figma-connect

Status: Experimental

figma-connect is a straightforward and typesafe wrapper around the communication between the app/ui (iframe) and plugin (sandbox) part of a Figma Plugin.

Source

🌟 Motivation

Create a typesafe and straightforward wrapper around the communication between the app/ui and plugin part of a Figma Plugin.

⚖️ Alternatives

• figma-messenger

📖 Usage

Shared Types

Define types for events to be shared between the Figma app and plugin.

shared.ts

import { type TFromAppMessageEvent } from 'figma-connect/app';
import { type TFromPluginMessageEvent } from 'figma-connect/plugin';

// Plugin Events (Plugin -> App)
interface TOnSelectNodeEvent extends TFromPluginMessageEvent {
	key: 'on-select-node';
	args: { selected: Pick<SceneNode, 'name' | 'id'>[] };
}

interface TOnDeselectNodeEvent extends TFromPluginMessageEvent {
	key: 'on-deselect-node';
	args: { deselected: Pick<SceneNode, 'name' | 'id'>[] };
}

type TFromPluginMessageEvents = TOnSelectNodeEvent | TOnDeselectNodeEvent;

// App Events (App -> Plugin)
interface TOnUIRouteChangeEvent extends TFromAppMessageEvent {
	key: 'on-ui-route-change';
	args: {
		activeRoute: 'a' | 'b' | 'c';
	};
}

interface TOnUserLoginEvent extends TFromAppMessageEvent {
	key: 'on-user-login';
	args: {
		userId: string;
		timestamp: number;
	};
}

type TFromAppMessageEvents = TOnUIRouteChangeEvent | TOnUserLoginEvent;

App/Ui Setup

Initialize and handle events in the app/ui (iframe) part.

app.ts

import { FigmaAppHandler } from 'figma-connect/app';
import { TFromAppMessageEvents, TFromPluginMessageEvents } from './shared';

// Create App Handler and pass global 'parent' instance as first argument
const appHandler = new FigmaAppHandler<TFromPluginMessageEvents, TFromAppMessageEvents>(parent);

// Send Events to the 'plugin' part
appHandler.post('on-ui-route-change', { activeRoute: 'a' });
appHandler.post('on-user-login', { userId: 'user123', timestamp: Date.now() });

// Register callbacks to receive Events from the 'plugin' part
appHandler.register({
	key: 'on-select-node',
	type: 'plugin.message',
	callback: async (_, args) => {
		console.log('Selected Nodes:', args.selected);
	}
});
appHandler.register({
	key: 'on-deselect-node',
	type: 'plugin.message',
	callback: async (_, args) => {
		console.log('Deselected Nodes:', args.deselected);
	}
});

Plugin Setup

Initialize and handle events in the plugin (sandbox) part.

plugin.ts

import { FigmaPluginHandler } from 'figma-connect/plugin';
import { TFromAppMessageEvents, TFromPluginMessageEvents } from './shared';

// Create Plugin Handler and pass global 'figma' instance as first argument
const pluginHandler = new FigmaPluginHandler<TFromAppMessageEvents, TFromPluginMessageEvents>(
	figma
);

// Send Events to the 'app/ui' part
pluginHandler.post('on-select-node', { selected: [{ id: '1v1', name: 'Frame1' }] });
pluginHandler.post('on-deselect-node', { deselected: [{ id: '1v1', name: 'Frame1' }] });

// Register callbacks to receive Events from the 'app/ui' part
pluginHandler.register({
	key: 'on-ui-route-change',
	type: 'app.message',
	callback: async (_, args) => {
		console.log('UI Route Changed:', args.activeRoute);
	}
});
pluginHandler.register({
	key: 'on-user-login',
	type: 'app.message',
	callback: async (_, args) => {
		console.log('User Logged In:', args.userId, 'at', args.timestamp);
	}
});

Use in ReactJs

To use figma-connect in a ReactJS application, you can utilize the useAppCallback() hook to handle events from the plugin part in a React component.

import React, { useState } from 'react';
import { appHandler } from './app';
import { useAppCallback } from './hooks';
import { TFromAppMessageEvents, TFromPluginMessageEvents } from './shared';

export const MyComponent: React.FC = () => {
	const [selectedNodes, setSelectedNodes] = useState([]);

	useAppCallback(
		appHandler,
		{
			type: 'plugin.message',
			key: 'on-select-node',
			callback: async (_, args) => {
				console.log('Selected Nodes:', args.selected);
				setSelectedNodes(args.selected);
			}
		},
		[]
	);

	return (
		<div>
			<h1>Selected Nodes</h1>
			<ul>
				{selectedNodes.map((node, index) => (
					<li key={index}>{node.name}</li>
				))}
			</ul>
		</div>
	);
};

👀 Used by

• dyn.art - Figma Plugin