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 plug-ins 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. Image Credits: Figma 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 behavior 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. …