# google-labs-code/design.md

A format specification for describing a visual identity to coding agents. DESIGN.md gives agents a persistent, structured understanding of a design system.

Repository: https://github.com/google-labs-code/design.md
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/designmd
Homepage: https://stitch.withgoogle.com/docs/design-md/specification
Language: TypeScript
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2026-07-27T21:15:07+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 78/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 94, release rhythm 95, longevity 10
- inputs: {"age_days": 145, "days_push": 37, "days_rel": 37, "gap_med": 27.0, "n_releases_24m": 5}
- flags: young
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 27525, forks 2285 (observed 2026-08-28T04:11:47.796878+00:00)

## What it is
DESIGN.md is a format specification for describing a visual identity and design system to coding agents, combining YAML design tokens with markdown design rationale. It ships with an npm CLI that lints DESIGN.md files, checks WCAG contrast ratios, and diffs two versions for token or prose regressions.

## Use cases
- give coding agents a persistent understanding of my design system
- lint a design tokens file for broken references and contrast issues
- check WCAG color contrast ratios in a design spec
- diff two versions of a design system for regressions
- document design tokens and rationale in one file
- make AI-generated UI match my brand guidelines

## When to choose
- you use AI coding agents and want them to consistently follow your visual identity
- you need a machine-readable plus human-readable design system file
- you want automated validation of design tokens and accessibility contrast

## When to avoid
- you need a full design token build pipeline or theme compilation to CSS
- your project has no AI-assisted development workflow
- you need runtime theming rather than a static specification

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: documentation, linter, developer-tools, cli, accessibility
- domain: web-development, frontend, web-design, developer-tools, artificial-intelligence, documentation
- platform: cli, cross-platform
- tags: design-systems, design-tokens, coding-agents, ai-coding, specification, wcag, yaml-front-matter, visual-identity, nodejs

## Member repositories
- google-labs-code/design.md (main) score 78

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:47.796878+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T07:20:52.944354+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/google-labs-code/design.md (fetched 2026-08-28T04:11:47.796878+00:00, sha 052b7975dce0)
  - homepage: https://stitch.withgoogle.com/docs/design-md/specification (fetched 2026-08-29T07:51:53.564188+00:00, sha a4fb11296e65)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.