Current Situation
- Designers at my company often misunderstand Figma’s library concept and create their own libraries instead of using the official ones.
- Our existing libraries were migrated from Sketch and are being rebuilt with new themes, tokens, and therefore, new Figma variables. Everything is new, and we’re working hard to keep it consistent.
Our Goal
- Keep the main files editable only by 3 designers
- Allow developers of our design system team to use Dev Mode fully in our main files, which requires enabling “Viewers can copy, save, and export from this file.”
- Ensure designers can see and use our library in the Asset Panel without being able to copy or duplicate the main file.
Current Issue
- If users are not viewers of the main file, they cannot see the library in the Asset Panel.
- If they are viewers, they gain the ability to copy assets or duplicate the file, because developers need that permission for Dev Mode.
- This has led to a recurring problem where people duplicate libraries or copy directly from the main file instead of using the official library.
Impact
For our pilot products, we managed by setting designers as viewers without copy permissions. However, now that developers have Dev Mode and want full functionality, we’re struggling to balance permissions without compromising our library integrity.
Question
Is there any workaround for this issue? We understand this might not become a feature soon, but we’ve tested multiple access types (file and workspace) without success. Could admin settings help? Or any best practices you recommend?