How to find the first users for a Figma plugin on Bluesky

1. Search Bluesky for the pain your plugin fixes

Use Bluesky's search with the Latest tab, not Top, so you see posts from today. Search the exact words a designer would type when annoyed, like "figma rename layers", "figma variables export", "detach instance again" or "handoff to devs figma". Save three or four of these searches and check them every morning. Each matching post is a person who has your problem right now.

2. Reply to the post before you mention the plugin

Answer the actual question first, with the manual workaround if one exists. Then add one line about your plugin. Example: "You can do this with a find-and-replace on the layer panel, but it breaks on nested frames. I built a free plugin for exactly this, happy to send the link if useful." Offering the link instead of dropping it reads as help, not spam.

3. Follow designer starter packs and talk to the people in them

Starter packs are curated lists of accounts by topic. Search for "starter pack" with words like "UX design", "product design", "design systems" or "Figma" and open the ones built by working designers. Follow the product designers, design system leads and design engineers in them. Reply thoughtfully to their posts for a week before you ever pitch anything.

4. Pin design custom feeds and post your work there

Open the Feeds tab and search for feeds about design, UX and design systems. Many pick up posts by keyword or hashtag, so check each feed's description to see what it includes. Post a short screen recording of your plugin solving one problem in under 20 seconds, with plain text: "Made a Figma plugin that turns a messy layer list into clean names in one click. Free while I find out if it's useful. What would you want it to rename?"

5. Find design system people, not just designers

Design system leads and design ops managers feel tooling pain hardest because they clean up after whole teams. Search Bluesky for "design systems", "tokens", "design ops" and the names of tools they use alongside Figma, like Storybook or Tokens Studio. Read their bios for job titles. One design system lead who adopts your plugin can bring their whole team.

6. Post build updates as a developer of Figma tools

Plugin developers and design engineers are on Bluesky too, and they share and test each other's work. Post what you learned building on the Figma Plugin API, like a quirk with the selection API or a performance fix. These posts get you followers who care about plugins, and some will try yours or point friends to it.

7. Send a short DM only after a real exchange

Once someone has replied to you or liked your answer, a DM is fair. Keep it short: "Thanks for the reply on layer naming. Would you try the plugin on one real file this week and tell me where it breaks? Here's the Figma Community link." Ask for ten minutes of feedback, not a review. Aim for ten people who actually ran it on real work.

8. Do it every day for two weeks

Check your saved searches, write three to five genuine replies, and send one or two DMs to people you've talked with. Track who tried it and what they said in a simple sheet. Hulby, an AI cofounder, runs this daily for founders by finding these posts and drafting replies for you to send.

Do I need followers before this works?

No. Replies to people searching for help get seen by them directly, whatever your follower count.

Should I use hashtags?

Use one or two relevant ones like #Figma or #UXDesign if they help a feed pick you up. Clear plain text matters more.

How many replies a day is too many?

If every reply mentions your plugin, it's too many. Most replies should just help, with the plugin mentioned only where it truly fits.

How do I know I have my first real users?

When someone runs the plugin on a real file and comes back to tell you what broke or what they want next.