Native Figma slots solve the repeating items anti-pattern in component libraries¶
Insight: Repeating items (checkboxes in groups, tabs, breadcrumbs, list items, action buttons in dialogs) are the most common composable pattern in component libraries, and all prior solutions were anti-patterns: instance swapping (ergonomically annoying, requires separate component assets), hidden nested instances (deep layer drilling, no reordering, degraded performance), and quantity props (limited to pre-defined counts). Figma's native slots replace all of these with composable, reorderable, extensible item patterns.
Detail: Curtis identifies four categories of repeating items: explicit groups (checkboxGroup, radioButtonGroup), implicit groups (tabs, breadcrumbs), component areas (actions in alert/toolbar/dialog), and container lists. The migration to native slots requires careful architecture of naming conventions, default content configuration, and more granular specs. For design systems migrating to native slots, repeating items should be prioritized as the highest-impact composable pattern in the library.
Sources
- Nathan Curtis — "Figma Slots for Repeating Items" (2026-01-23)
- Nathan Curtis — "Configuration Collapse" (2026-02-27)