Component library build for product teams using TypeScript

Build production-ready components with accessibility, documentation, and governance. Tailored for product teams shipping with TypeScript.

Use this playbook to scope work, align design and engineering, and avoid the failure modes we see most often on TypeScript teams.

Who this is for: product teams shipping component library build on TypeScript.

Typical constraints: designers embedded in squads, OKR pressure, mixed skill levels.

Success looks like: Faster feature delivery with fewer UI bugs in QA.

TypeScript focus areas: Export discriminated unions for variant props instead of loose strings.; Generate docs from types where possible (Storybook docgen, TSDoc)..

Watch for: Over-wide props types that accept any string and hide invalid combinations

• Every squad ships slightly different buttons, forms, and modals
• Storybook exists but stories do not match production usage
• Props APIs grow organically and become hard to learn
• Visual regressions slip through because testing is manual
• Over-wide props types that accept any string and hide invalid combinations
• Breaking changes shipped without codemods or deprecation warnings
• Duplicate type definitions between design tokens and component props

1. Prioritize components by traffic, rework cost, and a11y risk.
2. Define composition patterns before building one-off variants.
3. Document states, edge cases, and keyboard behavior in Storybook.
4. Pilot with one product squad, then expand with measured adoption metrics.

TypeScript specifics:

• Export discriminated unions for variant props instead of loose strings.
• Generate docs from types where possible (Storybook docgen, TSDoc).
• Strict mode for the library package even if app code is gradual.

• Core component set with typed props and a11y baselines
• Storybook docs with usage dos/don'ts
• Visual regression or interaction test hooks
• Contribution guide and review checklist