The Design System Schema

A comprehensive schema system for UI components that maximises context and outcomes for both humans and AI agents. Five interconnected schemas defining the future of government-grade design systems.

An Open Standard Design System Schema

Government-Grade Standards

Structured schemas meeting the highest security and compliance requirements for critical applications.

Human-AI Collaboration

Designed for seamless interaction between human developers and AI agents through structured metadata.

Contextual Metadata

Rich semantic information enabling better decision-making and automated component generation.

Overview

How the Design System Schema emerged from real‑world design system work and matured into a schema for AI‑assisted UI assembly.

  1. 2019

    CivicTheme founded

    Open-source, government‑grade design system established.

    civictheme.io
  2. 2020

    Early adoption

    CivicTheme adopted by Australian government agencies.

  3. 2022

    Scale

    65+ government websites published using CivicTheme.

  4. 2024

    Rich component schemas

    Documentation initiative created a detailed component page schema; CivicTheme recognised as an exemplar for structured metadata.

    docs.civictheme.io
  5. 2025

    From DS to AI schema

    Opportunity to evolve a gov‑grade schema into a UI‑kit component schema for AI agents, enabling LLMs to assemble compliant digital experiences.

Design System Schema logo

The Design System Schemas

A comprehensive schema system defining standardised patterns, metadata, and intelligence for government-grade design systems and AI-human collaboration.

Read the docs

System Schema

Foundation

Core metadata and configuration for entire design systems including distribution, requirements, and AI configuration.

system.schema.json

Key Features

  • System metadata
  • Distribution config
  • Platform requirements
  • AI integration

Component Schema

Core

Individual design system components with props, slots, platforms, relationships, and examples for comprehensive component definition.

component.schema.json

Key Features

  • Props & validation
  • Slot definitions
  • Platform support
  • Component relationships

Tokens Schema

Foundation

Design tokens for colors, typography, spacing, and other design primitives ensuring consistent visual language.

tokens.schema.json

Key Features

  • Color systems
  • Typography scale
  • Spacing units
  • Semantic tokens

Manifest Schema

Essential

Lightweight listing of available components providing quick discovery and navigation across the design system.

manifest.schema.json

Key Features

  • Component listing
  • Category organization
  • Intelligence flags
  • Quick discovery

Intelligence Schema

Advanced

AI-specific metadata and context for enhanced component understanding and automated generation capabilities.

intelligence.schema.json

Key Features

  • AI context hints
  • Generation patterns
  • Usage guidelines
  • Automation support

Who Is Involved

This initiative is driven by people with a mission to enable AI-driven government-grade digital experiences through foundational tools. Core contributors lead the work and we actively welcome contributions and support.

Ahmed Jabar

Ahmed Jabar

Core contributor

View profile
Tom MkV

Thomas Peterson

Core contributor

View profile
Salsa Digital

Salsa Digital

Funding & support

Visit website

Open to contributions and support

We welcome design, documentation, and code contributions. Organisations can also sponsor the work.