Figma Developer

Turn Figma designs into production-ready code.

Core Principle

Design is the single source of truth.

Designers work in Figma. Developers build from Figma. The bridge between them should be automated, not manual.

---

Phase 1: Setup & Authentication

Get Figma Access Token

1. Go to Figma Settings
2. Scroll to "Personal access tokens"
3. Click "Generate new token"
4. Name it (e.g., "Development")
5. Copy and save securely

Environment Setup

# .env
FIGMA_ACCESS_TOKEN=figd_...

Install Figma Client

npm install node-fetch

Test Connection

import { FigmaClient } from '@/integrations/design-tools/figma/client'

const client = new FigmaClient({
  accessToken: process.env.FIGMA_ACCESS_TOKEN
})

// Test with a public file
const file = await client.getFile('abc123xyz')
console.log('Connected! File:', file.name)

---

Phase 2: Extract Design Tokens

What Are Design Tokens?

Design tokens are design decisions (colors, typography, spacing) stored as code.

Benefits:

• Single source of truth
• Consistent across platforms
• Easy to update
• Type-safe

Extract Tokens from Figma

// scripts/sync-design-tokens.ts

import { FigmaClient } from '@/integrations/design-tools/figma/client'
import fs from 'fs/promises'

async function syncDesignTokens() {
  const client = new FigmaClient()
  const fileKey = 'YOUR_FIGMA_FILE_KEY'

  console.log('Extracting design tokens...')

  // Extract tokens
  const tokens = await client.extractDesignTokens(fileKey)

  console.log(`Found:`)
  console.log(`  ${tokens.colors.length} colors`)
  console.log(`  ${tokens.typography.length} text styles`)
  console.log(`  ${tokens.spacing.length} spacing values`)

  // Export as CSS
  const css = await client.exportTokensAsCSS(fileKey)
  await fs.writeFile('src/styles/design-tokens.css', css)

  // Export as JSON
  const json = await client.exportTokensAsJSON(fileKey)
  await fs.writeFile('src/styles/design-tokens.json', json)

  console.log('Design tokens synced!')
}

syncDesignTokens()

Use Tokens in Code

// src/styles/design-tokens.css
:root {
  /* Colors */
  --color-primary: #0066cc;
  --color-secondary: #10b981;
  --color-neutral-100: #f9fafb;
  --color-neutral-900: #111827;

  /* Typography */
  --font-heading-family: Inter;
  --font-heading-size: 48px;
  --font-heading-weight: 700;

  /* Spacing */
  --space-4: 16px;
  --space-8: 32px;
}

Usage in React:

// components/Button.tsx

export function Button({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
  return (
    <button
      style={{
        backgroundColor: 'var(--color-primary)',
        color: 'white',
        padding: 'var(--space-4)',
        fontFamily: 'var(--font-heading-family)',
        fontWeight: 'var(--font-heading-weight)',
        border: 'none',
        borderRadius: '8px',
        cursor: 'pointer'
      }}
    >
      {children}
    </button>
  )
}

---

Phase 3: Export Assets

Export Icons as SVG

// scripts/export-icons.ts

import { FigmaClient } from '@/integrations/design-tools/figma/client'
import fs from 'fs/promises'

async function exportIcons() {
  const client = new FigmaClient()
  const fileKey = 'YOUR_FIGMA_FILE_KEY'

  // Get file
  const file = await client.getFile(fileKey)

  // Find "Icons" frame
  const iconsFrame = findNode(file.document, 'Icons')

  if (!iconsFrame || !iconsFrame.children) {
    throw new Error('Icons frame not found')
  }

  console.log(`Found ${iconsFrame.children.length} icons`)

  // Export as SVG
  const iconIds = iconsFrame.children.map(child => child.id)
  const svgs = await client.exportImages(fileKey, iconIds, {
    format: 'svg'
  })

  // Save each SVG
  for (const svg of svgs) {
    const response = await fetch(svg.url)
    const content = await response.text()
    await fs.writeFile(`public/icons/${svg.name}.svg`, content)
    console.log(`  ✓ ${svg.name}.svg`)
  }

  console.log('Icons exported!')
}

function findNode(node: any, name: string): any {
  if (node.name === name) return node
  if (node.children) {
    for (const child of node.children) {
      const found = findNode(child, name)
      if (found) return found
    }
  }
  return null
}

exportIcons()

