Figma is pushing its design platform closer to the world of software development with a major product update that brings code layers, native motion tools, AI-generated visual effects and prompt-built plugins into the same workspace.
The company announced the new features at Config 2026, its annual conference for designers, developers and product teams. The update signals a larger change in Figma’s strategy. The platform is no longer only trying to help teams design screens. It now wants to become a shared canvas where ideas can move from visual design to animation, code and AI-assisted production without leaving the file.
Figma described the update as part of a broader effort to make the canvas more expressive. In its announcement, the company said, “No tool should limit where an idea can go.” That line explains the direction of the release. Figma is adding new materials to the canvas so designers can work with code, motion, shaders and AI tools in a more connected way.
Code Comes to the Canvas
The most important announcement is code layers, a new feature that allows users to bring working code directly into Figma Design. Instead of treating code as something that appears only after a design handoff, Figma wants code to sit beside shapes, images, frames and components inside the same collaborative canvas.
With code layers, teams will be able to turn design layers into interactive code layers, duplicate code-backed ideas and compare different product directions side by side. Figma says users will also be able to move from code back into editable design layers, then update the code layer again when the design changes.
The company framed this as a change in how teams should think about design and development. “Code is material, just like images, vectors and design layers,” Figma said in its announcement. That is a direct challenge to the traditional workflow where designers create mockups, developers rebuild them and product managers review the result in another environment.
For product teams, the appeal is clear. A designer could test an interaction with working code. A developer could see how a design behaves before it reaches a production branch. A product manager could review multiple ideas in one shared file instead of following a chain of screenshots, prototypes and links.
Code layers are not fully available to everyone yet. Figma says the feature is in closed beta, with early access starting through a waitlist.
Motion Tools Arrive Inside Figma
Figma is also adding native motion support, giving designers a timeline for building animations directly inside the platform. The new Figma Motion feature includes presets, keyframes, easing curves, spring animations and support for animated components.
This is a meaningful update because motion has become a core part of modern product design. App transitions, onboarding screens, loading states, hover effects and micro-interactions often define how polished a digital product feels. Until now, many teams had to create those animations in separate tools or describe them in notes for developers to rebuild later.
Figma Motion reduces that separation. Designers can create animations in the same file where the interface is designed. They can start with preset motion styles, build animations manually or ask Figma’s AI agent to create a first version from a text prompt. After that, the animation can be adjusted on the timeline.
The company says Figma Motion is rolling out in open beta. It will be available across all plans, though some advanced actions, such as publishing animated components, generating animations with the Figma agent and high-resolution video exports, require a Full seat on a paid plan.
AI Moves Beyond Text Prompts
The update also expands Figma’s AI features beyond simple design generation. Users can now use the Figma agent to create custom shader effects and fills. These effects can produce visual treatments such as blur, pixelation, dither, gradients and other graphics that were previously harder to build directly in Figma.
The shader tools are powered by WebGPU and can be created through natural language prompts. A user can describe the effect they want, and the Figma agent generates it. The result can then be adjusted with native controls instead of being treated as a flat imported image.
This matters because visual design teams often need custom looks for brand systems, campaigns, product launches and app interfaces. AI-generated shaders could help teams explore more visual directions faster, while still keeping the work editable on the canvas.
Figma is also bringing Weave tools into Figma Design. Weave is the company’s AI creative platform for image, video, animation and visual effects workflows. The first step of the integration brings more than 20 AI-powered tools into the design canvas, with deeper integration expected later.
Prompt-Built Plugins
Another major part of the update is generative plugins. These allow users to create small custom tools by prompting the Figma agent. Instead of writing a plugin from scratch in a separate development setup, a designer can describe what they need and have Figma build a reusable tool inside the file.
These plugins could help with tasks such as sorting layers, applying spacing rules, updating colors, organizing layouts, replacing text or preparing design files for review. Figma says generative plugins will feel native to the platform and use Figma’s own interface controls.
The company also made clear that classic plugins are not going away. Developers will still be able to build and publish plugins through the traditional route. The new system simply adds another path for teams that need quick workflow tools but do not have time or technical support to build them manually.
At launch, generative plugins live inside the user’s file and are available across that user’s own design files. Figma says it plans to support public publishing to the Community and private publishing inside organizations in the coming months.
Smarter Agent for Teams
Figma’s design agent is also getting new team-focused abilities. The agent can now support custom skills, search the web, use external tool connections through Model Context Protocol and accept file attachments, including images, text files, code files, PDFs and spreadsheets.
These changes are meant to give the agent more context. Instead of responding only to a general prompt, it can work with a team’s files, conventions, outside information and repeated workflows. That could help teams use AI for feedback, layout generation, content updates and routine cleanup without losing touch with their own design systems.
Figma is also changing how agent conversations work inside teams. New conversation threads with the agent are visible by default to people in the same organization or team who have the right access to the file. Older threads stay private unless users choose to make them public.
That change shows Figma’s larger view of AI as a collaborative tool, not only a private assistant. The company wants AI work to become part of the shared design process, where teammates can see, reuse and improve the agent’s output.
Design and Development Get Closer
The new update lands at a moment when design tools are under pressure to adapt to AI-assisted software creation. Developers are already using coding assistants to build interfaces faster. Designers are using AI tools to generate assets, layouts and prototypes. Product teams now want fewer handoffs and faster movement from idea to working experience.
Figma is responding by making its canvas more flexible. Code layers bring development closer to design. Motion tools bring animation into the same file. Shaders and Weave tools bring richer visual production onto the canvas. Generative plugins let teams automate their own repeated tasks.
Still, the update does not remove the need for human judgment. AI-generated animations, code-backed prototypes and visual effects still need review for quality, accessibility, brand consistency and performance. The value of Figma’s approach is not that AI replaces the design process. It is that more parts of that process can now happen in one shared place.
As Figma put it in its announcement, “Designers, creatives, builders: You will raise the ceiling.” With code layers, motion tools and a wider set of AI features, the company is betting that the next stage of product design will be less about static mockups and more about building, testing and refining ideas directly on the canvas.
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