Question 1

How do I connect Claude to Figma?

Accepted Answer

The fastest route is the hosted connector: copy your Flaude MCP URL, open Claude → Settings → Connectors, paste it, and install the Flaude plugin in Figma. Claude can then read and edit your open Figma file. There is no terminal step, no local server and no API key to manage, and it takes about a minute. If you prefer to run everything yourself, the open-source MCP server does the same job for free.

Question 2

What is MCP and why does Figma need it?

Accepted Answer

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the open standard that lets an AI assistant use an external tool. Without it, Claude can only talk about your design; with it, Claude can see the actual document and change it — create frames, apply auto layout, restyle a selection, rename layers, check a file against your design system. It is the difference between advice and hands on the canvas.

Question 3

Do I need a paid Figma plan or a Dev seat?

Accepted Answer

No. Flaude works with a free Figma account. This is the main practical difference from workflows built on Figma’s own MCP server, where write access has been restricted to paid Full and Dev seats — if you are on a free or Viewer seat, that path is closed to you and this one is not.

Question 4

Is this different from the Figma connector inside Claude?

Accepted Answer

They overlap but are not the same. Anthropic’s hosted Figma integration is aimed at reading designs and sending generated UI into Figma, and it assumes you are on a paid Claude plan. Flaude focuses on the design side: a gallery of real screens that paste in as editable layers, plus tools for restyling, renaming and linting an existing file. Many people run both.

Question 5

Can Claude create real Figma layers or only images?

Accepted Answer

Real layers. Claude builds frames, applies auto layout, creates components, restyles selections and renames layers as native Figma objects that you keep editing afterwards. Nothing is rasterised — you are not getting a picture of a design dropped onto your canvas.

Question 6

Which Claude apps work with it?

Accepted Answer

Claude Desktop, Claude.ai and Claude Code all work with the hosted connector. The open-source server follows the standard Model Context Protocol, so any MCP-capable client can connect to it.

Question 7

Can Claude apply my design system to a screen?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and this is where the connection earns its keep. Point Claude at your components, tokens or brand rules and ask it to restyle a copied screen — because it works on real layers, the result uses your type scale, spacing and colours rather than approximating them in a flat image.

Question 8

Is there an open-source alternative to Figma’s MCP server?

Accepted Answer

Yes — Flaude’s MCP server is open source and MIT-licensed, and it works with any Figma account including free ones. Clone it, build it, point Claude at it. Pro exists for people who would rather not maintain that and want the hosted version.

Question 9

What if the connection does not work?

Accepted Answer

Most failures are local: a server that is not running, a port already in use, a client that was not restarted after a config change, or a stale session after Figma reloaded. Our troubleshooting guide walks through each cause and its fix — and the hosted connector removes the whole category, since there is no port and no config file.

Give Claude hands inside Figma

Connect in about 60 seconds

Install the Flaude plugin in Figma

Copy your MCP URL

Paste it into Claude

Ask for something

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What Claude can actually do in Figma

Claude + Figma FAQ