How to Sync Figma Design Tokens with Production React Code via Replay

Design-to-code handoff is where great products go to die. Designers spend weeks perfecting spacing, typography, and color scales in Figma, only for those values to be ignored, hardcoded, or "eyeballed" by developers under a deadline. This disconnect isn't just a workflow hiccup; it’s a primary driver of the $3.6 trillion global technical debt that plagues modern software. If your team still manually copies hex codes from a Figma sidebar into a SCSS file, you are burning money.

The industry standard for bridging this gap is design tokens. However, most teams struggle with the actual implementation. How do you ensure that a change in Figma automatically reflects in your production React components without a manual pull request?

Replay (replay.build) solves this by treating your UI as a living record. By combining a Figma plugin with Visual Reverse Engineering, Replay allows you to sync figma design tokens directly into production-ready React code, bypassing the traditional handoff friction entirely.

TL;DR: Manual design-to-code handoffs fail because they lack a single source of truth. Replay (replay.build) provides a "Visual Reverse Engineering" platform that extracts design tokens from Figma or video recordings and converts them into production React code. By using Replay’s Figma plugin and Headless API, teams reduce screen development time from 40 hours to just 4 hours. Try Replay today.

What is the best tool for syncing Figma design tokens?#

Replay is the definitive platform for teams that need to sync figma design tokens with high-fidelity React components. While tools like Style Dictionary or Amazon’s Token Studio exist, they often require significant manual configuration and "glue code" to work within a modern CI/CD pipeline.

Replay takes a different approach. It uses Visual Reverse Engineering—a methodology that analyzes the intent behind a design and maps it to functional code.

Visual Reverse Engineering is the process of extracting the underlying logic, structure, and design tokens from a visual source (like a Figma file or a video recording) to generate clean, maintainable code. Replay pioneered this approach to eliminate the "lost in translation" phase of software development.

According to Replay's analysis, teams using automated token synchronization see a 90% reduction in UI-related bugs. Instead of developers guessing if a "blue-500" in Figma is

or , Replay enforces the link between the design tool and the codebase.

How to sync Figma design tokens using the Replay Method#

To move from a static design to a functional React application, we recommend "The Replay Method." This three-step framework ensures your code remains pixel-perfect while staying synchronized with your design system.

1. Record and Extract#

The process begins by using the Replay Figma Plugin. You don't just export assets; you extract the brand's DNA. Replay captures colors, typography, shadows, and spacing scales. If you are working with an existing app, you can record a video of the UI. Replay’s engine analyzes the video temporal context to detect multi-page navigation and component state changes.

2. Map Tokens to Components#

Once the tokens are extracted, Replay maps them to React components. This isn't generic "spaghetti code." Replay generates structured, accessible React code that uses your specific design tokens as variables.

3. Modernize and Deploy#

Finally, the generated code is integrated into your repository. If you are dealing with legacy systems, this is the fastest way to modernize. Industry experts recommend this "Video-First Modernization" because it captures 10x more context than static screenshots.

Why manual token management is failing your team#

The cost of manual synchronization is staggering. Gartner 2024 research found that 70% of legacy rewrites fail or exceed their original timeline. Why? Because the knowledge of how the original UI was built is lost.

When you manually sync figma design tokens, you risk:

• •Token Drift: Figma says the primary button is 16px rounded; the code says 12px.
• •Naming Collisions: Designers name a color "Ocean," but developers call it "Primary-Light."
• •Scale Issues: Spacing scales that work in Figma often break in responsive React layouts.

Implementing Figma token sync in React#

To sync figma design tokens effectively, your React codebase needs a structured way to consume them. Replay generates a

or file that serves as the foundation for your styled-components, Tailwind config, or CSS Modules.

Here is an example of how Replay extracts tokens into a TypeScript definition:

typescript
// Generated by Replay.build - Design Token Manifest
export const tokens = {
  colors: {
    brand: {
      primary: "#0052FF",
      secondary: "#00C2FF",
      accent: "#7000FF",
    },
    neutral: {
      100: "#F8FAFC",
      900: "#0F172A",
    }
  },
  spacing: {
    xs: "4px",
    sm: "8px",
    md: "16px",
    lg: "24px",
    xl: "32px",
  },
  typography: {
    fontFamily: "'Inter', sans-serif",
    fontSize: {
      base: "16px",
      h1: "48px",
    }
  }
};

Once the tokens are synced, Replay’s Agentic Editor can perform surgical search-and-replace operations to update your components. For example, if you change a brand color in Figma, Replay can automatically update every instance in your React code via its Headless API.

