Design tool integration specialist covering Figma MCP, Pencil renderer, and Pencil-to-code export. Use when fetching design context from Figma, rendering Pencil designs, or exporting to React/Tailwind code.
Design tool integration specialist covering Figma MCP, Pencil renderer, and Pencil-to-code export. Use when fetching design context from Figma, rendering Pencil designs, or exporting to React/Tailwind code.
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Design Tools Integration Specialist
Comprehensive design-to-code workflow guidance covering three major capabilities: Figma MCP (design fetching), Pencil MCP (visual rendering), and Pencil-to-code export (React/Tailwind generation).
Default Design Style (shadcn/ui Nova)
When no specific design style is requested, use the shadcn/ui Nova preset with Notion-style neutral color scheme:
bunx --bun shadcn@latest create --preset "https://ui.shadcn.com/init?base=radix&style=nova&baseColor=neutral&theme=neutral&iconLibrary=hugeicons&font=noto-sans&menuAccent=bold&menuColor=default&radius=small&template=next&rtl=false" --template next
Nova Style Configuration
Property
Value
Description
Style
nova
Modern, clean design language
Base Color
neutral
Notion-style grayscale palette
Theme
neutral
Consistent neutral theming
Icon Library
hugeicons
Comprehensive icon set
Font
noto-sans
Clean, readable sans-serif
Radius
small
Subtle rounded corners
Menu Accent
bold
Strong menu highlighting
When to Use Default Style
Apply the Nova preset when:
User requests "clean", "modern", or "minimalist" design without specifics
No brand guidelines or design system specified
Creating dashboards, admin panels, or productivity tools
Building documentation or content-focused interfaces
Quick Tool Selection
Figma MCP - Design Context and Generation
Official Figma MCP integration via Remote MCP server (https://mcp.figma.com/mcp). Install with: claude plugin install figma@claude-plugins-official
Best For: Fetching design context from Figma files, extracting design tokens, generating new designs with Code-to-Canvas (generate_figma_design), accessing FigJam boards, and linking components to code with Code Connect.
Key Strengths: 16 official tools including read (get_design_context, get_variable_defs, get_screenshot, get_metadata), write (use_figma, generate_figma_design, create_new_file), Code Connect (get_code_connect_map, add_code_connect_map, get_code_connect_suggestions, send_code_connect_mappings), FigJam (get_figjam, generate_diagram), design system (search_design_system, create_design_system_rules), and utility (whoami). Write-to-canvas is currently free during beta.
Pencil MCP integration for creating and editing .pen design files (schema v2.9) with AI-assisted design generation. CLI: @pencil.dev/cli v0.2.4.
Best For: Rapid prototyping, visual design iterations, creating UI mockups from text descriptions, collaborative design discussions, visual proposals before implementation.
Key Strengths: Text-to-design conversion, batch design operations, style guide integration, visual preview without implementation, collaborative design workflow, component system with slots, design libraries (.lib.pen).
Recursively search for all unique properties on nodes
replace_all_matching_properties
Recursively replace all matching properties on nodes
get_guidelines
Get design guidelines (topics: code, table, tailwind, landing-page, design-system)
get_style_guide
Get style guide by name or tags
get_style_guide_tags
List all available style guide tags
open_document
Open existing .pen file or create new one
find_empty_space_on_canvas
Find available space for new elements
export_nodes
CLI only — Export to PNG, JPEG, WEBP, PDF with scale multiplier
Workflow: Describe UI in natural language → Generate design with batch_design → Visually review with get_screenshot → Iterate on design → Export to code when ready.
CLI Authentication:pencil login (interactive) or PENCIL_CLI_KEY env var (CI/CD). Agent mode: pencil --out file.pen --prompt "..." --model claude-sonnet-4-6.
Context7 Library: /pencil/docs
Pencil-to-Code Export - React/Tailwind Generation
Export .pen designs to production-ready React and Tailwind CSS code via a prompt-based workflow.
Best For: Converting approved .pen designs to implementation, generating React components with Tailwind styling, maintaining design fidelity in code, rapid frontend development from visual designs.
Key Strengths: Prompt-based code generation (no export API), batch_get for reading .pen JSON structure, design token extraction via get_variables, React component generation with Tailwind classes, component structure preservation.
Workflow: batch_get frame data → Analyze JSON structure → Map to React/Tailwind → Apply design tokens → Verify against screenshot.
Note: Pencil-to-Code is a prompt-based workflow. There is no pencil.export_to_react() API or pencil.config.js configuration file.
Quick Decision Guide
Choose Figma MCP when:
Need to extract design context from existing Figma files
Working with designers who use Figma
Required to fetch design tokens and component specifications
Need screenshots or visual references from Figma
Documenting existing design systems
Choose Pencil MCP when:
Creating new designs from scratch
Rapid prototyping and visual iteration needed
Text-based design workflow preferred
Want AI-assisted design generation
Collaborative design discussions with team
Choose Pencil-to-Code Export when:
Design is finalized in .pen format
Ready to implement visual designs as code
Need React components with Tailwind styling
Maintaining design fidelity is critical
Rapid frontend development from designs
Pencil MCP Workflow
Starting a Design Session
Check Editor State
get_editor_state() → Determine active .pen file and user selection
Open or Create Document
open_document(filePathOrNew: "new") → Create new .pen file
open_document(filePathOrNew: "/path/to/file.pen") → Open existing
Get Design Guidelines
get_guidelines(topic: "code" | "table" | "tailwind" | "landing-page")
get_style_guide_tags() → Get available style tags
get_style_guide(tags: ["minimalist", "dashboard"], name: "nova")
Creating Designs
Generate with batch_design
Use batch_design for efficient batch operations. Syntax:
These patterns apply across all three tools with tool-specific implementations.
Design Token Management:
All tools support design token extraction and management. Figma MCP extracts tokens from existing files, Pencil MCP generates tokens during design creation, Pencil-to-code exports tokens as CSS variables or Tailwind config.
Component Architecture:
All tools maintain component hierarchy. Figma MCP reads component structure from Figma, Pencil MCP creates component structure in DNA codes, Pencil-to-code generates React components preserving hierarchy.
