Model Context Protocol in Warp: A Designer’s Guide to Figma-to-Code
Objectives
- Introduction
- A Quick Example
- Setting up MCP in Claude (Filesystem Example)
- Where MCP Helps Beyond Files
- For Developers: How MCP Helps
- Setting up MCP in Warp (Step-by-Step)
- Results Design vs Developed
- Conclusion
Introduction
Model Context Protocol (MCP) is an open-source standard that lets AI apps talk to other tools safely. For example, it allows apps like Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT, or Warp to connect with your files, Gmail, or Figma and perform actions such as view, read, write, or edit.
Client: The AI app you use — like Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, or Warp. It receives your prompts and decides what to do.
Server: A small program (local or remote) that offers specific abilities — like accessing files, Gmail, or Figma.
Action: The operations the server exposes — such as listing files, reading content, or fetching a Figma design. These let the AI actually do things for you.
A Quick Example
As we said earlier, MCP is the protocol that lets an AI access tools like your file system.c
So try this: Open Claude or ChatGPT and type something like:
“Can you access my Downloads folder?”
You’ll notice the response says something like:
“I don’t have access to your files.”
That’s the default. Without MCP, the AI can’t do anything outside the chat window.
Now Setting up MCP in Claude (Access to Filesystem Example)
Step 1: Open Claude and go to your profile settings,
Step 2: Click on Settings → Connectors.
Step 3: Click on “Browse connectors” and select the Desktop Extensions tab. You’ll see options like Filesystem
Step 4: Select “Filesystem” → Enable it → Click Configure. Add your desired folder (like Downloads). You can add multiple directories. Make sure it’s enabled.
Step 5: Go back to the chat interface and create a new chat. Select Filesystem(server) should be active. Then choose what actions the connector should be allowed to perform (read, write, edit, etc.).
Step 6: Start prompting. Try something like:
“Show me my recent downloaded files?”
If everything is connected properly, it’ll reply with the directory contents and ask what you want to do next.
Now you can actually let the AI interact with your files, edit them, or organize folders. This is how a basic Client-to-Server protocol works — powered by MCP using the Filesystem server.
Where MCP Helps Beyond Files
Let’s make something clear: MCP doesn’t magically make your AI smarter. Instead of just replying with suggestions, the AI can now create, read, or edit real files in a folder you pick.
But this isn’t only about accessing your file system.
It could also access your Gmail — we’ve already seen this in ChatGPT and Claude. They called it “connectors.” These connectors were built using MCPs.
For Developers: How MCP Helps
It can access your Figma files — not by uploading screenshots or manually copying code, but through a protocol connection. These tools use an MCP server that directly connects to Figma, pulls the design data, and then generates usable code automatically. This is the mechanism behind tools like Claude’s code feature, Warp, and Cursor.
These are the ways that you can connect MCP server to the respective clients (Claude, Cursor, Warp)
Warp is a modern terminal app (like a better PowerShell/Command Prompt/Terminal). Recently, they added MCP (Model Context Protocol) integration.
That means Warp can act as an MCP client → it connects to your MCP servers (like the Figma MCP server or filesystem MCP server).
Setting up MCP in Warp (Step-by-Step)
Step 1: Download your Warp desktop, Click on ”Create new project” in Warp and search for “MCP server.”
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Step 2: Once the setup was completed, Warp asked me to create the project directory.
Step 3: After setup, I could see the MCP created in my personal folder.
Step 4: Then I added the server. Warp showed me a JSON file template. Each server has its own API and MCP details from their websites. In my case, I used Figma’s MCP with its API.
Example JSON for Figma MCP server, where I had to add my Figma personal access token)
(Figma API key created in Figma Security Settings)
Once I generated the key, I pasted it into the JSON to create the Figma MCP server.
(Figma MCP server successfully created)
Step 5: I asked Warp what it could do. It showed me it had access to file management, task management, and external integrations (my MCP server).
Step 6: Testing it, if it truly had access to my folders. It listed my file names directly.
Full platform access with MCP.
Step 8: Next, I asked Warp if it could access my Figma. It responded with the exact functionalities it had — fetching data, downloading assets, and generating design-to-code.
Step 9: Then I tried the big thing — design-to-code. I provided a Figma file and asked Warp to generate Vue code.
Disclaimer: I even asked it to access my Visual Studio Code, create Vue components, and use Figma assets directly.
Step 10: Warp generated components super fast.
Step 11: Finally, it created the project folder, added JSON packages, components, and App.vue, then provided me with a local host to run.
Step 12: This is the result I got from Warp using my Figma MCP server.
Results (Design vs Developed)
This is great for the early stage, All this happened on a free account of Warp — which is an added advantage. With better prompting and techniques, you could get even better results.
Conclusion
Hence, I need to finish it with the final conclusion of the purpose and why it’s in trend. MCP is the real game changer right now. Not long ago, tools like n8n were the hype, but today creating AI agents has become much easier with MCP.
So — learn from it, experiment with it. I’ve shared my own experience of how this MCP server can be used in practice. And honestly, there are countless use cases still waiting to be explored: automation, web scraping, auto web testing (super useful for testers), Git integrations, and much more. The market is wide open. Make use of it! Cheers to more learning!
About the Author
Samuel Aaron K, is a UI/UX Designer II at CodeStax.Ai, who has 2 years of experience with the company.
With hands-on experience in designing and building products, Sam is also skilled at applying AI tools to design workflows, making them easier and more efficient. At CodeStax.Ai, he and his team focus on connecting designers and developers, driving productivity and seamless collaboration.
About CodeStax.Ai
At CodeStax.Ai, we stand at the nexus of innovation and enterprise solutions, offering technology partnerships that empower businesses to drive efficiency, innovation, and growth, harnessing the transformative power of no-code platforms and advanced AI integrations.
But the real magic? It’s our tech tribe behind the scenes. If you’ve got a knack for innovation and a passion for redefining the norm, we’ve got the perfect tech playground for you. CodeStax.Ai offers more than a job — it’s a journey into the very heart of what’s next. Join us, and be part of the revolution that’s redefining the enterprise tech landscape
