open-pencil

OpenPencil

CLI and MCP server for .fig design files. Two modes of operation:

• App mode — connect to the running OpenPencil editor (omit the file argument)

• Headless mode — work with .fig files directly (pass a file path)

# App mode — operates on the document open in the editor
bun open-pencil tree

# Headless mode — operates on a .fig file
bun open-pencil tree design.fig

The app exposes an automation bridge on http://127.0.0.1:7600 when running. The CLI auto-connects to it when no file path is provided.

CLI Commands

Inspect

# Document overview — pages, node counts, fonts
bun open-pencil info design.fig

# Node tree — shows hierarchy with types and sizes
bun open-pencil tree design.fig
bun open-pencil tree --page "Components" --depth 3  # app mode, specific page

# List pages
bun open-pencil pages design.fig

# Detailed node properties — fills, strokes, effects, layout, text
bun open-pencil node design.fig --id 1:23
bun open-pencil node --id 1:23  # app mode

# List design variables and collections
bun open-pencil variables design.fig
bun open-pencil variables --collection "Colors" --type COLOR

Search

# Find by name (partial match, case-insensitive)
bun open-pencil find design.fig --name "Button"

# Find by type
bun open-pencil find --type FRAME                          # app mode
bun open-pencil find design.fig --type TEXT --page "Home"

# Combine filters
bun open-pencil find design.fig --name "Card" --type COMPONENT --limit 50

XPath Query

Find nodes using XPath selectors — filter by type, attributes, and tree structure:

# All frames
bun open-pencil query design.fig "//FRAME"

# Frames narrower than 300px
bun open-pencil query design.fig "//FRAME[@width < 300]"

# Text with "Button" in the name
bun open-pencil query design.fig "//TEXT[contains(@name, 'Button')]"

# Components with auto-layout
bun open-pencil query design.fig "//COMPONENT[@stackMode]"

# Deeply nested — text inside frames inside components
bun open-pencil query design.fig "//COMPONENT//FRAME//TEXT"

# App mode
bun open-pencil query "//FRAME[@width > 1000]"

Node types: FRAME, TEXT, RECTANGLE, ELLIPSE, VECTOR, GROUP, COMPONENT, COMPONENT_SET, INSTANCE, SECTION, LINE, STAR, POLYGON, SLICE, BOOLEAN_OPERATION

Export

# PNG (default)
bun open-pencil export design.fig -o hero.png
bun open-pencil export -o hero.png  # app mode — exports from running editor

# Specific node at 2x
bun open-pencil export design.fig --node 1:23 -s 2 -o button@2x.png

# JPG with quality
bun open-pencil export design.fig -f jpg -q 85 -o preview.jpg

# SVG
bun open-pencil export design.fig -f svg --node 1:23 -o icon.svg

# JSX (OpenPencil format — renderable back into .fig)
bun open-pencil export design.fig -f jsx -o component.jsx

# JSX (Tailwind — React component with Tailwind classes)
bun open-pencil export design.fig -f jsx --style tailwind -o component.tsx

# Page thumbnail
bun open-pencil export design.fig --thumbnail --width 1920 --height 1080

# Specific page
bun open-pencil export --page "Components" -o components.png

Analyze

# Color palette — usage frequency, similar colors
bun open-pencil analyze colors design.fig
bun open-pencil analyze colors --similar --threshold 10  # app mode

# Typography — font families, sizes, weights
bun open-pencil analyze typography design.fig --group-by size

# Spacing — gap and padding values, grid compliance
bun open-pencil analyze spacing design.fig --grid 8

# Clusters — repeated patterns that could be components
bun open-pencil analyze clusters design.fig --min-count 3

Eval (Figma Plugin API)

Execute JavaScript against the document using the full Figma Plugin API:

# Read-only — query the document
bun open-pencil eval design.fig -c 'figma.currentPage.findAll(n => n.type === "TEXT").length'

# App mode — modifies the live document in the editor
bun open-pencil eval -c '
  const buttons = figma.currentPage.findAll(n => n.name === "Button");
  buttons.forEach(b => { b.cornerRadius = 8 });
  buttons.length + " buttons updated"
'

# Modify and save to file
bun open-pencil eval design.fig -w -c '
  const texts = figma.currentPage.findAll(n => n.type === "TEXT");
  texts.forEach(t => { t.fontSize = 16 });
'

# Save to a different file
bun open-pencil eval design.fig -o modified.fig -c '...'

# Read code from stdin
echo 'figma.currentPage.children.map(n => n.name)' | bun open-pencil eval design.fig --stdin

The eval environment provides figma with the Figma Plugin API: figma.currentPage, figma.createFrame(), figma.createText(), figma.getNodeById(), etc.

