Figma adds code layers and AI-powered tools to reshape design-to-development workflow

Figma adds code layers, support for animations, more AI features in new update

Figma on Wednesday showed off an update that adds a new code layer, support for motion and shaders, and the ability to create custom plugins for various tasks using AI. The design platform has been working on bringing code integration into its tool for a while. Last year, it unveiled an AI prompt-based prototyping tool, Figma Make, and has since launched integrations with Claude Code and Codex to improve the hand-off between coding and design. The company is now adding code layers directly to the collaborative canvas, helping teams clone repositories and extract flows from code to design layers for testing. Figma's chief product officer, Yuhki Yamashita, said code layers make it easier for designers, product managers and programmers to iterate on ideas rather than focus on creating pristine code that goes into production. "We think the multiplayer canvas is really powerful because this is an environment where you don't really care about the quality of the code. If you're rapidly exploring or need to kind of explore a bunch of new directions, you can do that in this spatial way. We hope that this feature produces different behaviour not just with designers, but also with engineers and PMs," he said over a call. Figma now also supports animations, transitions and 3D transforms. Previously, designers had to create animations in other software and convert it to code that the app could understand. Now, designers can integrate animations and transitions directly into Figma. You can now use AI to create some of these assets, and the update is adding support for adding shader effects and fills using AI, too. Figma acquired node-based tool Weavy, which helped designers run workflows through different models to compare outputs, last year, and is now working to integrate the two apps better. In an update rolling out later in the year, users will be able to generate Weavy workflows directly within Figma. The company's also adding new skills to make its AI assistant more useful with its collaborative canvas. Users can now write text prompts to create repeatable skills that AI agents can use. You can also connect tools like Notion, Granola, Excel and GitHub, or attach files to give the AI bot more context about what you want it to do. The company is also adding a feature to help users create custom plugins, like layout generators or vector path tracers, with prompts.

Figma now has AI motion graphics and shader tools

Otherwise, here's Figma's overview of everything that was announced: New creative materials to express ideas ● Code layers: Work directly with code on the Figma Design canvas. Clone repositories, generate new directions with Figma's agent, extract flows into editable design layers, and sync changes back to code. ● Motion: Design animations, transitions, and 3D transforms collaboratively, directly from Figma. Prompt to create animations with AI, apply preset styles, or adjust manually on a timeline. Motion is connected to design systems, code-backed, and ready to ship. ● Shaders: Prompt to build shader effects and fills, custom visual treatments powered by WebGPU. Effects that weren't available in Figma before, like dither, pixelate, and various blur types can now be created directly on the canvas. ● Figma Weave workflows: Generate consistent and high-quality visuals in Figma with 20 plus integrated Weave tools, turning complex AI workflows into simple tools on the canvas. This is the first step towards a full integration between Figma and Figma Weave, expected later this year. New intelligent tools for teams and agents to collaborate ● Agent skills and deeper context: Turn repetitive work into skills that entire teams can use to work more precisely and consistently with Figma's agent. Bring in more context with third party connectors, web search, and file attachments. ● Generative plugins: Extend Figma's capabilities by building custom, reusable plugins with the agent. Turn prompts into tools that can be tweaked and shared -- no developer setup or technical skills required.

Figma adds code layers to the canvas and lets users build custom AI plugins at Config 2026

Figma launched code layers, native animations, AI shader effects, custom AI skills, and prompt-built plugins at its Config 2026 conference. Figma used the opening keynote of its Config 2026 conference on Wednesday to unveil code layers, a feature that brings executable code directly onto the collaborative design canvas. Teams can now clone repositories and extract flows from code into design layers for testing, collapsing a handoff step that has defined the design-to-development workflow for over a decade. The announcement came alongside native animation and motion support, AI-generated shader effects, new AI skills for Figma's design assistant, and the ability to create custom plugins through text prompts. The updates were presented at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, where in-person tickets had sold out ahead of the three-day event. Chief product officer Yuhki Yamashita said code layers are designed to change how designers, product managers, and engineers collaborate on ideas. He told TechCrunch the multiplayer canvas is powerful because teams exploring new directions do not need to worry about code quality. The spatial format, he said, lets them iterate without the pressure of writing production-ready code. The code layer feature works within Figma Sites and is backed by custom React code. Users can convert components to code layers, use AI chat to build and modify them, or edit directly in Figma's code composer. The system supports npm packages including motion libraries and 3D frameworks, enabling interactive elements from dropdown menus to shader effects without leaving the canvas. Figma also added native support for animations, transitions, and 3D transforms. Previously, designers had to create motion work in external software and convert it into code that Figma could interpret. The update eliminates that step, letting designers build and preview animations directly inside their design files while also adding AI-generated shader fills and effects created through prompts. The company is also deepening its integration with Figma Weave, the product it built from its acquisition of node-based AI media tool Weavy last October. Figma launched its own AI design agent last month, and the Config updates extend that agent with new capabilities. Users can now write text prompts to create repeatable skills that the AI assistant can execute, and they can connect external tools like Notion, Granola, Excel, and GitHub to give the agent richer context. A separate update, rolling out later this year, will let users generate Weavy workflows directly within Figma, tightening the connection between the two platforms. The Weavy acquisition, which brought a node-based canvas for combining multiple AI models with professional editing tools, has until now operated as a standalone product at its own URL. Figma is also adding prompt-based custom plugin creation. Users can describe what they want, such as a layout generator or a vector path tracer, and Figma will build the plugin. The feature extends the platform's existing plugin ecosystem, which already hosts thousands of community-built tools, by lowering the barrier from writing code to writing a sentence. The updates arrive at a complicated moment for Figma's business. The company's first-quarter revenue grew 46 percent year over year to 333 million dollars, and its net dollar retention rate hit 139 percent, the highest in more than two years. But AI coding tools like OpenAI's Codex are expanding from developer tools into enterprise platforms that can generate interfaces from text prompts, threatening to bypass design tools entirely. Figma went public in July 2025 at a 20 billion dollar valuation. Its stock has since fallen roughly 79 percent, trading around 24 dollars, as investors question whether traditional design software can defend its position against AI-native competitors. The competitive pressure is broad. Canva launched its own AI foundation model in March, Adobe's Firefly holds 41 percent business adoption, and Google unveiled Pics, an AI design tool inside Workspace, at I/O 2026. The code layers announcement is Figma's answer to that pressure, an argument that the design canvas should absorb code rather than be replaced by it. If engineers can prototype directly on the canvas alongside designers, the tool becomes harder to route around with a text prompt to a coding agent. Yamashita framed the feature as producing "different behaviour not just with designers, but also with engineers and PMs." Whether that behaviour materialises will depend on whether product teams actually adopt code layers as a collaboration surface or continue treating design and development as separate disciplines with a handoff in between.