Figma updates Auto Layout with generative spacing and rhythm controls

Design · 3 min read

Figma’s Auto Layout update introduces AI-driven spacing suggestions that adapt to content changes, platform breakpoints, and brand rhythm presets. Designers can now apply a ‘visual rhythm’ setting that the tool uses to predict consistent spacing, margins, and typographic scale across components.

The machine-assisted Auto Layout also includes flow predictions that propose reflows for complex responsive scenarios, showing alternative arrangements side-by-side. These suggestions are editable and grounded in design-system tokens, allowing teams to lock brand-specific proportions while accepting AI-proposed optimizations.

Figma emphasized explainability: each suggestion includes a compact rationale — for instance, “increase left padding to align baseline with header” — and links to the underlying token changes. The company said this transparency is intended to help teams adopt automation without losing control over visual language.

Early adopters report faster responsive work and fewer manual fixes, particularly for component libraries with many nested constraints. However, some designers expressed concern about the model promoting homogenized layouts; Figma said future updates will add style-contrasting modes to preserve creative diversity.