# Moai Design Tools

> Design tool integration specialist covering Figma MCP, Pencil renderer, and Pencil-to-code export. Use when fetching design context from Figma, rendering Pencil DNA codes to .pen frames, exporting .pen designs to React/Tailwind code, or choosing design-to-code workflows. Supports design fetching (Figma), visual rendering (Pencil MCP), and code generation (React/Tailwind).

- Skill: `modu-ai/moai-design-tools` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 5 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add modu-ai/moai-design-tools`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/modu-ai/moai-design-tools/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Design & Media
- License: MIT
- Author: modu-ai (https://skillmd.com/u/modu-ai)
- Updated: 2026-09-10
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/modu-ai/moai-design-tools

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# Design Tools Integration Specialist

Comprehensive design-to-code workflow guidance covering three major capabilities: Figma MCP (design fetching), Pencil MCP (visual rendering), and Pencil-to-code export (React/Tailwind generation).

## Quick Tool Selection

### Figma MCP - Design Context Fetching

Figma integration for fetching design context, metadata, and screenshots from Figma files.

Best For: Fetching design tokens, component specifications, layout information, and style guides from existing Figma files. Extracting design system values and understanding design structure.

Key Strengths: Direct access to Figma file metadata, component hierarchy extraction, style guide generation, design token retrieval, screenshot capture for visual reference.

Workflow: Connect to Figma file → Fetch file metadata → Extract component tree → Retrieve design tokens → Generate style documentation.

Context7 Library: /figma/docs

### Pencil MCP - Visual Design Rendering

Pencil MCP integration for rendering DNA codes into visual .pen frames and creating design proposals.

Best For: Rapid prototyping, visual design iterations, creating UI mockups from text descriptions, collaborative design discussions, visual proposals before implementation.

Key Strengths: Text-to-design conversion, DNA code format for version control, iterative design refinement, visual preview without implementation, collaborative design workflow.

Workflow: Describe UI in natural language → Generate DNA code → Render to .pen frame → Visually review → Iterate on design → Export to code when ready.

Context7 Library: /pencil/docs

### Pencil-to-Code Export - React/Tailwind Generation

Export .pen designs to production-ready React and Tailwind CSS code.

Best For: Converting approved .pen designs to implementation, generating React components with Tailwind styling, maintaining design fidelity in code, rapid frontend development from visual designs.

Key Strengths: Design-to-code automation, React component generation, Tailwind CSS styling, responsive layout handling, component structure preservation, design system integration.

Workflow: Finalize .pen design → Configure export options → Generate React components → Apply Tailwind classes → Review generated code → Integrate into project.

## Quick Decision Guide

Choose Figma MCP when:
- Need to extract design context from existing Figma files
- Working with designers who use Figma
- Required to fetch design tokens and component specifications
- Need screenshots or visual references from Figma
- Documenting existing design systems

Choose Pencil MCP when:
- Creating new designs from scratch
- Rapid prototyping and visual iteration needed
- Text-based design workflow preferred
- Want version-controllable design format (DNA codes)
- Collaborative design discussions with team

Choose Pencil-to-Code Export when:
- Design is finalized in .pen format
- Ready to implement visual designs as code
- Need React components with Tailwind styling
- Maintaining design fidelity is critical
- Rapid frontend development from designs

## Common Design-to-Code Patterns

### Universal Patterns

These patterns apply across all three tools with tool-specific implementations.

**Design Token Management:**

All tools support design token extraction and management. Figma MCP extracts tokens from existing files, Pencil MCP generates tokens during design creation, Pencil-to-code exports tokens as CSS variables or Tailwind config.

**Component Architecture:**

All tools maintain component hierarchy. Figma MCP reads component structure from Figma, Pencil MCP creates component structure in DNA codes, Pencil-to-code generates React components preserving hierarchy.

**Responsive Design:**

All tools handle responsive layouts. Figma MCP extracts responsive variants, Pencil MCP defines responsive breakpoints in DNA, Pencil-to-code generates Tailwind responsive classes.

**Style Consistency:**

All tools ensure design consistency. Figma MCP validates against design system, Pencil MCP enforces design tokens, Pencil-to-code applies consistent Tailwind classes.

### Workflow Best Practices

Applicable to all tools:

**Design System Integration:**
- Define design tokens before starting design work
- Use consistent naming conventions across tools
- Maintain single source of truth for design values
- Document token usage and component patterns

**Version Control:**
- Commit Figma metadata snapshots for reference
- Version DNA codes in repository
- Track design iterations with git
- Document design decisions in code comments

**Collaboration:**
- Use Figma comments for design feedback
- Share .pen frames for visual review
- Create pull requests for design changes
- Maintain design documentation alongside code

**Quality Assurance:**
- Validate design tokens against style guide
- Test responsive breakpoints
- Verify accessibility compliance
- Review generated code for optimization

## Tool-Specific Implementation

For detailed tool-specific implementation guidance, see the reference files:

### Figma MCP Implementation

File: reference/figma.md

Covers Figma MCP connection setup, file metadata fetching, component tree extraction, design token retrieval, screenshot capture, and style guide generation.

Key sections: MCP configuration, authentication setup, file access patterns, metadata queries, component hierarchy parsing, token extraction formats, screenshot API usage, design system documentation.

### Pencil MCP Rendering

File: reference/pencil-renderer.md

Covers DNA code format and syntax, text-to-design generation, .pen frame rendering, visual design iteration, collaborative workflows, and design version control.

Key sections: DNA code structure, natural language design prompts, rendering options, frame configuration, design refinement patterns, version control strategies, team collaboration workflows.

### Pencil-to-Code Export

File: reference/pencil-code.md

Covers .pen design export to React components, Tailwind CSS generation, component structure preservation, responsive layout handling, and design system integration.

Key sections: Export configuration, React component generation, Tailwind class application, props API design, state management integration, testing generated components, optimization strategies.

### Tool Comparison

File: reference/comparison.md

Provides detailed comparison matrix covering use cases, workflow patterns, integration complexity, and when to use each tool.

Key sections: Feature comparison table, workflow decision matrix, tool integration patterns, migration strategies, ecosystem compatibility, team workflow recommendations.

## Navigation Guide

When working with design-to-code features:

1. Start with Quick Tool Selection (above) if choosing a tool
2. Review Common Design-to-Code Patterns for universal concepts
3. Open tool-specific reference file for implementation details
4. Refer to comparison.md when evaluating multiple tools
5. Use Context7 tools to access latest tool documentation

## Context7 Documentation Access

Access up-to-date tool documentation using Context7 MCP:

**Figma:**
- Use resolve-library-id with "figma" to get library ID
- Use get-library-docs with topic "mcp", "api", "design-tokens", "metadata"

**Pencil:**
- Use resolve-library-id with "pencil" to get library ID
- Use get-library-docs with topic "mcp", "dna-codes", "rendering", "export"

## Works Well With

- moai-domain-uiux: Design systems and component architecture
- moai-domain-frontend: React implementation patterns
- moai-library-shadcn: shadcn/ui component integration
- moai-lang-typescript: TypeScript for generated components
- moai-lang-react: React best practices
- moai-foundation-core: SPEC-driven development workflows

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Status: Active
Version: 2.0.0 (Consolidated Design Tools Coverage)
Last Updated: 2026-02-09
Tools: Figma MCP, Pencil MCP, Pencil-to-Code Export