Setup & Walkthrough

Set up in 5 minutes. Update in 30 seconds.

Even if you've never generated a Figma API token before, this walkthrough takes you through every screen — Figma's, your browser's, and the plugin's — exactly as you'll see them.

Before You Start

What you need ready

For Instance reads from your Design file and writes the latest renders into your Slides file. You'll need access to both, plus a paid Figma seat.

Make sure you have:
  • A paid Figma seat (Professional, Organization, or Enterprise)
  • A Figma Design file with the components you use in slides
  • A Figma Slides file where those components are placed as instances
  • About 5 minutes for first-time setup
How it works in one sentence: the plugin reads your Design file via the Figma API, finds the latest version of each component, and replaces the matching instances in your Slides file — without touching the Design file or storing anything on our servers.
1

Open the plugin in Figma Slides

Open your Figma Slides file. From the menu bar, go to Plugins → For Instance. The plugin opens as a panel and shows the Connect your workspace splash.

This first screen is just a checklist of the three things you'll need: an API token, a Design file URL, and a Slides file URL. Don't worry about gathering them yet — click Get started → and the plugin opens its Settings panel where you'll paste them in.

Important: open the plugin from inside your Slides file, not the Design file. The plugin updates instances in whichever file it's running inside.

First open: the Connect Your Workspace splash

2

Generate a Figma API token

The plugin uses a Personal Access Token to read your Design file. You'll create one inside Figma's account settings — it takes about a minute.

Inside Figma:

  1. Click the F menu in the top-left corner → Help and account → Account settings
  2. In the settings dialog, click the Security tab → click Generate new token
  3. Give the token a name (e.g. "For Instance"), pick an expiration, and under Scopes → Files, check file_content:read
  4. Click Generate token at the bottom
  5. A yellow box appears with your token — copy it immediately. Figma only shows it once.
Only one scope is required: file_content:read. This is the lowest possible permission — it lets the plugin read component renders, nothing else. No write, no delete, no comments.
A. FIGMA MENU → ACCOUNT SETTINGS F File Edit View Plugins Preferences Help and account › Log out Help page Support forum Account settings B. SECURITY TAB → GENERATE NEW TOKEN Account Community Notifications Security × Personal access tokens Tokens let the plugin call the Figma API on your behalf. Generate new token C. NAME, SET SCOPE, GENERATE Generate new token × Token name For Instance Scopes › Files file_comments:read file_content:read ← required Cancel Generate 🔑 For Instance ********************** Copy now ↑

Figma side: from the F menu to your copyable token

3

Copy your Design and Slides file URLs

The plugin needs to know which two files to connect — your Design file (the source) and your Slides file (the destination). Both URLs come straight from your browser.

For each file:

  1. Open the file in Figma's browser app (or web)
  2. Right-click the browser tab at the top
  3. Click Copy Link (or use ⌘L when the tab is focused)
  4. Paste it into the matching field in plugin settings later
Tip: if you don't see Copy Link in the right-click menu, you can also use Figma's Share → Copy link button in the top-right of the file. Either link works.

A Design file URL looks like figma.com/design/.... A Slides file URL looks like figma.com/slides/.... Don't worry about which is which — the plugin will tell you in the next step.

DESIGN FILE Storyboard 1.0 × + Copy Link ⌘L Rename File Reload Tab Move to New Window Pin Tab SLIDES FILE Storyboard Deck 1.0 × + Copy Link ⌘L Rename File Reload Tab Move to New Window Pin Tab

Right-click each browser tab and copy the link

4

Paste everything into the plugin's Settings panel

Back in the plugin, you should be on the Settings screen. If not, open it from the ≡ menu in the top-right corner of the plugin.

Fill in the three fields:

  • Figma Personal Access Token — paste the token you just copied
  • Design File — paste the URL of the Figma Design file
  • Slides File — paste the URL of the Figma Slides file

Test the connection:

Click Test connection. The plugin checks that the token works, that both URLs point to real files, and that the file types are correct. You'll see green check marks confirming each piece, including the actual file names so you can verify you pasted the right URLs.

If everything looks good, click Save. You're now connected and ready to scan.

Test connection result you want to see:
✓ Token: Valid
✓ Design: 'your-design-file-name'
✓ Slides: 'your-slides-file-name'

Settings panel with a successful Test connection — note the green confirmations

5

Scan your Slides deck

With your files connected, the main view shows a single large Scan Slides button. Click it and the plugin walks every page of your deck and identifies any component instances that originate from your linked Design file.

What gets scanned:

  • Every frame on every page in the Slides file
  • Nested instances are detected at any depth
  • Only instances linked to your connected Design file are listed — components from other sources are ignored
Re-scan whenever you like. The list rebuilds fresh each time you click Scan. If you add new slides or new component instances later, just scan again to pick them up.

Main view — click Scan Slides to build the instance inventory

6

Review and select instances

After scanning, the plugin lists every component instance linked to your Design file. Each row shows the component name and the slide page it lives on.

