Design platform Figma used its inaugural Config event in India to announce a major expansion of its product ecosystem, introducing a new Markdown-based editor, bringing design and code libraries closer together, and officially integrating the Payload headless content management system. Through these strategic rollouts, the company aims to give software development teams a centralized way to define brand and design rules, helping both human creators and artificial intelligence agents adhere strictly to established guidelines when generating digital products.

The centerpiece of these announcements is Figma Specs, a new Markdown editor designed to let users establish and document their design language in a clear, straightforward manner. This document functions as a living reference point for design teams, stakeholders, and AI agents operating within Figma. Specs can live as a standalone file or exist directly alongside elements on the canvas. Beyond standard text editing, the tool allows users to reference various Figma elements, embed FigJam diagrams, incorporate code layers, and link directly to active designs.

By centralizing design context—including design libraries, code libraries, and comprehensive guidelines—teams can better manage their design systems. Crucially, Figma’s AI agents can refer directly to this unified system to ensure that automated creations consistently respect brand rules and structural patterns.

This governance comes at a crucial time for the platform. Following the wider rollout of its on-canvas AI agent over the past week, Figma is looking to combat the inherent non-deterministic nature of generative AI. By providing robust contextual tools like Specs, the company is giving creators the ability to steer AI toward more predictable, brand-compliant outcomes.

Alongside these governance tools, Figma is pushing further into interactive development by moving its code layers feature into public beta. Initially introduced in private beta back in June, the feature integrates coding directly into on-canvas designs to facilitate more dynamic and interactive prototypes. Users can prompt the built-in AI agent to transform a static design into functional code or modify existing code snippets on the fly to rapidly iterate on prototypes.

Reflecting on the shifting dynamics of software creation, Figma’s Chief Design Officer, Loredana Crisan, noted the changing role of code in the product development lifecycle during an interview at the event.

"We see Figma as the place where software teams come to decide what they build and ship. And so for that, I think one of the key things to keep in mind about what AI has changed and what it made available is the ability to build," Crisan told TechCrunch. "There are 17-times more lines of code being produced today than in the past. But when you’re looking at releases, only 1.3-times more releases. A lot of that code actually is not necessarily built to ship, but really built to discover what the product is. It’s built to design."

To further extend its ecosystem, Figma announced that its Model Context Protocol (MCP) now supports over 20 new tools. These include integrations with Open Code, Dia, Grok Bot, and Sarvam, an emerging AI startup based in India.

The updates also mark a significant milestone for Payload, the open-source headless CMS that Figma acquired last year. Figma is now actively integrating Payload with its Figma Make product, allowing teams to generate dynamic websites and manage content directly from the platform. According to the company, Payload’s popularity has surged, with downloads increasing sixfold over the past 12 months.

The choice of India for Figma’s first regional Config event underscores the strategic importance of the region to the company’s global expansion. Late last year, Figma established its first office in the country, housing sales, partnerships, go-to-market, and product support operations. The company revealed that India currently represents its largest user market outside of the United States, noting that its platform is actively utilized by 40% of the top 100 companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange.