figma-design-md-generator

Figma DESIGN.md Generator

Skill by ara.so — Design Skills collection.

A Figma plugin that extracts local style guidelines, variables, and component families from Figma files and generates DESIGN.md and SKILL.md files. These outputs provide AI tools (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex) with structured design-system blueprints for building consistent interfaces.

What It Does

The plugin reads Figma's local styles and variables—colors, typography, spacing, radius, effects, grids, and component sets—and converts them into editable markdown files following the TypeUI DESIGN.md format.

Key capabilities:

• Auto-extracts color tokens (paint styles + variables)
• Auto-extracts typography tokens (text styles + scales)
• Auto-extracts spacing, radius, motion tokens
• Auto-extracts effect styles (shadows, blur)
• Auto-extracts grid styles and component families
• Generates human-editable DESIGN.md (reference documentation)
• Generates AI-optimized SKILL.md (agent instructions)

Installation

As a Figma Plugin (Development Mode)

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/bergside/design-md-figma.git
   cd design-md-figma
   

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install
   

3. Build the plugin:

   npm run build
   

4. Import into Figma Desktop:

   • Open Figma Desktop
   • Go to Plugins → Development → Import plugin from manifest...
   • Select manifest.json from the project directory
   • Run Design MD Skill Generator from the plugins menu

Development Workflow

# Watch mode for live development
npm run watch

# Type checking
npm run typecheck

# Production build
npm run build

Key Plugin Actions

Action	Description
Auto-extract	Reads local styles and variables from active Figma file
Generate DESIGN.md	Creates design-guideline markdown from extracted signals
Generate SKILL.md	Creates agent-ready markdown with implementation rules
Toggle view	Switches between DESIGN.md and SKILL.md in editor
Refresh	Re-runs extraction for current file state
Download	Saves generated output as .md file

Plugin Architecture

Main Entry Points

code.ts – Plugin backend (runs in Figma sandbox):

figma.showUI(__html__, { width: 800, height: 600 });

// Listen for extraction requests
figma.ui.onmessage = (msg) => {
  if (msg.type === 'extract-styles') {
    const styles = extractLocalStyles();
    const variables = extractVariables();
    const components = extractComponentFamilies();
    
    figma.ui.postMessage({
      type: 'extraction-complete',
      data: { styles, variables, components }
    });
  }
};

function extractLocalStyles() {
  const paintStyles = figma.getLocalPaintStyles();
  const textStyles = figma.getLocalTextStyles();
  const effectStyles = figma.getLocalEffectStyles();
  const gridStyles = figma.getLocalGridStyles();
  
  return {
    colors: paintStyles.map(s => ({
      name: s.name,
      type: s.paints[0]?.type,
      value: paintToHex(s.paints[0])
    })),
    typography: textStyles.map(s => ({
      name: s.name,
      fontFamily: s.fontName.family,
      fontSize: s.fontSize,
      lineHeight: s.lineHeight
    })),
    effects: effectStyles.map(s => ({
      name: s.name,
      effects: s.effects
    })),
    grids: gridStyles.map(s => ({
      name: s.name,
      layoutGrids: s.layoutGrids
    }))
  };
}

function extractVariables() {
  const collections = figma.variables.getLocalVariableCollections();
  
  return collections.map(collection => ({
    name: collection.name,
    modes: collection.modes,
    variables: collection.variableIds.map(id => {
      const variable = figma.variables.getVariableById(id);
      return {
        name: variable?.name,
        resolvedType: variable?.resolvedType,
        valuesByMode: variable?.valuesByMode
      };
    })
  }));
}

function extractComponentFamilies() {
  const components = figma.root.findAll(node => 
    node.type === 'COMPONENT_SET'
  ) as ComponentSetNode[];
  
  return components.map(comp => ({
    name: comp.name,
    variantCount: comp.children.length,
    properties: Object.keys(comp.componentPropertyDefinitions || {})
  }));
}

ui.html – Plugin UI (React-based):

// Send extraction request
window.parent.postMessage(
  { pluginMessage: { type: 'extract-styles' } },
  '*'
);

// Receive extraction results
window.onmessage = (event) => {
  const msg = event.data.pluginMessage;
  
  if (msg.type === 'extraction-complete') {
    const designMd = generateDesignMd(msg.data);
    const skillMd = generateSkillMd(msg.data);
    
    setDesignContent(designMd);
    setSkillContent(skillMd);
  }
};

Generated File Structure

DESIGN.md Format

# Design System – [File Name]

## Source
- **File**: [Figma file name]
- **Page**: [Current page]
- **Extracted**: [ISO timestamp]

## Variable Collections
- **Collection Name** (2 modes: Light, Dark)

## Color Tokens
| Token | Value | Type |
|-------|-------|------|
| primary/500 | #3B82F6 | solid |
| neutral/900 | #111827 | solid |

## Typography Tokens
| Token | Font Family | Size | Line Height | Weight |
|-------|-------------|------|-------------|--------|
| heading/xl | Inter | 32px | 1.2 | 700 |
| body/md | Inter | 16px | 1.5 | 400 |

