Design tokens tell code which values to use. Skill files tell AI how to think about them.
Tokens are the what. Skill files are the why.
A token file says radius.lg is 14px. A skill file explains when to use it: cards and dialogs, but never buttons inside a table. That's the gap between a value and a decision.
I write one skill file per area: color, typography, layout and components. When Claude Code builds a screen, it reads them first. The result looks like our product, not like a generic AI demo.