Specify
Specify was a Paris-based SaaS platform, founded in 2021, that centralized and automated design token distribution between design tools (Figma) and code repositories (GitHub, npm, Notion) via a REST API, CLI, and SDK for product and design system teams.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersParis, France
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Specify does
Specify was a Paris-based SaaS company founded in 2021 that operated a Design Token Engine — a centralized repository and API for collecting, storing, and distributing design tokens and assets across design and code tools. The platform connected sources such as Figma (Styles, Figma Variables) and Tokens Studio to destinations including GitHub (via automated pull requests), npm (versioned packages), Notion (documentation), and Raycast (developer launcher). It supported over 50 design token types (colors, text styles, shadows, dimensions, bitmaps, vectors, fonts) and exported to formats including CSS, Tailwind, React Native, Flutter, Swift, Kotlin, TypeScript, and Style Dictionary. Underlying technology included a REST API (api.specifyapp.com/v2), a Specify CLI for CI/CD pipelines, a TypeScript SDK, and the proprietary-yet-open Specify Design Token Format (SDTF).
The company monetized through tiered SaaS subscriptions with a freemium entry point, combining product-led growth (self-serve signup, free tier, GitHub/npm/CLI distribution) with an enterprise inside-sales motion via personalized demos. Customers spanned enterprise design system teams (Carrefour, Epic Games, Comcast Business, Dashlane, Ruter, Dept, Autodoc, Dana) and product startups (Pitch, Strapi, Census, Basket, Make Music, In The Pocket, MaxRewards, Pelo Studio). Marketing was developer-centric, anchored by a technical blog, comprehensive documentation, an active Discord community, open-source GitHub repositories, and a Product Hunt launch cadence.
Following a €4 million seed round in February 2022 led by Eurazeo (with Bpifrance Digital Venture, 360 Capital, and Seedcamp), Specify expanded its integration ecosystem and achieved SOC 2 Type II certification in January 2024. On October 25, 2024, the company announced it was sunsetting the platform, discontinuing operations.
Specify firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Specify
- Legal name
- SPECIFY
- Website
- https://specifyapp.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Closed
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Specify was a Paris-based SaaS platform, founded in 2021, that centralized and automated design token distribution between design tools (Figma) and code repositories (GitHub, npm, Notion) via a REST API, CLI, and SDK for product and design system teams.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Specify is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Paris
- HQ country
- France
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Specify business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- SaaS Subscription: Cloud-based design token management platform with tiered pricing plans for teams of different sizes. Supports 50+ design token types including colors, text styles, shadows, dimensions, bitmaps, vectors, and font files.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free tier available for individual/small team use |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels9 records
Specify product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Specify is a Design Token Engine that serves as a central repository and API for collecting, storing, and distributing design tokens and brand assets. It connects design tools such as Figma and Tokens Studio to code destinations including GitHub, npm, Notion, and CLI/SDK environments, enabling automated design-to-code synchronization across teams and platforms. The platform supports over 50 design token types (colors, text styles, shadows, dimensions, bitmaps, vectors, font files) and exports to CSS, Tailwind, React Native, Flutter, Swift, Kotlin, TypeScript, Style Dictionary, and other formats.
Product overview
Specify is a Design Token Engine that serves as a central repository and API for design tokens and assets, connecting design tools (Figma, Figma Variables, Tokens Studio) to code destinations (GitHub, npm, Notion, Raycast, Bitbucket, GitLab, Azure DevOps). The platform consists of the core Specify Platform (collecting and distributing design tokens), the Specify Design Token Format (SDTF) as the underlying data format, the Specify CLI and SDK for programmatic access, the HTTP API for integrations, and the Raycast Extension for quick token consumption. The product supports over 50 token types and exports to CSS, Tailwind, React Native, Flutter, Swift, Kotlin, TypeScript, Style Dictionary, and more.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Specify Platform Core SaaS Design Token Engine serving as a central repository and API for design tokens and assets. Connects design tools (Figma, Tokens Studio) to code destinations (GitHub, npm, Notion, etc.) and supports over 50 design token types.
- Specify Design Token Format (SDTF) Open-format folder structure (Design System Package) that standardizes how design tokens and assets are shared across design and code tools, supporting aliases and modes for collaboration between designers and engineers.
- Specify CLI Command-line interface installed via npm/yarn for pulling design tokens and assets from Specify directly from the terminal or in CI/CD pipelines (GitHub Actions, GitLab CI/CD, Azure DevOps, Bitbucket Pipelines).
- Specify SDK Software development kit available via npm/YARN (@specifyapp/sdk, @specifyapp/specify-design-token-format) that enables developers to run parsers locally, filter and update tokens, and convert tokens to specific formats (CSS, Swift, Kotlin, TypeScript) directly within their codebase.
- Specify HTTP API REST-based HTTP API accessible at api.specifyapp.com/v2, currently read-only on design data, using Personal Access Token authentication. Primary endpoint is POST /parsers-engine-rpc for executing the Parsers Engine against a given input and Parsers Rules.
