Applying tokens to layers

Guide2026-07-27

Pushing a token’s value onto Figma layers, and keeping those layers up to date when the token changes.

Applying

Select one or more layers on the canvas.
Right-click a token tile → Apply token.
Choose a target from the submenu.

Types with several possible targets show a grouped submenu; types with a single behaviour apply directly.

With nothing selected you get “No element selected.”

Targets

The target decides which Figma property receives the value. Defaults:

Token type	Default target
`color`	Fill
`dimension`	Size (all)
`number`	Opacity
`fontFamily`	Font family
`fontWeight`	Font weight
`text`	Text content
`file`	Hyperlink
`other`	Save on node

The full target list per type is on Apply targets.

Types with no targets — border, shadow, typography, transition, gradient, cubic Bézier, duration, stroke style — apply with their single built-in behaviour, or not at all where Figma has no equivalent.

Partial results are reported

Applying to a mixed selection rarely succeeds everywhere. The plugin tells you:

Situation	Feedback
All layers succeeded	“Token applied and reference saved.”
Some succeeded	“Token applied to 3 of 5 elements.”
All failed	The first error is raised, e.g. “add a Drop Shadow effect first”

Some misses are silent

Layout targets — a corner radius on a layer without corners, padding on a frame without auto layout — are skipped without counting as a failure. A “applied and reference saved” message does not guarantee every layer visibly changed.

Bindings

Every apply records a binding on the layer: which token, which target. This is what the Inspect tab reads.

A binding is a stored record, not a live link. Editing primary.500 does not repaint bound layers by itself.

Sync to selection

This is the step that closes the loop after a token edit.

Footer → sync to: selection, or the refresh icon in the Inspect tab.

It walks the selected layers — or the entire current page if nothing is selected — and re-applies every stored binding with the token’s current value.

You get “Synced N layers with token references (M warnings).”

Guard	Message
No layer selected	Select at least one layer to sync
No tokens in the document	No tokens to sync

Nothing selected means the whole page

This is deliberate — it is the fast way to push a palette change across a screen. But be aware of the scope before running it on a page with hundreds of bound layers.

A typical edit cycle

1. Edit a token value in the dialog
2. References to it resolve to the new value automatically
3. Select the affected frames (or nothing, for the whole page)
4. Footer → sync to: selection
5. Bound layers repaint with the new value

Relaunch buttons

After applying, DAES writes Figma relaunch buttons onto the selected layers, so the plugin can be reopened in context from the layer’s properties panel:

Button	Appears on
Manage Tokens	Every layer
Apply Design Tokens	Every layer
Edit Fill Token	Layers with fills
Edit Stroke Token	Layers with strokes
Edit Spacing Token	Frames, components, instances

Relaunch buttons are written to at most the first 50 selected layers, to keep large selections responsive.