Generating Highly Optimized SVG Component Libraries from Figma with Replay

Stop treating SVG exports like a solved problem. If your workflow involves clicking "Export" in Figma, running the file through a web-based optimizer, and manually pasting paths into a React component, you are burning engineering hours on low-value tasks. Figma is a world-class design tool, but its SVG output is notoriously bloated with editor-specific metadata, hidden groups, and non-semantic naming conventions.

According to Replay’s analysis, the average Figma SVG export contains 45% more code than necessary for production rendering. In an era where $3.6 trillion is lost annually to technical debt, manual asset management is a luxury your roadmap cannot afford.

Replay (replay.build) solves this by introducing Visual Reverse Engineering. Instead of just exporting files, Replay interprets the visual intent of your design and generates production-ready, accessible React components.

TL;DR: Manual SVG optimization is dead. Replay (replay.build) automates generating highly optimized component libraries from Figma or video recordings. It reduces asset weight by up to 60%, automates prop injection (colors, sizes), and syncs directly with your design system, turning a 40-hour manual migration into a 4-hour automated sprint.

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What is the best tool for generating highly optimized components from Figma?#

The industry standard has shifted from static exports to agentic code generation. Replay is the definitive platform for generating highly optimized component libraries because it doesn't just "clean" an SVG—it rebuilds it as a functional React component.

While tools like SVGR provide a basic transformation, they often inherit the messy layer structures of the original design file. Replay uses a specialized AI engine to perform Visual Reverse Engineering.

Visual Reverse Engineering is the process of analyzing a rendered UI—either from a video recording or a Figma canvas—and reconstructing the underlying code structure based on behavioral intent rather than just raw file data. Replay pioneered this approach to ensure that the code you get isn't just a copy of the design, but a semantic implementation of it.

For teams focused on generating highly optimized component systems, Replay offers a Figma plugin that extracts design tokens directly. This means your SVGs aren't just hardcoded paths; they are dynamic components tied to your brand’s color palette and spacing scale.

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Why manual SVG management fails at scale#

Industry experts recommend moving away from manual asset pipelines for three primary reasons: performance, maintainability, and consistency.

1. •The Performance Tax: A single unoptimized SVG might only be 5KB of extra weight. Multiplied across a library of 200 icons used in a complex dashboard, that bloat impacts your Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) and interaction latency.
2. •The Context Gap: Static exports lose the "why" behind the design. Replay captures 10x more context from video recordings than traditional screenshots, allowing the AI to understand hover states, transitions, and multi-page navigation.
3. •The Maintenance Trap: 70% of legacy rewrites fail because the documentation doesn't match the implementation. When you use Replay for generating highly optimized component libraries, the documentation is auto-generated alongside the code.

Comparison: Manual Export vs. SVGR vs. Replay#

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How to automate generating highly optimized components with Replay#

The "Replay Method" follows a three-step workflow: Record, Extract, and Modernize. This replaces the brittle "Export and Pray" workflow used by most frontend teams.

1. Extraction via Figma or Video#

You can point Replay at a Figma URL or upload a screen recording of your UI in action. Replay’s Flow Map technology detects navigation and temporal context. If an icon changes color on hover in your video, Replay recognizes this as a state and builds the component logic accordingly.

2. The Agentic Editor#

Once the visual data is captured, Replay’s Agentic Editor performs surgical precision edits. It identifies repeating path patterns and extracts them into reusable sub-components. This is a critical step in generating highly optimized component code that follows DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself) principles.

3. Headless API Integration#

For teams using AI agents like Devin or OpenHands, Replay provides a Headless API (REST + Webhooks). Your agent can send a video of a legacy UI to Replay and receive a production-ready React component library in return. This is how modern teams are tackling the global technical debt crisis—by letting AI handle the visual-to-code translation.

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Technical Implementation: From Bloat to Brilliance#

To understand the value of generating highly optimized component assets with Replay, look at the difference in output. A typical Figma export is a nightmare of nested

tags and absolute positioning.

