Variable Governance Overview

Governance keeps variable changes reviewed, versioned, and safe to roll out.

What a governed variable system provides

  • A shared Variable Design Standard (VDS) between design and code.
  • Variable names and structures that support CI validation and code generation.
  • A semantic layer that prevents direct palette usage in components.
  • Change control and versioning so upgrades are explicit.

Operating model

  • Base variables: palettes and scales (raw values live here).
  • Alias variables: semantic variables that reference base variables.
  • Component variables: component-scoped aliases that reference semantic variables.

Where changes happen

  • Variables are stored as Design Tokens JSON in version control.
  • Design tools can be used for authoring, but the repo is the Variable Design Standard (VDS).

How changes ship

  • Variable changes are reviewed.
  • Breaking changes are versioned and documented.
  • Releases include notes and migration guidance when needed.

Workflow

  1. Design proposes a change with intended usage.
  2. Design Engineer updates JSON and runs validation.
  3. Frontend Engineer validates consumption impact.
  4. PR is reviewed and merged.
  5. Release notes document breaking changes.

Review checklist

  • Naming follows the contract
  • References resolve and are acyclic
  • Mode keys match within a collection
  • Breaking changes are versioned

Roles

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