Do Design Tools

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

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

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