Why figlens instead of the official Figma MCP?

Use figlens when the design should travel as a file: remote agents, CI, offline work, handoff between agents, unlimited repeated reads. Use the official Figma MCP when the agent must see the live design without an export step.

	figlens	Official Figma MCP
Source	Exported .fig snapshot	Live Figma files
Needs	The file	Figma sign-in; desktop server needs the app
Rate limits	None, local parsing	Figma service limits
Remote agent / CI	Copy the file, run the binary	Remote server with sign-in
Design changes	Export a new .fig	Automatic
Handoff	Share the .fig or a frame bundle	Share Figma access
Fidelity	Independent parser with known gaps	Maintained by Figma

Reading a .fig is offline. Installing and updating figlens, gs:// inputs, your model provider and your project's dependencies still need a network.