💡 This is an advanced feature of the Penpot Exporter Plugin, if this is the first time you use the plugin we recommend to first export a file without taking into account this guide.

New to Penpot? If you are unfamiliar with how libraries work in Penpot, we recommend visiting the Penpot Help Center: Design Systems & Libraries to learn the basics.

Starting with version 0.19, the process for maintaining connections between a Figma file and its external library has been improved. By exporting the external libraries first and link them via their Penpot URL, you can ensure that component instances remain connected to the library in Penpot rather than becoming "orphan instances".

Before starting the export, ensure that the connection in Figma is perfectly in sync:

• Open the Design System file and all Design Files you intend to export.

• Check for Pending Updates: Ensure all library changes are published and that your design files have accepted all pending updates. Both files must be in their latest state.

For the Design System:

For the normal files using the Design System:

The library must exist in Penpot before you can link design files to it.

1. Run the Penpot plugin on your Design System file in Figma and export it.

2. Import this file into Penpot.

3. Open the file in Penpot and look at your browser’s address bar.

4. Copy the complete URL of your design system.

   URL Example: https://design.penpot.app/#/workspace?team-id=...&file-id=**115ba52a-c46a-8039-8007-6a781292e01a**&page-id=...

Once you have the URL from Penpot, you can export your design files. You can import as many files as you want that were linked to that design system; you just need to repeat this process for each one using the same URL.

1. In Figma, open the Design File that uses the library.

2. Open the Penpot plugin and navigate to the External Libraries section.

3. Paste the URL you copied from Penpot into the corresponding field.

4. Export the design file.

5. For multiple files: Simply open any other Figma file that uses that same library, paste the same File ID into the plugin, and export.

1. Import your design file(s) into Penpot.

2. Open the files and verify that the components are correctly connected to your Design System via the Assets panel.