Stop shipping design systems that rot

We have inherited many design systems. They share three failure modes. The Figma file is six months ahead of production. The token names in code do not match the token names in Figma. The Storybook last updated in November is the only documentation, and it is outdated.

A design system is not a Figma file. A design system is the contract between the design intent and the production code, and like any contract it requires both parties to keep their end. The Figma file is one party. The code is the other. The Storybook is the witness.

What we ship: tokens defined once in a TypeScript module that emits both a Tailwind config and a Figma plugin payload. Components defined once with strict prop types and a Storybook story per variant. A CI step that fails the build if a new component lands without a story. A README at the root of every primitive folder, one paragraph, that says when to use it and when not to.

That is enough rigor to keep a design system alive across two years and four contributors. Less than that and the system rots within a quarter.