Figma Adds Design Specs and Opens Code Layers to Public Beta

Figma has introduced a Markdown editor for design rules, opened code-based canvas layers to public beta and begun integrating Payload with Figma Make, adding tools for teams using AI in product design.

Called Figma Specs, the editor gives design teams a place to record visual guidelines in Markdown. Specs can be kept as a standalone Figma file or added to a design canvas. Users can connect the document to elements in Figma and embed FigJam diagrams, code layers and designs, keeping reference material close to the work it describes.

Teams can also include design libraries, code libraries and guidelines as shared context for their design systems. Figma’s canvas agent and third-party agents can use that reference to follow a team’s rules while creating or changing designs. Figma expanded access to its canvas agent last week; its new tools are intended to steer AI toward more predictable results.

Code layers, first announced in private beta in June, are now available in public beta. The feature adds code to a Figma canvas for building interactive prototypes. Users can ask the agent to turn a design into code or revise part of the code as they iterate.

Figma is also integrating Payload, the open-source headless content management system it acquired last year, with Figma Make. The product is designed to generate dynamic websites and manage their content directly. Payload downloads increased sixfold over the past 12 months.

The company is adding support for more than 20 tools through its MCP, including Open Code, Dia, Grok Bot and Sarvam, an Indian AI startup. The announcements came during Figma’s first Config event in India.

Figma opened its first office in India late last year, with sales, partnerships, go-to-market and product support functions. India is Figma’s largest user market outside the United States. Figma’s platform is used by 40% of India’s 100 largest companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange.