Figma Config 2026 Recap

1. Figma Motion
2. Shaders
3. Generative plugins
4. Code layers

The most important thing about Config 2026 is a clear shift in Figma's AI strategy: less "replace the designer with AI," and more "supercharge the creative workflow by empowering creatives with practical features" AI is becoming a layer inside Figma that helps teams animate, prototype, generate effects, connect code, and scale creative production — while keeping human craft at the center.

In this article, I want to walk you through 4 main new Figma features that I think offer the most value for product creators.

1. Figma Motion

You can create fancy and very expressive animations in a Figma agent. The animations will have a timeline and will be built out of reusable systems.

For example, below you can see an example of a simple loading animation that I've created in Figma Motion using the Figma AI agent.

And the nice thing about this approach is that I've prompted AI to generate this animation. Here is an original prompt I've used to get this effect:

Create a 15x15 grid of animated squares.
Apply a staggered animation to the grid items for the background color,
corner rounding, and spacing.
  

2. Shaders

Similar to crafting motion effects, you can work with the Figma AI agent to create shader effects for images. You can create fills like metal, mesh gradients, and more.

3. Generative plugins

If you want to create dedicated plugins tailored to your specific needs, you can do so now in Figma. Just tell Figma AI what you need, and it will build you a plugin that will live in your Figma canvas.

For example, I will ask Figma to build me a plugin that will help generate tailored shadow effects for selected UI elements.

And in less than 5 minutes, Figma generated this plugin for me. Below, I've demonstrated the plugin usage by applying different shadows for real UI elements.

4. Code layers

Figma will soon have a code layer directly on the canvas. It means that you can actually play around with code while creating a new design. You can select a particular UI element or even a frame with your layout and ask Figma to build it with code.

Once you build your design in code, you can preview your design right away in real time, without leaving Figma.

Fewer context switches mean fewer mistakes made along the way and a more seamless design-to-code transition.

At the time of writing this article, Code layer is still not available to the public, but you can join the waitlist to be notified as soon as the feature hits the market.