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REST API

A public REST API for the DESIGN.md format has not yet been released. The current tooling surface is the CLI (@google/design.md) and the file format itself.

Status: not yet available. The DESIGN.md format is currently at alpha status (as of April 2026). A programmatic API may be added in a future release. Watch the official GitHub repository for updates.

Current programmatic options

While a REST API is not yet available, there are two ways to work with DESIGN.md programmatically today:

1. CLI with JSON output

The lint command supports a --json flag that returns structured lint results:

npx @google/design.md lint DESIGN.md --json

# Output
{
  "passed": 7,
  "failed": 0,
  "rules": [
    { "rule": "yaml-valid", "status": "pass" },
    { "rule": "wcag-aa-contrast", "status": "pass" }
  ]
}

2. DTCG export as a data bridge

The export --format dtcg command outputs a structured tokens.json file that can be consumed by any tool that reads the W3C Design Tokens Community Group format — including Style Dictionary, Tokens Studio, and the Figma Variables API.

npx @google/design.md export --format dtcg DESIGN.md
# outputs: tokens.json

Official repository

The DESIGN.md format is published and maintained by Google Labs under the Apache 2.0 license. For updates on planned API endpoints, follow the project on GitHub:

github.com/google-labs-code/design.md

CLI Changelog