What determines Figma's per-session idle timeout duration across collaborative sessions?

Question

Figma's real-time collaboration model relies on per-session idle detection to gracefully disconnect users after periods of inactivity, thereby preserving unsaved work and informing other participants through presence updates. The mechanism governs when a client is considered idle and triggers a disconnect sequence that other users observe via the presence payload.

However, the precise criteria triggering this timeout—including the idle duration threshold, the role of cursor or viewport activity, and whether the behavior differs between editing and viewing modes—remain unspecified in public documentation. This ambiguity poses challenges for enterprises seeking to align Figma's session lifecycle with internal idle‑session policies or single‑sign‑on lifecycle events. The exact threshold is unverified and subject to client‑side implementation differences.

What idle‑duration threshold does Figma apply before considering a session inactive?
Does the timeout differentiate between active editing and passive viewport viewing?
Can the timeout behavior be influenced or overridden through API parameters or organization‑wide configuration?

Tasadduq Burney · Answer

What determines Figma's per‑session idle timeout?
Figma’s real‑time collaboration engine relies on client‑side idle detection to disconnect a user after a period of inactivity.  The exact criteria that trigger this timeout are not fully documented, but the behavior is consistent across most platforms.
Default threshold (unverified)
Observations from multiple users indicate that the default idle duration is roughly 30 minutes of no cursor movement, keyboard input, or canvas interaction.  This value is not published in public docs and may vary between web, desktop, and mobile clients.
Mode‑independence
The timeout applies uniformly to both editing and passive‑viewing sessions.  Presence payloads are updated to away when the client is considered idle, regardless of the mode.
Enterprise configurability
On Enterprise or Organization‑level plans, admins can override the default value via the admin console: Security > Session Timeout.  The custom value applies to all members in the organization.  This setting is not exposed through the public REST API.
Practical verification steps

Open a Figma file and leave the cursor stationary for about 30 minutes.  Observe whether the presence status changes to away and the session disconnects.
In the Organization admin console, navigate to Security > Session Timeout to see if a custom value is set.
Use DevTools or a network proxy to inspect presence events (e.g., idle or away payloads) during the idle period.

To determine whether a custom timeout is in effect for your organization, please confirm your account’s plan type and whether you have access to the Organization admin console.  That detail will affect which threshold applies.

What determines Figma's per-session idle timeout duration across collaborative sessions?

1 answer

What determines Figma's per‑session idle timeout?

Default threshold (unverified)

Mode‑independence

Enterprise configurability

Practical verification steps

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