One token graph, not three copies of one.

A token system usually ends up existing three times: as Figma variables, as a JSON file in a repo, and as whatever the design tool exported last. Each copy drifts from the others, and the drift is invisible until a component renders with a colour nobody chose.

The usual fix is a conversion step: export from Figma, transform, commit. Every conversion is a place where a value can lose its type. A dimension becomes the string "16px", an easing curve becomes a name, a shadow becomes four unrelated numbers.

DAES Token Manager removes the conversion. Tokens are stored in the DTCG 2025.10 shape from the moment you type them, so what the editor holds, what the JSON view shows, and what gets pushed to the repository are the same object rather than three renderings of it.

Figma variables stay in the picture, because token sets map onto variable collections and modes. They are a projection of the token graph rather than the graph itself. That way variables keep doing what they are good at without capping what the system can express.

Colour is being migrated to the full 2025.10 shape; typography and gradient come after it. A guided wizard for scaffolding a three-tier system from scratch is drafted and waiting behind those. The order is deliberate: spec correctness first, convenience second.