---
title: Figma Import
description: "Bring Figma designs into HyperFrames — frozen assets, brand tokens, editable components, storyboard reconstruction, and Figma Motion timelines translated to GSAP."
---

The work your designer already did in Figma — layout, color, type, motion — becomes the starting point of a composition instead of a thing to rebuild by hand. Point at a Figma URL; the artifact lands as a native HyperFrames piece: a frozen local file, a composition variable, editable HTML, or a paused GSAP timeline.

## What you can import

| Capability | What you get | Surface |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Static assets** | A frame/layer rendered to SVG/PNG/JPG/PDF, frozen under `.media/` | `hyperframes figma asset` |
| **Brand tokens** | Figma variables/styles as composition brand variables | `hyperframes figma tokens` (Enterprise) or the `/figma` skill via MCP (any plan) |
| **Components** | A frame as editable HTML with brand-linked colors | `hyperframes figma component` |
| **Motion** | A Figma Motion timeline as an editable, paused GSAP timeline | `/figma` skill (agent, MCP) |
| **Shaders** | A shader fill/effect as a frozen still or clip | `/figma` skill (agent, MCP) |
| **Storyboards** | Scene frames reconstructed as motion — frames read as states, not slides | `/figma` skill (agent) |

Two transports, split by what Figma exposes: assets, tokens, and components run over the **REST API** (headless, works in CI, generous per-minute rate limits). Motion and shaders exist only on Figma's **MCP server**, so an agent drives those. Every path freezes files locally — **renders never call Figma**.

## One-time setup

There are two credentials, and most people only need to set up one to start:

| You want to import… | Set up |
| --- | --- |
| A logo, image, or a whole frame as HTML (assets, components) | A **token** — Step A below |
| Brand colors (tokens) | Either works, but on a non-Enterprise plan the **MCP connector** (Step B) gets you there in one click — the token path needs an Enterprise plan for this specific pull |
| Motion, shaders, or a storyboard | The **MCP connector** only — no token, no setup beyond connecting it |

Do both if your project needs everything; each is independent, so it doesn't matter which you set up first.

### Step A — Figma token (assets, tokens, components)

Needed for anything you run from the `hyperframes figma` CLI.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Mint a token">
    In Figma: **Settings → Security → Personal access tokens → Generate new token.**
  </Step>
  <Step title="Check these scopes">
    Read-only is all it ever needs — the integration never writes to Figma. **On most accounts (not Figma Enterprise), check exactly these three:**

    - **File content** — Read-only
    - **File metadata** — Read-only
    - **Library content** — Read-only — easy to miss, and without it `tokens` 403s the moment it tries the published-styles fallback

    On a **Figma Enterprise** plan, also check **Variables — Read-only** to pull brand colors directly via `tokens`. Not on Enterprise? Skip it — `tokens` falls back to published styles automatically, or use the MCP connector (Step B) instead, which reaches variables on any plan.
  </Step>
  <Step title="Export it">
    ```bash
    export FIGMA_TOKEN="figd_…"
    ```

    Add the line to your shell profile or the project's `.env` so future sessions skip this step. The same token covers every Figma file your account can view.
  </Step>
</Steps>

### Step B — Figma MCP connector (motion, shaders, storyboards — and an easier token-free path to brand colors)

No token, no scopes to pick — connect it once when your agent asks (a one-click OAuth) and it stays connected.

This is also the easiest way to pull brand colors on **any** Figma plan, including free: the connector's variable-reading tool isn't Enterprise-gated, only rate-limited by plan — Starter/free caps at **6 calls/month**, a paid Full/Dev seat gets 200–600/day. Fine for an occasional brand pull; not for iterating call-by-call.

