dsh figma explained: DeepSeek Harness DSH plugin design

dsh figma refers to the design-file access class of DSH plugins in the DeepSeek Harness ecosystem — they wire Figma designs or drawing flows into the session so the agent can read a design, pull copy and compile animations without shuttling files between external tools (source). The community does have Figma-related implementations, and this article works through three directions — what they solve, how to install and use them, and fit versus alternatives.

DSH plugin overview: where design-file plugins sit

The position of design-file DSH plugins is to connect design-side assets with a Harness session. Two lines cover it:

Remember this first: one line reads designs "in", the other compiles design assets "out". This article unfolds over three directions: what they solve, how to install and use them, and fit versus alternatives.

What DSH plugins solve: wiring design files and drawing flows into Harness

What these DSH plugins solve is the friction of "asset shuttling" between design and development. Three things get filled in:

1. Remove manual configuration — a traditional MCP client needs you to build tokens and write request headers by hand, which is error-prone; a design-access plugin compresses that into one click on a card (source). Expected: authorization goes from fiddling for a long time to one click.
2. Let the agent read the design directly — after authorization the agent can call tools to read design content and extract copy inside the conversation flow. Expected: design information can be referenced directly by the session.
3. Turn design assets into code-usable files — describe an animation in natural language and the agent calls a compile tool to produce usable animation JSON, without opening design software (source). Expected: a design asset quickly becomes a front-end-usable artifact.

Its direction differs from office-suite plugins: office suites lean toward producing documents and spreadsheets, while design-file access leans toward reading designs and emitting assets. The two do not overlap, so pick by the artifact you actually need rather than by category name.

One rule of thumb helps: ask what you want to hold at the end. If the answer is copy and structure pulled from a design, that is the read-in line; if it is an animation file a front end can drop in, that is the compile-out line; if it is a diagram you can inspect or a deck you can present, it is one of the alternatives. Naming the artifact first keeps you from installing a plugin that solves a neighbouring problem.

How to install and use a DSH plugin: Figma auth, Lottie compile, local preview

Installation all goes through the standard command or the plugin market, and the key to using them is authorization and tool calls. Step by step:

1. Install the Figma authorization plugin — run dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-figma-mcp, or search figma in DSH Plugin Hub to find dsh-figma-mcp. Expected: the plugin enters the web profile with no install error.
2. Restart and authorize with one click — restart dsh web, click authorize on the settings card, and complete a browser OAuth round. Expected: the card shows a connected state; the token refreshes silently when near expiry, and local credentials are cleared on disconnect.
3. Read a design in the session — after authorization, have the agent call the mcp__figma__* tools to read a design and extract copy. Expected: the agent returns the text and structure information from the design.
4. Install the Lottie compile plugin and generate an animation — install dsh-figma-to-lottie with dsh plugin --profile web add github:zimai233/dsh-figma-to-lottie, then describe an animation in natural language and have the agent compile a .lottie.json. Expected: a usable Lottie JSON is produced, supporting rectangle, path, image and text layers.
5. Use a local preview plugin to view diagrams — when you need to view a flowchart, install dsh-drawio and click a .drawio file from the file tree to render it in the sidebar. Expected: the diagram is visible directly instead of facing mxGraph XML source.

Taken together, these five steps cover the whole path from "read a design in" to "compile an asset out": authorization first, then tool calls, then a local way to inspect the result. None of them require editing the plugin source — the workflow lives in the session.

The four-state card of dsh-figma-mcp

dsh-figma-mcp folds authorization into a settings card that shows four states, so you never memorize a command. One card, four states:

1. Not connected — the card says it is not connected yet; click Authorize to launch the browser OAuth, sign in to Figma and grant the app. Expected: the card turns to connected once authorization completes.
2. Connected — the card shows connected plus token status, and the agent can now call the mcp__figma__* tools to read a design and extract copy. Expected: the session returns the design's text and structure.
3. Renewing — when the token nears expiry the card refreshes silently with no browser reopened; if the refresh fails it falls back for re-authorization. Expected: a long-running session does not drop easily.
4. Disconnected — on a manual disconnect or an expired authorization the card clears the credentials stored locally. Expected: no Figma credential remains on the machine.

