Specify CLI

In this guide you’ll learn how to transform design data coming from Figma Variables, Figma Styles and/or Tokens Studio into CSS Custom Properties using the Specify CLI.

1. Install the CLI

Install the @specifyapp/cli via npm or yarn.

NPM

npm install @specifyapp/cli 

Yarn

yarn global add @specifyapp/cli

2. Create your Specify configuration file

To create your Specify config file, you need to follow these steps:

• Create an empty file named .specifyrc.json (The configuration file can handle MJS, CJS, and JSON)

• Add the following content

JSON

{
  "version": "2",
  "repository": "@organization/repository",
  "personalAccessToken": "<your-personal-access-token>",
  "rules": [
    {
      "name": "Tokens as CSS Variables",
      "parsers": [
        {
          "name": "to-css-custom-properties",
          "output": {
            "type":"file",
            "filePath": "tokens.css"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
}

JavaScript (CommonJS)

.specifyrc.js

{
  version: "2",
  repository: "@organization/repository",
  personalAccessToken: "<your-personal-access-token>",
  rules: [
    {
      name: "CSS Styles",
      parsers: [
        {
          name: "to-css-custom-properties",
          output: {
            type: "file",
            filePath: "style.css"
          }
        }
      ]
    }
  ]
};

3. Properties to update in the configuration file before using it:

• A property version is shown which refers to the new Advanced Repository from which we are extracting tokens. Use the version: "2"

• Add your organization and repository name under the repository property

• Get a personal access token from your user settings ↗︎

• Run the command specify pull to fetch your design tokens

4. CSS output example

By default, Specify exports your Figma Variables Modes as CSS data-attributes:

CSS

:root[data-Colors="Dark"] {
  --Core-Label-blue-base: rgb(96, 168, 250);
  --Aliases-Icon-info: var(--Core-Label-blue-base);
  --Core-Label-red-base: rgb(221, 72, 64);
  --Aliases-Icon-error: var(--Core-Label-red-base);
  --Core-Neutral-neutral-6: rgb(174, 178, 183);
  --Aliases-Icon-default: var(--Core-Neutral-neutral-6);
  --Core-Label-green-base: rgb(125, 216, 121);
  --Aliases-Icon-success: var(--Core-Label-green-base);
  --Core-Label-orange-base: rgb(255, 158, 41);
  --Aliases-Icon-warning: var(--Core-Label-orange-base);
  --Core-Neutral-neutral-3: rgb(68, 71, 75);
  --Aliases-Icon-disabled: var(--Core-Neutral-neutral-3);
  --Core-Primary-app-base: rgb(98, 77, 227);
  --Aliases-Icon-selected: var(--Core-Primary-app-base);
}
:root[data-Dimensions="Mobile"] {
  --Base-dimension-02: 2px;
  --Radii-radius-01: var(--Base-dimension-02);
  --Base-dimension-08: 8px;
  --Radii-radius-02: var(--Base-dimension-08);
  --Base-dimension-04: 4px;
  --Base-dimension-12: 12px;
  --Base-dimension-16: 16px;
  --Base-dimension-24: 24px;
  --Base-dimension-32: 32px;
  --Spacings-spacing-01: var(--Base-dimension-02);
  --Spacings-spacing-02: var(--Base-dimension-04);
  --Spacings-spacing-03: var(--Base-dimension-12);
  --Spacings-spacing-04: var(--Base-dimension-16);
}
:root[data-Dimensions="Desktop"] {
  --Base-dimension-02: 2px;
  --Radii-radius-01: var(--Base-dimension-02);
  --Base-dimension-08: 8px;
  --Radii-radius-02: var(--Base-dimension-08);
  --Base-dimension-04: 4px;
  --Base-dimension-12: 12px;
  --Base-dimension-16: 16px;
  --Base-dimension-24: 24px;
  --Base-dimension-32: 32px;
  --Spacings-spacing-01: var(--Base-dimension-04);
  --Spacings-spacing-02: var(--Base-dimension-08);
  --Spacings-spacing-03: var(--Base-dimension-12);
  --Spacings-spacing-04: var(--Base-dimension-16);
}

We would like to improve this output according to your needs as much as we can. Feel free to share your feedback with us via:

• The community ↗

• The in-app chat