Figma Specs Sets Design Rules for AI Agents as Code Layers Enters Public Beta
Figma unveils Specs, expands AI agents and code layers, adds over 20 MCP tools, and links Payload with Make as its presence expands across the Indian market.
Summary
At its first Config event in India on October 15, 2026, Figma introduced Figma Specs, a Markdown editor that centralizes design language for teams and AI agents. Specs can stand alone or coexist with a canvas, referencing canvas elements, designs, FigJam diagrams and code layers. Teams can also import design libraries, code libraries and guidelines, giving Figma’s agents and third party agents shared rules. Figma widened access to its canvas agent over the past week, using this context to steer nondeterministic AI toward more predictable results. Code Layers, privately tested since June, is now in public beta, letting users create interactive prototypes, convert designs into code and ask the agent to edit code.
Figma added support for over 20 MCP tools, including Open Code, Dia, Grok Bot and Indian AI startup Sarvam. Payload, the open source headless CMS acquired last year, now integrates with Figma Make for dynamic website generation and direct content management, following a sixfold increase in downloads over 12 months. Chief design officer Loredana Crisan said code production has risen 17 times while releases increased only 1.3 times, with much of the extra code used for product discovery rather than shipping. Figma opened its first India office late last year for sales, partnerships, go to market and product support. India is its largest user market outside the United States, and Figma works with 40 percent of the Bombay Stock Exchange’s top 100 companies.
Positives
- Figma Specs gives teams and AI agents one Markdown based source for design rules, libraries, guidelines and linked canvas assets.
- Code Layers entered public beta after private testing since June, expanding access to interactive prototypes and agent assisted code iteration.
- Over 20 MCP tools gained support, including Open Code, Dia, Grok Bot and Indian AI startup Sarvam.
- Payload downloads increased sixfold in 12 months before its integration with Figma Make for dynamic websites and content management.
- India is Figma’s largest user market outside the United States, with adoption among 40 percent of the BSE’s top 100 companies.
Risks & concerns
- AI remains nondeterministic, so centralized context can steer agents toward brand rules but cannot guarantee predictable output.
- Code Layers remains in public beta, meaning users are still testing a feature first released privately in June.
- A 17 times increase in code production has produced only 1.3 times more releases, leaving much generated code unshipped.