Generate React Icon Components

// scripts/generate-icon-components.ts

import { FigmaClient } from '@/integrations/design-tools/figma/client'
import fs from 'fs/promises'

async function generateIconComponents() {
  const client = new FigmaClient()
  const fileKey = 'YOUR_FIGMA_FILE_KEY'

  const file = await client.getFile(fileKey)
  const iconsFrame = findNode(file.document, 'Icons')

  if (!iconsFrame || !iconsFrame.children) {
    throw new Error('Icons frame not found')
  }

  // Export icons
  const iconIds = iconsFrame.children.map(child => child.id)
  const svgs = await client.exportImages(fileKey, iconIds, {
    format: 'svg'
  })

  // Generate React components
  for (const svg of svgs) {
    const response = await fetch(svg.url)
    const svgContent = await response.text()

    // Convert to React component
    const componentName = toPascalCase(svg.name)
    const component = `
import React from 'react'

export function ${componentName}Icon(props: React.SVGProps<SVGSVGElement>) {
  return (
    ${svgContent.replace('<svg', '<svg {...props}')}
  )
}
    `.trim()

    await fs.writeFile(`components/icons/${componentName}Icon.tsx`, component)
    console.log(`  ✓ ${componentName}Icon.tsx`)
  }

  // Generate index file
  const indexContent = svgs
    .map(svg => {
      const componentName = toPascalCase(svg.name)
      return `export { ${componentName}Icon } from './${componentName}Icon'`
    })
    .join('\n')

  await fs.writeFile('components/icons/index.ts', indexContent)

  console.log('Icon components generated!')
}

function toPascalCase(str: string): string {
  return str
    .split(/[-_\s]+/)
    .map(word => word.charAt(0).toUpperCase() + word.slice(1).toLowerCase())
    .join('')
}

function findNode(node: any, name: string): any {
  if (node.name === name) return node
  if (node.children) {
    for (const child of node.children) {
      const found = findNode(child, name)
      if (found) return found
    }
  }
  return null
}

generateIconComponents()

Usage:

import { HomeIcon, UserIcon, SettingsIcon } from '@/components/icons'

export function Navigation() {
  return (
    <nav>
      <HomeIcon width={24} height={24} />
      <UserIcon width={24} height={24} />
      <SettingsIcon width={24} height={24} />
    </nav>
  )
}

---

Phase 4: Component Generation

Extract Component Structure

// scripts/extract-components.ts

import { FigmaClient } from '@/integrations/design-tools/figma/client'

async function extractComponents() {
  const client = new FigmaClient()
  const fileKey = 'YOUR_FIGMA_FILE_KEY'

  // Get components
  const components = await client.getFileComponents(fileKey)

  console.log('Components:')
  for (const [key, component] of Object.entries(components)) {
    console.log(`  ${component.name}`)
    console.log(`    Key: ${component.key}`)
    console.log(`    Description: ${component.description}`)
  }

  // Get component sets (variants)
  const componentSets = await client.getComponentSets(fileKey)

  console.log('\nComponent Sets:')
  for (const [setId, variants] of Object.entries(componentSets)) {
    console.log(`  Set: ${setId}`)
    for (const variant of variants) {
      console.log(`    - ${variant.name}`)
    }
  }
}

extractComponents()

Generate Button Component from Figma

// scripts/generate-button.ts

import { FigmaClient } from '@/integrations/design-tools/figma/client'
import fs from 'fs/promises'

async function generateButtonComponent() {
  const client = new FigmaClient()
  const fileKey = 'YOUR_FIGMA_FILE_KEY'

  // Get button component
  const components = await client.getFileComponents(fileKey)
  const buttonComponent = Object.values(components).find(
    c => c.name.toLowerCase().includes('button')
  )

  if (!buttonComponent) {
    throw new Error('Button component not found')
  }

  // Get component node
  const file = await client.getFile(fileKey)
  const buttonNode = findNodeById(file.document, buttonComponent.key)

  if (!buttonNode) {
    throw new Error('Button node not found')
  }

  // Extract styles
  const styles = extractStyles(buttonNode)

