58 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
58 lines
2.4 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: "Figma .fig File — Proprietary Binary Format; Assets Extractable, Layout Data Not"
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aliases: [figma-fig-format, fig-binary, figma-file-format]
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tags: [figma, binary, file-format, mcp, design]
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sources:
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- "daily/2026-05-10.md"
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created: 2026-05-10
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updated: 2026-05-10
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---
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# Figma .fig File — Proprietary Binary Format
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## Key Takeaways
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- `.fig` file = ZIP archive containing `canvas.fig` (binary, magic bytes `fig-kiwij`, proprietary compressed format)
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- Image assets (photos, icons) stored as regular files inside the ZIP — accessible via `unzip`
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- Layer positions, offsets, component definitions, and text content NOT accessible without Figma
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- `strings` command on `canvas.fig` returns nothing useful — the binary is compressed/encoded
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- Figma plugins cannot be installed from terminal — only through Figma Desktop or Browser UI
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## Details
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A `.fig` file can be unzipped:
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```bash
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unzip design.fig -d design_extracted/
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# → canvas.fig (the binary, ~95% of file size)
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# → images/ (PNG/JPEG assets referenced in the design)
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# → thumbnails/ (preview images)
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```
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The `canvas.fig` file has magic bytes `fig-kiwij` and is a proprietary compressed binary. It is NOT parseable without the Figma proprietary decoder — `strings`, `jq`, `binwalk`, and similar tools yield nothing useful.
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## What You Can and Cannot Do
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| Goal | Approach | Works? |
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|------|----------|--------|
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| Extract image assets from .fig | `unzip file.fig -d out/` | ✅ Yes |
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| Read layer names / positions | `unzip` + parse `canvas.fig` | ❌ No |
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| Read component structure | `unzip` + parse `canvas.fig` | ❌ No |
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| Read text content | `unzip` + parse `canvas.fig` | ❌ No |
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| Full design data | Figma REST API (`GET /v1/files/:key`) | ✅ Yes (requires key) |
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| Full design data from local file | Figma Desktop (File → Export) | ✅ Yes |
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## Figma REST API Alternative
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To get layer/component/text data programmatically:
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```bash
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curl -H "X-Figma-Token: $FIGMA_TOKEN" \
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"https://api.figma.com/v1/files/$FILE_KEY" | jq '.document'
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```
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The `FILE_KEY` is the hash from the Figma URL: `figma.com/design/{FILE_KEY}/...`
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## Context
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Discovered while attempting to parse a `.fig` file locally to extract component information for a project setup. The Figma MCP server (`plugin:figma`) uses the Figma REST API under the hood — it requires the file to be in Figma's cloud, not a local `.fig` file.
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