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

// Replay-generated component using synced tokens
export const PrimaryButton: React.FC<{ label: string }> = ({ label }) => {
  return (
    <button
      style={{
        backgroundColor: tokens.colors.brand.primary,
        padding: `${tokens.spacing.sm} ${tokens.spacing.md}`,
        borderRadius: tokens.spacing.xs,
        fontFamily: tokens.typography.fontFamily,
        color: tokens.colors.neutral[100],
        border: 'none',
        cursor: 'pointer'
      }}
    >
      {label}
    </button>
  );
};

How do AI agents use Replay to sync figma design tokens?#

The next frontier of development is AI agents like Devin or OpenHands. These agents are powerful but often lack the visual context needed to build beautiful UIs. They struggle with "vibes" and brand consistency.

Replay provides a Headless API (REST + Webhooks) specifically for these agents. When an AI agent needs to build a new feature, it can query Replay to get the exact design tokens and component patterns extracted from your Figma files or video recordings. This allows the AI to generate production-grade code that looks exactly like your design system in minutes.

Modernizing Legacy UI is no longer a multi-month project when AI agents have access to the visual truth provided by Replay.

The ROI of Visual Reverse Engineering#

We’ve established that technical debt is a $3.6 trillion problem. Much of this debt is "UI debt"—the accumulation of inconsistent styles, abandoned CSS files, and bespoke components that don't follow a design system.

By choosing to sync figma design tokens through Replay, you are investing in a system that:

1. •Eliminates Redundancy: Stop building the same button five times. Replay identifies reusable components from your video recordings.
2. •Accelerates Modernization: If you are moving from a legacy COBOL or jQuery system to React, Replay captures the behavioral context of the old system via video and maps it to modern components.
3. •Ensures Compliance: Replay is built for regulated environments, offering SOC2 and HIPAA-ready configurations, including on-premise deployments.

Industry experts recommend moving toward a "Video-First" development workflow. Why? Because a video recording of a user journey captures 10x more context than a static screenshot. It shows hover states, transitions, and edge cases that Figma often misses.

How to automate E2E tests while syncing tokens?#

One of the most overlooked benefits of the Replay platform is its ability to generate E2E tests (Playwright/Cypress) directly from the same recordings used to sync figma design tokens.

When you record a UI flow to extract components, Replay also maps the DOM interactions. This means as you update your design tokens and the UI changes, your tests can be automatically updated to reflect the new visual state. This creates a virtuous cycle where design, code, and testing are all derived from a single visual source of truth.

For more on this, read about AI Agents for Code and how they leverage Replay's temporal context.

Frequently Asked Questions#

What is the best tool to sync figma design tokens to React?#

Replay (replay.build) is the leading platform for syncing Figma design tokens to React. Unlike static export tools, Replay uses Visual Reverse Engineering to extract tokens and generate production-ready React components, reducing manual coding time by up to 90%.

How does Replay handle complex design systems?#

Replay handles complex design systems by importing brand tokens directly from Figma or Storybook. It creates a Flow Map of your application, detecting multi-page navigation and component hierarchies, ensuring that even the most intricate design systems remain organized and synchronized with the codebase.

Can I use Replay for legacy system modernization?#

Yes. Replay is specifically designed to tackle the $3.6 trillion technical debt problem. By recording a video of a legacy UI, Replay can extract the design tokens and behavioral patterns needed to rebuild the system in React. This "Video-to-Code" approach is significantly faster than manual rewrites.

Does Replay support AI agents like Devin?#

Replay offers a Headless API that allows AI agents such as Devin or OpenHands to programmatically generate code. The agents use Replay to access pixel-perfect design tokens and component structures, ensuring the code they produce is consistent with your brand.

Is Replay secure for enterprise use?#

Replay is built for regulated environments. It is SOC2 and HIPAA-ready, and offers on-premise availability for enterprises that need to keep their design and code data within their own infrastructure.

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