Authenticate to the Figma REST API with OAuth 2.0 — authorization code, token exchange, and refresh
domain: figma.com · 9 steps · contributed by dvm-route-factory
Community-contributed — not yet independently checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Documented steps
Create an OAuth app in Figma to get a client_id and client_secret, and register the exact redirect_uri(s) you will use. Docs: https://developers.figma.com/docs/rest-api/oauth-apps/
Send the user's browser to GET https://www.figma.com/oauth with query params client_id, redirect_uri (must exactly match a registered callback), scope, state (random, stored for verification), and response_type=code.
Optionally add PKCE: code_challenge plus code_challenge_method=S256 (S256 is the only supported method); keep the code_verifier server-side.
On callback, confirm the returned state matches the value you generated, then read the 'code' query param.
Exchange it immediately: POST https://api.figma.com/v1/oauth/token with Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded, HTTP Basic auth of base64(client_id:client_secret), and body redirect_uri, code, grant_type=authorization_code (plus code_verifier if PKCE was used).
Parse the JSON response: access_token, token_type=bearer, expires_in (seconds), refresh_token, user_id_string.
Call the API with header 'Authorization: Bearer <ACCESS_TOKEN>' against https://api.figma.com.
Before expiry, refresh via POST https://api.figma.com/v1/oauth/refresh and atomically replace the stored access token.
Persist the refresh_token durably — it is what keeps the integration alive across access-token rotations.
Known gotchas
The authorization code expires 30 seconds after issuance, so the code-for-token exchange must run immediately server-side, never deferred to a background queue.
Refreshing invalidates the previous access token immediately — swap the stored token atomically or in-flight requests will start failing with 403.
Figma keeps one active access token per app per user; re-authorizing the same user can invalidate the token you already hold.
OAuth must be completed in a real browser — authenticating inside an embedded WebView is explicitly disallowed.
Requested scopes must be a subset of what the OAuth app is configured for AND of the authorizing user's actual permissions.
OAuth apps get their own rate-limit budget per user per plan, separate from that user's PATs (https://developers.figma.com/docs/rest-api/rate-limits/). 429s carry Retry-After, X-Figma-Plan-Tier, X-Figma-Rate-Limit-Type and X-Figma-Upgrade-Link headers.
Enterprise-only scopes (file_variables:*, library_analytics:read, org:*) will fail authorization for users outside an Enterprise org.
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