The FrameNode and GroupNode objects now have separate prototypes, which means that code such as 'strokes' in group will correctly return false. Note that we still recommend checking the .type property of node objects over using the in operator. We expect this to be an implementation detail -- however, let us know if this is causing you any issues.
As always, we try to make sure plugins don't break when we release new features. That being said, this release affects a lot of the core functionality of Figma and you may need to update your plugin to be aware of those concepts.
New layout constraints
Auto-layout frames introduces new types of relations between layers. Existing APIs around size, positioning and children order have different behavior:
Children of auto-layout frames have a x and y position set automatically. Writing to the position of those nodes via the API will no-op. Similarly, setting relativeTransform may ignore the translation component (but retain the rotation component).
Calling resize(w, h) and resizeWithoutConstraints(w, h) will no-op in one or both dimensions if the auto-layout frame has a size set automatically by auto-layout.
Changing the size of a node will have the side effect of changing the size of its parent if the parent is an auto-layout frame.
Changing the order of children in an auto-layout frame will have the side effect of changing the position of its children.
The plugin API is intended to always return the most up to date value for all properties (i.e. has auto-layout applied). As such, be aware of these new restrictions and side effects when setting properties.
New frame properties
Frame-like containers (frames, components & instances) now support new properties! The properties listed below now exist on nodes of type "FRAME", "COMPONENT" and "INSTANCE". Note that they are not available on nodes of type "GROUP".
Note that adding these new properties required re-organizing type definitions in the typings file. Notably, we've split FrameNode into FrameNode and GroupNode because a lot of properties are not supported on group nodes.
Fill properties
fills
fillStyleId
Stroke properties
strokes
strokeStyleId
strokeWeight
strokeAlign
strokeCap
strokeJoin
dashPattern
Corner properties
cornerRadius
topLeftRadius
topRightRadius
bottomLeftRadius
bottomRightRadius
cornerSmoothing
Tip: don't write code like if ('fills' in node) { ... } to check if a property exists on a node. This is not guaranteed to work, especially with group nodes. Compare against the node type instead. It also helps TypeScript infer properties about the node better.
On frame-like nodes, the backgrounds and backgroundStyleId properties are marked as DEPRECATED. Use the newly-introduced fills and fillStyleId properties instead. We made this change to be consistent with other types of nodes that also use the fills properties. We may remove the property entirely in a new version so you should not use it. In the meantime, backgrounds and backgroundStyleId will keep working as an alias for fills and fillStyleId (i.e. they read and write to the same value).
On group nodes, backgrounds and backgroundStyleId are no longer supported, both in the editor and the API. If you have existing frames with a background, you will notice that the backgrounds panel in the properties panel has been changed with a message prompting you to replace it with a fill. Consequently, in the API, writing to the backgrounds and backgroundStyleId properties of a group node will no-op.
We updated the typings and replaced instances of | symbol with PluginAPI['mixed'] for all properties that can return the special figma.mixed value. This new syntax also fixes the problem where TypeScript's control flow analysis was not able to understand if (node.prop !== figma.mixed) and narrow down the type.
We added "Use Developer VM" option in the plugin developer menu that gives plugin code access to the browser's debugger during development. Read more.
We fixed a bug where the selectionchanged event could sometimes fire multiple times when the selection changed.
We decided not to go forward with the optional position option in figma.showUI(). Instead, plugins now always remember their last opened position by default.
Most prototyping properties are now available, read-only, under the proposed flag! Read more about these new properties. As always, let the Figma team know if these properties are working for you.
The figma.ui.on('message'), figma.on('selectionchange') and figma.on('currentpagechange') APIs, which were previously proposed APIs can now be used in published plugins.
A new figma.on('close') API for allowing you to run shutdown actions when the plugin closes.
Pressing ESC no longer closes the plugin automatically when a UI is shown. The plugin is now responsible for handling the ESC event now. This allows plugins to use ESC for editing operations inside the plugin UI.
Fix a bug where invalid styles or components could be sometimes be created accidentally by plugins.
Previously, assigning a textStyleId to a text node required you to load the existing font on the text node, even though it is being replaced. This is now no longer necessary.
text.setRangeFontName now requires you to load all existing fonts used in the text nodes, as they might still be present after the text node gets modified.
Fix a bug where text.setRangeXYZ functions would clear the textStyleId of characters outside the range that was being modified.
This is the first update to the plugins API since launch! This update does not contain breaking changes, so all plugins receive these updates automatically. Please refer to Stability and Updates for more on our update and versioning policies.
Added figma.union, figma.subtract, figma.intersect, figma.exclude to replace figma.createBooleanOperation().
Added figma.notify as an easy way to show messages to the user
Added figma.getLocalPaintStyles, figma.getLocalGridStyles, figma.getLocalTextStyles, figma.getLocalEffectStyles to enumerate local styles.
Fix a bug where the "MAX" layout grid type was not accepted when setting the value.
