Figma context budget

Figma Context Budget

Prerequisites

This is a framework template, not drop-in. To use this skill you need:

• Figma MCP server — install: https://www.figma.com/developers/code-connect (or via Claude Code Figma plugin)
• Your project's design tokens module — paths in this skill are examples from my work setup; replace with your project's structure

This is a framework, not a drop-in tool.

Purpose

get_design_context on a full Frame can return 50k+ tokens of raw node JSON and blow the context window. This skill enforces four rules that keep Figma MCP usage context-efficient.

This skill complements figma-implement-design / implement-design — it adds context discipline on top of the code-generation workflow. Do not skip the code-gen skill; run this one alongside it.

Skill Boundaries

• Triggers when the user asks to read, plan, or implement Figma designs using any mcp__figma-desktop__* tool.
• Does NOT apply when writing back to Figma (use_figma) — that is figma-use.
• Does NOT apply when building new Figma files from code — that is figma-generate-design.

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Rule 1 — Phase Separation (hard rule)

Plan phase is lightweight. Implement phase is per-component. Never mix.

Phase	Goal	Allowed tools	Forbidden
Plan	Understand overall structure, slice into tasks	get_screenshot, get_metadata	get_design_context
Implement	Build a single component/section	get_design_context on the selected component ONLY	Calling on a whole Frame or Page

Required flow

1. Plan phase: screenshot + metadata → produce a task list (save to a markdown file if non-trivial).
2. Between phases: prompt the user to /clear or open a new session. Main session should not hold plan artifacts during implementation.
3. Implement phase: per component, repeat get_design_context → generate code → validate.

Red flags (STOP and re-check)

• About to call get_design_context but no plan exists yet → go to Plan phase first.
• About to call get_design_context on a selection that is a Frame, Page, or Section → narrow to a single component or the smallest meaningful sub-tree.
• About to call get_design_context on a complex multi-section page → split into multiple calls, one per section, ideally across sessions.

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Rule 2 — Design Tokens Cache (one-time extraction, then read from disk)

Never call get_variable_defs if a cached tokens file exists in the project.

Project conventions

• Identify your project's existing styling stack (CSS-in-JS, Tailwind, vanilla CSS, etc.) and existing theme/token module location.
• Cache target: your project's design tokens module (create if missing). For monorepo work, use a shared package directory.

Protocol

1. Before calling get_variable_defs, check whether your project's design tokens module exists and is non-empty.
2. If it exists: read that file instead of calling MCP. Treat it as source of truth for colors, spacing, typography.
3. If it does NOT exist: call get_variable_defs ONCE, then write the output to the cache file as typed constants. Do this before writing any component code.
4. Never re-extract tokens mid-implementation. If a new token is genuinely missing, add it to the cache file in a dedicated call.

Shape

export const color = { primary: '#1890FF', /* ... */ } as const
export const spacing = { xs: 4, sm: 8, md: 16, lg: 24 } as const
export const typography = { /* ... */ } as const

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Rule 3 — Code Connect Short-Circuit

If a Figma component has an existing Code Connect mapping to a local React component, skip Figma MCP entirely for that component.

Protocol

1. When get_metadata reveals an instance of a mapped component, note its mainComponent name.
2. Check your component library directories (e.g. components/, features/*/components/, or shared monorepo package directories) for the mapped React component.
3. If found: emit <LocalComponent {...propsFromFigma} /> directly. Do NOT call get_design_context on the instance — the component's own implementation is the source of truth, not Figma's node data.
4. Only call get_design_context when the component is net-new or intentionally being redesigned.

Why

A mapped component's visual spec is already captured in code. Re-fetching its Figma node data duplicates information and inflates context for no gain.

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Rule 4 — Selection Granularity (figma-desktop MCP only)

The user's Figma selection determines context size. Coach the user on selection before calling.

Protocol

• Before any get_design_context call, confirm what is selected. If unknown, call get_metadata first — its output reveals the current selection scope.
• If the selection is a Frame / Page / Section, instruct the user to narrow selection in Figma to a single component or the smallest meaningful sub-tree.
• Do not proceed with get_design_context until selection is component-level.

Example dialogue

"Your current Figma selection looks like the entire Homepage Frame. Please select just the ProductCard component and confirm — I'll then fetch its design context."

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Rule 5 — Annotation Extraction (hard rule)

get_design_context returns annotations as data-annotations="..." and data-link-annotations="..." attributes. These are part of the spec, not optional decoration. Skipping them ships visually-correct but behaviorally-wrong code.

