Certain general features of the human CD1 T cell repertoire are beginning to come into view.  When a cohort of CD1 proteins arrives at the cell surface it displays many ligands for recognition by lipid-antigen specific T cell receptors (TCRs).  Mass spectrometry of cellular CD1-lipid complexes identifies many hundreds of self ligands that comprise a CD1 lipidome.  The known antigens for the CD1 system include sphingolipids, phospholipids, glycolipids, sulfolipids, lipopeptides, fatty acids, wax esters and skin oils.  Therefore, within any single human, the spectrum of TCRs responding to lipids is more diverse than the familiar Va24⁺ TCRs expressed on NKT cells.  Conversely, human CD1a, CD1b and CD1c tetramers have revealed TCR patterns that can be easily recognized among unrelated donors.  The unexpectedly high intradonor TCR complexity and low interdonor TCR variance contrast with certain features the MHC system and have implications for developing biomedical technology using lipid antigens.