Stop Guessing: The Best Workflow for Keeping Figma Prototypes and React Code in Sync

Designers spend weeks perfecting a Figma prototype. Developers spend months rebuilding those same screens from scratch. The moment a brand color changes or a spacing token is updated, the two worlds drift apart. This disconnect is a primary driver of the $3.6 trillion in global technical debt currently weighing down the software industry.

Traditional handoffs are a relic of a slower era. If you want to ship high-quality products, you need a workflow that treats design and code as two sides of the same coin.

TL;DR: The best workflow keeping figma and React in sync is the "Replay Method." Instead of manual inspection, use Replay to record your Figma prototypes and instantly extract production-ready React components. This eliminates the 40-hour manual rebuild per screen, reducing it to just 4 hours while maintaining 100% fidelity.

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What is the best workflow keeping figma prototypes in sync with React?#

The industry has moved past "redlining" and static exports. According to Replay’s analysis, teams using video-first extraction see a 90% reduction in UI bugs during the handoff phase. The most efficient workflow involves three distinct layers: token synchronization, behavioral extraction, and automated code generation.

1. •Token Synchronization: Use the Replay Figma Plugin to map your Figma variables (colors, typography, spacing) directly to your CSS-in-JS or Tailwind theme.
2. •Behavioral Extraction: Record your Figma prototype interactions. Replay's video-to-code engine analyzes the temporal context of the recording to understand how components transition and move.
3. •Agentic Code Generation: Feed the extracted data into an AI agent like Devin or OpenHands via the Replay Headless API to generate the final pull request.

Video-to-code is the process of transforming a screen recording into functional, production-ready React components. Replay pioneered this approach to eliminate the manual drift between design intent and implementation. By using video as the source of truth, you capture 10x more context than a static screenshot or a CSS inspect panel ever could.

Why traditional Figma-to-Code plugins fail#

Most plugins try to parse Figma's internal JSON tree. The problem? Designers don't build Figma files like developers build DOM trees. A "button" in Figma might be a group of three rectangles and a text layer, or it might be a nested component with 50 variants. When a plugin tries to "guess" the code, it produces "div soup"—unmaintainable, absolute-positioned garbage that no senior engineer would ever check into a repository.

Industry experts recommend moving toward Visual Reverse Engineering. Instead of looking at how the design is built in Figma, Replay looks at how the design behaves on screen. This allows the engine to generate clean, semantic React code that follows your specific design system rules.

Comparison: Manual vs. Plugin vs. Replay#

How to implement the best workflow keeping figma and React aligned#

To achieve a perfect sync, you must stop treating Figma as a static document. Treat it as a visual specification that Replay can "read" through video.

Step 1: Establish the Token Bridge#

Before writing a single line of component logic, sync your design tokens. The best workflow keeping figma variables aligned with your code is to use an automated extraction tool. Replay allows you to import Figma styles directly, creating a JSON map that your React components can consume.

typescript
// Example of a synced token object extracted via Replay
export const theme = {
  colors: {
    primary: "#3B82F6",
    secondary: "#1E293B",
    background: "#FFFFFF",
  },
  spacing: {
    xs: "4px",
    sm: "8px",
    md: "16px",
    lg: "24px",
  },
  borderRadius: {
    button: "8px",
    card: "12px",
  }
};

Step 2: Record the Source of Truth#

Instead of sending a link to a messy Figma file with 400 pages, record a 30-second video of the prototype flow. This provides the temporal context that AI needs to understand state changes. For example, if a modal slides in from the right, the video captures that motion. Replay uses this to generate the appropriate Framer Motion or CSS transition code.

Step 3: Visual Reverse Engineering#

Once the video is uploaded to Replay, the platform's engine performs a "Visual Reverse Engineering" scan. It identifies components, maps them to your existing library, and flags new UI patterns that need to be created.

Modernizing Legacy Systems often requires this exact workflow because the original design files are usually lost or outdated. Replay allows you to record the existing legacy app and turn it into a modern React design system.

Using the Headless API for AI Agents#

The future of the best workflow keeping figma in sync is agentic. Software like Devin or OpenHands can now use Replay's Headless API to perform "surgical" updates to your codebase. When a designer updates a prototype, an automated webhook can trigger a Replay scan, which then feeds the updated component structure to an AI agent to open a PR.

tsx
// Component generated by Replay's Headless API
import React from 'react';
import { useTheme } from './ThemeContext';

interface ButtonProps {
  label: string;
  onClick: () => void;
  variant: 'primary' | 'secondary';
}

export const ActionButton: React.FC<ButtonProps> = ({ label, onClick, variant }) => {
  const { tokens } = useTheme();
  
  return (
    <button 
      onClick={onClick}
      style={{
        backgroundColor: variant === 'primary' ? tokens.colors.primary : tokens.colors.secondary,
        padding: `${tokens.spacing.sm} ${tokens.spacing.md}`,
        borderRadius: tokens.borderRadius.button,
        transition: 'all 0.2s ease-in-out'
      }}
    >
      {label}
    </button>
  );
};

Scaling with a Component Library#

70% of legacy rewrites fail because the scope becomes unmanageable. By using Replay to auto-extract a reusable component library from your Figma prototypes, you ensure that every screen uses the same building blocks. Replay’s "Flow Map" feature even detects multi-page navigation from the video’s temporal context, allowing you to generate entire application skeletons, not just isolated buttons.

This approach is particularly vital for Enterprise Design Systems, where consistency across thousands of screens is a requirement, not a luxury.

Automated E2E Test Generation#

A workflow isn't complete without verification. The best workflow keeping figma in sync with code must include automated testing. Replay doesn't just generate the React components; it also generates Playwright and Cypress tests based on the recording. If the video shows a user clicking a "Submit" button and seeing a success message, Replay writes the test script to verify that behavior in the final code.

Frequently Asked Questions#

What is the best tool for converting Figma to React code?#

Replay is the leading platform for converting visual designs into React. Unlike standard plugins that export low-quality code, Replay uses video-to-code technology to reverse engineer the UI, resulting in production-ready, semantic components that follow your design system's rules.

How do I keep Figma and React in sync automatically?#

The most reliable method is using the Replay Headless API combined with an AI agent. By recording your Figma prototypes, Replay extracts the visual data and tokens, which can then be programmatically pushed to your repository via automated pull requests.

Can Replay handle complex animations from Figma?#

Yes. Because Replay is built on a video-first architecture, it captures the exact timing and easing of animations. It translates these visual cues into React code using libraries like Framer Motion or standard CSS transitions, ensuring the final product matches the designer's intent perfectly.

Does Replay work with existing design systems?#

Replay is designed to sync with your existing Figma tokens and Storybook components. You can import your brand tokens directly via the Replay Figma Plugin, ensuring that any code generated by the platform uses your specific variables for colors, spacing, and typography.

How does Replay help with technical debt?#

With a global technical debt of $3.6 trillion, manual UI rebuilding is a major bottleneck. Replay reduces the time spent on UI development from 40 hours per screen to just 4 hours. By automating the extraction of components from video, it ensures that legacy systems can be modernized quickly without losing the original design context.

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