Every one of these maps to the plugin entry: one-click OAuth, a token-status card, silent refresh and re-authorization, full token copy, and local credential cleanup on disconnect, installed with the standard dsh plugin --profile web add dsh-figma-mcp (source).

The four layer types of dsh-figma-to-lottie

dsh-figma-to-lottie compiles SVG paths and keyframes into a self-contained .lottie.json, generated by the agent through lottie_compile, and supports four layer types: rect, path, image and text. Each layer takes its own parameters:

1. Rectangle (rect) — position, size and corner radius, for color blocks, button bases and cards. Expected: the produced JSON contains the matching rectangle shape layer.
2. Path (path) — takes the SVG path data (d) and turns the vector outline into a Lottie shape. Expected: complex outlines play along their path.
3. Image (image) — references a bitmap asset and size to place an external image in the animation. Expected: the animation contains a bitmap layer.
4. Text (text) — sets content, font and size so text enters with the animation. Expected: the text layer shows along the timeline by keyframe.

It needs zero build steps and is pure ESM, so once installed you describe an animation in conversation without opening any design software — which is exactly the difference from the "read a design in" line: one reads in, the other compiles out (source).

DSH plugin fit and alternatives: drawio and PPT builds

If neither Figma line fits your scenario, turn to drawing and document alternatives. Compare:

1. Diagram-preview alternative — dsh-drawio renders a .drawio source file into a flowchart in the web sidebar; it is read-only and lazy-rendering, compatible with both plain and compressed save formats, and renders entirely locally with no data leaving the machine (source). Good for: people drawing flowcharts and architecture diagrams rather than UI designs.
2. Presentation alternative — dsh-ppt-studio turns Markdown or an attachment into self-contained HTML slides, an editable .pptx and a JSON manifest, with five built-in themes and support for a company master (source). Good for: people who want a deck rather than a design file.
3. How to judge which line to use — to read a design source and get copy and structure, choose Figma access; to produce an animation asset, choose Lottie compilation; to see a diagram beyond its source, choose drawio; to produce a presentation from text, choose a PPT build. Expected: you match the artifact type instead of forcing a fit.

One more dimension to judge by: whether the data has to leave your machine. dsh-figma-mcp goes through OAuth, the only line here that needs an authorized network connection; dsh-drawio renders entirely locally with no data leaving the machine, which is steadier for sensitive diagrams; dsh-ppt-studio produces slides and an editable .pptx locally from Markdown and depends on no external design tool. Weighing "what artifact you want" together with "where the data is processed" makes it hard to install the wrong thing (source).

Notes and limits for using DSH plugins

Design-file DSH plugins (DeepSeek plugins) are handy, but a few boundaries deserve knowing. Item by item:

1. Keep credentials inside the plugin: complete Figma authorization over OAuth, and never paste a token into chat or a public config.
2. Authorization expires: a token can go stale, the card supports re-authorization and silent refresh, and on disconnect check that local credentials are fully cleared.
3. Local rendering is steadier: an implementation that renders fully locally, such as drawio, keeps data off the network, which is reassuring for sensitive diagrams.
4. Capability has edges: Figma access leans toward reading and Lottie compilation leans toward converting, so do not expect one plugin to handle the whole design-to-ship flow.
5. Preview-stage compatibility: DeepSeek Harness is still in preview, so check the compatible version on the entry before installing and look for an update first when something breaks after an upgrade.

These plugins are also, at heart, installing and managing plugins — rather than hunting Figma, drawio and PPT packages across multiple repos and configuring each by hand, let DSH Plugin Hub, the official community market for DeepSeek Harness at https://dsh-plugin.org/, gather them: browsing, one-click install, uninstall and update detection in one place, with proxies and mirrors configured on the Settings page.

Sources: dsh-figma-mcp (dsh-plugin.org), dsh-figma-to-lottie (dsh-plugin.org), dsh-drawio (dsh-plugin.org), dsh CLI README.