Figma Config 2026 adds code layers, AI motion tools

Figma has used Config 2026 to add code layers, AI motion tools and shader effects, taking its design platform further into code-aware product work. In its Config 2026 recap, Figma said the release also brings more than 20 integrated Weave tools into the canvas, along with new materials and workflow changes for design-to-development handoff.

The feature list is broad, but the direction is fairly plain. Figma wants more of the work that sits between a sketch and a shipped interface to happen in the same shared file.

Code, animation and asset generation are being pulled closer to the surface that already holds product sketches and interface reviews. That puts more AI-assisted work inside the design file, rather than in a separate chatbot, plug-in or developer-only tool.

Code layers are the clearest sign of that push. They allow teams to place code objects inside a design file instead of exporting early work to another environment. TechCrunch reported that Figma also introduced AI-generated motion features and shader tools at the conference, moving the canvas beyond static mock-ups and into behaviour that product teams often prototype later.

Figma said the Weave tools expansion puts more than 20 integrated tools in the same environment. For product teams, that means a larger set of AI and workflow helpers for the awkward stage between wireframe and working interface. Engineering review does not go away. The early experimentation can happen closer to the design decision, however, which is where Figma is trying to make the product stick.

In an interview cited by TechCrunch, chief product officer Yuhki Yamashita said the company sees the canvas as a place where rough working code can sit next to design decisions, without the pressure to make it production-ready straight away.

“We think the multiplayer canvas is really powerful because this is an environment where you don’t really care about the quality of the code.”
Yuhki Yamashita, quoted by TechCrunch

That comment helps explain why the code features arrived with motion graphics, shaders and materials rather than as a standalone developer tool. Figma is trying to keep more exploratory work in one shared file while teams test how a product should look and behave.

What changes for product teams

For enterprise design and product groups, the update is less about a single AI feature than about the location of work. A designer working on a checkout flow, or a team sketching a mobile feature, can keep interface structure, visual effects and early code fragments in the same canvas instead of moving between tools for each step. That may narrow one of the slower parts of software delivery: the gap between mock-up and implementation.

The launch also gives Figma a more direct answer to AI coding tools. Software vendors are trying to own a bigger slice of the build process by combining prompts, automation and live collaboration. Figma’s response at Config 2026 is to make the canvas more expressive and more technical, while keeping the multiplayer workflow that made the product common inside design teams.

For Australian software teams that already use Figma as the front door to interface work, the test is practical. The new tools need to cut handoff time, not add another layer of workflow management. Config 2026 showed that Figma now wants a larger part of the product creation stack, from mock-up to code-aware iteration.