Figma Known Pitfalls

What it does

When your agent uses it

• Reviewing Figma code
• Onboarding new developers
• Auditing an existing Figma integration
• With phrases like figma mistakes

Example prompts

• “figma mistakes”
• “figma anti-patterns”
• “figma pitfalls”
• “/figma-known-pitfalls”

Requirements

• Compatibility (from SKILL.md): Designed for Claude Code
• Pre-approved tools (allowed-tools): Read, Grep

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit cfae287. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

• Tool permissions

  Pre-approves these tools, so the agent can use them without asking each time:

  • Read
  • Grep

  From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

• Runs code

  No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are typescript and bash).

  From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

• Network

  Hosts in commands or code, which the agent is likely to contact:

  • api.figma.com

  Also links to:

  • developers.figma.com

  From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

• Credentials

  Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

  From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

• Compatibility

  Designed for Claude Code

  From compatibility in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

Context cost

Figma Known Pitfalls loads about 2.3k tokens when it runs, and up to ~4.2k if it reads all its reference files. Until then it costs about 81 tokens; SKILL.md has 531 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it

~81

When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches

~2.3k

With references · SKILL.md plus every file in references/, read only if the agent opens them

~4.2k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace at commit cfae287, republished under its MIT licence (© jeremylongshore). 531 words, ~2,297 tokens.

name

figma-known-pitfalls

description

Avoid the most common Figma API integration mistakes and anti-patterns. Use when reviewing Figma code, onboarding new developers, or auditing an existing Figma integration. Trigger with phrases like "figma mistakes", "figma anti-patterns", "figma pitfalls", "figma code review", "figma what not to do".

allowed-tools

Read, Grep

compatibility

Designed for Claude Code

version

1.6.0

license

MIT

author

Jeremy Longshore <jeremy@intentsolutions.io>

tags

saas, figma

// BAD -- downloads entire file tree
const file = await figmaFetch(`/v1/files/${fileKey}`);

// GOOD -- only get metadata and page names
const file = await figmaFetch(`/v1/files/${fileKey}?depth=1`);

// GOOD -- fetch only the nodes you need
const nodes = await figmaFetch(`/v1/files/${fileKey}/nodes?ids=${ids}`);

// BAD -- no rate limit handling
for (const id of nodeIds) {
  await figmaFetch(`/v1/files/${fileKey}/nodes?ids=${id}`); // 429!
}

// GOOD -- batch IDs and honor Retry-After
const ids = nodeIds.join(',');
const res = await fetch(`https://api.figma.com/v1/files/${fileKey}/nodes?ids=${ids}`, {
  headers: { 'X-Figma-Token': token },
});
if (res.status === 429) {
  const wait = parseInt(res.headers.get('Retry-After') || '60');
  await new Promise(r => setTimeout(r, wait * 1000));
}

// BAD -- storing image URLs in database permanently
await db.save({ iconUrl: imageUrl }); // Will break in 30 days

// GOOD -- re-export when needed, or cache with short TTL
const imageCache = new LRUCache({ max: 1000, ttl: 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000 }); // 24h

// BAD -- token in source code (visible forever in git history)
const token = 'figd_actual_token_value_here';

// GOOD -- environment variable
const token = process.env.FIGMA_PAT!;
if (!token) throw new Error('FIGMA_PAT not set');

BAD:  files:read (deprecated, will be removed)
GOOD: file_content:read, file_comments:read, file_versions:read (specific)

// BAD -- using Figma values directly as RGB
const { r, g, b } = node.fills[0].color;
return `rgb(${r}, ${g}, ${b})`; // rgb(0.8, 0.2, 0.4) -- invalid!

// GOOD -- convert to 0-255 range
return `rgb(${Math.round(r * 255)}, ${Math.round(g * 255)}, ${Math.round(b * 255)})`;

// BAD -- assumes all nodes render successfully
const images = data.images;
for (const [id, url] of Object.entries(images)) {
  const img = await fetch(url); // TypeError: Cannot construct URL from null
}

// GOOD -- filter out null entries
for (const [id, url] of Object.entries(images)) {
  if (!url) {
    console.warn(`Node ${id} could not be rendered (null)`);
    continue;
  }
  const img = await fetch(url);
}

// BAD -- 2,880 API calls per file per day
setInterval(async () => {
  const file = await figmaFetch(`/v1/files/${fileKey}`);
  if (file.version !== lastVersion) await sync();
}, 30_000);

// GOOD -- webhook notifies you only when file changes
// POST /v2/webhooks with event_type: "FILE_UPDATE"
// Result: ~10-50 calls/day instead of 2,880

// BAD -- scale has no effect on SVG
await figmaFetch(`/v1/images/${key}?ids=${id}&format=svg&scale=2`);

// GOOD -- SVG is vector; scale is meaningless. Use scale for PNG/JPG only.
await figmaFetch(`/v1/images/${key}?ids=${id}&format=svg`);      // SVG: always 1x
await figmaFetch(`/v1/images/${key}?ids=${id}&format=png&scale=2`); // PNG: 2x

// BAD -- trusts any incoming request
app.post('/webhooks/figma', (req, res) => {
  processEvent(req.body); // Attacker can send fake events
  res.sendStatus(200);
});

// GOOD -- verify passcode with timing-safe comparison
app.post('/webhooks/figma', (req, res) => {
  const received = req.body.passcode || '';
  const expected = process.env.FIGMA_WEBHOOK_PASSCODE!;

  if (received.length !== expected.length ||
      !crypto.timingSafeEqual(Buffer.from(received), Buffer.from(expected))) {
    return res.status(401).json({ error: 'Invalid passcode' });
  }

  res.status(200).json({ received: true });
  processEvent(req.body);
});

# Pitfall 4: hardcoded PATs anywhere in the repo
/usr/bin/grep -rn "figd_" --include='*.*' . | /usr/bin/grep -v node_modules

# Pitfall 1: full-tree fetches (no depth/nodes constraint)
/usr/bin/grep -rn "api.figma.com/v1/files/" --include='*.{ts,js}' . \
  | /usr/bin/grep -v -e 'depth=' -e '/nodes'

// Before: {"r":0.31,"g":0.27,"b":0.9} rendered as rgb(0,0,1)
const css = `rgb(${fill.color.r}, ${fill.color.g}, ${fill.color.b})`;

// After
const to255 = (v: number) => Math.round(v * 255);
const css = `rgb(${to255(fill.color.r)}, ${to255(fill.color.g)}, ${to255(fill.color.b)})`;

© jeremylongshore, MIT. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

SKILL.md and 9 other files (references) in skills/.curated/figma-known-pitfalls of jeremylongshore/tons-of-skills-marketplace.

• SKILL.md
• references/pitfall-1-fetching-full-file-trees.md
• references/pitfall-10-webhook-without-passcode-verification.md
• references/pitfall-2-ignoring-rate-limit-headers.md
• references/pitfall-4-hardcoded-pats.md
• references/pitfall-6-forgetting-color-format-conversion.md
• references/pitfall-7-not-handling-null-image-renders.md
• references/pitfall-8-polling-instead-of-webhooks.md
• references/pitfall-9-svg-export-with-scale-parameter.md
• references/quick-reference.md

Open the folder on GitHubat commit cfae287