The Figma plugin

The nlit Figma plugin opens as a small side panel inside any Figma file. It talks to the same nlit project your developers and translators use, so the strings you drop on canvas are the same strings that ship in the app.

What you can do from inside Figma:

• Browse every translation key in a project, grouped by module.
• Search by key name or by translation value.
• Link a Figma text layer to a key — the layer's contents update to the current translation in your chosen language.
• Re-sync the whole file (or just a selected branch) when translations change in the platform.
• Create a brand-new key directly from selected text, without leaving Figma.

Once the plugin is published to the Figma Community, the install flow is the standard Figma one:

1. Open the plugin's page in the Figma Community.
2. Click Try it out (per-file) or Save (to add it to your account).
3. From any file: Plugins → not-lost-in-translations in the menu, or via the quick-actions bar (⌘/).

The first time you open the plugin you'll see a settings screen. Connecting takes two pieces of info from the nlit web app:

1. Project ID — copy it from the project URL in the web app (the UUID after /project/).
2. API key — generate one under Project settings → API keys. Give it a name, copy it the moment it's shown (it isn't shown again), and paste it into the plugin. Keys start with nlit_.

The plugin stores credentials locally in Figma client storage — they never leave your machine. You can connect multiple projects (one per Figma file is typical) and switch between them from the settings menu without re-entering keys.

Browse keys

Once connected, the plugin shows the project's modules in a dropdown. Pick a module and you'll see every key in it, with the current source-language value (and your chosen display language, when different).

Use the search bar to filter by key name (e.g. checkout.) or by value.

Link a text layer to a key

1. Select a text layer on the canvas.
2. In the plugin panel, find the key you want it to display.
3. Click Link. The layer's contents are replaced with the translation, and the layer is tagged so future syncs know what key it represents.

Once a layer is linked, the plugin shows the linked key at the top of the panel whenever that layer is selected — including the key name, current value, and a quick Unlink action.

Switch display language

Use the language selector to swap between target languages. Every linked layer in the file updates in place — handy for sanity-checking long German strings, right-to-left Arabic, or CJK line wrapping in the actual frames you're shipping.

If you're writing copy directly in Figma, you don't need to context-switch to the web app to register a new key:

1. Select a text layer that contains the new string.
2. In the plugin, click Create key from selection.
3. Fill in a key name (dot-notation, e.g. onboarding.welcomeTitle), an optional description, and platform tags (web, ios, android — leave empty for cross-platform).
4. Mark it as a plural key if it needs CLDR plural forms (e.g. 1 item / 2 items).
5. Click Create. The key lands in the platform, the layer is linked to it, and translators see it on their next visit.

When translators change a string in the platform, your Figma file doesn't silently go stale — you re-sync on demand.

Sync all

From the plugin menu choose Sync all layers. The plugin walks every page in the file, finds layers that are linked to nlit keys, and updates them to the latest translation in your chosen display language. Layers you haven't linked are left alone.

Sync the current selection

To narrow the update to a specific frame or component, select it before running sync. Only linked layers inside that selection are updated — useful when you're iterating on one screen and don't want to disturb the rest of the file.

• Name keys by location, not content. onboarding.welcomeTitle survives a copy rewrite; onboarding.welcomeToOurAppdoesn't.
• Add a context image in the web app. Screenshots from Figma are exactly what a translator needs to make the right call — open the key in the platform and drop in a frame export.
• Use platform tags. Tag a key with iosonly if it's iOS-only — most keys are cross-platform and should stay untagged so they ship to every target.
• Minimise the plugin while you work.The header has a collapse button that shrinks the panel to a thin bar at the bottom, so it doesn't cover the canvas.
• One project per file (usually).If a Figma file represents one product, point the plugin at that product's nlit project. The plugin remembers the connection per file, so other files keep their own.

The Figma plugin is available on Starter and above. Free-tier projects can install the plugin but will see an upgrade prompt when they try to connect — the Figma surface is one of the few features gated behind a paid plan.

See Pricing for the full breakdown.