manage-variables-figma — variable / collection / mode CRUD

Incremental, surgical edits to a Figma variable system: create one or many, update values in bulk, rename, set scopes and code syntax, add/rename modes, and delete. All via use_figma, on any plan.

Skill boundaries

• `use_figma` rules — load the official `figma-use` skill first; it is the full Figma Plugin API reference. Essentials these scripts rely on: plain JS with top-level await + return (no IIFE, no figma.closePlugin(); console.log is not returned), inputs inlined as const at the top of each script, colors in 0–1 range, load fonts before any text op, await figma.getNodeByIdAsync(...), and atomic errors (a failed script applies nothing — read the error, fix, retry).
• From-scratch bootstrap → setup-design-tokens-figma. Code sync → import-tokens-figma /

export-tokens-figma.

Workflow

1. Identify targets. Most ops need IDs. Get variableId/modeId/collectionId from the

export-tokens-figma read script or get_variable_defs. Collections can also be looked up by name inside the script.

1. Pick the operation from references/variable-ops.md — it has a

complete, copy-paste use_figma snippet for each: create collection, create variable, batch create, batch update, rename, set scopes, add/rename mode, delete.

1. Run via use_figma (skillNames: "manage-variables-figma"). For large value updates use

scripts/batch-update-variables.js (10–50× faster than one-call-per-value).

1. Confirm. Every snippet returns the affected IDs/names. Read back with get_variable_defs to

verify. For deletes, confirm with the user first — removing a collection deletes all its variables and unbinds anything referencing them.

Key rules

• Colors are 0–1 range. Use hexToRgb for hex input.
• Always set `scopes` on new variables — the default ALL_SCOPES pollutes every picker.
• Set code syntax (setVariableCodeSyntax('WEB', '--token-name')) so design↔code naming lines up.
• Renames are safe — they preserve values and existing bindings. Deletes are destructive.
• Aliases: bind one variable to another with

v.setValueForMode(modeId, figma.variables.createVariableAlias(targetVar)).