Navigating the list:

  • Click any row to jump your canvas view directly to that instance — no scrolling or hunting
  • Check or uncheck rows to build a custom selection for updating
  • A Select All / Deselect All toggle at the top makes bulk selection fast

Use this list to audit which components are in use across your deck before committing to an update. If a component's dimensions changed in the Design file, you can preview which slides will be affected.

Instance list — click any row to jump to that slide; check rows to target updates

Every instance carries its source metadata

Click any row in the instance list and the Link Info drawer opens at the bottom of the panel. It shows exactly where that instance comes from — the component name, a direct link to the main component in your Design file, the slide number it lives on, and the source file's name, ID, and last-updated timestamp.

What Link Info is useful for:

  • Verify before you update — confirm you're looking at the right component before committing an update to that slide
  • Jump to the source — click the component link to open the main component directly in your Design file
  • Audit trail — the Last Updated timestamp tells you when the Design file component was last changed, so you know if an update is even needed
  • Cross-file visibility — File Name and File ID confirm which Design file the component is being pulled from, useful on projects with multiple design sources

Toggle the drawer open and closed with the ▶ button at the bottom-left of the panel — it stays out of the way until you need it.

Link Info drawer — click any row to inspect its source component and metadata

7

Update and stay current

Select the instances you want to refresh, then click Update. To update everything at once, click Select All first — then Update. The plugin fetches the latest render of each component from your Design file and replaces each instance in place.

What happens during an update:

  • The plugin calls the Figma API to get the current version of each component
  • Each instance in your Slides file is replaced with the fresh render at its exact position
  • X/Y coordinates are preserved — the instance stays exactly where you placed it
  • If a component's dimensions changed, the new render reflects the updated size
One update action = one click, regardless of selection size. Updating 50 instances at once counts as a single update against your plan limit — or no limit if you're on PRO.

After updating — each refreshed instance shows a green updated dot; skipped rows are unchanged

PRO Activation

Start a free trial or activate PRO

The free plugin includes 5 update actions to try it out. When you're ready for more, click ✦ Upgrade to PRO… in the ≡ menu — you'll see three ways to get started.

Option 1 — Start your 30-day free trial:

  1. Open the plugin → click the ≡ menu → ✦ Upgrade to PRO…
  2. Choose a plan — Individual, Team, or Enterprise
  3. Complete checkout — no credit card required for the trial
  4. You'll receive a license key by email — enter it in the License Key field to activate

Option 2 — Activate a purchased license key:

  1. Paste your key into the License Key field and click Activate PRO

Option 3 — Redeem a team invite code:

  1. Enter the code your admin shared in the Invite Code field and click Redeem Code

After activation the menu shows Manage License — use it to view your subscription, switch devices, manage your team, or upgrade from a trial.

Don't have a key yet? Click Buy a license key → on the activation screen to go straight to the pricing page.

Free trial, license key, or team invite code — all in one screen

Security

Where your data goes — and where it doesn't

For Instance is designed to touch as little as possible. All component syncing happens inside Figma — no design data ever leaves the Figma platform.

Data Stored where Transmitted to
Figma API token Local device only
figma.clientStorage		 api.figma.com only
Design & Slides file URLs Local device only
figma.clientStorage		 api.figma.com only
Component / design content Never stored Never transmitted
License key & instance ID Local device only Lemon Squeezy API
(via Cloudflare Worker proxy)
Figma display name Never stored by us Lemon Squeezy
seat label only, at activation
Usage analytics / telemetry None collected — ever
🔒
Read-only access to your Design file
The plugin uses file_content:read only. It fetches component renders and nothing else. Your Design file is never modified.
📂
Token stays in Figma's sandboxed client storage
figma.clientStorage is sandboxed per plugin — other plugins cannot read it. The token never leaves your device except as a request header to api.figma.com.
🚫
No analytics, tracking, or telemetry
We collect nothing about how you use the plugin. No page views, no event tracking, no behavioral data.
✅
Transparent license validation proxy
License checks pass through a Cloudflare Worker that proxies to Lemon Squeezy. The Worker logs only standard infrastructure data (IP, timestamp) per Cloudflare's policy — it stores nothing of yours.

Full details in our Privacy Policy.

FIGMA API api.figma.com · read-only component data FOR INSTANCE PLUGIN runs inside Figma · sandboxed iframe LOCAL STORAGE figma.clientStorage token · file URLs · license SLIDES FILE instances updated in-place position + design preserved LEMON SQUEEZY license validation only via Cloudflare proxy No design data ever sent to Casita Film servers

Complete data flow — design content never leaves Figma

Continue

Ready to go further?

For Teams
Enterprise admin features

Manage seats, set activation limits, and download audit logs from the admin panel.

Enterprise guide →
FAQ
Common questions

Answers about licensing, updates, layout behavior, and troubleshooting.

See all FAQs →
Pricing
Free to PRO

Start free with 5 updates. Upgrade to PRO for unlimited syncing on decks of any size.

See plans →