figmentlisted

# Generating Figma from code, with a plugin Figma's MCP server is the right tool for reading a design and for one-off edits. It is the wrong tool for *generating and then iterating on* a large design, for three reasons: it is metered (a Starter plan allows twenty tool calls **per month**, for every seat type), each call is a network round-trip, and nothing it produces is reproducible — rerun it and you get a slightly different file. A local plugin has none of those limits. It is the same Plugin API; only the transport changes. And because the plugin is a file in the repo, the design becomes source code: diffable, reviewable, regenerable, and correct by construction after the first time you fix a bug. **The trade you are making:** a plugin runs in the Figma desktop app, so there is a human in the loop on every run (Plugins → Development → your plugin). You will not see the canvas. That sounds fatal and is not — see *The loop* below. ## Quick start `assets/` in this skill is a working plugin scaffold. Copy it into the target repo, then: ```bash cp -r <skill>/assets <repo>/tools/figma-plugin cd <repo>/tools/figma-plugin ./build.sh && node test/run.cjs # should print: OK — 1 screen, no layout overflow ``` Then in the **Figma desktop app** (not the browser — a manifest plugin needs desktop): Plugins → Development → Import plugin from manifest… → pick `manifest.json` → Plugins → Development → *your plugin* → Build. Now start replacing the placeholder tokens with the