JSON Output

Every command supports --json for machine-readable output:

bun open-pencil info design.fig --json
bun open-pencil find --name "Button" --json  # app mode
bun open-pencil analyze colors design.fig --json

MCP Server

Stdio (Claude Desktop, Cursor)

Add to your MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "open-pencil": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["openpencil-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

HTTP (multi-session, remote)

export PORT=3100
export OPENPENCIL_MCP_AUTH_TOKEN=secret       # optional auth
export OPENPENCIL_MCP_CORS_ORIGIN="*"         # optional CORS
export OPENPENCIL_MCP_ROOT=/path/to/files     # restrict file access

npx openpencil-mcp-http

MCP Workflow

• Open a file — open_file { path: "/path/to/design.fig" } or new_document {}

• Query — get_page_tree, find_nodes, query_nodes, get_node, list_pages, etc.

• Inspect — get_jsx (JSX view), diff_jsx (structural diff), describe (semantic analysis), export_image (visual screenshot)

• Modify — render (JSX), set_fill, set_layout, create_shape, etc.

• Save — save_file { path: "/path/to/output.fig" }

MCP Tools (94 total)

Read (14): get_selection, get_page_tree, get_node, find_nodes, query_nodes, get_components, list_pages, switch_page, get_current_page, page_bounds, select_nodes, list_fonts, get_jsx, diff_jsx

Create (7): create_shape, render, create_component, create_instance, create_page, create_vector, create_slice

Modify (20): set_fill, set_stroke, set_effects, update_node, set_layout, set_constraints, set_rotation, set_opacity, set_radius, set_min_max, set_text, set_font, set_font_range, set_text_resize, set_visible, set_blend, set_locked, set_stroke_align, set_text_properties, set_layout_child

Structure (17): delete_node, clone_node, rename_node, reparent_node, group_nodes, ungroup_node, flatten_nodes, node_to_component, node_bounds, node_move, node_resize, node_ancestors, node_children, node_tree, node_bindings, node_replace_with, arrange_nodes

Variables (11): list_variables, list_collections, get_variable, find_variables, create_variable, set_variable, delete_variable, bind_variable, get_collection, create_collection, delete_collection

Vector & Export (14): boolean_union, boolean_subtract, boolean_intersect, boolean_exclude, path_get, path_set, path_scale, path_flip, path_move, viewport_get, viewport_set, viewport_zoom_to_fit, export_svg, export_image

Analyze & Inspect (8): analyze_colors, analyze_typography, analyze_spacing, analyze_clusters, diff_create, diff_show, describe, eval

File (3): open_file, save_file, new_document

Key tools for AI agents

• query_nodes — XPath selectors to find specific nodes without fetching the full tree. Essential for large files.

• get_jsx — see any node as JSX (same format the render tool accepts). Useful for understanding structure before modifying.

• diff_jsx — unified diff between two nodes. Compare before/after, or find differences between similar components.

• describe — semantic analysis: what role a node plays, its visual style, layout properties, and potential design issues.

• export_image — render a node to PNG and return it. Use for visual verification after making changes.

JSX Rendering (via render tool or eval)

Create entire component trees in one call:

<Frame name="Card" w={320} h="hug" flex="col" gap={16} p={24} bg="#FFF" rounded={16}>
  <Text size={18} weight="bold">Title</Text>
  <Text size={14} color="#666">Description text</Text>
  <Frame flex="row" gap={8}>
    <Frame w={80} h={36} bg="#3B82F6" rounded={8} justify="center" items="center">
      <Text size={14} color="#FFF" weight="600">Action</Text>
    </Frame>
  </Frame>
</Frame>

Elements: Frame, Text, Rectangle, Ellipse, Line, Star, Polygon, Group, Section, Component

Layout shorthands:

Prop Meaning

w, h Width, height (number or "hug" / "fill")

flex "row" or "col"

grid, columns, rows CSS Grid — e.g. columns="1fr 200px 1fr"

gap, rowGap, columnGap Item spacing

p, px, py, pt, pr, pb, pl Padding

justify "start", "center", "end", "between"

items "start", "center", "end", "stretch"

grow Flex grow factor

bg Fill color (hex)

rounded, roundedTL/TR/BL/BR Corner radius

stroke, strokeWidth Stroke color and weight

opacity 0–1

rotate Degrees

overflow "hidden" to clip children

shadow "offsetX offsetY blur #color"

blur Layer blur

size, weight, font, color, textAlign Text properties

colStart, rowStart, colSpan, rowSpan Grid child positioning

Node IDs

Format: session:local (e.g., 1:23). Get IDs from find, tree, query, or node commands.

Tips

• Omit the file path to work with the document open in the running OpenPencil editor

• Start with info to understand the document structure

• Use tree --depth 2 for a quick overview without overwhelming output

• Use query "//COMPONENT" to discover reusable components with XPath

• Use query_nodes (MCP) to find exactly the nodes you need in large files — avoids fetching the whole tree

• Use get_jsx to see how a node is structured before modifying it

• After modifying designs, use export_image to visually verify the result

• Use analyze colors --similar to find near-duplicate colors to merge

• Export specific nodes with --node instead of full pages for faster results

• The eval command gives you the full Figma Plugin API for anything the CLI doesn't cover

• Use --json when piping output to other tools

• In app mode, eval modifications are reflected live in the editor

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