## Spacing Tokens
| Token | Value |
|-------|-------|
| spacing/xs | 4px |
| spacing/md | 16px |

## Component Families
- Button (variants: 8)
- Input (variants: 6)
- Card (variants: 4)

SKILL.md Format

# AI Design System Agent – [File Name]

## Mission
Implement UI components that strictly follow the extracted design system from [File Name].

## Brand
- **Product**: [Inferred from file]
- **Audience**: [Inferred context]
- **Surface**: Web/Mobile

## Style Foundations
### Colors
- Primary: #3B82F6
- Semantic: Success (#10B981), Error (#EF4444)

### Typography
- Heading scale: 32/24/20/16px
- Body scale: 16/14/12px
- Font stack: Inter, system-ui, sans-serif

## Accessibility
- WCAG 2.2 AA contrast (4.5:1 text, 3:1 UI)
- Minimum touch target: 44×44px
- Focus indicators required

## Rules: Do
- Use extracted color tokens exactly
- Apply typography tokens for all text
- Respect spacing scale for layout
- Implement all component variants

## Rules: Don't
- Don't invent new colors outside token set
- Don't use arbitrary font sizes
- Don't skip accessibility requirements

Common Usage Patterns

Extract and Download

// In plugin code
async function extractAndGenerate() {
  // Extract all design tokens
  const styles = extractLocalStyles();
  const variables = extractVariables();
  const components = extractComponentFamilies();
  
  // Generate markdown
  const designMd = formatDesignMd({ styles, variables, components });
  const skillMd = formatSkillMd({ styles, variables, components });
  
  // Send to UI for download
  figma.ui.postMessage({
    type: 'download-ready',
    designMd,
    skillMd
  });
}

Convert Paint to Hex

function paintToHex(paint: Paint): string {
  if (paint.type === 'SOLID') {
    const r = Math.round(paint.color.r * 255);
    const g = Math.round(paint.color.g * 255);
    const b = Math.round(paint.color.b * 255);
    return `#${r.toString(16).padStart(2, '0')}${g.toString(16).padStart(2, '0')}${b.toString(16).padStart(2, '0')}`.toUpperCase();
  }
  return 'gradient';
}

Format Typography Token

function formatTypographyToken(style: TextStyle) {
  const lineHeight = style.lineHeight.unit === 'PIXELS' 
    ? `${style.lineHeight.value}px`
    : style.lineHeight.value;
    
  return {
    name: style.name,
    fontFamily: style.fontName.family,
    fontSize: `${style.fontSize}px`,
    fontWeight: style.fontWeight,
    lineHeight,
    letterSpacing: style.letterSpacing
  };
}

Extract Component Variants

function extractComponentVariants(componentSet: ComponentSetNode) {
  const variants = componentSet.children.map(child => {
    if (child.type === 'COMPONENT') {
      return {
        name: child.name,
        properties: child.variantProperties || {}
      };
    }
  }).filter(Boolean);
  
  return {
    family: componentSet.name,
    count: variants.length,
    variants
  };
}

Using Generated Files with AI Tools

Claude Code / Cursor

1. Place DESIGN.md and SKILL.md in project root
2. Reference in agent context:

   @SKILL.md implement a button component following the design system
   

Prompt Engineering

Using the design tokens in DESIGN.md, create a React component 
for [Component Name] that:
- Uses color tokens from primary palette
- Applies typography token heading/md
- Respects spacing/md for padding
- Implements all variants listed in Component Families

Configuration

The plugin reads Figma's native structures—no external configuration required. All extraction is based on:

• Local paint styles
• Local text styles
• Local effect styles
• Local grid styles
• Variable collections
• Component sets in current file

Troubleshooting

No Styles Extracted

Problem: Plugin returns empty DESIGN.md

Solution: Ensure you have local styles created in Figma. Shared library styles are not extracted—only local file styles.

// Check for local styles
const paintStyles = figma.getLocalPaintStyles();
if (paintStyles.length === 0) {
  console.warn('No local paint styles found in this file');
}

Variables Not Showing

Problem: Variable collections missing from output

Solution: Verify variables are created as local collections, not external libraries.

const collections = figma.variables.getLocalVariableCollections();
console.log('Found collections:', collections.length);

Build Errors

Problem: TypeScript compilation fails

Solution: Ensure Figma plugin types are installed:

npm install --save-dev @figma/plugin-typings

Update tsconfig.json:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "types": ["@figma/plugin-typings"]
  }
}

Plugin Won't Load

Problem: "Failed to load manifest" error

Solution: Check manifest.json structure:

{
  "name": "Design MD Skill Generator",
  "id": "YOUR_PLUGIN_ID",
  "api": "1.0.0",
  "main": "code.js",
  "ui": "ui.html",
  "editorType": ["figma"]
}

Best Practices

1. Run extraction on finalized designs – Ensure your local styles and variables are complete before generating files

2. Name tokens consistently – Use / separators for token hierarchy (e.g., color/primary/500)

3. Version control generated files – Commit DESIGN.md and SKILL.md alongside design system code

4. Update after design changes – Re-run extraction when design tokens change

5. Combine with component library – Use generated files as source of truth for design token implementation

Resources

• TypeUI DESIGN.md format
• Curated design skills
• Figma Plugin API
• Plugin GitHub repository