundations of the platform, including component APIs, token transformation, and the flexible hooking architecture. Build a design system that is as scalable as it is robust.

This section is for **design system managers** — engineers, designers, and project managers who are responsible for building and maintaining Design Systems using Handoff.

Who This Section Is For

You'll find this section most useful if you:

  • Are setting up or maintaining a Handoff project for your team
  • Need to customize how tokens and components are transformed
  • Are building CI/CD automation around the Handoff pipeline
  • Want to extend the documentation app or REST API output

What You'll Find Here

PageDescription
Managing TokensHow design tokens are structured, extracted, and transformed.
Managing ComponentsThe component architecture, file structure, and build pipeline.
Component APIThe JSON schema for describing components and their properties.
Handlebars TemplatesHow to build components using Handlebars and custom Handoff helpers.
React TemplatesUsing React and TypeScript to implement your design system components.
CSF TemplatesImplementing components using the Component Story Format (CSF).
Configuration ReferenceA complete reference of all handoff.config.js settings.
Hooking ArchitectureHooks for extending the Handoff pipeline at build time.
Governance and VersioningHow to version your system and manage breaking changes safely.

Key Concept: Governance Over Generation

Handoff's primary role is governance — not just generating CSS variables. Think of it as embedding design authority into your development pipeline, so that every build reflects the current approved design state.