Best approach to customize 4.0.0?

[dHoangBach]

Hello, I'm having trouble understanding the way to customize with Figma Variables for longterm compatibility.

Our current Design System followed the idea to wrap all the PrimeOne components and to override existing tokens with custom values.
This way, when swapping libraries, components should be able to receive these custom values after re-applying with Tokens Studio.
Changing to the Figma Variables, I don't see a replacement for that. Adding a new mode that copies all variables will probably cause failure with the Theme Designer. However using custom variables results in a lot of manual changes on the components and the loss of the connection to the original variable.

Do I have a misunderstanding? What is the best approach to customize while allowing swap libraries to keep working in the future and not losing every customization every single time?

[dHoangBach]

My current guess is that everything has to be done through the Figma internal export and import features: Edit the values and re-import it into the newer versions. New variables will be ignored by Figma, so there's hopefully no errors.

[onursenture]

Hello,

4.0 is the first release using native Figma Variables, and the import/export features are still new. Since this workflow hasn’t been widely adopted yet, we’re not able to recommend a clear best practice at the moment.

The main guideline we can share is to define custom tokens in the Custom collection, which is required for Theme Designer compatibility. We also don’t recommend adding new modes, as this may cause sync and compatibility issues with Theme Designer.

As usage grows and patterns become clearer, we’ll be able to share more concrete guidance. In the meantime, if you run into any issues during customization, we’re happy to help on a case-by-case basis.