  // Generate React component
  const component = `
import React from 'react'

interface ButtonProps {
  variant?: 'primary' | 'secondary' | 'ghost'
  size?: 'sm' | 'md' | 'lg'
  children: React.ReactNode
  onClick?: () => void
}

export function Button({
  variant = 'primary',
  size = 'md',
  children,
  onClick
}: ButtonProps) {
  const baseStyles = {
    fontFamily: '${styles.fontFamily}',
    fontWeight: ${styles.fontWeight},
    fontSize: '${styles.fontSize}px',
    padding: '${styles.padding}',
    borderRadius: '${styles.borderRadius}px',
    border: 'none',
    cursor: 'pointer',
    transition: 'all 0.2s'
  }

  const variantStyles = {
    primary: {
      backgroundColor: '${styles.backgroundColor}',
      color: '${styles.color}'
    },
    secondary: {
      backgroundColor: 'transparent',
      color: '${styles.backgroundColor}',
      border: '2px solid ${styles.backgroundColor}'
    },
    ghost: {
      backgroundColor: 'transparent',
      color: '${styles.color}'
    }
  }

  return (
    <button
      style={{ ...baseStyles, ...variantStyles[variant] }}
      onClick={onClick}
    >
      {children}
    </button>
  )
}
  `.trim()

  await fs.writeFile('components/Button.tsx', component)
  console.log('Button component generated!')
}

function findNodeById(node: any, id: string): any {
  if (node.id === id) return node
  if (node.children) {
    for (const child of node.children) {
      const found = findNodeById(child, id)
      if (found) return found
    }
  }
  return null
}

function extractStyles(node: any) {
  return {
    fontFamily: node.style?.fontFamily || 'Inter',
    fontWeight: node.style?.fontWeight || 600,
    fontSize: node.style?.fontSize || 16,
    padding: '12px 24px',
    borderRadius: node.cornerRadius || 8,
    backgroundColor: rgbToHex(node.fills?.[0]?.color || { r: 0, g: 0.4, b: 0.8 }),
    color: '#ffffff'
  }
}

function rgbToHex(color: any): string {
  const r = Math.round(color.r * 255).toString(16).padStart(2, '0')
  const g = Math.round(color.g * 255).toString(16).padStart(2, '0')
  const b = Math.round(color.b * 255).toString(16).padStart(2, '0')
  return `#${r}${g}${b}`
}

generateButtonComponent()

---

Phase 5: Automated Workflows

Set Up GitHub Actions

# .github/workflows/sync-figma.yml

name: Sync Figma Design Tokens

on:
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 9 * * *' # Every day at 9am
  workflow_dispatch: # Manual trigger

jobs:
  sync:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v3

      - uses: actions/setup-node@v3
        with:
          node-version: 18

      - run: npm install

      - name: Sync design tokens
        env:
          FIGMA_ACCESS_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.FIGMA_ACCESS_TOKEN }}
        run: npm run sync:design-tokens

      - name: Create Pull Request
        uses: peter-evans/create-pull-request@v5
        with:
          title: 'chore: sync design tokens from Figma'
          body: 'Automated sync of design tokens from Figma'
          branch: 'figma/sync-tokens'
          commit-message: 'chore: sync design tokens'

Package.json Scripts

{
  "scripts": {
    "sync:design-tokens": "tsx scripts/sync-design-tokens.ts",
    "export:icons": "tsx scripts/export-icons.ts",
    "generate:icons": "tsx scripts/generate-icon-components.ts",
    "figma:sync-all": "npm run sync:design-tokens && npm run generate:icons"
  }
}

---

Best Practices

1. Organize Figma Files

Structure:

Design System File
├── 📄 Cover (description)
├── 🎨 Colors (all color styles)
├── 📝 Typography (all text styles)
├── 📏 Spacing (spacing guide)
├── 🧩 Components
│   ├── Buttons
│   ├── Forms
│   └── Cards
└── 🖼️ Icons (all icons in one frame)

2. Naming Conventions

Colors:

Primary/500
Secondary/500
Neutral/100
Neutral/900
Success
Error

Typography:

Heading/Large
Heading/Medium
Body/Regular
Body/Small

Components:

Button/Primary
Button/Secondary
Card/Default
Card/Elevated

3. Use Figma Variables (Beta)

Figma now supports variables natively. Use them for:

• Colors
• Spacing
• Border radius
• Typography sizes

Extract these automatically with the API.

