Figma just cracked open the black box of design-to-code translation. The company's expanded Model Context Protocol (MCP) server now lets AI agents peek directly into the underlying code of apps built with Figma Make, eliminating the guesswork that comes from visual-only design interpretation. This isn't just another API update - it's infrastructure that could fundamentally change how AI agents understand and recreate digital products.
Figma just made AI agents a lot smarter about app development. The design platform's Model Context Protocol (MCP) server - which previously gave AI models access to design prototypes - now supports Figma Make, the company's AI-powered app coding tool that transforms prompts into functional applications.
"By using a Figma Make file via an MCP client, AI models can see the underlying code instead of a rendered prototype or image," Kris Rasmussen, Figma's technology chief, explained in the company's announcement. "The Figma MCP server indexes the code in your Make file so you and your favorite platforms can request exactly what's needed."
The implications are immediate and significant. Instead of AI agents trying to reverse-engineer apps from screenshots or visual mockups - often leading to inconsistent or broken recreations - they can now access the exact code structure, component relationships, and implementation details. It's like giving AI agents X-ray vision into how digital products actually work.
Anthropic's Claude, along with popular development tools like Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code, already support the expanded MCP integration. The timing isn't coincidental - as AI coding assistants become more sophisticated, they need richer context about existing applications to be truly useful.
This addresses a core problem in AI-assisted development: the translation gap between design intent and actual implementation. Previously, an AI agent looking at a Figma design might guess at the underlying structure, creating apps that looked right but worked poorly. Now it can see exactly how components interact, what data flows where, and how the app's logic actually operates.
The remote access capability removes another friction point. Developers no longer need Figma's desktop app installed locally to give AI agents access to design files. Browser-based AI models and cloud development environments can now tap directly into Figma's design systems, making the integration seamless for teams already working in distributed environments.
Figma's move comes as the design-to-code space heats up. Companies like Microsoft with GitHub Copilot and various AI coding startups have been pushing to automate more of the development process. But most solutions still struggle with the handoff between design and implementation - exactly what Figma's MCP server expansion addresses.
