# Build from a Figma design

> How Figma fits with Stensul today. The Figma plugin brings designs in as governed modules and drafts, and the MCP builds on what the plugin created.

Source: https://stensul.com/developers/recipes/figma/ · Last reviewed 2026-09-28

The MCP server doesn't read Figma files. The **Stensul Figma plugin** does, and the two work together: the plugin turns designs into Stensul modules and drafts, and your assistant then builds and edits emails from them through the MCP.

## Route 1: design an email in Figma, finish it with your assistant

1. In Figma, use the Stensul plugin to import modules from your library, design within their guardrails, and export. Each export creates a **new draft** in Stensul. It never overwrites a previous one.
2. Ask your assistant to work on that draft:

```text
Find my latest Stensul draft named "<draft name>". Write final copy for every
editable text and button from this brief: <brief>. Add alt text to every image
and run an accessibility check.
```

## Route 2: turn a Figma component into a new module

The plugin can create a brand-new Stensul module from a single Figma component or instance that uses horizontal or vertical auto layout. Once an admin adds that module to a library, your assistant can build emails that use it.

## What round-trips from Figma, per Stensul's help center

| Round-trips | Finished in Stensul |
| --- | --- |
| Copy, colors, layout of text, buttons, images, dividers and modules | Font family and weight, line height, letter spacing, borders, row, column and email-body styling |

## What to know

- **Guardrails apply on export.** A change in Figma that breaks a module's rules isn't applied to the draft.
- **Images upload to Stensul's CDN** on export, even ones that came from a DAM. Images export at standard (1×) resolution.
- **Elements you add in Figma** that weren't in the imported module are dropped on export.
- **Scripted links** (AMPscript, Marketo, Salesforce tokens) can't be edited in Figma and are flagged as non-standard URLs.
- The plugin needs the external API enabled on your instance and an admin to allow the plugin's connection. Setup is in the Stensul help center.