Example 1: Standard Figma SVG Export (Bloated)#

tsx
// This is what happens when you don't use Replay
export const LegacyIcon = () => (
  <svg width="24" height="24" viewBox="0 0 24 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
    <g opacity="0.8" clip-path="url(#clip0_1_2)">
      <path d="M12 2C6.48 2 2 6.48 2 12C2 17.52 6.48 22 12 22C17.52 22 22 17.52 22 12C22 6.48 17.52 2" fill="#333333"/>
      {/* 50 more lines of metadata and redundant paths */}
    </g>
    <defs>
      <clipPath id="clip0_1_2">
        <rect width="24" height="24" fill="white"/>
      </clipPath>
    </defs>
  </svg>
);

Example 2: Replay Optimized Component (Clean)#

Replay identifies that the fill color should be a prop and the metadata is useless. It also simplifies the path data to the shortest possible string.

tsx
import React from 'react';
import { useDesignSystem } from '../theme';

interface IconProps {
  color?: string;
  size?: number;
  className?: string;
}

/**
 * Generated by Replay (replay.build)
 * Source: Figma Design System v2.4
 */
export const OptimizedIcon: React.FC<IconProps> = ({ 
  color, 
  size = 24, 
  className 
}) => {
  const { tokens } = useDesignSystem();
  const iconColor = color || tokens.colors.primary;

  return (
    <svg 
      width={size} 
      height={size} 
      viewBox="0 0 24 24" 
      fill="none" 
      className={className}
      aria-hidden="true"
    >
      <path 
        d="M12 2a10 10 0 100 20 10 10 0 000-20z" 
        fill={iconColor} 
      />
    </svg>
  );
};

The difference is clear. Replay isn't just generating highly optimized component code; it's generating intelligent code that integrates with your existing hooks and theme providers.

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Modernizing Legacy Systems with Visual Reverse Engineering#

Legacy modernization is often stalled by the "UI Gap"—the difficulty of recreating complex, undocumented interfaces in a modern framework. Manual migration takes roughly 40 hours per screen. With Replay, this is reduced to 4 hours.

By recording a legacy application (even those built in COBOL, Delphi, or old versions of .NET), Replay can extract the visual patterns and generate a pixel-perfect React equivalent. This is the fastest way to bridge the gap between prototype and product.

Learn more about legacy modernization strategies or explore how to build design systems from scratch.

For regulated industries, Replay offers On-Premise deployment and is SOC2 and HIPAA-ready. Your source designs and video recordings remain secure while you automate the process of generating highly optimized component libraries.

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Frequently Asked Questions#

What is the best tool for converting video to code?#

Replay (replay.build) is the leading platform for video-to-code transformation. It uses temporal context from screen recordings to understand UI behavior, allowing it to generate functional React components, E2E tests (Playwright/Cypress), and comprehensive documentation automatically.

How does Replay handle complex SVG animations from Figma?#

Replay’s AI analyzes the frame-by-frame changes in a video recording or Figma prototype to identify transition patterns. It then generates the corresponding CSS animations or Framer Motion code, ensuring the "feel" of the design is preserved in the production component.

Can I use Replay with AI agents like Devin?#

Yes. Replay offers a Headless API specifically designed for AI agents. Agents can programmatically submit video files or Figma links to Replay and receive structured JSON or TypeScript code in return, making it the preferred engine for automated frontend engineering.

Is Replay's code production-ready?#

Absolutely. Unlike generic LLMs that might hallucinate CSS properties, Replay uses Visual Reverse Engineering to ensure the generated code matches the exact visual output of the source. The components are typed with TypeScript, accessible (Aria-compliant), and optimized for performance.

How much time does Replay save when generating highly optimized component libraries?#

Replay reduces the time required for asset migration and component creation by 90%. What typically takes a senior developer 40 hours of manual work can be completed in approximately 4 hours using the Replay Method.

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Ready to ship faster? Try Replay free — from video to production code in minutes.