- Raycast Extension Native Raycast desktop extension allowing users to search and consume design tokens (colors, text styles, bitmaps, vectors), copy hex/RGBA values, and access API documentation directly from the Raycast launcher.
- Notion as a Destination Pipeline that automatically synchronizes design tokens (colors, text styles, measurements, vectors, bitmaps) from Figma to Notion pages, enabling always-up-to-date design system documentation in Notion workspaces.
- npm as a Destination Pipeline that distributes design tokens as npm packages (private or public), enabling versioning, automation, and reuse across multiple teams and projects in the JavaScript ecosystem.
- Config Templates Ready-to-use open-source configuration templates available on GitHub for extracting design tokens as CSS Custom Properties, Tailwind themes, React Native themes, Flutter themes, and SDTF/JSON formats.
Quantifiable outcome
- Reduced manual handoff time between design and development teams
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Specify
Customer profileNamed customers17 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Specify technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration10 records
AI capability2 records
Feature7 records
Specify partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core integration and key integration.
- Figmacore integrationNative integration for collecting design tokens from Figma Styles, Figma Variables, and Tokens Studio. Primary source for design data collection.
- GitHubcore integrationNative integration for distributing design tokens via automated pull requests. Specify GitHub app creates PRs automatically when design changes are detected.
- Notionkey integrationDestination integration for documenting and maintaining design tokens in Notion workspaces with automatic synchronization.
- Raycastkey integrationRaycast extension for searching and consuming design tokens (colors, bitmaps, vectors) directly from the desktop launcher.
- npmkey integrationDestination for publishing design tokens as npm packages with versioning support for team and project distribution.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Specify competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Tokens Studio: Figma plugin and SaaS for syncing design tokens to codebases. Directly competes with Specify's core token management workflow and integrates with the same ecosystem of code destinations.
- Style Dictionary: Amazon-built open-source framework for transforming design tokens into platform-specific formats. Overlaps heavily with Specify's Parsers Engine and output destinations such as CSS, Swift, and Kotlin.
- Supernova: Design system platform offering token management, code generation, and documentation. Targets the same enterprise design-system teams with a parallel feature set.
- Backlight: Design system platform combining documentation, token management, and component libraries. Competes for the same design-system-team budgets and workflows.
- Zeplin: Design-to-code handoff platform with token export capabilities. Targets the same designer-developer workflow but is more focused on screen-level specs than full token automation.
- Anima: Figma-to-code platform with design token and component syncing. Competes for the same designer-developer automation use cases Specify addressed.
- zeroheight: Design system documentation platform with token display and code snippet generation. Directly overlaps with Specify's Notion-as-destination documentation feature.
Broad incumbents
- Figma: Dominant design platform with native Variables, Styles, and tokens features that increasingly overlapped with Specify's core value proposition — both the primary data source and a major competitive threat.
Emerging players
- Storybook: Open-source component explorer and documentation tool widely used alongside design systems. Adjacent in the design-system workflow with overlap in documentation use cases.
- Bit: Component-driven development and sharing platform. Competes in design-system component distribution but with a different primary focus on component reuse across apps and repos.
Market position
Strengths3 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Specify social profiles
Digital presenceSpecify compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Specify financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Specify leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Specify funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors4 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Specify M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Specify
What does Specify do?
Specify is a Design Token Engine that serves as a central repository and API for collecting, storing, and distributing design tokens and brand assets. It connects design tools such as Figma and Tokens Studio to code destinations including GitHub, npm, Notion, and CLI/SDK environments, enabling automated design-to-code synchronization across teams and platforms. The platform supports over 50 design token types (colors, text styles, shadows, dimensions, bitmaps, vectors, font files) and exports to CSS, Tailwind, React Native, Flutter, Swift, Kotlin, TypeScript, Style Dictionary, and other formats.
Is Specify a public or private company?
Specify is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently closed.
When was Specify founded?
Specify was founded in 2021. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Specify based?
Specify is headquartered in Paris, France, in the Europe region.
How does Specify make money?
One revenue line is on record: saaS Subscription.
Who are Specify's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Tokens Studio, Style Dictionary, Supernova, Backlight, Zeplin, Anima and zeroheight. Figma is listed as a broad incumbent. Emerging players are Storybook and Bit.
Does Specify have an API?
Yes. Specify offers a REST-based HTTP API accessible at https://api.specifyapp.com/v2. The API is currently read-only on design data and uses Personal Access Token (PAT) authentication via the Authorization header. The primary endpoint is POST /parsers-engine-rpc, which executes the Parsers Engine against a given input and Parsers Rules. The Specify SDK (@specifyapp/sdk, @specifyapp/specify-design-token-format) is available via npm/YARN and supports JavaScript/TypeScript for running parsers locally, filtering tokens, updating tokens, and converting tokens to specific formats (CSS, Style Dictionary, Swift, Kotlin, JavaScript, TypeScript). Developer documentation is at docs.specifyapp.com.