What annotations encode

• data-annotations="Zendesk" / "GTM" / "關閉後當天不再顯示" → behavioral spec: which integration wires up, dismissal persistence, trigger events, accessibility hints
• data-link-annotations="[text](url)" → designer-specified URL: button targets, form endpoints, external link destinations
• Other free-text annotations → constraints, edge-case behavior, designer notes

Protocol

1. After EVERY get_design_context call, immediately scan for data-(link-)?annotations in the response. Run it as the first action, before reading layout/copy.
2. Treat each annotation as a hard requirement equal in weight to layout and text content.
3. When summarizing a component's spec for a plan or implementation, list extracted annotations alongside layout and copy. Do not silently drop them.
4. Annotation conflicts with task tracker / docs / chat thread → annotation wins (consistent with Figma-source-of-truth rule).
5. Component has annotations but implementation ignores them → STOP. The spec is incomplete; do not write code yet.

Why

Annotations encode the things that aren't visually obvious: which trigger behavior wires up to which UI control, what URL a button goes to, dismissal persistence, accessibility hints. Visual layout alone cannot communicate these. Designers commonly use annotations as the canonical way to attach behavioral spec to design components.

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Pre-flight Checklist (before ANY Figma MCP call)

• Am I in Plan or Implement phase? (if unclear, default to Plan)
• If Plan: am I only using get_screenshot / get_metadata?
• If Implement: is the user's selection a single component (not a Frame)?
• Does the project's design tokens module already exist? (avoid get_variable_defs if so)
• Is the target component already Code-Connect-mapped? (skip MCP if so)
• Does the main session already hold prior Figma context? (suggest /clear or sub-agent isolation if so)
• After each get_design_context, did I scan for data-(link-)?annotations and treat them as spec? (Rule 5 — non-negotiable)

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Session Hygiene

• After Plan phase completes, write the task list to docs/ or a plan file. Prompt the user to /clear before starting implementation.
• For multi-component implementation, prefer the Task tool (sub-agent) per component so main-session context stays small. Sub-agent returns only the file paths and a short summary.
• Never keep get_design_context output from a previous component in context while working on the next one.

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When This Skill Does Not Apply

• User explicitly asks to ignore context budget for a quick one-off.
• Single tiny component where full-Frame fetch is still under ~5k tokens (rare; do not assume, check with get_metadata first).
• Reading get_screenshot alone (no node JSON is returned).

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Cross-skill: Workflow companion

This skill enforces HOW to talk to Figma MCP efficiently (context engineering). It does NOT cover WHAT Figma-driven feature work produces (spec / plan / QA artifacts, multi-stage workflow, retro discipline).

If the project has a workflow-side companion skill, invoke both:

• Project-specific workflow skill: check your project's .claude/skills/ for figma-* workflow skills (e.g. figma-to-production with 5-stage process: figma-scan → spec/plan → implement → QA → ship). Invoke at first Figma MCP call alongside this skill.
• Other projects: check .claude/skills/ for figma-* workflow skills. If none, this skill alone is sufficient.

Phase split discipline (resolves a workflow skill's "raw attributes in spec" requirement vs this skill's get_design_context-forbidden Plan phase):

• Plan phase (this skill's tool restriction): get_metadata + get_screenshot → produce structure / node-ID map / component breakdown in figma-spec.md, leave raw-attr columns as TODO
• Implement phase: per-component sub-agent runs get_design_context → fills raw fills/dimensions/typography + scans annotations into the same figma-spec.md (Rule 5 applies)

This hybrid is the canonical split; do not try to satisfy "raw attributes in Plan phase" by full-frame get_design_context — that violates Rule 1.

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Example: my work setup

The paths and stack details below are from my work monorepo. These are concrete examples, not requirements — adapt to your project structure.

Stack (Rule 2):

• Shopify Polaris + styled-components (no Tailwind). Existing minimal theme at utils/theme.ts.
• Cache target: utils/design-tokens.ts (create if missing). For monorepo sub-app work, use <sub-app>/libs/design-tokens/ instead.

Code Connect component locations (Rule 3):

• components/, features/*/components/, or <sub-app>/libs/*/components/.

Annotation conventions (Rule 5):

• Our designers specifically use annotations as the canonical way to attach behavioral spec (Zendesk wiring, GTM events, dismissal persistence rules) to design components.

Workflow companion skill (Cross-skill section):

• akocommerce repo has .claude/skills/figma-to-production/SKILL.md — 5-stage process (figma-scan → spec/plan → implement → QA → ship), artifact templates, retrospective references. Invoke at first Figma MCP call alongside this skill.