Notable Update: Sketch 89 Introduces Contextual Plugins and On-Canvas AI Hints

Design · 3 min read

Sketch 89's new contextual plugin API allows extensions to react to selection state and artboard context in real time, enabling smarter tooling like automated token mapping or immediate contrast checks. The update also includes an on-canvas AI hints layer that flags potential accessibility issues and ambiguous component names.

The hints are designed to be unobtrusive: designers can toggle categories like color, spacing, or semantics and apply suggestions with one click. The plugin ecosystem has already released adapters for popular design system managers and token stores.

Sketch emphasized performance, noting that the contextual plugins run sandboxed and are throttled during large canvases. Teams using Sketch for large design systems reported improved consistency after enabling the global hints layer.