What it does
Salesforce Lightning Design System provides styles, themes and component blueprints for interfaces matching Lightning Experience. SLDS 2 uses CSS styling hooks; the shared component blueprints remain on the SLDS 1 site.
Lightning Design System helps custom Salesforce interfaces fit the surrounding application. Start with the Lightning Component Reference to find an existing base component. Its documented variants and utility classes can handle changes such as button treatment or spacing without depending on internal markup.
When no base component fits, find the closest blueprint in the SLDS 1 catalogue, which also serves SLDS 2. Copy its HTML and CSS into your component and add the required application logic. Blueprint device-support labels distinguish adaptive, responsive and desktop-only designs. Copied blueprints need manual updates when they change; Salesforce maintains its base components automatically.
SLDS 2 separates structure and visual styling through CSS custom properties. The version-comparison guide currently says component hooks named --slds-c-* are not supported in SLDS 2 and recommends staying on SLDS 1 for components that depend on them.
The public guidance and source repository can be read without an account. Source code is BSD-3-Clause licensed; icons and images use Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0, so their reuse terms differ from the code.
Strengths
- The markup and CSS target an established application design language.
- Blueprints state their intended device support.
- Base components, utility classes and styling hooks provide documented customization routes.
Watch out for
- Copied blueprint markup requires manual maintenance when the blueprint changes.
- The current SLDS 2 guidance does not support component hooks named --slds-c-*.
- Icons and images have different licence terms from the code.
Best for
- Teams designing application experiences in the Salesforce ecosystem
Sources
- salesforce-ux/design-system (Oct 27, 2026)
- Style Components with Lightning Design System (Oct 27, 2026)
- Compare Salesforce Lightning Design System Versions (Oct 27, 2026)
- Create a Component from an SLDS Blueprint (Oct 27, 2026)