Keep Factually independent
Whether you agree or disagree with our analysis, these conversations matter for democracy. We don't take money from political groups - even a $5 donation helps us keep it that way.
Claude mcp add --transport http figma-desktop http://127.0.0.1:3845/mcp
Executive summary
Users commonly run the Figma desktop MCP server at http://127.0.0.1:3845/mcp and add it to Claude/Claude Code via a command like claude mcp add --transport http http://127.0.0.1:3845/mcp; Figma’s docs state the desktop MCP runs locally at that URL and Claude/other MCP-capable editors are supported [1]. Community guides and bug reports confirm people use exactly that local URL with Claude Code and sometimes see connection errors on Windows or WSL setups [2] [3] [4].
1. What the command you asked about does, and why people run it
Running claude mcp add --transport http figma-desktop http://127.0.0.1:3845/mcp tells Claude Code / the Claude CLI to register an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server reachable over HTTP at the given address, so Claude can query your local Figma Desktop “Dev Mode” MCP service and obtain node/data context from files you’re viewing in Figma; Figma’s help center documents that the desktop MCP server runs locally at http://127.0.0.1:3845/mcp and that tools like Claude Code support MCP servers [1]. Community walkthroughs use the same pattern to give Claude design context and drive design-to-code workflows [2] [5].
2. Why it sometimes fails on Windows / WSL — practical evidence from issue threads
Users report intermittent or consistent connection failures when pointing Claude at the local Dev Mode MCP on Windows. A bug report in the Claude Code repo shows an SSE (server-sent events) connection error and non-200 responses when trying to reach http://127.0.0.1:3845/mcp from the Claude client on Windows 11 [3]. Figma forum threads and community troubleshooting note that the Figma desktop MCP binds to 127.0.0.1 only, which creates problems when tools run inside WSL or other virtualized networking contexts; the forum thread argues the MCP server needs to be configurable to listen on other interfaces to work reliably with Claude Code on Windows/WSL [4].
3. Alternative official option: the remote MCP endpoint
If you can’t reliably use the local Dev Mode MCP, Figma’s developer docs provide a remote MCP server URL (https://mcp.figma.com/mcp) and an explicit example command to add it to Claude: claude mcp add --transport http figma https://mcp.figma.com/mcp — that uses Figma’s hosted MCP instead of the desktop-local server [6]. The remote server is “link-based” and can let Claude extract node-ids from shared links without opening the desktop app, per Figma’s docs [1] [6].
4. Community-built MCP servers and wrappers — benefits and caveats
Open-source projects and community MCP wrappers exist (e.g., arinspunk’s claude-talk-to-figma-mcp, open-mcp listings, and other npm-based MCP wrappers) that let Claude or other clients integrate with Figma in different transports or modes; these repos show alternatives such as running a local adapter, using stdio, or using remote proxy/middleware servers [7] [8] [9]. These can add flexibility (different transports, environment-variable token forwarding), but they introduce more moving parts and sometimes require extra tokens or configuration not covered by Figma’s simple desktop Dev Mode flow [8] [9].
5. Practical troubleshooting steps reported by users
Community guides suggest confirming the Dev Mode MCP is enabled in the Figma Desktop app (you should see a confirmation and the URL), then using the same local URL in your claude mcp add command and verifying with claude mcp list or the “/mcp” prompt in Claude Code [1] [2]. If you see failures on Windows/WSL, the forum recommends networking fixes (WSL mirrored networking or .wslconfig steps) or using the remote MCP as a fallback; the bug thread shows common failure logs to compare against [4] [3].
6. Security and risk context to keep in mind
Community and official materials make MCP a powerful integration surface that gives AI agents direct access to design context; that power is why some community projects and researchers pay attention to implementation details and vulnerabilities. While one security writeup in the broader press (outside these exact setup guides) later discussed MCP vulnerabilities and patches, the sources in this packet focus on setup, reliability, and community workarounds rather than exhaustive security posture (p1_s4 is outside setup-focused docs in this set). Available sources do not mention additional, specific security mitigations you should take beyond Figma’s and the MCP projects’ own instructions.
7. Bottom line and recommended next step right now
If you have Figma Desktop with Dev Mode enabled, the command you typed (claude mcp add --transport http figma-desktop http://127.0.0.1:3845/mcp) matches community guides and Figma docs for registering a local MCP with Claude [1] [2]. If connection fails, check the Figma MCP “Enable desktop MCP server” confirmation and inspect Claude/CLI logs; on Windows, consider WSL networking quirks or use Figma’s remote MCP URL (https://mcp.figma.com/mcp) as an alternative [1] [6] [3] [4].