Microsoft automates design handoff with Figma’s API [Video] | Figma Blog (opens in new tab)

Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Talent’s design team used Figma’s API to automate the slow handoff between designers and engineers. By connecting Figma webhooks to their development workflow, saving a new design version automatically generates a pull request for review and approval. The team reported reducing the handoff process by about 70%, allowing designers and engineers to focus on their primary work.

The Design Handoff Problem

• After adopting Microsoft’s Fluent Design System, the team focused heavily on scaling visual design elements.
• Even minor design updates required negotiation and prioritization between designers and engineers.
• With a large enterprise workload, engineers could take a week or more to move a single design element into production.
• The team needed a workflow that could support a high designer-to-engineer ratio while reducing manual coordination.

Automating the Workflow with Figma’s API

• During Microsoft’s OneWeek hackathon, the Dynamics 365 for Talent team built an automation around Figma’s web-based API.
• A Figma webhook detects when a designer saves a new version of a file.
• That event automatically creates a pull request containing the design change.
• Designers and engineers can review, approve, and commit the update through the existing development process.

Reported Benefits

• The automated workflow reduced the overall handoff process by approximately 70%.
• Designers gained more time to create and refine designs.
• Engineers spent less time processing design requests and more time developing features.
• The approach made design-system updates faster and easier to scale.

The example demonstrates how integrating design tools directly with engineering workflows can eliminate repetitive coordination and accelerate production changes. Teams facing similar handoff bottlenecks can consider webhook- and API-driven automation to connect design revisions with code review and deployment.