ninehills/extract

Identify reusable patterns, components, and design tokens, then extract and consolidate them into the design system for systematic reuse.

Discover

Analyze the target area to identify extraction opportunities:

1. Find the design system: Locate your design system, component library, or shared UI directory (grep for "design system", "ui", "components", etc.). Understand its structure:

   • Component organization and naming conventions
   • Design token structure (if any)
   • Documentation patterns
   • Import/export conventions

   CRITICAL: If no design system exists, ask before creating one. Understand the preferred location and structure first.

2. Identify patterns: Look for:

   • Repeated components: Similar UI patterns used multiple times (buttons, cards, inputs, etc.)
   • Hard-coded values: Colors, spacing, typography, shadows that should be tokens
   • Inconsistent variations: Multiple implementations of the same concept (3 different button styles)
   • Reusable patterns: Layout patterns, composition patterns, interaction patterns worth systematizing

3. Assess value: Not everything should be extracted. Consider:

   • Is this used 3+ times, or likely to be reused?
   • Would systematizing this improve consistency?
   • Is this a general pattern or context-specific?
   • What's the maintenance cost vs benefit?

Plan Extraction

Create a systematic extraction plan:

• Components to extract: Which UI elements become reusable components?
• Tokens to create: Which hard-coded values become design tokens?
• Variants to support: What variations does each component need?
• Naming conventions: Component names, token names, prop names that match existing patterns
• Migration path: How to refactor existing uses to consume the new shared versions

IMPORTANT: Design systems grow incrementally. Extract what's clearly reusable now, not everything that might someday be reusable.

Extract & Enrich

Build improved, reusable versions:

• Components: Create well-designed components with:

  • Clear props API with sensible defaults
  • Proper variants for different use cases
  • Accessibility built in (ARIA, keyboard navigation, focus management)
  • Documentation and usage examples

• Design tokens: Create tokens with:

  • Clear naming (primitive vs semantic)
  • Proper hierarchy and organization
  • Documentation of when to use each token

• Patterns: Document patterns with:

  • When to use this pattern
  • Code examples
  • Variations and combinations

NEVER:

• Extract one-off, context-specific implementations without generalization
• Create components so generic they're useless
• Extract without considering existing design system conventions
• Skip proper TypeScript types or prop documentation
• Create tokens for every single value (tokens should have semantic meaning)

Migrate

Replace existing uses with the new shared versions:

• Find all instances: Search for the patterns you've extracted
• Replace systematically: Update each use to consume the shared version
• Test thoroughly: Ensure visual and functional parity
• Delete dead code: Remove the old implementations

Document

Update design system documentation:

• Add new components to the component library
• Document token usage and values
• Add examples and guidelines
• Update any Storybook or component catalog

Remember: A good design system is a living system. Extract patterns as they emerge, enrich them thoughtfully, and maintain them consistently.