As the title, how can I help developers to only use the development mode rather than including file editing? Currently, when I approve someone’s request for dev mode, they are counted as a Design Seat. Then, in addition to using Dev Mode, they can also edit files.
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Hi there,
Thanks for the post! If your account is on an Organization/Enterprise plan, you have the option to adjust the Design seat permissions from “Full” to “Viewer-restricted” for developers. You can find more information on how to do this here: https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/360052677454-Manage-free-and-paid-seats-in-an-organization.
If you are Professional plan, unfortunately, there is no option to choose Dev Mode only access: https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/20652568757399-What-s-new-in-Dev-Mode#h_01HMY6W4HH5HTCSXVCTN64R6FG.
I hope this clears up your questions, but don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any further queries!
Thanks,
Toku
This is just chaos!
Is there a mode that’s only Dev Mode, not Full Design seat yet for Professional? I don’t need/want to upgrade to Oganization/Enterprise plan just to have this single and obvious feature…
It’s so basic not to give design seat to developers especially to prevent unintentional design overrides and changes… It’s called DEV mode for some reason right?
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Thanks for your feedback and we keep sharing voices with our internal team!
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On the Pro plan, too. We have developers who need developer mode, but we don’t want them to edit the files.
Many times, devs might be dragging around the file and accidentally also drag a design element around, without noticing. That’s project-breaking and super annoying for the designers, and will lead to other developers implementing faulty designs.
I think it’s detrimental to your reputation and utterly strange that this isn’t a default feature.
Also, how can the “Team permissions” be “Can view” but the “Design seat” be “Full”?
That just makes no sense at all 
What we need is this:
Team permissions: owner, designer, developer, or viewer.
Owners: can do it all
Designers: can edit and use dev mode
Developers: can view and use dev mode
Viewers: can only view
That’s all. Super simple, easy to understand. There is no need for a “Design seat” (what a weird label that is to begin with).
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I second this. It’s complete chaos since Dev mode is no longer a free feature. I would be ok with Dev mode being a paid feature but not part of a Design / Editor seat! It makes no sense to give Developers the ability to edit the designs they are building. There is a workaround for this, but it’s highly inconvenient (limiting editing permissions of each design file). I’m hoping this is just a horrible transition period and a dedicated developer seat is soon introduced (without editing permissions).
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Yes!! 
Owners: can do it all
Designers: can edit and use dev mode
Developers: can view and use dev mode
Viewers: can only view
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Why is it so crazy in Figma…
Figma Team:
Let us, designers, give developers access to dev mode only (not editing), without adding extra seat in our account. Charge their side, not ours
This is bad! Look what you are doing to us 
2 Likes