4. Version Control

// Check for Figma updates
async function checkForUpdates() {
  const client = new FigmaClient()
  const fileKey = 'YOUR_FIGMA_FILE_KEY'

  const file = await client.getFile(fileKey)
  const currentVersion = file.version

  // Store in database or file
  const previousVersion = await getPreviousVersion()

  if (currentVersion !== previousVersion) {
    console.log('Figma file updated!')
    console.log(`Version: ${previousVersion} → ${currentVersion}`)

    // Trigger sync
    await syncDesignTokens()
    await savePreviousVersion(currentVersion)
  } else {
    console.log('No updates')
  }
}

---

Common Patterns

Pattern 1: Token-Based Development

// 1. Extract tokens
const tokens = await client.extractDesignTokens(fileKey)

// 2. Generate CSS variables
const css = generateCSS(tokens)

// 3. Generate TypeScript types
const types = `
export type ColorToken =
  ${tokens.colors.map(c => `| '${c.name}'`).join('\n  ')}

export type SpacingToken =
  ${tokens.spacing.map(s => `| '${s.name}'`).join('\n  ')}
`.trim()

await fs.writeFile('src/types/tokens.ts', types)

// 4. Use in components
import { ColorToken } from '@/types/tokens'

interface ButtonProps {
  color: ColorToken
}

Pattern 2: Component Sync

// Keep components in sync with Figma
async function syncComponent(componentName: string) {
  const client = new FigmaClient()
  const fileKey = 'YOUR_FIGMA_FILE_KEY'

  // Get component from Figma
  const components = await client.getFileComponents(fileKey)
  const component = Object.values(components).find(
    c => c.name === componentName
  )

  if (!component) {
    throw new Error(`Component not found: ${componentName}`)
  }

  // Generate code
  const code = await generateComponentCode(component)

  // Write to file
  await fs.writeFile(`components/${componentName}.tsx`, code)

  console.log(`Synced: ${componentName}`)
}

---

Troubleshooting

Issue: Token Names Don't Match

Problem: Figma style names have spaces/special characters

Solution: Normalize names

function normalizeTokenName(name: string): string {
  return name
    .toLowerCase()
    .replace(/[^a-z0-9]+/g, '-')
    .replace(/^-|-$/g, '')
}

Issue: Colors Look Different

Problem: RGB values need conversion

Solution: Use proper color space conversion

function rgbToHex(color: { r: number; g: number; b: number }): string {
  const r = Math.round(color.r * 255)
  const g = Math.round(color.g * 255)
  const b = Math.round(color.b * 255)
  return `#${r.toString(16).padStart(2, '0')}${g.toString(16).padStart(2, '0')}${b.toString(16).padStart(2, '0')}`
}

Issue: API Rate Limiting

Problem: Too many requests

Solution: Cache responses

const cache = new Map<string, { data: any; timestamp: number }>()

async function getCachedFile(fileKey: string) {
  const cached = cache.get(fileKey)

  if (cached && Date.now() - cached.timestamp < 60000) {
    return cached.data
  }

  const file = await client.getFile(fileKey)
  cache.set(fileKey, { data: file, timestamp: Date.now() })
  return file
}

---

Tools & Resources

Figma Plugins:

• Figma Tokens - Manage design tokens
• Design Tokens - Export tokens
• Figma to Code - Generate code

Libraries:

• @figma/rest-api-spec - TypeScript types
• figma-api - Alternative client
• style-dictionary - Transform tokens

Related Skills:

• design-system-architect - Building design systems
• visual-designer - Design principles
• asset-manager - Managing exported assets

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Turn designs into code, automatically. 🎨→💻