## Import an asset

```bash
hyperframes figma asset 'https://www.figma.com/design/KEY/Title?node-id=1-2'
```

The node renders over REST, lands frozen under `.media/images/`, and the command prints a ready-to-paste `<img>` snippet:

```text
imported image_007 → .media/images/image_007.svg
<img src=".media/images/image_007.svg" alt="image_007" data-figma-id="1:2" />
```

- `--format svg|png|jpg|pdf` (default `svg`). SVG for logos and vectors — scalable and animatable. `--format png --scale 2` for raster fidelity.
- Accepted refs: a full Figma URL with `?node-id=…` (right-click a layer → Copy link) or `fileKey:nodeId` shorthand. Asset and component imports always target a specific node; only `tokens` takes a bare `fileKey`.
- Idempotent: the manifest records `fileKey:nodeId:format:scale:version`, so re-running reuses the file unless the design actually changed in Figma.

## Pull your brand

```bash
hyperframes figma tokens KEY
```

Reads the file's variables (or published styles), writes a `figma-tokens.json` sidecar plus a binding index, and prints entries for the composition's `data-composition-variables`. Every scene that references a brand role — instead of a hard-coded hex — is on-brand automatically, and stays on-brand when the file changes.

<Tip>
Import tokens **before** components. That's what lets an imported component's colors link to your brand variables instead of baking duplicate literals.
</Tip>

## Import a component

```bash
hyperframes figma component 'https://www.figma.com/design/KEY/Title?node-id=10-20'
```

The frame's node tree becomes editable HTML at exact Figma geometry, packaged under `compositions/components/<name>/`. Vector and boolean-op nodes that don't map to clean HTML auto-rasterize through the asset path.

Colors bound to a Figma variable resolve against your imported tokens:

- Bound to an **imported** token → emitted as `var(--brand-slug, #0066FF)` — a later brand refresh propagates into the component.
- Bound to a token you **haven't imported** → the literal color is used and the element is flagged `data-figma-unresolved`. The command tells you; run `tokens` on the source (or library) file and re-import to link them.

Matching is by exact Figma ID only — never by hex value — so a coincidentally-shared color can't create a false brand link.

## Motion, shaders, and storyboards

These run through the `/figma` agent skill:

- **Motion** — a Figma Motion timeline (keyframes, easing, repeats) translates structurally into a paused, finite GSAP timeline registered on `window.__timelines`, seekable frame-by-frame like any hand-authored animation, and editable afterward. Tracks that can't translate faithfully fall back to a baked video clip — the agent tells you which path it took and why.
- **Shaders** — Figma's export path doesn't execute shaders, so the default is a native Figma export (PNG or Motion MP4) imported as an asset/clip.
- **Storyboards** — a section of scene frames is decoded, not slideshowed: frames sharing an element are treated as that element's keyframes over time, diffed into element chains and tweened, with text under the strip read as director notes. When the frames depict one product UI in successive states, the agent escalates further — rebuilds the UI as live DOM and performs each frame delta as a real interaction (cursor, click, navigation), so the result reads as a continuous screen recording. See the `/figma` skill for the full grammar.

## Provenance and refresh

Every import records where it came from (`fileKey`, `nodeId`, `version`) in `.media/manifest.jsonl`. Nothing in a rendered composition points at Figma — assets are files, tokens are variables, motion is a timeline. When the Figma file moves on, re-running the same import commands re-pulls only what changed.

## Troubleshooting

| Error | Meaning | Fix |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `NO_TOKEN` | `FIGMA_TOKEN` unset | Follow [One-time setup](#one-time-setup) |
| `BAD_TOKEN` | Token invalid, expired, or revoked (Figma returns **403 `Invalid token`** for bad PATs, not 401) | Re-mint the token |
| `FORBIDDEN` (403) | Missing a read scope, or no access to the file | The message names the exact scope Figma wants (e.g. `library_content:read` for the styles fallback) — add it, or check file visibility |
| `REQUIRES_ENTERPRISE` (403) | Variables API needs Figma Enterprise | Not a failure — `tokens` falls back to published styles (which needs the Library content scope above) |
| `RATE_LIMITED` (429) | Figma's per-minute limit | The client retries with backoff automatically (honoring `Retry-After`); if it still surfaces, wait a minute or batch fewer nodes |
| "Render timeout" on batch export | Too many large frames in one `/v1/images` call | Chunk to ~4 ids per call |
| `ref has no node id` | Link points at a file, not a node | Copy the link with `?node-id=…` (right-click layer → Copy link) |
